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Farmers milked dry as drought hits dairy production
14 Aug 2003
Dairy Australia says a large decline in milk output over the past year, due to the drought, has led to a dramatic drop in the production of many dairy products.
In Victoria, the main milk-producing state, milk output fell 11.1 per cent in the year to June 30, 2003. Output was 6.5 billion litres, down from 7.4 billion litres in 2001-2002. The worst hit area was the irrigated north of the state, where output dropped by 15.9 per cent.
Overall in Australia, milk production fell by 8.4 per cent to 10.3 billion litres for the year. But DA said the impact on dairy products was worse, because the usable part of the milk (the fat and protein composition) had been even more affected.
Volumes of whole-milk powder fell by 30 per cent to 166,000 tonnes, according to preliminary figures. Skim milk powder was down by 18 per cent to 215,329 tonnes, and cheese volumes decreased by 15 per cent to 350,684 tonnes.
DA said that supermarket prices have been up slightly as a result but the main impact was on the farm. Processors paid lower farm gate prices than normal because international prices were low early in the season. DA does not expect the next season to be much better than the last one.
The Age, 14/8/03.
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