Supermarket giant Woolworths this week announced plans to trial buying milk directly from dairy farmers in the Manning Valley in New South Wales. Woolworths says the trial of a direct relationship between the supermarket and dairy farmers is “seeking to give dairy farmers a better deal for their milk, end-to-end transparency from shed to shelf, the certainty of a longer term contract and a closer relationship to their consumers”. Woolworths wants to stock milk sourced directly from the Manning... ...Read more »

Coles and Woolworths’ milk price war has driven many Queensland farmers out of the dairy industry according to a new Queensland industry report.  The report released today, suggests it is only a matter of time before Queensland’s milk supply is sourced from other Australian states. The latest AgTrends report from the Queensland Government has confirmed the ongoing impact of the supermarket milk war and the on-farm impacts resulting from $1 per litre milk discounting led by major supermarket... ...Read more »

National Healthy Bones Week (NHBW), a health promotion initiative linked to the dairy industry is calling on cafes around Australia to offer free milk-shakes and smoothies as part of the ‘Free Shake Days’ promotion. Dairy Australia, which has been organizing NHBW since 1994, is inviting cafes around the country to join a “mass milkshake giveaway”. Participating cafes will receive free promotion at the special website, Facebook page and Twitter account. New and returning patrons will be encouraged... ...Read more »

Australian diary giant Murray Goulburn has announced plans to open regional offices in Singapore and Vietnam. The Cooperative says the move will grow its market presence across Asia and improve shareholder returns. Murray Goulburn is the largest processor of milk in Australia and the nation’s largest exporter of processed food. Its international business accounts for approximately 9 per cent of world dairy trade. In a letter to shareholders this week, Murray Goulburn’s Managing Director Gary... ...Read more »

The Australian Government has decided to fund an extension of a collaboration between the dairy industry and Foodbank Australia which aims to provide 2 million litres of milk a year to Australians in need. Minister for Community Services and the Status of Women, Julie Collins, announced the AU$300,000 injection into the dairy program this week. To date, the collaboration has seen over 450,000 litres of fresh milk go to charities around Australia. Foodbank is the largest hunger relief organisation... ...Read more »

The 13th annual Australian Grand Dairy Awards (AGDA), celebrating Dairy Industry excellence, were announced last week. The AGDA awards, which cover 19 categories, awarded a Champion in each category. From these 19 Champions, the highest scoring were then chosen for the prestigious titles of Grand Champion Cheese product and Grand Champion Dairy product. With 2012 being named Australian Year of the Farmer, the award ceremony paid special tribute to inspiring and motivational individuals within the... ...Read more »

The Australian dairy sector has little to fear from an estimated nine billion additional litres of milk expected to “flood” the global market once European dairy quotas are fully lifted in 2015, according to a visiting expert in European dairy. Kevin Bellamy, senior global dairy analyst for Rabobank, covering Europe, has told Australian dairy producers and exporters that the staged lifting of quotas – which have historically capped dairy production in European countries – that is due to be... ...Read more »

Tasmania’s Premier Lara Giddings, together with the Federal Minister for Regional Development Simon Crean, announced two projects in Tasmania’s North West that will boost the further development of Tasmania’s dairy industry. The two projects involve $4.25 Million to fund a new Tasmanian dairy-focused Agritas Trade College at Smithton, and $1.5 Million for a major upgrade to Harcus River Road. The money is all coming as a bi-product of $120 million to be provided by the Australian government... ...Read more »

A national standard for the amount of time allowed between the last feed and slaughter of bobby calves in Australia has been agreed to by the main players in the Australian dairy industry. Bobby calves are the young male calves which are slaughtered for human consumption every year. They are the bi-product of the dairy industry as milking cows must be impregnated to lactate each year and the male calves are eliminated since they cannot produce milk. The industry decision came after Primary Industries... ...Read more »

One million litres of milk will be going to people in need under an historic new partnership between Foodbank Australia and the Australian dairy industry, which is being supported by the Australian Government. The Australian Government has pledged A$4 million over the next four years to Foodbank Australia in this year’s budget to ensure the organisation builds new partnerships with food growers, producers and manufacturers. The Collaborative Supply Program for Milk is the first time an entire industry... ...Read more »