Australian Milk Quality Awards 2021: List of winners
Victorian dairy farmers have dominated this year’s national Milk Quality Awards. See the full list of winners.
Victorian operations have dominated this year’s Australian Milk Quality Awards, with more than two-thirds of top 100 charts taken out by farms in that state.
The awards recognise farmers producing the country’s best milk based on bulk milk cell count
(BMCC) for the 2020-21 financial year.
Gold awards are given to the ‘Top 100’ dairy farmers nationally for milk quality, and together with silver award winners, they form the top 5 per cent of Australian producers for milk quality.
The region administered by WestVic Dairy took out the lion’s share of top 100 placegetters with 60 operators gaining gold.
Dairy Australia managing director David Nation said it took exceptional attention to detail to make it into the gold and silver categories.
“Winning a gold or silver award is great recognition of the dedication and commitment required to produce high quality milk,” he said.
“It’s important that we recognise those in our industry who are producing our best milk.
“It takes consistent focus throughout the year across all aspects of the milking process to attain these awards.”
Most processing companies pay a premium for milk with a BMCC figure below 250,000 cells per millilitre.
Dairy Australia analysis estimates that a farmer milking 300 cows who lowers their BMCC from 250,000 to 100,000 per millilitre would be financially better off to the tune of $39,000 per year.
The awards form part of Dairy Australia’s national mastitis control program, Countdown, which aims to help farmers and their advisors achieve profitable mastitis control.
Beston bid by Japanese company
A Japanese dairy conglomerate is seeking to acquire a key South Australian milk processing site. Here’s what they already own.
Rain pain triggers milk pool rethink
The green drought has hit southwest Victoria. Floods are in Tasmania. And a milk pool forecast rethink is underway. Here’s why.