Glass half full approach to prices

DAIRY farmers are experiencing a great season with milk production and sales up across the nation, according to data collected by Dairy Australia.
Koorooman farmer Ross Berryman said his milk production has been up since December, with the farm fairing well throughout the season prior.
“December and January were quite wet months for us so we have had a really great start to the year,” he said.
“Usually we look for a break in weather around mid March, so we should be hoping to get some rain soon to continue our good start to the season.”
The Murray Goulburn supplier said while the last 18 months have been financially tight for the farm, things are looking up.
“If we have the rainy break we need, we should be in for a good season,” he said.
Mr Berryman’s rise in productivity matches results shared by Dairy Australia in its 2017-18 half season report released recently.
Milk production is up three percent on last season and total drinking milk sales volumes grew nationally by 1.8 percent, totalling 1418 million litres over the 12 months to January 2018.
Australians are also drinking more milk with supermarket sales up 2.4 percent to more than $2242 million last year.
Shoppers are also opting to purchase full cream milk over light and skim varieties. Sales of full cream increased 5.9 percent last year.
Dumbalk dairy farmer Damian Murphy said the relatively wet weather provided farmers with ample milk production while saving silage.
“Our milk production has been up on last year and we have been milking fewer cows than we were before,” he said.
“Winter was very kind to us and we had a solid spring. That said, we do need some dry out time around this time of year to protect us against the wet weather that will be coming in a few months’ time.”
Mr Murphy has been supplying to Parmalat since last financial year and is not overly concerned by predictions around next season’s milk price.
“I am feeling fairly optimistic about next season. Even though people are talking about the possibility of milk prices being lower, I am going to wait until I hear it from the processor,” he said.
“Milk prices are only one factor that affects my profitability. I think we get a bit lost in the milk price headlines nowadays.”

Travelling fine: Koorooman dairy farmer Ross Berryman is experiencing a pleasing season, reflecting positive figures released by Dairy Australia that showed milk production during the 2017-18 season so far has increased three per cent on last season.

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Posted by Sarah Vella on Mar 14 2018. Filed under Rural News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry