Amid threats by the farmers that they would have to slaughter pregnant cows after their contracts with Brownes expired at the weekend, WAFarmers said yesterday a “short-term” deal had been struck.
Under the deal, Harvey Fresh will take milk from the farmers — Dale Hanks, Graham Manning and Tony Ferraro — and turn it into long-life UHT supplies for an unnamed third party.
Mr Hanks, a Harvey dairy farmer, said while he would receive a greatly reduced price under the deal, the solution would allow him to avoid dumping the milk as he had planned.
However, Mr Hanks said he held out little hope that the two-week reprieve would solve the problem he faced — a medium-term oversupply in the market.
As a result, he said he was still likely to cull some of his 300-strong herd while selling and “drying out” others.
Mr Hanks was particularly angry with former agriculture minister Dean Nalder, who the farmer said had not been “the least bit interested” in the farmers’ plight during his time in the portfolio.
“The whole thing has been too late,” Mr Hanks said.
“We’re really disappointed that at no point has a minister actually taken any interest to try to help us.
“We’ve never asked for a hand-out. We actually wanted an industry solution and that means a bit of help with infrastructure.
“For us personally, we’re just going to limit the damage, minimise our costs and do what we have to do with livestock.”
Michael Partridge, WAFarmers’ dairy council president, said the deal was a short-term fix only but he hoped it could provide the time for a breakthrough. “An arrangement has been put in place that will see the milk collected for the next two weeks, and during that time further negotiations will take place to come to a longer-term solution,” Mr Partridge said.
“WAFarmers will continue to be involved in this process.
“Over the last few months, we have done everything we could to ensure that these farmers stay in contract since Brownes announced their intentions this year, and are pleased a short-term arrangement has been made.”
Source: TheWestAustralia
Link: https://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/wa/a/32785671/milk-deal-gives-dairy-producers-brief-respite/?
