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Hi all.
The following is from an Australian dairy discussion group to which I belong. I am a dairy farmer in Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. I have a heap of questions I want to ask, and hope that there are people in this group who can answer them. For the past few years, I have been trying to find out what our dairy leaders are doing. I can't understand, why as dairy farmers, we can't pass on our costs, and why we are forced to produce milk, under the cost of production. Why are our leaders not making any noise. Why am I told, by our dairy leaders, to basically "suck it up". Why am I told that the supermarkets are to blame, only to read an article in the weekly times, where Coles are defending themselves and blaming the factories. When I ring them up, they say that they do care about the farmers, and yet, the factories have told me over the years that Coles, etc., don't give a damn. A few years ago I read an article in the paper that said that the price of milk was going to increase by 0.17c per litre, because the price of fuel had gone up, and they had to pass the cost on. This was the same time that the drought hit, and farmers were paying $150 per bale for hay, and high prices for grain. Why is there no attempt to put a levy back on the milk, to create a fund to help farmers, in times like this. Why do I feel like I am in one of the most stupid industries, and am beginning to accept that our leaders, our "voice", can only be filled with incompetent people. Is it true that the CEO of Dairy Australia, is receiving an income of $400,000 plus per year? When I read this in the paper, I felt more down about this industry than ever before. I can't understand why our prices have dropped, when companies like Fonterra supply 60% to the domestic market, and don't Murray Goulburn supply something like 50%. I understood that it was only some of the markets affected by the global financial crisis. Is it true, that if farmers didn't supply the local market, or protested about the prices by say pouring their milk down the drain for a period. Is it true the supermarkets would simply buy milk from overseas, rather than pay the farmers a decent price for our product. Why are factories still keen to take supply, obviously there is a demand, and yet they are not prepared to cover our cost of production. Why do the VFF / UDV make absolutely no noise, at least to make the public aware that farmers are feeding the nation and going into debt to do it, and then the VFF/UDV wonder why they are losing membership. If they put as much effort into being a voice for the farmers, and they did with their VFF membership drive, they may find that farmers like myself, might decide to rejoin, after close to 30 years of support, I am reluctant to rejoin. End. From Vaughan Jones. The same is applying in New Zealand. |