Victorian dairy farmer groups move to reunite under single federation
Victoria's major dairy lobby groups have begun talks to reunify, after more than two years apart. Here’s why.
Victoria’s two dairy lobby groups are in talks to reunify, more than two years after policy and personnel fractures within the Victorian Farmers Federation.
In September 2023, then United Dairyfarmers of Victoria president Mark Billing along with other UDV members formed a new lobby group called Dairy Farmers Victoria, independent of the VFF.
Southwest Victorian farmer Bernie Free succeeded Mr Billing in the UDV presidency, with VFF president Brett Hosking helping to broker talks between the UDV and DFV.
Mr Free said initial talks between the two groupings had been encouraging, with structural reforms at VFF headquarters Farrer House aiding reunification talks.
“We always said we’d welcome a re-merger. (DFV members) walked for reasons I can understand at the time, but things have changed since then,” the UDV president said.
“There’s no hard-and-fast timings on when a merger will take place. My preference is for it to be done correctly and take longer, rather than rushing it, and to getting the job done properly.”
Mr Billing said initial talks had been positive, with both groups delayed by harvest season.
He said a key reason behind the 2023 split was due to the UDV not receiving resources commensurate with memberships paid to the VFF.
“Things are heading in the right direction — there’s goodwill on both sides,” Mr Billing said.
“There’s an understanding from all dairy farmers that we’ve got to work together to confront the challenges we’re facing from a range of areas.
“We had that unity in the past and we could absolutely work towards unifying again.”
Following his elevation to the VFF presidency, Mr Hosking told The Weekly Times in January he was keen to have a reunified UDV-DFV back in the federation, along with the breakaway Victorian Chicken Growers Council.
“We’ll do whatever we can to work with our commodity groups and we’re already having these informal discussions,” he said.
“The VFF has federation in its name for a reason. We work best when we’re a federation of commodity groups, pursuing shared interests on behalf of all Victorian farmers.”
With the impetus of then state agriculture minister Ian Smith, the Hamer government encouraged an array of disparate dairy groups back in the 1970s to form the United Dairyfarmers of Victoria.
Warragul region farmer Bill Pyle served as the UDV’s first president from 1976 to 1985.
“Ian Smith said: ‘if you blokes can’t all get together and be on the same page, you can all get lost’ or words to that effect,” Mr Pyle said in 2020.
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