Australia’s peak dairy peak body urges farmers to vote no to levy hike

Farmers say they have “shouldered the levy for too long” and it’s time milk processors - Saputo, Fonterra and Bega - paid up.

Farmers are being urged to vote against any increase in the levies they pay Dairy Australia. Picture: Zoe Phillips

The Australian Dairy Farmers lobby group has told its 5000 farmer members to vote against any increase in the levies they pay the nation’s research, development and marketing body – Dairy Australia.

The Australian Dairy Farmers Board decided this week it would not support any increase in the levy, given dairy processing giants – such as Fonterra, Bega and Saputo – ongoing refusal to contribute levies to DA.

Currently, dairy processors contribute virtually nothing to Dairy Australia, but are granted a seat on its board and its selection committee, are listed as Group B shareholders and were even represented on the advisory committee that recommended lifting farmers’ DA levy contributions by 20 per cent, from $32 million to more than $38m.

“Farmers alone have shouldered the levy for too long,” ADF president Rick Gladigau said.

“We also strongly believe that dairy processors should contribute their fair share to these investments. Processors must provide significant and proportionate funding to those projects that benefit the whole supply chain.”

The ADF board said they had been calling on processors since 2019 to contribute to the post-farmgate work done by Dairy Australia, with the most appropriate and fairest mechanism being a statutory levy.

“Furthermore, there are other avenues that can be explored to augment producer levy funds and invest in Dairy Australia’s work, including but not limited to grant funding,” the board stated.

“For these reasons, the ADF Board does not support an increase in the farmer service levy.”

The ADF Board did note that its own National Council, comprising representatives from state dairy farmer organisations, had last year backed a 20 per cent increase in the levy.

“However, there are a wide range of views among the state and federated members, with differences across states,” ADF reported.

“The ADF Board fully respects this diverse range of views. In fact, they helped inform our position,” Mr Gladigau said.

United Dairyfarmers of Victoria president Paul Mumford said that while his own policy council supported a 20 per cent levy increase, “every farmer must decided what’s best for their own business”.

He said since last year the UDV had passed a resolution demanding processors pay at least half the cost of DA’s $10 million investment in post farmgate manufacturing research, market access and development.

The Dairy Levy Poll Advisory Committee, which included a ADPF processor representative, has recommended farmers vote for a 20 per cent increase in their DA levies.

The Levy Poll Committee has also given farmers the options of voting for no change in the levy rate or an increase of 15 or 25 per cent, but ruled out letting them vote for a cut in DA’s levy rate.

All dairy farmers should have received ballot papers and must lodge their votes by March 31.

Anyone who has not received a ballot paper should email [e-mail]

As it stands all Australian dairy farmers must pay 2.8683 cents a kilogram of their earnings on butterfat and 6.9914c/kg on protein to DA, which adds up to $3600 to $3700 for a million-litre dairy farm, producing 78,000kg of solids each year.