Australia's shrinking dairy industry continues to wither as milk is trucked across the country

Dairy lovers looking to buy local should check the label next time they take the cap off a bottle of milk.

The exodus from the industry has resulted in dairy processors trucking fresh drinking milk thousands of kilometres across the country to meet increased demand.

"It is very sad when people that love dairy farming have to cease because of the business circumstance," said dairy farmer and president of advocacy group eastAUSmilk Matthew Trace.

"Even though they love it, and people still want the product."

Mr Trace says demand is not the issue, but supply is a problem in Queensland.

"We're basically at a 50 per cent deficit, so about half of what's consumed," Mr Trace said.

"There is a lot of milk not far over the border in New South Wales, but there's also a significant amount coming all the way up from Victoria."

Changing industry

Since 1980, Dairy Australia estimates the number of dairy farms declined from 21,989 to 4,163, but the average herd size grew from 93 to 305 cows.

The trend is towards fewer farms, larger herds, and increased production.

Supplementary feeding and improved breeding have more than doubled the average dairy cow's milk supply from 2,900 litres in 1980/'81 to 6,164 litres in 2022/'23.

Victoria leads Australia's milk production with 2,774 registered dairy farms, compared to 466 in New South Wales, 351 in Tasmania, 278 in Queensland, 182 in South Australia, and 112 in Western Australia.

Since 2006/'07 Dairy Australia estimates the number of registered dairy farms dropped by 62.13 per cent in Queensland, 49.57 per cent in New South Wales, 49.55 per cent in Western Australia, 48.67 per cent in Victoria, and 26.11 per cent in Tasmania.

In the same period, Australia's milk production only reduced from 9,583 million litres to 8,129 million litres.

Johanna Marie and Jennifer Nichols, ABC News, 4 December 2023.

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