Friday 13 May 2016

All is not well in the dairy industry.....

I know it has been ages since I blogged. As I said in my last blog - I think life is about to get a lot busier and so it has. I feel I have something important to talk to you all about - All is not well in the dairy industry!!!! There are no pictures to make this blog look pretty and appealing because it isn't BUT please keep reading.

Something has happened to our dairy industry in Australia which I think you should all be made aware of. You already know that being a dairy farmer means a huge commitment not only as far as lifestyle but also as far as financial commitments. Recently our milk processor, Murray Goulburn, stated that there will be a huge drop in the farm gate price their dairy farmers are going to be paid for their milk. Due to economic circumstances and decisions made by this processor they have overpaid their farmers by apparently approximately 30 million dollars. How can such an error occur one might ask??? Poor decision making at the top; trade agreements; the world dairy commodity prices??? The bottom line is that we as farmers are being made to repay this money over the next three years by paying us an unviable and unsustainable price for our milk.
We have been very lucky with a great season over the past year. It has become dry here at home and we are in urgent need of rain. DH Farmer has sown some of our winter feed. Most has shot but is struggling. It will be a tough winter if rain does not come soon. We have a good backlog of silage and hay we made earlier in the year for use in just such situations. So for the time being we are okay. I wish I could say the same for our fellow dairy farming families in Victoria. They have been hit hard by drought, high grain prices and now a brutal blow of a huge drop in farm gate milk prices.  Many are running at huge losses this financial year. Any farm with a debt is in even further trouble. Our processor, Murray Goulburn, and Dairy Australia and other dairy industry bodies are showing huge concern for the mental and physical well being of these farmers and their families. There is talk of mental illness and that dreaded word "suicide". Many are at breaking point and are closing up their businesses. We all need to be aware and concerned of this.

So I come to this and it is something I do not ask you to do lightly. Could you please sign a petition linked below. Maybe it will make a difference - maybe it won't. Who knows BUT I feel that I have to do something to stop this situation from getting any worse. There is an election soon. Will any of our politicians listen I wonder?
Here is the link to this petition:

Raise the milk price for struggling farmers

If you do sign this petition I thank you for your support to our farming families and the Australian Dairy industry. If you don't then I thank you for taking the time to read this blog and at least be a little more aware about what is happening in our farming industry. Hopefully things are not as dire as we in the industry fear but somehow I think our concerns are valid.

Until next time......
Carol

4 comments:

  1. I can't find your email address Carol (or Robyn or Barbara's) on my travel laptop so can you pass on my enormous thanks for everything on the weekend……..when I get home I will do it properly! And I'm glad you got to see the summary of the wonderful time we had on the blog too….brief as it was….thought I had better leave out the rudie ones!! And of course I am still overwhelmed with the membership honour…..can't wait for next July!

    Now to your blog post……words fail me and I could not believe what I was reading. I know in SA that mental health has been enormous with the drought years but this news is just awful. Petition has been signed and thoughts and support is sent with all those affected.

    Biggest hugs till next we speak xx

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    1. Thanks Michele. It is sad story. Life on the land can be truly wonderful and like most things in life at times truly devastating. Thank you for signing the petition. I believe it has made a difference as finally Barnaby Joyce has had a meeting with dairy farmers in Shepparton. Hopefully something worthwhile and long term good and support comes from this meeting. XX Carol

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  2. I fear that this is all organised, with some agenda hidden behind it. When enough dairy farmers leave the industry, some foreign corporation will then snap up the farms for a tenth of their value, and then we will have mega-dairies like America. People are so stupid, paying $5 a litre for a fad like coconut water, and not wanting to pay $1 a litre for a real food like milk. I despair of the world sometimes.

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    1. I hope you are wrong regarding the hidden agenda Keryn. I feel that in Australia we don't really appreciate what we have until we no longer have it. Safe high quality dairy products made and grown in Australia will be missed one day if consumers do not change their buying habits I feel.

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