Dairy Australia farmer survey: Worker shortage concerns linger

While farmers have enjoyed record dairy prices, there’s still a lack of workers to maximise the potential profits.

Worker shortages are stifling the ability of dairy farmers to expand their businesses, a new survey has found.

Released today, the National Dairy Farmer Survey is conducted by Dairy Australia each year as a means of tracking primary producer sentiment.

In the last 12 months, 60 per cent of respondent farms businesses have been impacted by difficulties finding employees, with 25 per cent report under significant strain.

The survey found all dairy regions nationwide were experiencing labour pains with NSW and Western Australia hardest hit – at 75 and 77 per cent respectively.

Dairy Australia industry analyst Eliza Redfern said dairy farmers had responded to the shortage of available workers in a variety of ways.

“One of the most common responses (in dealing with the workforce crunch) is farm owners taking on the additional workload and working longer hours,” she said.

“Offering improved working conditions to attract or keep staff has become a greater

priority for 17 per cent of affected businesses.

“We also found that 15 per cent of farmers surveyed actively reduced their herd or the size of their operations.”

The survey also found that 90 per cent of dairy farmers made an operating profit in the 2021-22, up from 88 per cent in the 2020-21 financial year.

However, only 22 per cent of respondents said they planned to expand their farming operations, down from 26 per cent in last year’s survey.