On the finish of 2021, the price of a litre of home-brand milk in an Australian grocery store was about $1.30. It’s now about $1.60.
What is going to it value on the finish of 2022? That is dependent upon the continued impact of flooding on prime dairy-production areas in New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania, in addition to on international financial situations.
The Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Useful resource Economics and Science has projected a 28% enhance within the farm-gate milk value in 2022-23 – to 72.5 cents per litre, a report excessive. With much less milk being produced, it could possibly be much more.
Australia’s dairy areas
ABARES, CC BY-NC-ND
It’s a case of upper demand and decrease provide. Manufacturing has been declining since 2014. Within the first half of 2022, ABARES says milk manufacturing was about 7% decrease than the identical interval in 2021:
This was pushed by excessive climate occasions: a drier than common begin of the yr in southern Victoria and northwest Tasmania, flooding in areas of Queensland and northern New South Wales. Additionally, with export costs for Australian dairy merchandise growing considerably initially of 2022, much less milk was out there to the home market.
Clearly, issues aren’t all rosy. Some dairy farmers face the devastation of pure disasters. All face the identical post-COVID challenges as different major producers. Russia’s warfare on Ukraine has assist drive up prices of inputs, from fertilisers to feed. Labour is tough to search out.
However for all that, the report excessive farm-gate value is nice information for an business
the place the variety of farmers has declined by 1 / 4 previously decade (from about 7,500 in 2011 to about 5,700 now).
Learn extra:
Farm floods will hit meals provides and drive up costs. Farmers need assistance to adapt as climate extremes worsen
Deregulation stirs the pot
Till 2000, farm-gate milk costs have been regulated. State and territory governments set minimal farm-gate costs that maintained farmer earnings.
This was deserted in July 2000. With deregulation, farmers, processors and supermarkets have been let loose to barter costs.
In financial principle, free commerce works effective when you’ve numerous patrons and sellers, all with the identical quantity of details about what is going on out there.
However within the milk business, hundreds of producers promote to a handful of milk processors, who then promote to even fewer retailers. The key supermarkets management nearly 60% of whole milk gross sales.
This isn’t all the time such an issue. It isn’t typically you hear contemporary producers screaming at supermarkets, in what’s a really related association. However with the dairy business, as famous in a 2021 report from the Division of Agriculture, Waters and the Setting, there’s a “perceived market failure”.
Why? It has to do with how supermarkets have used their energy.
Waging the milk value warfare
To present time for the market to search out an equilibrium, the Howard authorities launched a “Dairy Adjustment Levy” of 11 cents per litre to assist farmers by way of deregulation. This levy remained in place till 2008, when it was abolished by the Rudd authorities.
Then, in 2011, the “milk warfare” broke out. Coles had the concept of luring consumers from Woolworths by promoting milk at $1 a litre. Woolworths responded. Aldi joined the transfer. And the warfare saved costs artificially low for nearly a decade.
Supermarkets put the squeeze on processors, who had little choice however to simply accept what was supplied for essential grocery store contracts. Processors then put the squeeze on farmers.
Many determined the trouble was not value it, and stop farming. Milk manufacturing peaked in 2014 then declined.
Supermarkets lastly deserted $1/litre milk in 2019, underneath appreciable public and political strain to acknowledge that, after eight years with no enhance, some rebalancing was wanted.
Throughout this time, abroad demand for dairy merchandise has additionally been growing, particularly in Asia. Now about 32% of Australian dairy manufacturing is exported – not as contemporary milk, however as cheese, butter and different dairy merchandise. (It takes about 10 litres of milk to make 1 kilogram of cheese, and 20 litres to make 1kg of butter.)
On prime of that, these days US and European dairy farmers have had a tough time with drought, growing worldwide costs. The United Nations’ Meals and Agriculture Group’s Dairy Worth Index elevated by greater than 17% from 2020 to 2021, and is anticipated to rise one other 15% by the top of this yr.
Australian milk manufacturing and farm-gate value
ABARES; Dairy Australia
The projected 28% rise in farm-gate milk costs in 2022-23 will convey the worth of the Australian dairy manufacturing to a report $6.2 billion.
Which is nice information for the long run sustainability of dairy farming in Australia. You won’t recognize it, however to maintain dairy farmers in enterprise, a good value have to be payed to your contemporary milk.
Flavio Macau is affiliated with the Australasian Provide Chain Institute (ASCI).
Amy Cosby is affiliated with the CQUniversity Institute for Future Farming Programs and a dairy farmer in Victoria.