June 4, 2004

 

 

Australia May Export Milk To China

 

While the Australian domestic market has been slow, the positive prospects of the international market are lifting dairy farmers' spirits.

 

World stocks of milk are low, and prices are on the increase with China perhaps providing the greatest opportunity.

 

While Australians consume on average close to 100 litres of milk per person a year, consumption in some places of China is as low as three litres a year.

 

Training the tastebuds of the people of China to acquire the taste of milk could bring about a massive boom in the international market.

 

NSW Farmers Association Dairy Farmers Committee chairperson Arthur Burns has recently returned from a trip to China, and plans to meet a delegation when it makes a return visit to Australia in the next few weeks to convince them Australian heifers are exactly what they need for a healthier nation.

 

Doing the quick sums, Mr Burns said up to 20,000 heifers could be exported to China a year and could earn a conservative $20 million.

 

"People say we should be sending products. But even by sending what we would view as substantial stock numbers, there are so many people in China that there is no way they could ever produce enough milk to supply their country, especially if demand increased," Mr Burns said.

 

Product supply was another avenue of revenue opportunity for locally produced milk which is only just starting to be tapped into.

 

"China is an amazing country and is experiencing tremendous growth with plenty of opportunity for the dairy industry," he said.

 

Local dairy farmers are hoping for better milk prices from the current round of negotiations.

 

NSW Farmer's Association Dairy Committee chair, Singleton's Arthur Burns said no processor or retailer could claim they did not realise the difficult times dairy farmers were facing.

 

All processors and retailers were invited to take part in the discussions prior to the prices being set.

 

Mr Burns said supermarkets should take heed of what they are being told and offer farmers a fairer return for their milk.

 

The most recent meeting between Woolworths chief executive Roger Corbett and the Australian Dairy Farmers disclosed a range of initiatives which may be able to improve the domestic market outlook for dairy products. This could ultimately lead to better prices for dairy farmers.

Mr Burns said the drought had been relentless and had had a huge effect on many dairy farmers with an average annual loss of $76,800 for most producers.

 

"Almost one farmer a day is leaving the industry in New South Wales," Mr Burns said.

 

He said farmers could not accept a situation where returns for milk sold domestically were below the costs of production.

 

"Many dairy farmers have had the same price for their milk for the past three years and cannot absorb the increasing farm costs.

 

"If this continues, it will do nothing to stop the tide of farmers who are already leaving the industry," Mr Burns said.

 

Now that the processors and retailers know the facts, Mr Burns is hoping common sense will prevail when prices are set.