Tasmania’s dairy industry is growing and producing more milk than ever
Tasmania’s dairy farmers are surging to new heights, hitting a milk production record as the industry remains Tasmania’s highest value commodity.
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TASMANIA has set a food production record with the dairy industry producing more milk last financial year than ever before.
The new production record of 950 million litres is a 4.5 per cent increase from the year before and 37 million litres above the last record set in 2017-2018.
There are 394 dairy farms in Tasmania and while the number of farms may be decreasing, the number of cows on those remaining is going up.
“There has been systemic confidence in the dairy sector for several years now,” Dairy Tas chief executive Jonathan Price said.
Mr Price said the investment in irrigation was a sign of that confidence.
Recent Australian Bureau of Statistics figures show Tasmania’s agricultural production is growing at a faster rate than the rest of the country, increasing by 10.3 per cent compared with a national average of 7.9 per cent.
Primary Industries Minister Guy Barnett said dairy was once again Tasmania’s highest value commodity with the ABS reporting an agricultural production value of $457 million, up 6 per cent. The growth is being driven by higher farm gate prices.
“This is a great outcome for Tasmanian producers because 2018-19 was a tough year with the tail end of the fruit fly response as well as summer bushfires during this period,” Mr Barnett said.
“The Government is delivering $900,000 over four years through the ‘Grow more, Milk more and Make more’ initiative to work with dairy farmers on productivity, farm business and value-adding strategies.”
Support includes a dairy-specific round of the On Farm Energy Audit and Capital Grants Program, a Dairy Extension program that delivered the Farm Manager/2IC training program, financial management mentoring and business planning program for dairy farmers, and the Stock Underpass Program that assists farmers to build road underpasses to safely and efficiently move stock.
Mr Barnett said Tasmania’s primary industry sector would play an important role in the state’s economic recovery as it provides food for households and businesses across the country.
“Tasmania produces nearly three times as much food as we consume on-island, so we are immensely proud of our farmers who have worked hard to keep the nation’s produce supply chains open,” Mr Barnett said.
Originally published as Tasmania’s dairy industry is growing and producing more milk than ever
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