Fonterra, Saputo and Bega to fund Dairy Australia: New deal to ‘do their bit’
The multinational giants that dominate milk processing have agreed to fund Dairy Australia, after years of farmer criticism.
Milk processing giants Saputo, Fonterra, Norco, Bega and others have finally agreed to thrash out a deal to help fund the industry’s peak research, development and marketing body, Dairy Australia.
The decision follows years’ of farmer criticism that while they chipped in about $30 million a year in levies, matched by about $20 million from the Federal Government, processors paid virtually nothing to DA.
But the Australian Dairy Products Federation has finally agreed to help fund DA, releasing a statement to The Weekly Times declaring its processor members were thrashing out a deal on just how much they would pay.
“As part of the ADPF’s commitment to a thriving, profitable and sustainable dairy industry, we are working with Dairy Australia on a due diligence project to understand the value of their ‘whole of supply chain’ program to dairy processors,” the processor body stated.
“The outputs aim to guide the potential financial contribution from ADPF and/or dairy processors — and is part of a broader scope of work on industry organisational reform.”
United Dairyfarmers of Victoria president Paul Mumford said the lack of processor contributions to DA had been a “bugbear to farmers for quite some time”.
“They’re multinational companies, but they need to do their bit,” Mr Mumford said.
Evidence also emerged this week that farmers have shouldered the cost of their industry leaders’ failed bid to bring DA, ADPF and the Australian Dairy Farmers together to form a single united national body.
DA has revealed the industry spent $2.1 million on the two-year development of the National Dairy Plan to establish a united national body, which ultimately failed.
Most of the cost was borne by farmers, with contributions from ADF, DA and the Gardiner Dairy Foundation, although none detailed how much in their financials.
The push to establish a national body came despite early warnings the Federal Government would not support the contributions it made to DA being used to fund agri-political campaigns.
But both Mr Mumford and South Australian Dairyfarmers Association president John Hunt said investing in the plan was not a waste of money.
Mr Hunt said four of the five pillars in the plan were still being developed, which included greater processor contributions and co-operation, a focus on farm profitability and attracting new entrants, plus improving the value od dairy through better marketing.
“(Creating) one voice never came up in South Australia,” Mr Hunt said. “Over here the meetings we had talked about getting young people into farming.”
Meanwhile, the relationship between farmers and processors is about to be tested again, with sources within the Federal Government revealing the Assistant Treasurer Michael Sukkar will launch the first review of the Mandatory Dairy Code in July, which demands fair and transparent terms in all milk supply agreements.
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