Camperdown supplier James Munro expressed his frustration at operating below the cost of production and “bad management decisions” at a supplier meeting at Cobden on Monday.
Mr Munro, who has been a MG supplier for up to 19 years, was at the meeting with his son Jonathan, who filmed the footage, which has now been viewed more than 23,000 times on Facebook.
Mr Munro told the MG management that conditions were hard for dairy farmers and they were “going out the back door”.
“How long can we keep sustaining it, getting below the price of production,” he said. “It’s only a matter of time before a lot of people just pull the pin.”
Mr Munro also highlighted the loss of 265 dairy licences in Victoria during the past year, saying dairy farmers “work damn hard for very little return.”
“I can’t see the future in it personally. We’ve been milking cows on our property since 1880 — one of the oldest dairy farms in Victoria,” he said.
“It is just going down the bloody gurgler. I’ve got a son here, what do I tell him?
“Just keep working boy, you are just going to have debt for the rest of your life”.
Saying he had “a gutful”, Mr Munro told The Weekly Times he decided to say something because he was “sick and tired” of hearing the “same diatribe” from MG management.
“They weren’t talking about milk price. it was all about trying to keep the company going,” he said.
“There wasn’t anything for the long suffering farmers, it was self-preservation for MG.”
An MG spokesman said: “MG regularly provides face-to-face opportunities for suppliers to share their views with their peers and management.
“We are focused on doing everything possible to improve our ability to pay a sustainably higher farmgate milk price.”
Source: The Weekly Times
Link: http://www.weeklytimesnow.com.au/agribusiness/dairy/murray-goulburn-suppliers-speech-at-cobden-meeting-goes-viral/news-story/b2c27878dffabbee6ce3649808fd572f