Mike Norton, of Capel, Tony Pratico, of Bridgetown, and Kieran Chapman, of Busselton, were initially told Harvey Fresh would not collect their milk after their contracts expired on July 1.
The three farmers, along with three others whose contracts were due to expire in October, will now have their contracts run until January to fall into step with all other suppliers. All supplier contracts will be renewed in January for one year.
The turnaround on contract renewals came after a survey of Harvey Fresh’s 63 other suppliers about their forecast supply over coming months.
The three immediately affected suppliers agreed to reduce their combined annual production by a third.
One-third of Harvey Fresh’s other producers also agreed to reduce supply. Parmalat declined to comment.
Dairy consultant Steve Hossen said the development followed efforts by WAFarmers and a group of suppliers who funded detailed work to match Harvey Fresh milk supply patterns with demand.
An advisory group to Harvey Fresh was established to facilitate the work and help the long-term relationship between producers and the company.
Meanwhile, Agriculture Minister Alannah MacTiernan has started a plan to provide a long-term solution to oversupply problems based on processing premium products and sending surplus milk interstate.
Ms MacTiernan will host a meeting next Thursday, comprising industry body Western Dairy and WA’s milk processors, after clarifying such a meeting would not fall foul of anti-collusion laws. Also attending will be Eastern States-based Booth Transport, which has offered solutions to transport and processing.
Ms MacTiernan said Booth believed it could transport WA surplus milk at a lower cost using an evaporation process that did not create environmental issues. The technology could also create opportunities for processing.
Source: THE WEST NETWORK
Link: https://thewest.com.au/business/agriculture/harvey-fresh-trio-get-milk-contract-lifeline-ng-b88495163z