Agriculture Victoria confirms record profit year for dairy farms

New figures reveal Victoria’s dairy farmers had one of their best seasons in decades, with one region performing surprisingly well.

The average Victorian dairy farmer has increased earnings by 60 per cent in the past financial year.

Dairy farmers in all three of Victoria’s milk-producing regions enjoyed record profits in the 2022-23 financial year, according to new statistics.

Agriculture Victoria confirmed the average Victorian dairy farm earned $617,000 in 2022-23, before interest and taxes, soaring above the 2021-22 result of $384,000 per farm.

Southwest Victorian dairy farmers enjoyed the biggest earnings bounce, rising from $376,000 in 2021-22 to an impressive $726,000 last financial year.

Gippsland farmers also have a spring in their step with monitored farms in that region rising from average earnings of $273,000 in 2021-22 to $505,000 last financial year before interest and taxes.

While more modest than the other two regions, northern Victorian dairy farmers defied expectations with an average earnings rise from $483,000 in 2021-22 to $620,000 in the 2022-23 reporting period.

Dairy farmers in Victoria have enjoyed record profits, according to a new report.

Dairy Australia farm business data national leader Helen Quinn said the northern Victoria figure was remarkable given large parts of the region were hit by the October 2022 floods.

“This year’s report reveals milk prices have increased by 33 per cent, to $9.77 per kilo milk solids,” Ms Quinn said.

“That figure is the highest on record for the 17 years that the Dairy Farm Monitor Project has been running.

“However, (this profit) has been coupled with increased costs, most notably, the increase in purchased feed costs due to wet conditions across the state and severe flooding in northern Victoria.”

The release of the annual report, which is a joint project between Agriculture Victoria and Dairy Australia, confirmed there were 2773 farms across the Garden State last financial year.

Gippsland lays claim to the greatest number of individual dairy farms, with 1027 dairies operating in the eastern milking region, while southwest Victoria has 941 farms and northern Victoria boasts 805 farms.

Number-crunchers examining the monitored farm data found the average net income of participating primary producers statewide rose from $295,000 in 2021-22 to $487,000 in the 2022-23 financial year.

Eighty farms participate in the project and represent a distribution of farm size, feeding systems and herd sizes.