Comments attributable to Rick Gladigau, Australian Dairy Farmers president:
AUSTRALIA’S dairy farmers are celebrating World Milk Day today. They are also enjoying the benefits of a mandatory code of conduct hard-won by their national advocacy body, Australian Dairy Farmers.
Today, phones are running hot in the Australian dairy industry as processors announce their prices for farmgate milk for the coming season. This has not always been the case.
The fact that dairy farmers will, by 2pm today, know what price their processor is offering for the coming season is a direct benefit of the work of Australian Dairy Farmers to make milk prices more transparent.
In the not-too-distant past, dairy farmers could be many weeks into the supply season, having their milk collected by a processor for an undisclosed price.
Thanks to the Mandatory Dairy Code of Conduct, dairy farmers now have a month to consider processor’s offers, get milk price income estimations and sign an agreement.
Importantly, the Code is about more than just price. It imposes minimum standards of conduct on processors and dairy farmers, who must deal in good faith.
As farmers watch their input costs increase and the industry navigates a shrinking milk pool, the farmer-processor relationship will be more important than ever before. Farmgate prices and cooperation around the Code are two key ways we can continue to restore trust.