Shepparton region farmer Jayke Fisher on opening dairy prices

Jayke Fisher started in dairy only a few years before the 2016 clawback. Now the young farmer is facing the second major challenge of his career.

With five kids and a sixth on the way, Jayke and Bec Fisher certainly aren’t afraid of hard work. But the Goulburn Valley dairy farmers say this season’s opening prices aren’t what they consider to be a fair day’s work.

The couple milk 240 cattle at Lancaster, 30 kilometres west of Shepparton, and entered the dairy sector a decade ago.

Mr Fisher said while there are many upsides to working on the land, the pricing whims of processors was not one of them.

Dairy farmer Jayke Fisher, with his wife Bec, children: Cooper, 12, Max, 8, Harry, 7, (crutches), Ava, 5, Lewy, 2, dog – Allie, at Kyabram. Picture: Yuri Kouzmin

Opening prices confirmed this week settled at a range of $7.80 to $8.30 per kilo milk solids – about break-even for many farmers.

“We’re not asking for much, we just want a fair go,” the 34-year-old farmer said.

“The milk processors have been all over the place with pricing. Clearly they need to run their factories more efficiently and sign better deals for the products they manufacture.

“It feels like they put all the financial risk on the farmer, rather than spreading it more evenly.”

Demographics in Australia’s dairy industry have been rapidly ageing in the 2020s, with fewer members of Generation Y and Z — those born in the 1980s and 90s, entering the sector.

“We keep hearing they want more young people in dairy but if you’re paying these prices, who’d want to give it a go?” Mr Fisher said.

“Unless you’re the son or daughter of a farmer, and good luck to you if you are, but if you’re entering from the ground up, you’ve got high interest rates to work with. New entrants are having to pay off loans for stock as well.”