Milk prices drop: What you can do to help SA’s dairy farmers

FORGET dismissing them as whingeing farmers, we’ve got the figures that prove things have been tough for the state’s milk producers. So what’s skimmed the cream from the price of dairy in South Australia over the past decade — and how can you help?

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DAIRY farmers are urging consumers to steer away from $1-a-litre cartons and instead buy branded milk to help producers overcome a significant milk price drop.

Figures sourced by The Advertiser and Sunday Mail from the Australian Bureau of Statisticsas part of our Cost of Living: Decade of Difference series prove what dairy farmers have been telling us for years — the cream has been well and truly skimmed from the price of milk.

Milk prices have dropped 7.4 per cent over the past decade, compared to an overall CPI inflation of 25.1 per cent for the same time frame.

The state’s also seen its dairy herd shrink.

Mount Compass dairy farmer Michael Connor with some of his herd. Picture: Tait Schmaal

Mt Compass farmer Michael Connor said the number of SA dairies had fallen from 330 to 240 in the past 10 years, with 50,000 less cows being milked.

“It’s obvious at a farm level that the margin between costs and income over the last 10 years has definitely got tighter,” Mr Connor said.

“It’s led to increased debt and a less capital improvement on farms, with an extra focus on doubling down on cost control and budgets just to survive.

“We’re very resilient and we’re trying our best to hang in there, but things are very tough.

“We always looking for positives and there’s now a demand for milk which we hope is a positive outlook.”

The soaring cost of electricity has added to the financial burden faced by the state’s dairy farmers, such as Mount Compass’s Michael Connor. Picture: Tait Schmaal

SA Dairyfarmers Association chief executive Andrew Curtis said electricity prices — which have risen by 136 per cent in the past decade — have also impacted on the industry.

Mr Curtis said two large companies in SA had highlighted a need to increase milk supply, which would help the industry, and consumers could also play their part.

“Beston Global Foods and the Union Dairy Company have come into the industry indicating there is a good international market on the horizon and are planning for their future,” he said.

“Consumers can also buy branded milk, whether its Fleurieu Milk or SADA Fresh anything that is branded and isn’t $1 a litre will see a better return going back to the farmer.”