Queensland take A$6m hit from cyclone Debbie
Tropical cyclone Debbie caused A$6 million damage to the Queensland dairy industry, the Queensland Farmers Federation says.
The company claims that its Farmers Own milk brand, now on sale in 194 stores in the south of the state, are benefiting farmers and consumers.
The milk will be sourced directly from two farms in the Sunshine Coast hinterland.
It follows the launch of the Farmers’ Own brand in NSW, with milk from Manning Valley dairy farmers; in Western Australia, sourced from Margaret River; and in Victoria, sourced from the Otways region.
Woolworths head of trade - chilled, Paul Turner, says the product has “proven to be great for farmers and for Woolworths, but most importantly customers have shown they love it”.
“Local varieties [of Farmers’ Own] in other states have been extremely popular and we know it’ll be just as popular here in southern Queensland.
“At this stage, the milk will be available as far north as Rockhampton. We’re looking for a local farmer and processor in Far North Queensland to serve our customers in that area. The whole idea of Farmers’ Own milk is to support local farmers so we are working hard to cover the whole state.”
Queensland dairy farmer John Cochrane chairs the Premium Milk group which collectively bargains on behalf of dairy farmers to supply Parmalat.
“We approached Woolworths and would have liked them to have taken milk from all the Premium group and given some sort of margin to 200 people,” he told ABC Radio.
“We all understand this is a smoke and mirrors thing. The real problem is the price of milk. On January 26, 2011, milk went from A$1.28/L to $1, not because of oversupply or poor quality or customer rejection, but because they could do it.
“Now, A28 cents/L [times] 2 billion L of milk in Australia [took] A$560 million out of the industry in one day.”
He said Woolworths uses the “divide and conquer rule” but this does not benefit the
dairy industry in any state.
Dairy farmer Lucas Kennedy, Conondale, one of the two Queensland farmers to supply the Farmers’ Own brand in Queensland, said the relationship “gives farmers end-to-end transparency from shed to shelf, a long term contract and a closer relationship with their customers”.
Kennedy told ABC Radio the deal gave him more negotiating power when setting a price, which is locked in for three years. He could not disclose how much he is paid per litre, but said the deal was better than those offered by the big processors.
