Multinational company Lactalis announces Echuca dairy factory will close resulting in 74 jobs lost
In short: French company Lactalis will close its Echuca dairy factory, potentially axing more than 70 jobs.
In short: French company Lactalis will close its Echuca dairy factory, potentially axing more than 70 jobs.
The company will invest about $85 million to upgrade its Bendigo site and some jobs could be transferred to this site.
What's next? The company is holding meetings with staff, but no firm date has been given for the site closure.
Dairy company Lactalis Australia has announced it will close its Echuca factory, on the border of Victoria and New South Wales in northern Victoria, axing up to 70 jobs this year.
But the company says it will expand its operations in the larger regional centre of Bendigo, potentially creating new jobs at this site.
Lactalis announced today it would invest $85 million over three years to expand its manufacturing and supply chain at other Victorian sites.
Chief executive officer Mal Carseldine said in a statement the French-owned multinational company decided to shutter Echuca after a "detailed review" of its yoghurt and desserts division.
"The plan sees us have one regional hub in Victoria that is fully utilised," he said.
He said the selection of the remaining milk factory took into account milk processing capability, operating costs, and site layouts.
"Based on this criteria, our Bendigo site was the most suitable option for us to invest in to meet our future needs in Victoria," Mr Carseldine said.
Mr Carseldine said the company was consulting with its Echuca team about the decision and how to best support workers through the transition.
He said the closure could impact approximately 74 employees and contractors.
"This is not a decision we take lightly," Mr Carseldine said.
"For some employees, there will be opportunities for redeployment to other Lactalis sites and those opportunities will form part of the discussions with individual employees."
He said the investment, much of it focused on Bendigo, would see more jobs, a new production line, and more yoghurt and custard capacity established at the Bendigo site.
Local MP devastated
Victorian Nationals leader and member for Murray Plains Peter Walsh said he only found out about the closure on Tuesday night when the company emailed him about it following a meeting with Echuca staff.
He said he was devastated on behalf of the workers and the community.
"The questions I will have for the CEO when I talk to him next week will be 'Why did you not invest that money in Echuca? Why invest it in Bendigo?'" Mr Walsh said.
"They have had a strong presence in Echuca for a long time — a great place as I understand it [with] a very loyal workforce there.
"Why didn't they invest in Echuca?"
Seven dairy processing facilities have closed since August 2022 including Bega's Betta Milk factory in Burnie earlier this year and consolidating its sites in Launceston and Kings Meadow, and last year Saputo closed its Maffra factory.
Union shocked
Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union organiser Chris Spindler said they had heard rumours that the site would be closed but said the announcement was still shocking.
Mr Spindler said the factory had been a prime site for the company with state-of-the-art machinery used on site.
"We don't fully understand the rationale behind [the closure decision]," he said.
"We prefer that they sat down and spoke to us at length before making that announcement to give us their concerns and to see what could be done in terms of saving the site."
Supplied by ABC Rural, Vic Country Hour, Callum Marshall & Warwick Long
10 April 2024
Lismore's Norco ice cream factory opens after $100 million rebuild from flood damage
Almost two years after it was gutted by a record-breaking flood, a farmer-owned ice cream factory in the northern New South Wales city of Lismore is back in full production.
The Norco factory remains on a flood-prone site on the bank of the Wilsons River, but this time the design is different.
Chief executive Michael Hampson said 130 people were now working in the factory, which is churning out more than 500,000 litres of ice cream a week for the national market.
"There's been a lot of people that have had the shoulder to the wheel, done the midnight hours over an extended period of time to get this factory operational," he said.
The rebuild has cost around $100 million, with the NSW and Commonwealth governments providing financial sweeteners totalling $46 million.
The factory redesign includes an electronic engine room perched high above record flood levels, and a submarine-style room where ice cream vats holding millions of litres of product are stored.
Federal Agriculture Minister Murray Watt said the rebuild was an opportunity to build back better.
"We know Lismore is a flood-prone town," he said.
"It's so important for this town's morale, the region's morale, to have these visible signs of progress and there is nothing more visible than the Norco ice cream factory.
"We have to take the opportunity to build back better and increase the resilience of this factory."
Farmers welcome new-look factory
Dairy farmer and Norco director Paul Weir suffered $3.5 million in financial losses from the February 2022 flood, including 110 cows and calves which were washed away in flood waters.
The 51-year-old from Tuncester said it was a huge relief to see the factory reopen in Lismore.
"From a farmer co-operative point of view, there's no way that we would have had the money to rebuild," Mr Weir said.
"Our whole farmer base had just been smashed with the floods and extended wet weather.
"There was a lot of worried nights, will it or won't it go ahead?
"Until they [the government] finally came out and said they agreed to fund it, then the pressure went off everyone's shoulders."
Bronwyn Herbert, ABC Rural, 24 November 2023.
To read the full story, click here.
Facing closure, this dairy farm cut ties with its processor and now makes four times as much
In Short: As neighbouring dairy farms folded around them on Queensland's Scenic Rim, Kay and Dave Tommerup chose between closing or saving their fifth-generation dairy by radically changing how they did business.
They were already running a farm stay in a rustic homestead on their property and selling beef and milk-fed free-range heritage-breed pork to guests, visitors and chefs.
In January 2021, the couple took a leap, reduced their herd to just 22 cows and cut ties with their processor.
Using a century-old cream separator in a purpose-built micro-creamery, they make Jersey Girl cultured butter, cream-topped bottled milk, cream, crème fraiche, yoghurt and ice cream.
Pasture-raised eggs, organised tours and farmgate trails have been added to the agritourism mix.
"It was a huge leap of faith, and it was probably a bit too much for my husband in the beginning," Ms Tommerup said.
"But we haven't looked back … the dairy makes four times more money now than when we were supplying a processor."
There's more to this story, read the full article by following the link here:
https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2023-08-21/dairy-farm-survives-by-diversifying-agritourism-directsales/102747100utm_campaign=abc_news_web&utm_content=link&utm_medium=content_shared&utm_source=abc_news_web
Source: Jennifer Nichols, ABC Rural, 21 August 2023.
To read more articles on ABC News go to abc.net.au
NSW farmers, hay suppliers look interstate stock feed as El Niño looms, pastures still damaged by 2022 floods
Farmers and hay suppliers in northern New South Wales are looking interstate for stock feed as memories of the drought creep in.
Max Wake's dairy in the NSW Hunter Valley flooded last year.
But the property is so dry now he's buying in hay at "astronomical" prices.
"We had to use our winter fodder reserves during summer because the pastures had been destroyed by floods," he said.
"We're not out of forage yet but we've had to buy hay and that hurts."
That hay is coming from South Australia and at a premium, as Australia teeters on the cusp of an El Niño.
"It was a matter of what you could get and where," Mr Wake said.
"I don't need it straight away but I will in August, and if I'd left it any longer I wouldn't have got it."
Mr Wake paid $600 per tonne for the hay alone, with freight and GST extra.
"It's extremely expensive and it makes you wonder if it's worth it … but I can't let my cows go hungry."
No crystal ball
While Mr Wake is replanting and recovering his pastures, 1.5 hours north, Rolanda Clout-Collins has been hand feeding cattle since January.
"Which is worrying as interest rates are going up, commodity prices are going up, but our selling price is going down for our cattle," she said.
In the past 12 months the cattle market's key price indicator has slipped from nearly $10 per kilogram to less than $6.
"It's a rollercoaster," Ms Clout-Collins said.
"During the good years you try to plan, you put strategies in place, you stock up on as much feed as you can — but at the end of the day, unless you've got a crystal ball, it's hard."
Local supplies depleted
With feed sources drying up, McDonald Brothers Transport in Tamworth have been busy moving hay across the Hunter, New England and even the North Coast.
Some loads have also been trucked to the Queensland border.
Scott McDonald owns the company and is also the president of the Australian Livestock and Rural Transporters Association.
He has had to source hay from interstate, with local supplies depleted.
"The actual volume of hay that was made [locally] was low — it was too wet in the Spring and then got too dry in the Summer," Mr McDonald said.
"Most of what we've got here has come from South Australia and Victoria.
"There is a quite a supply of hay down there, the problem is they also had a wet Spring … and so you have to be very careful as to the quality."
Mr McDonald expects there will not be locally grown hay until well into Spring.
El Niño still at alert level
Long-range weather forecaster Don White expects the Bureau of Meteorology will declare an El Niño "in a matter of weeks".
"It's likely to reach its peak in August and spring," he said.
"In past events, El Niños last at reasonable strength for six to nine months — so that could see it last for much of summer."
But he said there were "still glimmers of hope" for farmers.
"The saving grace at the moment is the sea surface temperatures in parts of the Coral Sea, Tasman Sea and Western Pacific haven't cooled down to the extent that we'd normally expect in an El Niño event," Mr White said.
"So if those waters' temperatures stay a little above average, then there's always potential for a bit more moisture to feed into eastern Australia at times.
"But if those temperatures cool off, we're definitely in for about six months of below average rainfall. It doesn't mean every month will be dry but it means that overall, the total rainfall for the next six months will be below average."
Source: Amelia Bernasconi and Lara Webster, ABC Rural
USDA reports case of mad cow disease in United States but negative trade implications ‘unlikely’
The United States has reported an atypical case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), commonly known as mad cow disease.
According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the disease has been detected in a five-year-old cow in South Carolina.
It said the animal had never entered slaughter channels and at no time presented a risk to the food supply or to human health.
"Given the United States' negligible risk status for BSE, we do not expect any trade impacts as a result of this finding," a USDA spokesperson said.
"Atypical BSE generally occurs in older cattle and seems to arise rarely and spontaneously in all cattle populations."
Mad cow disease is a transmissible, slowly progressive, degenerative and fatal disease that affects the central nervous system of adult cattle.
The USDA said it was the nation's seventh detection of BSE.
"Of the six previous US cases, the first in 2003 was a case of classical BSE in a cow imported from Canada. The rest have been atypical (H or L-type) BSE," the spokesperson said.
Trade impacts unlikely
Global Agritrends analyst Simon Quilty said that unlike recent BSE outbreaks in Brazil, the US was unlikely to face any trade implications.
"So far, there have been no trade implications, but all eyes are on China because of the precedent that's been set earlier this year and [in 2021] with Brazil and the BSE case(s) they've had," he said.
"Under the trade agreement between the US and China, they said no ban could be put in place on any atypical BSE case should it occur, which is almost the complete opposite of what the situation was between Brazil and China."
Mr Quilty said the last atypical BSE case in the US was in 2018, which led to no trade implications.
"So you can only assume the same will happen this time around," he said
"But we do know the situation between the US and China has been somewhat strained politically, and so you can never rule out some sort of implication, but at this stage, it looks unlikely."
ABC NSW Rural Report
EastAUSmilk President Matt Trace discusses the purchase of two milk processing plants in Melbourne and Sydney by Coles – they will need to be monitored…
To listen to the Mid and North Coast Rural Report click on ABC Rural Report the interview with the eastAUSmilk President starts at 5.45 mins into the broadcast.
Source: Kim Honan, Presenter, 6 April 2023
Northern NSW dairy industry faces low milk supply one year on from flood
One year after a "horrendous" flood swept through his northern New South Wales property, dairy farmer Peter Graham and his cows are still struggling with the stress of what happened. Read More…
Source: Kim Honan and David Claughton, ABC Rural 19 March 2023 - Listen to ABC Country Breakfast
Banks tighten belts on agricultural investment loans as interest rates rise
Farmers wanting to expand and make their operations more sustainable are finding it increasingly difficult to borrow money due to a perfect storm of rising interest rates and higher input costs.
Source: Tina Quinn and David Claughton, ABC Rural, 25 January 2023
Saputo closes dairy factory in Maffra, scales down others in Victoria and South Australia, with 75 jobs lost
Saputo is to close its dairy factory in Maffra and scale back operations at two more sites, affecting 75 employees.
Bulk powder production at its Leongatha site and cheese packaging at Mil-Lel, near Mount Gambier, will be shut down.
In February, the Canadian milk processor announced plans to cut 18 jobs at its Maffra and Cobram factories.
And, in August, it announced further plans to scale back its Australian operations in the face of declining milk supply.
Speaking to the ABC this morning, the company said 75 employees would be affected, and redeployment would be discussed and, where not available, severance would be provided.
Leanne Cutts, president and chief operating officer, said some functions of the three sites would be relocated.
"Many of those impacted production and packaging functions at those three facilities will be integrated into facilities across the network," she said.
"It's business as usual for our customers … no change to the products and brands."
Ms Cutts said suppliers' milk would continue to be collected and processed across the Saputo network.
"We're committed to the Australian dairy industry and we want every litre of milk," she said.
When asked whether Saputo might close more plants, Ms Cutts said "we're always reviewing our network … because we want to make sure we continue to be efficient".
The changes will take effect in the first three months of 2023.
Tim Bull, Member for Gippsland East, said the Maffra closure was not a surprise, but it was still a big blow for the town of 4,000 people.
"The Maffra community saw the writing on the wall when there was a significant downsizing in the past 12 months, but it's always disappointing when you're losing jobs out of a rural town," he said.
"It comes at a time when there are plenty of sectors looking for workers, so there are plenty of job opportunities around, but we need to make sure these workers are transitioned appropriately."
Mr Bull said he hoped Saputo would support the repurposing of the Maffra factory.
"It is a big site in the heart of Maffra, so hopefully we can get Saputo together with Wellington Shire Council and come up with a plan to use that site for the betterment of the community," he said.
Saputo significantly expanded its presence in the Australian market when it purchased the former farmer-owned dairy cooperative Murray Goulburn in 2018.
At its peak in 2014–15, Murray Goulburn collected more than 3.6 billion litres of milk from Australian dairy farmers.
Since then, Saputo's milk intake has fallen to less than 2 billion litres.
Maleny Dairies addresses animal welfare concerns with artificial insemination, adoption
It has long been a stain on the dairy industry — the slaughter of unwanted male "bobby" calves in their first week of life.
Key points:
Maleny Dairies program sexes semen before the herd is artificially inseminated
Practice ensures majority of calves are born female
The home farm is trialling Ceres Tags to monitor animal movements
Maleny Dairies, an independent dairy processor on the Sunshine Coast, says it is addressing those concerns on its home farm.
The family-owned business has celebrated the arrival of its first female calf born from a program that sexes semen before the herd is artificially inseminated to ensure the majority of calves are born female.
Bobby calves welcome tourists on farm visits to the factory and there is a waiting list for an adoption program.
Owner Ross Hopper said he was asked lots of questions about what happened to male calves.
"We've had activists ring us up and we just encourage them to come on a tour and we'll answer all your questions," he said.
He said the dairy had nothing to hide.
"We have bobby calves as our tour calves and then when they are getting a bit too old and boisterous and too rough on the tourists here, we have got an adoption program," he said.
"We sell them on and people use them as their pet lawn mowers."
The dairy has also tagged 10 cows with GPS trackers in a six-month trial with Brisbane-based agtech company Ceres Tag.
Solar-powered ear tags weighing 35 grams communicate directly with satellites to monitor activity levels, temperature and if the animal is being attacked, stolen or behaving abnormally.
Maleny Dairies chief executive Stephen Tait said big retailers such as Coles and Woolworths wanted primary producers to be more transparent and to have more responsible management of their herds.
"With Ceres Tag we can use technology and data to prove how well we run our herd and our business," Mr Tait said.
Improving traceability
At $US3,000 for 10 tags the price is high.
But Ceres Tag general manager of projects Greg Campbell said the cost would come down and the tags provided proof of provenance to producers' customers.
"If it is reduced stock theft, through carbon accounting or through better identifying sick animals, all of those things add up to savings," Mr Campbell said.
Industry in decline
Savings are important as challenging times continue for the dairy industry.
Just 53 per cent of 573.8 million litres of fresh milk sold in Queensland last year was produced in the state.
The rest was trucked up from southern states where the cost of production is lower.
The number of dairy farms in the state has shrunk from 1,500 to fewer than 280 since deregulation in 2000.
The average price paid to farmers in Queensland and northern New South Wales last year was 71 cents per litre.
Co-chief executive of farmer advocacy group eastAUSmilk, Eric Danzi, said farmers had continued to exit the industry and record prices were now being offered for fresh milk, with competition fierce for supply.
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Uncharted territory
Mr Danzi said Maleny Dairies, Lactalis and Bega were currently offering an average of 86 cents per litre while Norco was offering 84 cents per litre.
"It is a reflection of the massive shortage of milk but also the high escalation in input costs for fertiliser, fuel and chemicals," Mr Danzi said.
"Realistically the price needs to go up by at least 15-20 cents per litre at the farmgate just to cover the farm cost increases."
Investing in the future
Ross and Sally Hopper have spent millions of dollars upgrading their factory.
Mr Hopper said Maleny Dairies' point of difference was supporting smaller family farms that would never receive bonuses from larger processors because their volumes were too small.
"Demand is high and we are positive about the future," Mr Hopper said.
"We don't want any more farmers to disappear, we've got to look after them.
"Once they're gone there are no new ones starting up."
Federal Government commitment to a Dairy Symposium and Digital Dairy Platform announced
The commitment by the Federal Minister for Agriculture David Littleproud to hold a dairy symposium after the upcoming Federal election is welcomed by eastAUSmilk.
This announcement followed on a meeting between the President of eastAUSmilk, Matt Trace, with the Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce at a recent dairy farmer meeting at Muswellbrook NSW in early April where Matt raised with the DPM the holding of a dairy symposium.
Minister Littleproud also met with dairy farmers at Singleton NSW on 20 April with eastAUSmilk Vice President Graham Forbes and during an interview on the NSW Country Hour later that day, discussed the importance of a dairy symposium. You may listen to the interview at ABC Country Hour
Barnaby Joyce convened the 1st dairy summit after the 2016 federal election which brought together dairy stakeholders to consider issues confronting the industry due to the collapse of Murray Goulburn and the then clawback of dairy payments to dairy farmers.
The time was right for a look back over the past years since the initial dairy symposium in August 2016 and to determine what has occurred since that time and find out what has worked and what needs further review.
In reference to the symposium, Matt indicated that the dairy industry needs to find further solutions to the issues that confront those players within the dairy value-chain, particularly given the market failure within the industry and which was highlighted in the ACCC's report into the dairy industry.
The development of the dairy mandatory code of conduct, which can trace its beginnings to the 2016 dairy symposium, was the beginning of the restoration of trust and transparency in the relationship between the dairy farmer and processor.
Further discussion needs to now occur around the relationship of the supermarket within the dairy value chain.
Co-CEO of eastAUSmilk, Shaughn Morgan, has indicated that the Code has a few more steps to enhance its ability to provide the trust and transparency required.
The dairy symposium provides a place for that to occur.
The Federal Minister for Agriculture has also announced today the development of a digital platform to assist dairy farmers being provided with up-to-date information regarding value, price and other relevant dairy data.
The development of this digital platform in conjunction with the Dairy Code and the Milk Value Portal are beginning to provide dairy farmers with a suite of dairy products that will assist them in addressing the many varied issues that they are confronting daily.
This will also lead to further discussion of supermarkets being subject to the Dairy Code given the apparent 'inadequacy' of the Food and Grocery Code to provide appropriate oversight of supermarkets and their relationships with fresh food suppliers.
With the announcement and commitment today by Minister Littleproud, eastAUSmilk looks forward to being a part of providing the solutions with the other dairy bodies to stop the decline of the number of Aussie dairy farms and in finding a way to rebuild the strength and resilience of dairy farmers generally.
Acorn poison warning after toxin kills dairy cattle in Victoria
Acorn poisoning causes kidney and liver damage and swelling in the intestines, as seen here in one of Carlie Barry's yearlings.
A south-west Victorian dairy farmer is warning other farmers to be wary of oak trees in their paddocks after losing several yearlings to acorn poisoning.
Key points:
Carlie and Owen Barry have lost 10 yearlings to acorn poisoning
Acorns can be deadly to a range of animals if large amounts are eaten
There is no antidote available and veterinary options are limited
Carlie Barry from Woolvie Jerseys near Camperdown lost 10 yearlings and had to nurse other animals back to good health after the poisoning.
Acorns contain a toxin called tannic acid, which can cause damage to the liver, kidneys and intestines.
Ms Barry, who farms with her husband Owen, said they had been unfamiliar with the risk of acorn poisoning.
"We're on a new property so we haven't really had a lot of experience with oak trees before," she said.
"The yearlings had access to a paddock with oak trees, but they weren't locked in there. They were able to go in and out, but they must have acquired a taste for the acorns."
Ms Barry said they went away for a few days, and when they returned home, they found their yearlings in dire straits.
"Out of the 70 yearlings, all of them were affected but there was about a third basically on death's door," she said.
"We got the vet out straight away and the sickest ones we were treating and one died in the vet's arms while we were trying to treat it.
"That one went in for an autopsy and you could see that there was liver and kidney damage and there was about 30 litres of fluid in the intestines."
No antidote available
Wendy Parish from the Hampden Veterinary Clinic in Cobden said it was the first time she had encountered acorn poisoning.
"It's not common, I've never seen it before," Ms Parish said.
"The animals were dull, depressed, not eating and I was able to collect some blood and urine samples. I was seeing very high kidney enzymes, meaning the kidneys were going into renal failure, as well as liver toxicity.
"On the animal that had died, I did a post-mortem and found there were acorns within the rumen.
"Acorns have a tannin in them which becomes an acid within the rumen and then that acid attacks the kidneys, the intestines and the liver."
Ms Parish said animals including horses, sheep and goats were also susceptible.
"Unfortunately there's no antidote available, all we can do is provide supportive care, keep the fluids up, and provide a protein-rich diet," she said.
"There's no known quantity that will cause sickness, and that's what makes it difficult."
A warning to others
Ms Barry said she was speaking out so others could avoid what she had been through.
"I've called some of my neighbours, they were sort of aware of it but not really aware of how serious it was," she said.
"It's pretty heartbreaking but farming has its ups and downs and I just hope that if I can save someone else's cows by sharing and raising awareness, it's not a completely negative experience."
NSW North Coast second wave of flooding puts farmers on alert again
Farmers in areas on the NSW North Coast declared as catastrophe zones earlier this month have been forced to pause the recovery effort and prepare for a second major flood event.
Four weeks ago, Paul Weir watched his milking herd wash away in floodwaters on his farm at Tuncester near Lismore.
Now he has moved what cattle and machinery he has left to higher ground out of reach of a "two-metre flood".
He has given up worrying about things outside of his control.
"It's more a psychological blow I think and slowing up any recovery and drying out, that's probably the biggest disappointment," he said.
"I can't stop the flood, if Mother Nature wants to put a record flood again well so be it, we haven't got as much to lose this time that's for sure."
With his dairy still a few weeks away from being repaired, his surviving cows have been moved to a farm at Goolmangar to be milked.
But he is worried that he may lose 1,000 fence posts and 500 round bales of quality feed he had bought and trucked in for when his milkers returned.
"We stacked the majority of that here above the one-in-100 flood level and I did err on caution, and we did take four semi loads up to higher ground on another farm just in case we got another flood," he said.
The NSW Department of Primary Industries said the main areas of concern were the Tweed River at Tumbulgum, the Wilsons and Richmond Rivers in the Northern Rivers and the Orara, Kalang and Bellinger Rivers on the Coffs Coast.
Jimmy Burnett from the DPI's Emergency Management Unit said another flood event was a "bit of a kick in the guts" for farmers just starting the recovery process.
"We've completed about 92 per cent of our requests for assistance from the last events, and we've provided about 2,000 tonnes of fodder in that time," he said.
"We're still counting the dollar impact. We still don't know what the impact has meant because so many of our landholders in the area are still counting the damage."
Landholders should call the Agricultural and Animal Services Hotline on 1800 814 647 from 8am–8pm if they need veterinary assistance or emergency fodder.
Tough time for Cedar Pocket farmers with no time to stop to mourn
Barbara Gear hasn't had time to stop and grieve after police made the grim discovery of the body of 54-year-old motorcyclist Phillip Lambert on her dairy farm at Cedar Pocket near Gympie on Thursday.
Early on Wednesday morning, Mr Lambert was riding home from Gympie shopping centre, where he worked as a cleaner, when his motorbike hit a wall of water in torrential rain on a dark country road.
His body was recovered at about 11.30am on Thursday.
Records show an incredible 352 millimetres of rain fell at Cedar Pocket over five hours.
The floodwater swept away all of Barbara and Robert Gear's boundary fences, destroyed Granview Dairy's sorghum crop and scattered 400 head of cattle.
(Since we took Ms Gear's photograph on Thursday, her creek flats have flooded again.)
Cattle were forced to swim for their lives after they were caught in the dangerous weather event, the intensity of which hadn't been predicted.
While Ms Gear understandably did not want to discuss the loss of a valued member of her close-knit community, she did give insight into the most frightening flood she has ever witnessed.
In the exhausting hours since, she has worked tirelessly to re-erect smashed fences, helped dozens of emergency services workers who were combing their property, taken stranded workers back on the farm, and searched for her prized cows whose udders were painfully full, out in paddocks that were cut by debris-filled water.
Fences have to be fixed to stop cows getting on the road. (ABC Rural: Jennifer Nichols)
"We've collected all the girls from various paddocks. There were about 30 stuck up against the fence line that were swimming.
There were no fences whatsoever, they were actually up on the bitumen road trying to get away from the water," Ms Gear said.
"We've got most of them back. We've found three dead ones. One's in the top of a tree, one was swept under the highway culvert and she got stuck there so she obviously drowned. For the amount of cows that we have just finding three is quite good."
In the middle of the night her worker, James May, was driving his vehicle from side to side on Tin Can Bay Road, trying to herd cows that were dangerously standing in the middle of the main thoroughfare.
"The police turned up. They must have thought I was an idiot hooning, but they eventually pulled up behind me and had their lights on helping me get them off the road," Mr May said.
Next door, the flood triggered strong emotions for Geoff Pearce who only last month faced the same daunting clean-up after a terrifying flood on his other farm at Tansey.
"It's a little bit close to home for me this one, it's quite sad. It's a big effort, all the fence rebuilding and helping neighbours with stock replacement," Mr Pearce said.
"It's a big job but that's what people on the land do. They help each other out and all our neighbours here have been great. Emergency services have been great."
He has recovered three of his six cattle that were swept away. But the fences he fixed with friends, have been flooded again.
The biggest fall was at nearby Mount Wolvi on Tuesday night, where 425mm of rain fell overnight; 140 millimetres of that in just one hour.
The rain poured off the mountain down to the flats, flooding Alba aquaculture farm and owners Bambi and Andrew Gosbell's second dwelling.
"Water basically just poured through the house, so it just destroyed the carpets and all the furniture and everything. It ran through that house like like a torrent," Mr Gosbell said.
"It was just literally like something you just see out of the movies. It was torrential … It's taken out all the fencing on the boundary to the forestry and it's taken out between our neighbours so we've lost a fair bit of fencing as well."
The couple's main dam overflowed, but luckily the farm's crayfish ponds were undamaged and the sheep made their way to higher ground.
Several kilometres away Jason Lewis lost precious topsoil at his Cooloola Berries farm that was primed and ready to plant this year's strawberry runners.
"We've got neighbours missing cattle and sheep, and heaps and heaps of fences down, lots of farm equipment washed away, trucks have been in water," Mr Lewis said.
Water ran through their back shed on Wednesday, and on Friday swamped their farm cafe.
Australian Macadamia Society chief executive Jolyon Burnett said growers had been expecting a bumper crop and described the flooding as "heartbreaking".
Fields have flooded across south east Queensland and northern New South Wales and orchard floors have been damaged.
At Lindols Macadamias outside Gympie, water flowed through a shed and a large section of orchard.
Owner, Sandra Lindstrom said the true impact of the flood will not be known for months.
"Twenty or so young trees snapped off, but what often takes them out is a root rot/fungus. They were about 3 metres underwater on Wednesday," Ms Lindstrom said.
Her orchard has since been flooded again, by the storm system sitting over the region.
Source: Jennifer Nichols and David Barnott-Clement, ABC Rural 25 February 2022
Far from the COVID crowd, farms are offering a new kind of camping for travellers looking to get away
As pandemic-weary campers leave cities in droves, searching for serenity and space in the bush, farmers are signing up as hosts for an extra source of income.
In the grips of a terrible drought that forced them to sell 40 prime milkers to the meatworks, dairy farmer Libby Rough listed with Youcamp to help pay for groceries and school costs.
"We didn't get a milk cheque for three months and friends had come and said, 'You should put this [farm] on a booking system'," Ms Rough said.
They opened Hidden Pocket, named for its private position on the Mary River at Moy Pocket near Kenilworth in the Sunshine Coast hinterland.
Just four camping sites have helped turn the farm's fortunes around, earning the family more than $50,000 since American-owned Hipcamp bought out Youcamp in August 2020.
Hidden Pocket is booked out months in advance and has twice been nominated for awards.
"We pride ourselves on having a campground where thousands of people are not camping on top of each other," Ms Rough said.
"We provide fire pits, we provide kayaks — although I did lose six in the floods — we also provide tyre tubes and so people come here, and they get to relax.
"Occasionally they might get [phone] reception."
What is Hipcamp?
Since 2019 the number of people using the camping platform has increased by 450 per cent.
"Hipcamp is essentially a marketplace where we connect landowners, farmers, and their land with people who really want an outdoor experience ... campers, glampers, caravan people," Hipcamp general manager James Ho said.
"Ironically, for us, I think we've overall been a net beneficiary of the pandemic; our user base has almost tripled in the last 12 months alone.
"In fact, we've seen this past summer, our biggest summer holiday on the record. Our host base has more than doubled in the last 12 months as well."
Crucial infrastructure
For the Rough family, the money has paid for infrastructure that they otherwise could not have afforded, including farm fencing and fixing the road that milk tankers use to access their dairy.
"Those kind of jobs are really essential to our business because you can't have a milk truck driver saying I'm not coming in because the road's not good enough," Ms Rough said.
When a group of guests, who are required to be fully contained, used the bush as a toilet — Hipcamp followed up on her complaint and charged the campers $300 for the clean-up.
"The [other] reason why we went through Hipcamp is because of insurance; you would be stupid to open your property up to camping without insurance."
An unexpected bonus has been the friendships they have made with return visitors.
"It's been a really, really good thing because we don't get a social life and sometimes Pete will come down and talk to them as well. He says he's not into it, he says [that] it's my thing — but I've caught him talking to people. Anyone who wants to talk about cows," she said.
Room to grow
The Queensland Farmers' Federation (QFF) has released a discussion paper titled Unlocking Queensland's agritourism potential.
It estimated agritourism could be worth up to $4.5 billion a year to the state by 2030 but found the lack of consistent local government planning guidelines were a barrier to farmers wanting to diversify their businesses.
In an age where fewer city dwellers have country cousins, the connections agritourism builds are important.
Source: Lucy Cooper & Jennifer Nichols, ABC Rural, 30 January 2022
Andrew Forrest buys $108m slice of Bega Cheese
Mining billionaire Andrew Forrest has bought a significant share in Bega Cheese, extending his food empire even further.
Key points:
The iron ore magnate buys 6.6 per cent of Bega Cheese worth $108m
While Bega shares rise 5 per cent, the year ahead could be challenging
There is talk of Bega launching a takeover of Fonterra's Australian operations
One of his companies, Tattarang AgriFood Investments, purchased more than 20 million shares in Bega Cheese this week for about $108 million.
It gives him a 6.6 per cent share of the dairy company and makes him its fourth largest shareholder.
Just a week ago Bega Cheese shares fell 10 per cent off the back of a rocky forecast for next year.
It reported in a statement to the stock exchange that the impact of the pandemic had been "extensive and significant".
This was due to lockdowns, factory shutdowns, increased safety and testing requirements, major cost increases and shortages across the supply chain, it said.
There had also been changes in key markets like China affecting the sales of infant and toddler dairy products.
But the company's share price was up 5 per cent on the final day of the year, and 33 per cent over five years, emphasising its successful transition from a farming cooperative into something the nation's richest people want to be involved in.
Why is Forrest getting into dairy?
Australia's second richest man, Mr Forrest has been diversifying his assets beyond the massive iron ore operations where he made his wealth.
He has bought shares in aquaculture, alternative foods, several large cattle properties and bought the iconic Australian clothing company RM Williams in 2020.
He also owns significant property assets and is involved in major new hydrogen projects.
Dairy farmer welcomes investment
One of Bega Cheese's original shareholders is farmer Phillippa Russell — the family property was one of the first farms that established the former cooperative in 1899.
Ms Russell said "it's a good thing" to see Mr Forrest taking a stake in the company.
"He's showing his confidence in agribusiness and food products."
The higher share price was also a nice new year surprise for shareholders, she added.
"A lot of mum and dads out there own Bega Cheese — it's still an Australian company. I'm very proud of it and I think it's still got a long way to go."
Does Forrest have an eye on Fonterra?
There is speculation that Bega could launch a takeover bid for the Australian arm of New Zealand dairy company Fonterra.
Analyst Jonathan Snape from Potter Bell looked at the potential for a deal, noting that Fonterra's milk supply had shrunk by 30 per cent over three years and it lost $1.8 billion from its Australian operations last financial year.
Fonterra announced recently it was turning its attention back on its New Zealand operations.
In his report, Mr Snape said Bega would have to borrow to pay for an offer for Fonterra but that it was an attractive deal because it would enable it to regain control of the Bega Cheese brand which had been sold to the NZ dairy giant.
"Bega has a strategy to own iconic brands, and the opportunity to repatriate the Bega brand, while adding Western Star, would have to be compelling."
More broadly, the dairy industry has made a big turnaround after some tough years, so it is not surprising that Mr Forrest is taking a slice of what could be a tasty pie in the next few years.
Dairy industry looking much more positive after years of tough times
After a devastating decade in which 8,296 farmers abandoned Australia's dairy industry, the future is finally looking more positive, thanks to better weather and higher milk prices.
Key points:
For the first time in years the dairy outlook is positive
Wade Johnston has started his own dairy farm
His 72-year-old father Stan Johnston has re-entered dairying after 35 years
For the first in years, the prospect of starting a dairy business could stack up.
Wade and Courtney Johnston took the leap, buying their first farm at Bollier in Queensland's Mary Valley. Dairying is in his blood.
"I'd have to agree there's not many of us who are putting their hands up to begin (a dairy), especially from scratch too, so we're awfully proud," Mr Johnston said.
The couple has worked with a tight budget, running a herd of 42 Illawarra milking cows and a single side milking set-up they built themselves in a rustic old barn.
"The banks said 'no' every time I went to them, so we really had to budget hard, Mr Johnston said.
"Courtney did some cementing.
"We just used everything we could that was already here," Mr Johnston said.
"Our plan is just to be slow and steady and not be in heaps and heaps of debt. We just don't want that stress."
Wade and Courtney Johnston's property is on land once resumed for the failed Traveston dam. They feed their growing family from a thriving vegetable patch.
"We're doing our very best to be self-sufficient. We've got the chickens giving us eggs, and we always have the cows milking, and I make yoghurt and cheese," Ms Johnston said.
"I'm an ex-musical theatre performer, so this is very different, but I love helping where I can."
At nearby Kenilworth, Wade's 72-year-old father, Stan, has re-entered the industry after an absence of 35 years on land with more than four kilometres of Mary River frontage.
"I get up at half-past three, have some cornflakes, come down to the new dairy," Mr Johnston said.
"We have cut the farm in half. Half will be horses [Mr Johnston founded Craiglea racing stud and agistment], and half will be dairy."
He has taken on great genetics in Illawarra cows from his 81-year-old sibling, who still regularly comes to help milk.
"My brother Jock, he just loves his cows, so he moved all his herd here; otherwise, he would have had to sell them," Mr Johnston said.
Outgoing Queensland Dairy Farmers Organisation (QDO) president Brian Tessman said anyone looking at a dairy enterprise in Queensland would have to say that right now, it "actually looks reasonable".
"I think the industry is on a bit of an upturn as far as returns to farms are concerned, and certainly in Queensland and New South Wales. I think the returns are certainly better," Mr Tessman said.
After 11 years in the top job, he is proud to have successfully fought for the end of dollar-a-litre milk and the introduction of the mandatory Dairy Code of Conduct which requires processors to publish the price they will pay for fresh milk on the first of July.
"The game is a bit better but there are still people leaving the industry," Mr Tessman said.
"They are basically on a conveyor that was set up to three years ago when things really got just too tough with the drought and higher feed prices, so those people will still be leaving, and they will still probably outnumber the ones coming in."
The QDO and New South Wales-based Dairy Connect advocacy group have merged to form eastAUSmilk, focused on stopping the decline of the fresh milk industry.
Australia has 4,600 licensed dairies, a 9 per cent drop on last year — with 307 in Queensland, a 6 per cent decline on last year.
In recent days, Woolworths, Coles and Aldi lifted the retail price of their homebrand milk to $1.30 a litre.