By Ben Bennett, ADF President They say transparency builds trust. It’s curious then that some processors and their representatives in the dairy industry have been calling to expedite a scheduled review of the ACCC Dairy Code of Conduct without clearly articulating their reasons. All the more curious given the timing, when we have competitive milk prices (which are set by the processors themselves and the marketplace). It’s even more curious given some of the recent misinformation in the media, suggesting the code is responsible for high retail dairy prices, and that this is in effect driving a ..read more

It’s something we see so often in life – people seizing an issue and misrepresenting the facts to push their agenda. That’s exactly what has happened recently in the dairy industry. If you haven’t yet heard of the cost-of-living crisis, you’re lucky. It has been all over the news. Yet, some industry participants have seen this as an opportunity to pursue their agenda to effectively water-down the mandatory Dairy Code of Conduct. They’ve presented an argument that the Code is, in effect, setting prices and contributing to this cost-of-living crisis. Blaming the Code for food inflation or the pr ..read more

BY ANN GARDINER, ADF Water Committee Chair People who should be making decisions on an issue should be the closest to it, and I can tell you right now Canberra is a long way from the Murray Darling Basin (MDB). Last week the Restoring our Rivers Bill got the support it needed to pass the Senate, and what worries me most is that it’s people far away from the MDB that have had the most say in its future. Trust me, the Minister said when we met with her two weeks ago in Sydney. But to be honest with you, trust doesn’t go all that far when it comes to politics. That’s why we’re calling for an ..read more

By RICK GLADIGAU, PRESIDENT, AUSTRALIAN DAIRY FARMERS This week, I’m representing the interests of the Australian dairy industry in Osaka, Japan, where free trade talks with the European Union (EU) fell over on Monday. To be honest, the stalemate comes as a relief for Australian dairy businesses. The deal on the table from the EU was not free and it was certainly not fair for Australian agriculture. The Federal Minister for Trade and Tourism, Senator Don Farrell, has our complete backing for walking away from a deal that was not in the interests of Australian farmers. No deal is better than a ..read more

By RICK GLADIGAU, PRESIDENT, AUSTRALIAN DAIRY FARMERS The gloves are off for many farmers right now when it comes to water issues, and it’s worth taking a moment to reflect on why some of our usual diplomacy is being set aside. To put it simply, we’re feeling ignored and fed up. You see, we’ve spent the past couple of years meeting with and providing submissions to the federal government about possible solutions to the Murray-Darling Basin Plan’s challenge of finding water for the environment. The health of the Murray-Darling Basin is critical to those of us in the dairy industry, given one-fi ..read more

By RICK GLADIGAU, PRESIDENT, AUSTRALIAN DAIRY FARMERS The dairy industry is facing some serious challenges and right now, dairy farmers need someone in their corner. For more than 80 years, Australian Dairy Farmers (ADF) has been proud to play this role. As the peak body for dairy farmers, we have two core functions: to ‘represent’ dairy farmers in formal roles and to ‘advocate’ on behalf of dairy farmers to industry, government, processors and community. In terms of advocating, we are currently defending the hard-won Mandatory Dairy Code of Conduct. It was carefully designed to equalise barga ..read more

By RICK GLADIGAU, PRESIDENT, AUSTRALIAN DAIRY FARMERS Dairy farmers are reassured by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s (ACCC) decision to further examine Coles’s proposal to buy two milk processing sites from Saputo. Australian Dairy Farmers (ADF) believes the ACCC’s decision validates its concerns about the proposed sale of Saputo sites at Laverton North, Victoria, and Erskine Park, NSW, to Coles. The sites produce fresh milk for Saputo’s Devondale brand, and for other parties, including Coles’s home-brand dairy products. ADF is concerned the proposed acquisition could subs ..read more

By RICK GLADIGAU, PRESIDENT, AUSTRALIAN DAIRY FARMERS Today, 1 June, is World Milk Day – a day when we celebrate a nutritious food that makes for a healthier world. For Australian dairy farmers, today is also D-day. It’s the day when dairy farmers find out what price processors will offer for their milk at the farmgate for the coming supply season. The Mandatory Dairy Code of Conduct requires processors to publish these prices and, in doing so, the code has brought more transparency to milk pricing and certainty for farmers. Yet, amid this celebration and certainty there is caution because Aus ..read more

By RICK GLADIGAU, PRESIDENT, AUSTRALIAN DAIRY FARMERS You might have heard about the slow-down in China’s economy. Things have not taken off post-COVID, as expected. While it is true the heifer trade has all but evaporated, do not think for a minute that the opportunities for Australian dairy with our biggest trading partner are also on the slide. In June, I was fortunate to join the first Australian dairy trade visit to China since COVID. I spent six days there with Charles McElhone, Catherine Taylor and Sarah Xu from Dairy Australia. As part of the trip, I attended the China Dairy Industry A ..read more

By CRAIG HOUGH, DIRECTOR STRATEGY & POLICY, AUSTRALIAN DAIRY FARMERS The federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers faces the challenge of balancing geopolitical tensions, global economic uncertainty, the inflated cost of living and reducing government debt when he delivers his second budget on May 9. In the October 2022 budget, nominal gross domestic product (GDP) was forecast to grow 3.25 per cent in 2022-23, reflecting high commodity prices, growth in employment and rising household consumption. This growth in GDP provided significant tax revenue of more than $100 billion to reduce the nation ..read more