The global dairy outlook is strong but that hasn’t translated to increased confidence in Queensland with dairy farmer numbers continuing to shrink.
In the past week alone there have been three dairy clearing sales in southern Queensland.
Neville Wenham has been a dairy farmer his entire life and has spent the past 28 years building up his stud Illawarra herd at Cooranga North.
The property is nestled in the foothills of the Bunya Mountains where there was once a thriving dairy community.
«In the hey day of the dairy industry here, there was a cheese factory just down the road, it had 40 something suppliers, supplying milk for cheese and another half a dozen suppliers, supplying cream to the Kingaroy butter factory.»
The Wenham’s dairy farm will be the final dairy farm in the area to sell.
One by one Neville Wenham had to load his cattle onto trucks, many destined for the new homes in the southern states.
«It is very tough to see them go, you see them split up from their mates and I think the cows realised yesterday afternoon, [they] knew they were in for something, they were behaving differently to the way they normally do.
«They all have individual personalities and every animal has its own name and they get called by their names, they’re like members of the family.»
A combination of low prices for milk, increased input costs and dry seasons, has seen the Wenham’s decide to sell their 150 dairy cows and run a commercial beef operation.
About 200 kilometres east at Lowood in the Lockyer Valley Errol Gerber is in a similar situation.
Errol is a fourth generation dairy farmer and was Parmalat’s largest supplier at one point milking 600 cows a day.
Those 600 dairy cows have now found homes across the eastern states, with 200 head going to Moxie Farms, near Forbes in New South Wales.
«It’s actually heart-wrenching, my wife and I have spent more than 30 years breeding animals, building this herd up to what it was.»
«It’s been a hard decision to make.»
Errol Gerber says higher returns to farmers are needed to boost the significantly lower levels of farmer confidence in Queensland.
«Milk production in Queensland is continuing to fall and we are in a situation here now where there is a major shortfall of milk and people are still continuing to go out.»
Mr Gerber believes the milk price war is only part of the problem with processor pricing also making it difficult to make a living.
«In 2010 we came off a shorter-term contract and we went from nearly 60 cents a litre, to below 50 cents a litre, so for ourselves personally, the lower returns actually go back to 2010.
«In hindsight we probably would be have been better off selling the cows then, but we had thoughts that things would turn around.
«Prices are higher now than what we were receiving then, but with the increase in costs both in grain, power and so forth, the prices that we are receiving are still below cost production.»
Nationally Dairy Australia has put out its annual industry outlook and it’s found nationally 75 per cent of dairy farmers feel confident about future.
In Queensland though it’s another story.
Only 33 per cent of dairy farmers are confident about the future and in the past three years about 100 have left the industry.
Commercial and research analysis manager at Dairy Australia Norman Repacholi, says the fresh milk regions are not as confident as the exporting regions.
«The domestic-focussed northern regions have not seen the same farm gate benefits of high international commodity prices brought about by the Asian dairy boom.»
«While the global economy is looking better this year, the unease around the Ukraine crisis and latent debt issues in China and Asi,a generally could produce unwelcome demand shocks, which could negatively impact Australia’s modest recovery,» cautioned Mr Repacholi.
Dairy Australia’s initial forecast for 2014/15 is for national volumes to reach 9.3 to 9.4 billion litres, an increase of around 2 per cent on the expected 2013/14 season total.
Source: ABC