Opening milk prices disappointing
Higher world prices and a lower exchange rate have caused opening farm gate milk prices to increase in southern NSW and Victoria. However, this has not had any impact on prices in northern NSW and Queensland where opening prices have remained unchanged.
Milk prices in Victoria (including NSW Riverina) have lifted from a 60c/L (8.10/kg) opening milk price in June 2024 to an opening milk price of 66c/L ($8.90/kg) in June 2025. Milk prices in New South Wales, Sydney and South Coast have increased for some processors from 71c/L ($9.60/kg) in June 2024 to 79c/L ($10.60/kg) in June 2025. This is a positive move but still well shy of where prices should be based on current world prices which is closer to $10/kg in Victoria.
Southeast Queensland average advertised milk prices have remained the same as last year at 91c/L. Milk prices for Northern NSW have remained the same as the previous season. In North Queensland average advertised milk price has remained the same for June 2025 at 88c/L. Unfortunately, this shows a complete lack of competition between processors north of Sydney.
Farm businesses coming to the end of their current Milk Supply Agreement, that have a choice of milk processors to supply, should make a proper milk price comparison of all your processor options. If you are coming off contract and want to have a milk price comparison for the please contact eastAUSmilk.
Given the opening prices announced are below where they are likely to be at the end of June, I would encourage all farmers to hold off signing any contracts until they do a proper assessment of all options and wait until the end of June to sign any contracts. There should be increases in prices over the next month in most regions and farmers have no leveraging power with processors if they blindly sign contracts now.
Eric Danzi, CEO eastAUSmilk
Long term recovery after a disaster and the need of financial assistance to support farm businesses recover
Extreme flood and weather events have been impacting dairy farms in Queensland and New South Wales since the break of the drought in 2020. Starting with flood events of Tropical Cyclone Seth what followed was a relentless number of floods and cyclones causing devastation from Atherton Tablelands in the North all the way through to NSW’s South Coast.
These events have set back businesses, with herds being wiped out and affected by ongoing cases of mastitis and footrot or lameness; floodwaters eroding country, flooding the milking parlour and destroying infrastructure; and disrupting seasonal planting and harvesting of pastures and/or crops.
Flood events have become more prevalent and extreme, affecting the immediate recovery of farms and business reinstatement. Farmers have been looking towards improving their resilience towards extreme environmental conditions and focusing on capital infrastructure that can house their herds or provide temporary shelter from the wet conditions. Free stall, compost or loafing barns and feed pads are some examples of dairy systems we will see more of in the future. Other investments into technology such has cow collars which monitor individual animal health or somatic cell count sensors to aid in early detection of mastitis and allow for early intervention have been successfully adopted. However, large capital and even smaller investments that improves the businesses’ ability to manage poor weather conditions only becomes attainable when cash flow isn’t being severely affected by countless natural disasters.
Financial assistance in the form of grants, subsidies and loans made available by the federal and respective state governments have been instrumental in assisting the recovery for dairy farm businesses.
Financial assistance from TC Alfred has been made available in Queensland, financial assistance from TC Alfred and NSW Mid-North Coast Floods are available to NSW farmers. Grant funding will be essential for these farms to recover.
Last year, eastAUSmilk’s team have collectively assisted 29 farm businesses in Qld to access disaster recovery funding and emergency freight subsidies and 11 in NSW. We are continuing to assist dairy farmers across New South Wales and Queensland.
Industry differences and understanding what successful recovery for individual agricultural industries should be considered when delivering these programs and during the development of the guidelines. This will ensure farm businesses are getting the right assistance to continue and resume as close to normal production prior to the disaster but also inform future programs to build and improve farm resilience to these catastrophic weather events.
Jade Chan, eastAUSmilk Project Manager
How much rain can our state take…
Is the question the NSW Mid North Coast and Hunter Regions are asking! River heights reaching new records, flood waters reaching landmarks not seen before.
How to put the destruction into words is incredibly difficult. Many dairies are under water, farmers are unable to milk or feed stock and some producers being evacuated from their farm by the State Emergency Services, neighbours and police rescue.
The East Coast Low, dumping regional rainfall in Gloucester (600mm), Taree (520mm), Port Macquarie (420mm), Kempsey (450mm) and the lower Hunter. The rainfall has only added to Mid North Coast’s increasingly wet conditions that have resulted from disastrous weather events since ex Tropical Cyclone Alfred.
Catastrophic flooding has impacted Gloucester, Taree, Wingham, and surrounding areas. Manning region being hit hard on Tuesday 20th May, with the flood levels exceeding the 1929 record level of 6m.
The Manning River reaching 6.45m at Taree on Wednesday evening. The Gloucester River reaching 5.83m. Along with the Lower Hunter also copping severe rainfall causing flooding that has exceeded historical levels. The rainfall has been relentless with constant rainfall for 48 hours with little reprieve and the devastation multiplying hourly.
Kempsey and the northern region hit with heavy rainfall causing flooding from the east coast low that tracked north from Taree. Hitting on the evening of Wednesday 22nd May. Flood levels reaching the 2001, 7m record before mid-morning on Thursday. At the time of writing, the flood levels in Kempsey had not yet peaked.
The flood waters have been slow to recede, proving it difficult to check and stock and feed them, with an unfortunate amount of stock being lost to flood waters. Focusing shifting to clean up and recovery once water have receded, with Hay being the next question of impact and at what cost. Victoria and South Australia in drought the hay stores that would have normally been drawn on are not available.
Government help is needed and is needed urgently. Farmers are severely impacted from Alfred and are yet to receive recovery assistance. Delivering support for immediate and long-term recovery must go on the front burner.
Abby McMillan - eastAUSmilk Member Services Officer
Federal Election Done and Dusted
The 2025 Federal Election is done and dusted, with an overwhelming ALP win …. but what does this mean for the dairy industry?
Issues facing the dairy industry were not a feature of the campaign so no standout policy commitments were received from any political party.
The new Albanese Cabinet and Ministry has now been officially sworn in - Julie Collins remains in the cabinet as Minister for Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. Queensland Senator Anthony Chisholm is her Assistant Minister and adds Resources to his role.
The new Ministry does not include a Minister for Food as recommended last year by the parliamentary committee into food security.
EAM has written to the Minister and Assistant Minister congratulating them on their appointments and committed to working with them to address the important issues facing the dairy industry.
A key issue for farmers is the review of the Dairy Code. The arbitrary extension for the review means any changes to redress the imbalance between farmers and processors will not be made in time for the current round of milk contracts. The new Government needs to take a keener interest in this review as it has all the hallmarks of a token exercise.
The survival and very existence of the dairy industry is a growing concern. Farms battered by severe and ongoing weather events are under strain, with fatigued farmers managing sodden fields they can’t re-plant, herd mastitis and sore feet inflating veterinary bills. Unlike their Qld counterparts, NSW farmers are still waiting for Government assistance with the impact of ex-cyclone Alfred and their transport subsidies remain arbitrarily capped at $15 000 per financial year.
Dairy farmers also need a more concerted effort from Government to help build climate resilience with on-farm infrastructure, trials of more tolerant pasture varieties and new labour-saving technologies.
The committee recommendation for a Food Security Plan and a specific strategy for reinvigorating the dairy industry would be a perfect focus for the new Minister to lift profitability and production while addressing the industry’s economic and environmental sustainability.
EastAUSmilk will focus our efforts to ensure Government is fully aware our farmers issues, the challenges facing farmers every day and the exciting opportunities that, if supported, will save and grow our dairy industry.
Joe Bradley, President eastAUSmilk
NSW Minns Government Backs Virtual Fencing
In welcome news to the NSW dairy industry, the Minns Government has announced support to legalise virtual fencing. The industry has been calling for the legalisation of this technology to bring NSW into line with Qld, NT, Tasmania, WA and New Zealand.
Cattle neck bands and collars are already widely used for monitoring herd activity, health and welfare but this announcement opens the way for use as an alternative to expensive physical fencing. Where virtual fencing is allowed and used in other States and NZ, farmers report significant efficiencies, cost savings and pasture management flexibilities.
The hold up with approval of virtual fencing in NSW has been opposition from animal welfare groups. A parliamentary committee heard all arguments and the Government accepted their recommendation to support virtual fencing with a code of practise on its use. Credit is due to Phil Donato, Member for Orange for initiating and pushing this issue in parliament, listening to industry calls.
The next steps will be industry consultation, including the development of the code of practice, then introduction of changes to the Protection of Cruelty to Animals Regulations. The parliamentary process to pass these changes into law is made much easier with this announced NSW Government support – Minister Moriarty is to be commended for this decision.
Throughout these next steps, EAM will continue to advocate for and represent NSW dairy farmers so they can finally access benefits of virtual fencing already enjoyed by Qld farmers.
In these tough economic times for the dairy industry, Government decisions to remove regulatory barriers such as virtual fencing, go a long way to improve dairy farm profitability and efficiency. They are low cost for Government, but high impact for industry – EAM will keep pushing for more of these for farmers.
Joe Bradley, President eastAUSmilk
Sydney Royal Easter Show
The Sydney royal easter show was again a huge event on the Calendar for all people in NSW along with many interstate and overseas visitors. It is an impressive event with the number of people who attend, the facilities and the animals of course. eastAUSmilk representatives Joe Bradley, Sam Nicholson and Eric Danzi attended the show and had the pleasure of speaking to lots of dairy farmers and seeing many impressive cows.
There were so many eastAUSmilk members at the show and it was a great opportunity for eastAUSmilk to get to know our members better and gain feedback on what our members expect from us. Also, we were able to speak to many potential eastAUSmilk members, and we really appreciated their time and honest feedback.
Our members were very clear about what they expect us to achieve. A special mention to Simon Atkins from Dorrigo who was unequivocal in his expectation that eastAUSmilk would secure disaster assistance for the farmers in NSW who were smashed by cyclone Alfred. We had strong engagement with Minister Saffin and her team about cyclone Alfred. We believe that her strong history of passionate support for northern NSW regional communities will be a big asset for the dairy industry.
There were around 400 cows in the show which was bolstered by the high number of jerseys since the world jersey conference was held in Sydney during the show.
The supreme champion cow was Sorella Gin and Tonic which is an Ayrshire cow of Pat Buckley and April Browne from Camden. It is the first time an Ayrshire has been crowned supreme champion since 1987.
Max, Gavin and Sarah Wake won the best Brown Swiss cow.
Thanks to all the dairy farmers who made this such a special event. I look forward to seeing you all again next year.
Eric Danzi, CEO eastAUSmilk
Dairy discussion dinners to roll out over NSW and Qld focusing on milk price and contracts
In late April and throughout May, eastAUSmilk will be conducting several dairy discussion dinners across Queensland and New South Wales to chat about farm business resilience planning, milk pricing and contracts. These discussion dinners will be beneficial to farmers across the two states leading up to the release of Milk Supply Agreements on 1 June.
The meetings will be led by Matt Hall, Eric Danzi and Jade Chan. Matt has over 25 years over experience in the dairy industry, having worked predominantly in the Gippsland region of Victoria. He has previously worked for milk processors and has an in-depth knowledge of milk price and contracts to provide support to our dairy farmer members.
The discussions will be robust, focusing on market exposure and pricing agreements however the topics can be driven by demand and interests on the night. It would be a good opportunity for farmers to meet Matt and scope out how he can provide a service on your farm. Matt’s knowledge includes farm systems, soils, pasture and grazing management, cow nutrition, succession planning, benchmarking and farm sustainability.
Some venues are still being confirmed for NSW & SEQ, but proposed schedules are as follows: (undetermined venues are marked with an asterisk*).
Queensland (workshops through the Farm Business Resilience Program with additional discussions around Business Planning, preparedness around disasters and learnings from the Finley Farm Tour)
· 29 April Malanda 6.30pm
(The Big Pub, 2 English Street, Malanda QLD)
· 30 April Millaa Millaa Hotel 6.30pm
(15 Main Street, Millaa Millaa QLD)
· 19-23 May Darling Downs, Southern Burnett and Scenic Rim regions*
New South Wales (workshops focusing on milk price and contracts)
· 7 May Blighty Pub 6.30pm
(2371 Riverina Highway, Blighty NSW)
· 12 May Nowra 6.30pm
(Worrigee Sports Club, 131 Greenwell Point Road, Worrigee, NSW)
· 13 May Jamberoo 6.30pm
(Bowls Club, 11 Allowrie Street, NSW)
· 14 May Bodalla Pub 6.30pm
(73-77 Princes Hwy, Bodalla NSW)
· 27 May Singleton Diggers 6.30pm
(49 Castlereagh St, Singleton NSW)
· 28 May Gloucester 6.30pm
(Roundabout Inn, Church St, Gloucester, NSW)
· 29 May Taree 6.30pm
(Club West, Edinborough Drive, Taree NSW)
Two additional meetings for southern NSW are in the works, dates and locations TBA.
Please keep an eye out on the eastAUSmilk website, newsletter or Facebook page for updates on locations and dates.
Jade Chan, Project Manager - eastAUSmilk
Federal Election – Impact on Dairy Farmers
The Federal election is underway, and dairy farmers are rightly considering if the outcome has any impact of their livelihoods. This is a good question.
Historically, agriculture does not feature in the daily campaign highlights or nightly news, but Trump has changed that this year – with tariffs, beef exports and quarantine standards carrying the news.
The impact on the industry remains unclear, but the residual resentment to the US behaviour has shifted the political landscape, with both leaders positioning to defend Australian industry and not taking retaliation.
Money has been put into ‘buy Australian made’ and a focus on alternative markets like Europe. The stock exchange took a hit but seems to be re-grouping and talk has shifted to prospects of global recessions and mortgage rate cuts.
In short, the economic waters have muddied, and the silt will need to settle over the next few months to see how clear the waters are for dairy and other industries.
The impact of other waters is the more present concern for dairy farmers in regions affected by ex-cyclone Alfred and other sustained rain events and for the beef and lamb industry in Western Queensland.
Farmers are living with the catastrophic hit on businesses and livelihoods and the spotlight is on how well Governments respond and support farmers - after the photo ops are done.
It also turns farmer’s minds to climate and economic resilience. How can farmers be better supported to invest in the infrastructure, technologies and pastures that will withstand recurring weather events and improve profitability?
The political climate also seems ripe for an announcement on the Food Security Plan. Farmers will recall the Parliamentary Committees recommendation for a Minister for Food and a specific strategy for reinvigorating the dairy industry – to lift profitability and production while addressing the industry’s economic and environmental sustainability.
With only a couple of weeks left in the campaign farmers should be asking these questions of any politician you meet.
The endless coffees pollies are drinking to keep them tirelessly campaigning and the Easter eggs lining the supermarket shelves contain a good dash of Aussie farmer produced milk – farmers hope they remember this and think about how they can support the industry that keeps it flowing. We are not seeing much of that yet.
Joe Bradley, eastAUSmilk President
Ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred in NSW
Well, we all held our breath and patiently waited for Alfred to hit. 10 days’ notice from the BOM was appreciated by all. Seemingly skipping over areas that we assumed would be smashed with wild weather along with areas such as Dorrigo in Northern NSW that were not expected to be hit, certainly copped the feral weather that Alfred brought to town.
With over 1metre of rain having been reported as falling in the week of Alfred, Dorrigo and the producers in the area have a recovery road ahead of them, time frame unknown as we are all too aware.
Land slips posing imminent danger, tanker access limited to farm, with the Waterfall Way being closed for a week and the back road to Grafton not the best track, it was touch and go for the farmers in the region. Naturally milk has been dumped and reports coming from the area of sink holes appearing in driveways. Calf shed rooves disappeared in the storm, along with machinery shed rooves. Causeways and crossings were washed out posing difficulties with cattle crossing, and dams being washed out as well.
With winter planting of ryegrass, oats and the likes normally well underway, this has been postponed for many, saturated paddocks and holding of silt build up. These factors are delaying the winter plant, the feed gap is going to be extended well past the normal for the Dorrigo region.
Like every dairy farmer they clean up, rebuild fences, fix the shed and get on with animal husbandry and milking, ensuring that we will all have fresh milk available for our morning coffee tomorrow.
NSW Governments help – one $15,000 transport subsidy, how far will this go, not touching the tip of the iceberg. EastAUSmilk are working hard at lobbying to have this changed and upgraded for the region.
Abby McMillan – EastAUSmilk – NSW Member Services Officer
Low-cost systems to manage flood and wet conditions
Ex-tropical cyclone Alfred brought along a significant amount of rain and as the wet weather continued over the month, we are seeing more and more farmers look to options to flood proof their businesses. Capital investment such as compost or free stall barns are at the top of the list to improve cow comfort and prevent health issues such as footrot, lameness and mastitis.
Early in March, eastAUSMilk brought 29 dairy farmers from Queensland through the Dairy Farmers Technology Uptake Program and 7 from New South Wales funded by eastAUSmilk to Finley, New South Wales. The tour focused on different dairy systems and technologies on farms, majority of farms showcased either dry lot systems or composting and free stall barns.
Housing cows improves cow comfort especially during poor weather; however these capital investments are at a high cost. Most farms on the east coast are still recovering from cyclones and severe floods where a large capital expense is not feasible at this point of time.
We were fortunate to have several guest speakers present at each dinner one of which included owner of Narrawilly Dairy, Rob Miller from Milton, NSW. He presented on the benefits of a feed pad and a low-cost opportunity utilising coal and clean landfill waste as an alternative for farmers who aren’t ready to invest in a barn but are looking for a temporary solution in the interim. eastAUSmilk has profiled Rob’s feed pad before, however with the current weather events and his presentation at Finley, refreshing this cost-effective construction may provide benefit to some.
The biggest driver behind Rob’s decision was massive above average rainfall, research into cost outlay and readily available resources (BHP coal/blast furnace waste and & knockdown & rebuild houses (bricks/tiles)) at a low price point resulting in minimal spending for maximum benefits.
The construction uses the concrete, brick and tile waste as the foundations followed by the coal and blast furnace waste for the top layer that is rolled and compacted to finalise the feed pad. The rock base is important in stabilising the foundations of the feed pad, reducing the risk of erosion and foundational failures.
It was great hearing about Rob’s decision-making processors with key insights looking at strategic investments for the dairy business, assessing whether an asset will appreciate or depreciate. This mindset has allowed him to seek alternatives to achieve the benefits of a feed pad whilst minimising the overall cost.
Jade Chan, Project Manager - eastAUSmilk
Ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred: impacts on the dairy industry
Ex-TC Alfred sat off the coast, undecided of when and where it was going to land in Southeast Queensland. Dairy farms from the Sunshine Coast, Queensland right through to the Mid North Coast, New South Wales were affected by strong winds and rainfall. In the lead up to the event, warnings and alerts were issued across the two states allowing farmers to prepare for the wind and rainfall events that would follow.
Preparedness can only support recovery and reduce damages to a degree when regions received over 800mm of rain across the 2-3 days causing localised and riverine flooding. The amount of water received during a short period of time meant severe infrastructural damages, erosion and floodwaters across paddocks and crops. The adverse weather affected and continues to affect animal health with increased cases of mastitis, lameness and 3-day sickness.
Milk dumping occurred in many regions, whether it be from accessibility issues to farm or the prioritisation of staff safety from transport companies and processing factories. Most factories prioritised daily collection in the lead up to the predicted impact of Alfred which worked favourably, minimising the total amount of milk dumped.
Category B disaster assistance has been made available in both Queensland and New South Wales which includes low interest loans and transport subsidies. We are encouraging farmers to continue to report on-farm damages whether it be minor or major as floodwaters continue to subside and you can access more parts of the farm and perform damage assessments. Damage reporting is key in informing state governments on the impact to industry and what level of assistance be made available.
Please contact the team at eastAUSmilk if you have any questions or need assistance in filling out a damage report in Queensland or New South Wales.
Lynelle - 07 3236 2955, Abby – 0421 310 626 or Jade - 0437 923 398
Jade Chan, eastAUSmilk Project Manager
EastAUSmilk rocks Finley & Blighty
36 dairy farmers descended on Finley and Blighty last week to visit some very impressive dairy farms. Attendance of 29 Queensland farmers were funded under the Dairy Farmers Technology Uptake Program through Queensland DPI’s ‘Bush Boost Fund’. 7 of the farmers that travelled were from NSW, both from the north and south coast, were funded by eastAUSmilk.
The farmers visited 8 different dairy farms across Finley and Blighty with one situated over the border south of Echuca. The farm systems varied immensely, including pasture, hybrid and a range of TMR systems including free stalls, dry lots and compost barns. The 8 farms varied from a small 200 cow herd, 4 farms were milking just over 1000 cows, one was milking around 2000 cows and one over 3000 cows. There was a lot of technology to see including full robotic milking platforms, rotary dairies, various cow monitoring technologies and robotic sprayers.
We also heard from several speakers at our dinners in Blighty and Finley. We heard from representatives from Garlock about their impressive products including greases, sprays and additives for both fuel and oil. Rob Miller from Milton in NSW spoke about his cheap fit for purpose feed pad and approach to investing in land and minimising expenditure on depreciating assets. Ron McCalman and Tom Kindred from Murray Irrigation Ltd spoke about the local irrigation scheme and their proactive approach to helping farmers best utilise irrigation and Murray Irrigation to build their business. We also had a panel session of hosting dairy farms on the last night.
This was a very worthwhile exercise which the visiting farmers greatly appreciated. It was great to see so many young people attend and a special thanks to the Daley girls and Clewley kids for attending in force and taking in so much on one of their first dairy trips. One of the farms we visited said that this was the most positive and inquisitive group that had ever visited their farm which they really appreciated.
The trip was successful in connecting dairy farmers across the two states of different ages and experiences, where they were able to share thoughts and learnings to bring new ideas back onto their own farms. The trip will be followed up with an online Zoom session to encourage ongoing discussions and further learning.
Eric Danzi - CEO, eastAUSmilk
Cyclone Alfred
The last week has been an interesting one for everyone in southern Queensland and northern NSW. The long, drawn-out threat of cyclone Alfred finally eventuated and was only a tropical low by the time it hit land around Brisbane. However, that did not mean that everyone was spared. Extremely high rainfall and intense winds still occurred in many areas of northern NSW and southern Queensland.
Before cyclone Alfred hit the coast, there were reports of extremely high rainfall in areas of northern NSW including over 600ml in Dorrigo just west of Coffs Harbour. Dorrigo is used to high rainfall but even for them this was a lot. Areas of the gold coast including Jacobs Well were not spared receiving around 600ml. Many other areas received around 400ml of rain including Lismore in NSW and Dayboro just north of Brisbane. The scenic rim, including around Beaudesert, received very high rainfall as well and was impacted very badly.
A lot of people lost power for lengthy periods of time. Winds caused falling trees and extensive damage to infrastructure. Although cyclone Alfred was only a tropical low by the time it hit the coast, it still caused a lot of problems. It will likely be months before the full extent is understood and farmers have fully recovered.
It will be important for government to get a good handle on what happened and assist farmer’s rebuild. We will all need to figure out who was impacted the most and ensure that they receive the support required to rebuild. Just because the media hype has gone away, it doesn’t mean that everything is instantly better for all those people including farmers who were badly impacted. We do not want to see cyclone Alfred causing the end of dairy farmers who were most severely impacted.
Eric Danzi - CEO, eastAUSmilk
Blueprint for Agriculture Forum – Dairy Ready To Go
eastAUSmilk attend the DPI’s Forum to kick-off a process to develop a new 25-year Blueprint for Agriculture, with the objective to increase Qld farm-gate outputs to $30 billion by 2030. This is a welcomed and ambitious goal, but it is definitely a stretch one that will need significant Government support and industry buy-in.
The target signals Government’s understanding that agriculture has more to contribute struggling regional economies and communities, and at a State-wide and national level to increase exports and feed our growing domestic markets.
At the Forum, eastAUSmilk advocated the draft Qld Dairy Plan - that awaits the Minister’s sign-off – as dairy’s contribution to the blueprint by increasing milk production and industry sustainability.
The draft QDP was developed and agreed with input from DPI, processors and dairy farmers, with industry wide agreement on what dairy farmers need to grow and thrive.
After the Forum – where the Minister stressed his priority for industry involvement - we are still concerned that the approval and funding of our draft QDP will get caught up in a protracted bureaucratic process.
Our ask is small in the scheme of the total Qld budget - only $4m over 4 years – but the impact will be substantial and consistent with the theme of the proposed Blueprint.
We understand why the Minister wants all sectors involved in his process to develop the Blueprint, but each sector is different and has its own challenges and solutions. Dairy has already done the hard yards with his Department to identify what is needed – we should not be held back any longer.
eastAUSmilk will continue to advocate this position to the Minister and his Department – so we can get on with the job.
Joe Bradley, President eastAUSmilk
Build knowledge of the dairy industry
Sam & Rachel Nicholson along with their three boys Albert (6), Joey (3) & Wilbur (1) Dairy on the Mid North Coast of NSW, 20 minutes outside of Taree.
Running 220 milkers on a year-round calving with the herd being a Holstein & Jersey with X-bred make up. PMR feeding set up to compliment the pasture that is grown, with a Kikuyu base throughout the Summer and annually planted Ryegrass throughout the Winter, their farm is subject to flooding due to low flood plain location between the Manning River & the Ghinni Ghinni creek.
Sam was fortunate to grow up dairying with his family having a leased dairy close to the farm they have now. His passion for dairying and agriculture being engrained from an early age. With Sam naturally being drawn to agriculture he completed Ag Business Managements at CSU in Orange NSW.
Purchasing the farm they have now in partnership with Sam’s parents, their business has been in growth from infrastructure and machinery with succession transitions occurring along the way.
Sam suggests to anybody that is interested in the industry to enrol in any of the courses that are available, many courses have a small or no fee, start with the basic and build your knowledge sensibly. Feeding calves and relief/casual milking is a terrific way to start in the dairy industry. Building your wealth when the opportunity arises, having your own machinery and building a small herd of cows.
Abby McMillan, NSW Member Services Officer
Better understanding of milk supply options
eastAUSmilk is offering a service to its members regarding gaining a better understanding of milk supply options for its member farmers and particularly for those that are coming to then end of a current milk supply agreement.
The expected benefits of this process are for the eastAUSmilk member to better understand their current milk processor supply options, historical milk flow, volume, components and quality, and how that might impact milk pricing and milk supply options.
All negotiations with milk processors are led by members and must be conducted under the dairy industry code that came into effect on 1st of January 2020. The Milk Supply Agreements offered or that are in place, determine the conditions of supply and contract arrangements are between milk processors and milk suppliers.
If a number of eastAUSmilk members who are located in a similar geographic area and that have similar end dates to their current Milk Supply Agreements wanted to form a collective bargaining group eastAUSmilk can also assist with this process.
A collective bargaining group, refers to an ACCC approved organization formed by dairy farmers coming together to collectively negotiate with milk processors regarding pricing and other terms of sale, essentially giving them greater bargaining power as a united group rather than negotiating individually.
There are some clear advantages and challenges with collective bargaining groups that need to be considered before forming a group, if you are considering a collective bargaining group some research is recommended.
If you are an eastAUSmilk member or considering becoming a member and you’re coming to the end date for your current Milk Supply agreement and would like to have a conversation about understanding your milk flow, including volume components and milk quality and the resulting current milk pricing and or forming a collective bargaining group, please contact Matt Hall 0459 234 720.
Matt Hall, eastAUSmilk Consultant
Full focus on the Finley Farm Tour
In March of this year, a group of Queensland and New South Wales farmers will travel down to Finley in southern New South Wales to tour intensive dairy farms around the region. The trip is part of our Dairy Farmers Technology Uptake Program (DFTUP) supported by the Queensland Government’s by the Bush Boost fund. The program will fully fund 20 spots for Queensland members to travel down to join the Finley Farm Tour. The DFTUP focuses on the training of new technologies leading to better on-farm adoption to improve labour efficiencies, animal welfare, business management and profitability which compliments the program’s grant program and other nation-wide initiatives to get more technology onto farms.
We have been lucky to secure seven different farms to visit in the Finley region and one farm in northern Victoria. There are a wide range of farm systems and technologies attending farmers will see which include freestall and compositing barns, and Arizona dry lot. Farms also have a range of automation on farm including feed management, heat detection and milking systems. There are significant regional and environmental differences when compared to the key dairying regions in Queensland and New South Wales however in some scenarios there are significant similarities where farmers will have the opportunity to learn about the different challenges each hosting farmer has had with their farms and on-farm investments.
After visiting farms across the region, guest speakers from Garlock, Murray Irrigators Limited and a NSW dairy farmer will chat to the group through a series of dinners held during the tour. The final dinner will consist of a panel discussion with the hosting farmers where any last-minute questions and information can be shared. eastAUSmilk are happy to be connecting farmers from North Queensland all the way through to the South Coast of New South Wales on this trip.
Jade Chan - Project Officer, eastAUSmilk
Dairy Farmers Need Support
eastAUSmilk has worked tirelessly with the department, processors and active farmers to finalise a plan for the Qld dairy industry. It will be launched soon and has a range of initiatives for industry productivity, sustainability and growth – but it needs Government buy-in to work.
The plan sets out key priorities for the future to help farmers access new technologies and pastures, improve infrastructure for climate resilience and other strategies to increase productivity and farm gate output.
EAM has asked the Qld Government for support in the next budget, or earlier. Farmers all read the news that the next budget will be tight, but compared with big ticket items like infrastructure, housing, education and health, our asks are very low cost with high impact.
The asks relate to extending the popular and effective technology uptake and farm business resilience programs and resources to support implementing the plan and work on new pasture development.
In total, the ask is only $3 million over 4 years, plus extending and improving access to FBRP – all would agree - a small hand out for a big hand up for dairy.
EAM and our farmers will continue to work with the new Government to deliver this support. We commend the Government’s ambitious commitment to increase total Qld agricultural industry total farm gate output to $30 billion by 2030 – and dairy farmers are ready to go to deliver our share.
Importantly for Queensland, a more productive and sustainable dairy industry delivers in spades for local, regional economies while ensuring Queenslanders can drink more home grown milk.
Denise Spinks, Government Relations Manager eastAUSmilk
Farmgate milk prices must go up
The price of milk paid to farmers plummeted in southern Australia in July 2024. This was in theory due to international dairy prices, but is this in hindsight correct? The clear answer is no.
An extremely effective campaign was run by the ADPF, the processors peak body, last year to drive prices down in southern Australia. At the time, the prices being offered seemed disingenuous and based on misinformation and the desire by processors to recoup profits from farmers. The rhetoric being sprouted by those with a vested interest to drive prices down was that a $2/kg price fall was required to be internationally competitive. We were told that Australian farmers were getting paid much more than NZ farmers and this had to stop.
Well stop it has and now southern Australian farmers are getting paid much less than those in NZ. NZ prices to farmers are currently around $A9/kg which is almost $A1/kg higher than southern Australian farmers are being paid. Current international dairy products, including for whole milk powder, and the extremely low Australian dollar suggest that prices should be at least $10/kg if not substantially higher. Clearly, as was clear at the time and even more obvious in hindsight, milk prices fell way too far in July 2024.
Prices must go up substantially in southern Australia in July 2025 to a price of at least $10/kg. This should have a positive impact on milk prices in NSW and Queensland.
In addition, there must be substantial changes to the dairy code to ensure that the market functions and processors compete for milk. The processor peak body ADPF should be precluded from influencing milk price as clearly occurred last year. Individual processors should not be allowed to send price signals pre 1 June which clearly are heard by farmers, rival processors and the market generally. The role of institutions, with major processor clients, in sending price signals must also be reviewed.
Eric Danzi, CEO eastAUSmilk
Welcome Matt Hall
Matt Hall started recently at eastAUSmilk to assist farmers with milk supply negotiations, implementing the Queensland dairy plan and helping service our members in southern NSW. Matt will be based on the south coast of NSW which will complement our existing staff in Queensland and northern NSW very well.
Matt has a very long history in the dairy industry in a large variety of roles. He was the commercial manager for milk supplies for Norco until October 2024. Previous to this, Matt held a variety of roles in the dairy industry over many decades including working for processors, as a consultant to dairy farmers and also for Dairy Australia. As a result, he has a very good knowledge of farmer and processor issues for northern NSW and southeast Queensland from his Norco days. In addition, Matt has a very good understanding of the landscape for farmers in southern NSW from previous roles.
I have always considered that assisting farmers with milk supply arrangements is a real need for our members. Too often, farmers are on their own when assessing contractual options and ensuring they get a good deal. This was extremely evident to me when I was in the Finley area in June 2024 when a number of farmers were dumped by Riverina Fresh. With Matt, eastAUSmilk has some real expertise to assist farmers as they assess milk supply contracts.
If any members of eastAUSmilk are coming off contract in July 2025 and would like assistance in assessing their options, please reach out to eastAUSmilk ASAP. It is much better for Matt to start preparing early rather than wait until June when it will be too late.
Matt will also oversee the implementation of the Queensland dairy plan. We want the plan to be the catalyst for the industry to move forward together and stop the rot that has happened in Queensland for 25 years. Matts vast experience will have him very well placed to drive this project.
I wish Matt all the best with his role. Please all dairy farmers welcome Matt to the team and make sure you utilise his vast expertise.
Eric Danzi, CEO eastAUSmilk