Dairy Industry Stabilization Plan Down the drain?

[JulieW]

Waleed Aly found a good sob story for ratings for his show. MG and Fonterra are two different business' and you cant compare them.
MG suppliers own the company - they get paid for milk but also take company profits thru shares. To supply MG you must buy shares (not the ones on the sharemarket).
Quoting prices on what it costs a farmer to make a liter of milk is like throwing darts at a dartboard, pick a number, all farms are different and all have different running costs.
Farming is not just about livestock and crops, A FARMER needs to be a good BUSINESS man/woman as well, a lot of good farmers are poor business men.
Why the hell would a farmer run a dairy up in the malee with little rainfall and they have to buy water? Crazy shit. If you have to buy water then more than likely you have to buy feed - go's hand in hand.

Have to agree with IPV6 partly, too many dairy farms in the WRONG places. Too many farmers have too much debt, too many farmers have poor business skills.
If dairy farmers had any balls they would quit complaining, quit asking for the government to step in and start dumping milk. Starve the nation and overseas markets, a few weeks of no milk on the shelves, no infant formula, no baked goods - eg bread, etc, etc would put the ball back into their court.

My acquaintance with the dairy farmers is about 30 years out of date, but no-one I knew was driving luxury vehicles or having it easy. But then herds were 300 tops. I understand it has changed and it's the US version of mega farm factories these days in most agricultural products.

I seem to remember farmers dumping free produce in the city square at one stage, and the French farmers are enthusiastic for the idea, and manure on the council steps, so perhaps Oz farmers could join their version of protest. Consumers are too far removed from their food imho. I'd include a few farm, food factory and abattoir visits in the school curriculum and see what sort of effect that would have on the consumers of the future.

 

[mmm....shiney!]

Consumers are too far removed from their food imho.

So what?

@iceblue, one of my nephews is an ex-dairy farmer (worker not owner), he basically says the same thing about farmers and their desire to go into debt to buy new shit every year.

 

[Ipv6Ready]

Waleed Aly found a good sob story for ratings for his show. MG and Fonterra are two different business' and you cant compare them.
MG suppliers own the company - they get paid for milk but also take company profits thru shares. To supply MG you must buy shares (not the ones on the share market).
Quoting prices on what it costs a farmer to make a liter of milk is like throwing darts at a dartboard, pick a number, all farms are different and all have different running costs.
Farming is not just about livestock and crops, A FARMER needs to be a good BUSINESS man/woman as well, a lot of good farmers are poor business men.
Why the hell would a farmer run a dairy up in the malee with little rainfall and they have to buy water? Crazy shit. If you have to buy water then more than likely you have to buy feed - go's hand in hand.

Have to agree with IPV6 partly, too many dairy farms in the WRONG places. Too many farmers have too much debt, too many farmers have poor business skills.
If dairy farmers had any balls they would quit complaining, quit asking for the government to step in and start dumping milk. Starve the nation and overseas markets, a few weeks of no milk on the shelves, no infant formula, no baked goods - eg bread, etc, etc would put the ball back into their court.

My acquaintance with the dairy farmers is about 30 years out of date, but no-one I knew was driving luxury vehicles or having it easy. But then herds were 300 tops. I understand it has changed and it's the US version of mega farm factories these days in most agricultural products.

I seem to remember farmers dumping free produce in the city square at one stage, and the French farmers are enthusiastic for the idea, and manure on the council steps, so perhaps Oz farmers could join their version of protest. Consumers are too far removed from their food imho. I'd include a few farm, food factory and abattoir visits in the school curriculum and see what sort of effect that would have on the consumers of the future.

The biggest problem is generalisation. At $5.60 average p/l there are many farmers making good money and at the same time some farmers will struggle to put food on the table.

Dairy Farming like any city based business could be small, medium or large enterprise.
All kind of business fail. There is no valid reason to prop upturn failing dairies. It is actually hurting the good dairy farmer and robbing them from making more money from their milk

farmers complaining about woollies or Coles, what if Coles gave away free milk.
it is farmers who sell them milk at X price, if they are making money all good if not why are farmers selling it to them?
Sell it to someone else, if there is no one else who will buy the milk at the price the farmer needs to survive, how are they in business burying their heads waiting for foreclosure or government hand out.

If a badly managed dairy shut down, the efficient farmers will be rewarded with better prices. They will employ better husbandry and management to reap the benefits.

They is no God given right to make a profit in any business.

Much like wool growers in the eighties getting paid $6 kg by the coop. The coop ended up with a mountain of wool bales which no one wanted.

It's the same selling milk to China at $11 a litre, great as long as Chinese buys it at that prices but farmers shouldn't be banking on that being forever. Because its not sustainable.

For sure great while it lasts if the cost is $2 per litre, in fact they deserve the fat profits. But if it is costing the farmer $10 a litre the farmer will be in trouble when the gimmick and newness wear off.

I was there in China for work last month, Chinese people want it but at $11 a litre it's a gimmick pure and simple, basically trying it once or giving it as gift. It is not sustainable

Why because there are not enough ultra rich "developed world mega rich standard" upper middle class Chinese to buy it everyday.

 

[Court Jester]

Consumers are too far removed from their food imho.

So what?

@iceblue, one of my nephews is an ex-dairy farmer (worker not owner), he basically says the same thing about farmers and their desire to go into debt to buy new shit every year.

like $120k Landcruisers

 

[Court Jester]

It will have a greater impact in the wider community a good example is we buy a new quad bike every 20k hours. Ours is currently at 16k hours and needs new tires, we thought instead of $2k on new tires we would buy another bike earlier, now with the price drop we will keep the bike and spend the $2k on new tires. So bike shop miss's out on the sale of a new bike.

But the Tire shop GAINS on a sale they were going to miss out on so I dont think the impact will be as great as you say.

 

[iceblue]

Tyre shop gets the sale either way,if we traded the bike in they would need tyres for it before resell.
Local engineering shop had 4 big jobs pulled immediately - big new dairy sheds + fit outs, he is looking at reducing his team of 8 down to 5, 3 jobs to go. Those 4 new dairys would have also supplied work for concrete company, concreters, plumbers, electricians, silo makers, feedtech systems, computer tech and milk tech. Average new shed build is around $1m give take a couple hundred grand based on size. Build time average is 3 months per shed. All that work vanished overnight!

 

[Holdfast]

Isn't this the case of too many dairy farmers?

Supply and demand, supply outstrip demand prices go down.

Case in point, farmers complaining about supermarket selling milk at below cost.
If no one farmer sells to Coles and woollies then they won't be selling it below cost.

more likely the real story is that either efficient dairy farmers can supply milk to the two giants at a profit or there is too much milk production.


Much like ore exports, China slow down prices go down, mines shut.

Or we could tell supermarkets to up the price and give more profits back to farmers.

We have already seen the Chinese hunger after Aussie farmland. Would you prefer farmers to go broke and have to sell their land to the highest overseas bidder ?

What would happen to the price of milk then, when the bulk of it is sent off-shore?

We'll be importing milk, cream, cheese, yoghurt and every other dang dairy product at a very expensive price.

I say, raise the price of a litre of milk and other dairy products 200% and give the increased revenue to farmers so they can improve their herds, infrastructure and wages for farm-hands.

And what scab would support Coles or Woolworths in their milk price war at the expense of our farmers.

Support Aussie farmers, support Aussie workers before it's too late; big companies who try to monopolise the market are no good for Australian folk.

 

[iceblue]

We certainly dont want dairy products being imported.

 

[mmm....shiney!]

And what scab would support Coles or Woolworths in their milk price war at the expense of our farmers.

That makes me a scab then. I gave up brand/source loyalty a long time ago. I don't expect it from my customers so other producers should not expect it from me. Win me over with price or value or consistency of product, not notions of loyalty.

 

[Ipv6Ready]

Coles and woollies having a milk war is good for the consumers.
Farmer sell to woollies and Coles at a price they accept. Farmers can sell to them at $2 a litre or give it to them for below cost, the issue is it is not a scarce commodity, so they accept the price.

In the work we do, well certain me, if my work said we will cut the salary I certainly will be looking for a new job. How many people have changed careers, what is so special about dairy farmers that they cant change the produce or sell the farm to someone else.

Just like the mining it was the miners that doubled and tripled output over the years and becuase they is a glut the prices they receive have gone down. Or are you saying we should subsidise the inefficient miners too who are struggling?

On your point I see no problems with any overseas or local person or company buying or more correctly leasing farmland.
If they succeed all good for everyone, more local jobs, more tax revenue etc. And the struggling farmer get To move the on.

When's farm shuts down, it doesn't mean the land is destroyed and left for ruin forever, much like a bad ineffcient coffee shop in the city someone else will have a go.

 

[trew]

In the work we do, well certain me, if my work said we will cut the salary I certainly will be looking for a new job.

And what if there were only two big employers in your industry and they were both cutting salaries because they were competing to take business from each other, what would you do then?

 

[Court Jester]

Tyre shop gets the sale either way,if we traded the bike in they would need tyres for it before resell.
Local engineering shop had 4 big jobs pulled immediately - big new dairy sheds + fit outs, he is looking at reducing his team of 8 down to 5, 3 jobs to go. Those 4 new dairys would have also supplied work for concrete company, concreters, plumbers, electricians, silo makers, feedtech systems, computer tech and milk tech. Average new shed build is around $1m give take a couple hundred grand based on size. Build time average is 3 months per shed. All that work vanished overnight!

dont bs me

who would put a 2k set of tires on a bike BEFORE trading it in.

that is like paying a prostitute then holding hands for 15 mins.( your not getting value for money)

 

[iceblue]

Tyre shop gets the sale either way,if we traded the bike in they would need tyres for it before resell.
Local engineering shop had 4 big jobs pulled immediately - big new dairy sheds + fit outs, he is looking at reducing his team of 8 down to 5, 3 jobs to go. Those 4 new dairys would have also supplied work for concrete company, concreters, plumbers, electricians, silo makers, feedtech systems, computer tech and milk tech. Average new shed build is around $1m give take a couple hundred grand based on size. Build time average is 3 months per shed. All that work vanished overnight!

dont bs me

who would put a 2k set of tires on a bike BEFORE trading it in.

that is like paying a prostitute then holding hands for 15 mins.( your not getting value for money)

No we wont put tyres on it, the bike shop will have to tho before they resell it. Its a road registered quad and the tyres are pretty much bald. So new tyres either way.

 

[JulieW]

A desperate plea by Victorian dairy farmers to buy branded milk has been heard, with shoppers taking to social media to share their photos of empty supermarket shelves.

Dairy giants Murray Goulburn and Fonterra have dropped the price of milk solids to below the cost of production for many farmers, leaving some out of pocket by more than $3,500 a month.

The crisis has sparked a broader discussion about the state of Australia's dairy industry, with farmers urging consumers to avoid discounted milk.

The appeal has since gone viral on the "Dairy Farmers Need Your Help please" Facebook page, with one image of empty milk shelves in Camperdown, in Victoria's south-west, receiving more than 20,000 shares and 18,000 likes in support.

"The cheap stuff has barely been touched," former milker and Cobden local Jasmine Mackay wrote in the post.

"The same thing is happening all over, all the home brand milk shelves are full," wrote another.

Similar images have since been shared of supermarket shelves across Victoria, including Echuca in central Victoria and Leongatha in Gippsland.

The Australian Securities and Investment Commission and the Australian Consumer and Competition Commission have since confirmed they are investigating the actions of Murray Goulburn and Fonterra, while the Federal Government has vowed to extend assistance programs to struggling farmers.

Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce has called on other supermarket chains to follow Coles and return more money to dairy farmers from milk sales.

Coles has announced it would develop a new milk brand which would return 20 cents a litre to a fighting fund aimed at helping dairy farmers facing devastating cuts in their payments from processors.

The Agriculture Minister acknowledged the big supermarket chains had followed Coles in the race to the bottom with $1 a litre retail sales.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-05-...-fb-plea-to-stop-buying-discount-milk/7429390

 

[bordsilver]

Will it last though? Guessing not.

 

[smk762]

In the work we do, well certain me, if my work said we will cut the salary I certainly will be looking for a new job.

And what if there were only two big employers in your industry and they were both cutting salaries because they were competing to take business from each other, what would you do then?

Join the resistance.

 

[JulieW]

Will it last though? Guessing not.

The same sort of campaign is making McDonalds change their business model, so never know.

 

[Ipv6Ready]

In the work we do, well certain me, if my work said we will cut the salary I certainly will be looking for a new job.

And what if there were only two big employers in your industry and they were both cutting salaries because they were competing to take business from each other, what would you do then?

Time to stop living in lala land and change industry

 

[iceblue]

Will it last though? Guessing not.

Even if it does last, the supply of fresh milk to coles is only 6% of the entire MG business.
People would also need to buy Devondale, cheese, butter, creams, uht, and powders to have any real impact.

Certainly a nice gesture to support the farmers tho.

 

[Stoic Phoenix]

And what if there were only two big employers in your industry and they were both cutting salaries because they were competing to take business from each other, what would you do then?

Develop a new skill set.