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Dairy rallies after big dry
15 Jul 2004
Milk production is starting to pick up after the drought, with a flow-on to manufacturing, but exports are still struggling. Milk production in May rose 3.1 per cent to 616.9 million litres. In Victoria, there was a 9.9 per cent rise in output to 357.9 million litres, according to Dairy Australia. A 7.9 per cent rise in Tasmania helped offset big drops in output in Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia and NSW, where dry spells continue.
Dairy Australia said despite lower grain prices, farmers' ability to increase supplementary feeding has been affected by high debt levels from the drought, and lower-than-expected farmgate prices due to the rising $AUD.
Output of manufactured products has lifted: cheese production was up 4 per cent for the first nine months of 2003-2004; whey powders were up 7 per cent but whole milk and skim milk powders were both down 5 per cent, and butter/butteroil was down 11 per cent on last year.
Export volumes of dairy products fell 15.3 per cent in the first nine months to 624,000 tonnes. Cheese was steady, but all other products had big declines. The value of exports fell 15.8 per cent to $1,643 million.
The Age, 14/7/04.
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