Today, Australian Dairy Farmers (ADF) is speaking at the Senate Economics References Committee inquiry into Australia’s dairy industry after a motion co-sponsored by Senators Jacqui Lambie and Nick Xenophon was passed last month.
The motion for the inquiry follows the decision of dairy giants Murray Goulburn and Fonterra to cut milk prices paid to dairy farmers earlier this year.
ADF President, David Basham said the inquiry offers an opportunity for the industry to lead a collaborative approach to represent all dairy farmers.
“ADF in partnership with our state members, is continuing to fight for farmers and even though we cannot solve all of the issues we are working to relieve some of the pressures dairy farmers are facing”, Mr Basham said.
“Dairy farmers are resilient and realistic – they are used to managing volatility and adapting their budgets to remain sustainable even in tough times.
We need to ensure that an unfair share of risk in the value chain is not taken by the farmer and that recent events in the industry do not happen again”, said Mr Basham.
ADF is pleased to see the Federal Government
Measures proposed by ADF include –
- The development of the Code of Best Practice on contractual agreements
- To ensure that the ACCC review identifies the whole of chain impact on farmers from ongoing issues such as $1 milk and implementing fair contract terms and conditions
- Reinforce the importance of a world dairy commodity pricing index and educational program for farmers to better understand the impacts of the world market price and impact on the domestic market
“Collaboration is key to get us where we need to be, and we rely on all the elements operating effectively. Farmers need processors and processors need farmers – so the solutions require all of us to come together to ensure a positive future”, said Mr Basham.
ADF looks forward to reviewing the final report from the Senate Inquiry on 24 February, 2017. -ends-
Media Contact:
Bernadette Marr, Media and Communications Manager
M: 0447 161 919