I'm saddened to read about so many dairy farmers going out of business. It's obviously desirable to have Australian milk to buy in the future! Farmers cite the price of feed and the drought as reasons, but also pricing activities by supermarkets. Apparently it's not the supermarkets that are entirely to blame. It's also the processors who buy milk from farmers and then on-sell to supermarkets. Is the answer simply to buy non-supermarket branded milk? Is there anyone out there with answers on how to best support Australian dairy farmers to ensure a sustainable local business model?
As Consumers, How Do We Support Dairy Farmers?
Lhammy80 on 06/10/2019 - 07:52
Comments
Well perhaps people forgot here but the farmers lobbied Howard aggressively for deregulation so they could make a quick buck by selling off dairy co ops to big foreign multinationals. 20 years later the farmers are shocked that deregulation means they get bummed by retail because they have no bargaining power. It's hard to have sympathies when they start whining about everyone except themselves. They cry that consumers are consuming less dairy, they cry that consumers are buying $1 milk from grocery stores, A few weeks ago they were crying that non dairy milks were being labelled with the word "milk" in them. I know agriculture is important but farmers are some of the most selfish and stubborn people in Australia. Don't even get me started on the cotton farmers
Go to farmers markets.. buy directly from the farmer. I get Sheep milk yoghurt directly from the farmer. It comes in glass jars and they accept the jars back..
The farmers markets I pop into always seem to be more expensive than supermarkets these days
Supermarket doesn't sell real milk. the farmers do
Fresh produce is cheaper as you throw nothing out. …
if it was just 'more expensive' they'd be fine… I find most of the 'markets' I go to are filled with people whom just overvalue their goods massively… here buy my crappy cup cake for $5..
Exactly.
Seems to me the answer is simple. Regulate the actual price per litre that farmers get, with regular review. But oh no, we couldn't have the government actually govern. Big government is bad right? Free market all the way baby! Well the free market is doing exactly what you are doing - screwing the vulnerable. So quit whining.
Regulate and the prices would sort themselves out. That is the part that the free market can sort out. The money going to farmers just becomes another cost of doing business. The middle men and supermarkets can use it as an excuse to raise prices and boost their profits, but you'd no longer be relying on big corporations voluntarily treating farmers fairly and telling you the truth.
Let’s not forget the National Farmers Federation sending in scab labour to undercut workers. Karma.
Help them by not voting for the coalition (Liberals or the LNP) because obviously they are not very effective.
They do need water and hay. So maybe over grow your lawn and make hay bales.
Don't drink milk. Its something made for baby cows, not for humans. Then if you saw what even is milk like its completely manufactured, they seperate all the bits then mix back together at certain amounts and crap, add things, remove things, treat parts of it.. Its gross.
Then don't eat bread. Grain is processed. And do you know how much processing milling grain requires?
Don't eat modern corn plants. That's been genetically engineered even if the techniques were primitive. Have you seen what they originally looked like before humans tampered with them? Ditto for most of the fruit and veg you're use to. It's been cultivated and bred just like animals have been (dogs from wolves), long before humans knew what DNA was.
Don't eat cooked meat of any kind. Cooking isn't natural. Animals don't come with a fire under them.
Don't eat eggs. Eggs are for growing chickens, not for human consumption.
I'm hoping this sounds ridiculous to you.
The reason processing things looks gross to you is that we're so far removed from food production that we can sit in our office chairs, trucks, tradie utes etc. and tell people to eat cake. Do you hunt and forage for your own food? No wait. Cake is like bread, so that's bad too so strike that. That and the fact that the processing makes it safer. Do you know the history of pasteurization? Do you know how many people got sick and died before we did some of that processing. (Note: That doesn't necessarily mean ALL the processing is good or done for altruistic reasons. It just means it came about for a reason and sometimes that reason benefited the customer. Dead customers don't buy milk.)
Just starve. It's the only way. Or maybe, just maybe you use the things in the environment around you to make food that have been used for thousands of years, and avoid that food when it becomes problematic for you. Lactose or dairy intolerant? Find something else to give you the calcium you need, and move on. You don't need to tell people who aren't that they must also do so.
We so very desperately need better science education. Yesterday I was watching the Red Bull Air Race and afterwards on came a panel of Drs (admittedly on daytime TV talk show, so there's your quality right there) whining about "chemicals". Every. Bloody. Thing. Is. A. Chemical. The started talking about plastics and adequate testing, and avoiding certain plastics and that was likely very be reasonable, but all those university educated buffoons came of no more credible than that walking pile of exploitative misery that calls herself Food Babe.
Think critically. Don't go around repeating something that sounds good to you without actually understanding whether it is reasonable beyond a cursory glance. Humans wouldn't have gotten where they were without adapting plants and animals and their products to make the food we're use to today.
Milk is full of hormones and such for baby cows to grow. Its stupid to think something like that is suitable for adult humans to consume. We get sold so much BS on milk about calcium and such that are just lies. All the things you're saying about aren't the same thing. At least like lollies and sugary crap we know that thats something we don't actually need and probably shouldnt, its a treat. Milk is the same except because of marketing people think we need to have it, we don't, its bad for you.
Milk is full of hormones and such for baby cows to grow
What do you think meat is full of? Rainbows and unicorn farts? Plenty of hormones and chemicals in plants too.
Its stupid to think something like that is suitable for adult humans to consume.
You keep saying that over and over and over as if repeating it will make it true. You haven't explained why at all.
We get sold so much BS on milk about calcium and such that are just lies.
Oh my god another one. No it isn't lies. It's centuries of human experience you're choosing to ignore. The people who likely stopped their children starving by giving them cows milk in prehistoric times weren't trying to fool you or sell you anything. Louis Pasteur wasn't trying to brainwash you when he stopped people getting sick drinking contaminated milk by heating it to kill the bugs.
At least like lollies and sugary crap we know that thats something we don't actually need and probably shouldnt, its a treat.
Tell that to a diabetic who's experiencing a low. You absolutely do need sugar. Your body won't work without glucose. It's just that it's so plentiful in all our food that it overwhelms the system. Glucose is so imporant the body will convert most sugars into it. Sucrose, lactose, fructose, and most starchy carbohydrates.
Milk is the same except because of marketing people think we need to have it, we don't, its bad for you.
I'll let you in on a little secret. EVERYTHING is bad for you. In sufficient quantity everything is a poison. Every human body is going to wear out before it hits 120 years of age.
It really amazes me how people latch onto this BS. They hear something that they want to be true or that makes them feel special because they feel like they're one of the few that know the truth, and so they ignore every bit of science on the subject and repeat nonsense to themselves and others. CUT IT OUT. This kind of behaviour is literally WHY you can be taken advantage of. Stop getting your health tips from crackpot sites and listen to the damn scientists that study this stuff rigorously using the scientific method for decades at a time.
What do you think meat is full of? Rainbows and unicorn farts? Plenty of hormones and chemicals in plants too.
Not the same. We evolved to eat meat and plants over millions of years, then in a couple of thousand years started drinking milk. Big chunk of humans can't even process dairy.
You keep saying that over and over and over as if repeating it will make it true. You haven't explained why at all.
Because it is made for baby cows, not for grown humans. All the hormones and shit in it you're gonna grow some decent man titties.
Oh my god another one. No it isn't lies
Yes it is lies, there is more calcium in vegetables than milk. its also full of sugars and carbs a big carb load your body will turn to fat.
Your body won't work without glucose
I guess all those people running on ketones must be about to die. Carbs are the one main macro you don't need at all to function. In fact common sense says humans in prehistory would of ran in ketosis the majority of the time so infact our current constant glucose fueled lifestyle is wrong.
Because it is made for baby cows, not for grown humans.
Seeds are used to germinate, plants are sentient, and photosynthesis provides oxygen.
Heck with your train of thought you may as well give up on modern medicine. After all, penicillin is simply mould, and the purpose of mould is to biodegrade natural material, right?
Cringe-worthy to the max.
In fact common sense says humans in prehistory would of ran in ketosis the majority of the time
And how did that work out for them? With their life expectancy in the 20's and multitudinous rampant diseases?
And how did that work out for them? With their life expectancy in the 20's and multitudinous rampant diseases?
Life expectancy at 20 or 30 was an average due to infant mortailty. If you got to 10 you were probably as likely to get to 70 as today. People never fell over dead at 20 or 30 that is just beyond stupidity to think that.
Not the same. We evolved to eat meat and plants over millions of years, then in a couple of thousand years started drinking milk. Big chunk of humans can't even process dairy.
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-49650806
"The team identified milk protein entombed in calcified dental plaque (calculus) on the teeth of prehistoric farmers from Britain.
It shows that humans were consuming dairy products as early as 6,000 years ago"
Meat eating is actually relatively recent and is credited in part with providing requirement for larger brain development. (Something the meat industry tends to use to advertise).
https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2008/04/eating-meat-l…
Because it is made for baby cows, not for grown humans. All the hormones and shit in it you're gonna grow some decent man titties.
Again. Repetition doesn't make it true.
We evolved to make use of the plants and animals around us for food. We're omnivores. Not carivores, not vegetarians. Omni = all. Primitive humans ate whatever they could find.
Yes it is lies, there is more calcium in vegetables than milk. its also full of sugars and carbs a big carb load your body will turn to fat.
…which is a great thing if you're in danger of starving to death, don't you think?
I guess all those people running on ketones must be about to die. Carbs are the one main macro you don't need at all to function. In fact common sense says humans in prehistory would of ran in ketosis the majority of the time so infact our current constant glucose fueled lifestyle is wrong.
A lot of people don't do well on ketones, and there are consequences/dangers/risk factors associated with ketogenic diets.
https://www.uchicagomedicine.org/forefront/health-and-wellne…
In fact common sense says humans in prehistory would of ran in ketosis the majority of the time.
Your body LITERALLY needs carbs to function. Without glucose in your blood, you cease to function and die. Luckily thanks to evolution the body is great at using whatever it can get to make glucose and even the lowest carb diets aren't completely carb free.
Your "Common sense" is telling you the opposite of what scientists have shown. Your common sense is actually brainwashing by the health food industry and celebrity diet gurus. The Paleo diet is made up junk science.
https://www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/evidence-f…
https://www.seeker.com/what-did-prehistoric-humans-eat-17681…
https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/the-true-hum…
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpub/article/PIIS2468-2667(18)30135-X/fulltext
Calcium intake is not something that people in the modern world lack by any means.
Over half of the Australian population, aged two years and over, have inadequate usual intakes of calcium.
https://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/[email protected]/Lookup/by%20Subject…
3.5 billion people are at risk for calcium deficiency.
Also people of European decent specifically have been drinking milk for over ten thousand years - we have literally evolved to drink it!
Many other common foods come from the Americas and have only been available to us for a few hundred years. (Tomatoes, potatoes, corn, pumpkin, pineapple, peanuts…) so you could say we are far better suited to drink milk than eat that stuff :)
Tell that to the people that are lactose intolerant - ask them how well they are suited or have evolved to drink milk.
@chubbychicken: No. Adult lactose intolerance is the exception not the rule. (As low as 5% among northern Europeans)
So we have absolutely evolved to drink milk.
You sound like a virgin
Eat a (profanity) dick mate.
Nah vegetarian, so only veggie sausages for me
How many dicks have you eaten, mate?
Some farmers are better at running profitable businesses than others. Knowing that the next big dry could be next month or next year, they constantly plan ahead, putting in bores, stacking away hay, and growing crops that can be used for alternative feed if needed. Farm businesses that are marginally viable in the good times will not be able to afford these preparations, and should not be propped up during difficult times just because they happen to be a family business or grow food.
Let's face it: growing food is not some holy calling. No other business sector is afforded protection because it involves mums, dads and family businesses. Plenty of family businesses - be they grocery stores, pharmacies, bakeries, book publishers, or restaurants - have been allowed to go to the wall with nary a blink from the government. Many of those sectors are also exposed to the challenges that farmers claim make them a special case - being squeezed out by bigger entities along the supply chain, inability to achieve economies of scale, the high value of the dollar, and being undercut by dumped product.
Yet, when those challenges include a dry spell or drought - which, let's face it, is hardly an uncommon occurrence in Australia - then apparently it's time for disaster relief and for consumers to dig deep…
¯_(ツ)_/¯
I stopped putting dairy milk on my cereal a couple of years ago. Most of the non dairy milks work for me.
Did you not read the title of this thread? Your a hipster vegan, congrats!
Mmmmmm … just recently I bought some Norco, about $5 per 2 liters, of fresh, high cream, allegedly Jersey Cows milk.
Tasted exactly the same as standard Pauls.
No difference other than higher price and a very fancy (plastic) container.I'll be happy to "help" dairy producers but I want them to help me by selling real milk, real creamy milk. As it used to be.
It is not a one way street.You won't get it in anything regulated because homogenization and pasteurization is mandatory.
"While dairy producers are allowed to drink their own cow milk, the sale of raw milk for human consumption is illegal in Australia."
https://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2016-06-01/unpasteurised-milk…
Well, no.
Norco also sells non-homogenized milk. Labeled as such.
Under the marketing ploy of: the least we do to our milk the better it will taste (doesn't work either).Pasteurization (heat) is very different.
Pasteurized milk has been there for yonks. It still tasted better. It had cream on top.
It is not pasteurization, is the removal of milk fats and who knows what else.
Milk is gross and I don’t drink it, so I’m not sure why my tax dollar should be bailing them out when ain’t nobody bailing me out.
It doesn’t need to be your tax dollars, it can be the tax dollars of milk drinkers.
You’re not the only tax payer in this country.Then they can make a milk tax much like there’s a cigarette tax. I’d be happy with that.
Yep drinking milk is gross, but you being a smoker is fking disgusting
Dairy farming is on the way out. Embrace the decline.
Milk sales aren’t decreasing.
Source?
The per capita milk consumption is expected to decline at an annualised 0.6% over the five years through 2019-20, while per capita plant-based milk consumption is expected to increase at an annualised 16.9 per cent.
Source: IBISworld
Source: IBISworld
Hardly credible…
@jv: It's been pretty steady for the last couple of years. Couldn't find historical data.
https://www.dairyaustralia.com.au/industry/production-and-sa…
Unfortunately dairy farmers signed contracts they didn't understand and it was their own collective that shafted themselves. Were it another industry, we would say it's your own damn fault. Part of fixing the situation is taking responsibility for what happened and farmers do have a tendency to play the victim card when it suits and then dismiss city slickers as not understanding the land.
Interesting read:
https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/asic-launches-cour…
Helou is one of the dodgiest characters you will find, yet the majority of MG dairy farmers backed his leadership and vision in the hope of big profits from selling products to China that backfired. If the plans succeeded, they would not be sharing the spoils.
Just like any other business, I'm not going to "support" business because they're struggling, that's business. I buy what I want to buy, based on if the product is good for me or not. I only get A2 milk, so there's only one option.
Can't support everyone that is struggling, will they support you if you're struggling? That's life. Get what works for you, spend the money based on what's best for you.
Buy more milk. It's that simple.
And waste it? How much milk can one consume?
500ml a day.
So 3.5L per week per person? 🤔
D-galactose, found in milk, has been shown to induce oxidative stress damage and chronic inflammation in animals, and such changes have been associated with cardiovascular disease, cancer, bone loss, and muscle loss in humans. I wouldn't overdo it if I was you.
Economically this is correct. If we start bathing in milk, milk prices will increase and dairy farmers will make more money.
Technically correct. The best kind of correct.
I can't drink it, but the industry needs to fill demand for baby formula and build more processing plants to export that and powdered milk overseas
It's not drought causing the hardship. By their own admission, dairy farmers can't outbid cotton farmers or even beef famers on water allocations where water is available. The problem is the global milk price and that was affected largely by trade embargoes involving Russia. Not only were Australia's dairy exports affected directly, indirectly Europe started flooding the world market with products they couldn't sell to Russia. The drought is used for emotion but it's not particularly truthful.
it really seems like a lot of factors, not just one or two: impact of drought, cost of feed, cost of water, price gauging from processors & supermarkets, global milk prices, rise in sales of milk alternatives…
Or, more simply put - Economics 101
we help them in the bad times, they send all the good stuff overseas in the good times and we pay top dollar for second and third rate product.
We help them in the bad times, they keep doing the same things and that wonder why the 'bad times' come back.We are asked to help industries that should not be here.
We are asked to help while politicians do nothing to address the underlying problems.We are asked to help, but things aren't that good for us either.
We live paycheck to paycheck
We are a medical emergency away from financial ruin
We are one stock market hiccup away from losing our jobsPrices go up
Costs go up
We want to help
but who will help us?OzBargain's Journal. October 12th, 2019. Cow carcass in alley this morning. Tire tread on burst stomach. This industry's afraid of me. I've seen its true face. The farms are extended gutters, and the gutters are full of blood, and when the drains finally scab over all the vermin will drown. The accumulated filth of all their profits and murder will foam up about their waists and all the whores and farmers will look up and shout save us! And I'll whisper no.
To answer your question: You/We can help farmers by encouraging them to vote in politicians who will engage with climate change policy in a responsible and effective manner. Ie: Re-introduce a carbon-price.
The National Farmers Federation supported the repeal of the carbon price and also supported the abolition of the Renewable Energy Target.
Stuff them.
https://www.nff.org.au/submissions-search.html?subcategoryid…
Do you honestly think climate change policy is more significant to the dairy industry than Tony Abbott's promised shirtfronting of Putin? Maybe listen to science of trade sanctions.
Honestly… supply and demand… as long as safety standards are maintained and animals are not treated horrifically, I don't care where my milk comes from. There will always be winners and losers in a global economy, but in the long run, the winners GREATLY out-number the losers… it's how we've arrived at the modern world…. perhaps they could use their farms for something that is competitive/in demand/profitable.
Dairy farmers might just be the new Luddites.
I am a capitalist and a vegan - that's my answer to the Q ;)
I choose not to support an industry reliant upon slavery and mistreatment. Let the dairy industry die.
Dairy cows actually feel a lot of pain when not milked. If the dairy industry stopped, the animal suffering would make the racehorse lasagne scandal look like a picnic.
I guess slaughtering them is better right?
Hey I don't deny that they feel pain, that is a symptom of mastitis. Do you understand what causes cows to produce milk?
If the dairy industry stopped, the suffering would stop. There is ongoing suffering to those animals whether they get milked or not.If the dairy industry stopped, and the meat industry stopped, cows would die out. Is your goal of reducing suffering to zero worth wiping out species? Because life is pain. I have a bad ankle and I'm only in my mid 40s. Pain is just a part of life for most people when you get to a certain age (and that age varies for people but generally by your 40s or 50s you're not in perfect health anymore). I don't have any intention of topping myself to stop the pain. You shouldn't want to kill off cows to stop theirs.
cows would die out.
I doubt that. Worst case scenario, they'll end up in zoos and be replaced by wet-nurses.
@[Deactivated]: You clearly aren't aware of PETA's stance on zoos.
https://www.peta.org/issues/animals-in-entertainment/zoos-ps…
@syousef: I am, actually. Their stance is based on zoos being unethical as:
they treat the animals as a means to achieve some human end.
they fail to treat animals with the respect they deserve.
they violate the animal's right to live in freedom.
But where a zoo is keeping animals in order to preserve a species that is under threat in the wild, and treats its animals in an appropriate way, then this is morally acceptable from a more moderate welfare point of view. There is no way we could just release all cattle in the 'wild' overnight- that would be pure chaos.
P.s: Our family was vegan/vegetarian for close to a decade but we are now mostly pescetarian , with the occasional poultry and meat. So I'm not exactly advocating that we should stop all meat production. I wish I could, but veganism didn't work for my wife for health reasons.
@[Deactivated]: Do you know what it costs to fund a zoo? And do you know what happens to a species when the genetic diversity is compromised because only a few thousand animals can be kept world wide. Is it okay if they become extinct so long as it's not in your lifetime?
I am much more concerned with how animals are treated up to the point of slaughter than whether or not meat is eaten. And iof course that the slaughter is done humanely. I also don't have a problem with working animals, so long as they are treated well. These are areas we need to work on. You work on that through legislation and by voting with your wallet. It's pretty hard to vote with your wallet if you don't eat meat or drink milk though, so if you do propose those industries are killed don't be surprised when the farmers resist.
@syousef: I agree and to be fair, I did say that, imo, the "worst case scenario" is more likely that cattle ends up in zoos rather than they will go extinct.
There are other scenarios we should explore before we get to plan 'z'.
@[Deactivated]: We're actually not great at keeping species alive in zoos.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passenger_pigeon
And of course there's the Tassie Tiger.
Another vegan.
Saying "Another person living in alignment with their values and being an ethically and logically consistent person doing their best to reduce the unnecessary suffering attached to their choices" didn't quite roll off your tongue well enough did it?
Meh!
@No ONE: Give dairy alternatives a go. Last time I had a dairy milkshake my stomach felt very sick afterwards. It's baffling with the amount of people that continue to consume dairy even though they're aware it doesn't agree with them. It's almost as if cows milk isn't intended for humans…..
Do you understand why people hate vegans?
"Another person living in alignment with their values and being an ethically and logically consistent person"
The implication is that you can't be ethically and logically consistent and disagree with veganism. You go ahead and eat what you want and practice your ethics how you'd like but when you try to control and belittle others that disagree with you, you're going to see people get annoyed at you.
Is it logically consistent and ethical that PETA kills more animals (as a percentage) than government animal control.
https://www.petakillsanimals.com/petas-kill-mill-slaughtered…Now I'm not saying you're aligned with PETA but as you can see it's entirely possible to state that you advocate for animals while in fact murdering them.
@syousef: I'm not belittling anyone by my comment. You're belittling yourself by the decisions you make. Playing the offended card when you're forced to face your own decisions is such a futile tactic. I'm sorry you hate me for using such drastic terms but what happens in the animal industry to meet the public demand is also quite drastic and highly unethical.
How about I put it in less scary terms for you, you just said you hate somebody that values the life of another living being. The days of this extremist veganism garbage are over, label it what you want but at the end of the day choosing to be offended over facing the impact of your own choices is what you're doing and is ignorant and saddening.
I encourage you and everyone to go at your own pace on the path to veganism, but justifying your animal product consumption with "you try to control and belittle others" and what PETA does is an odd way to help yourself sleep at night. I was once an omnivore too, but I can't respect you if you're not even willing to try and make more ethically sound decisions.
Also "belittling others", you understand what I was saying was in direct response to somebody that said "Another vegan." but you don't see me crying out that I feel belittled. I see the lack of awareness and try to use logic and reason to justify my point.
Perhaps it's not actually hatred you feel towards me, and more a feeling of confusion, because I assume you are a consumer of animal products you really don't have a leg to stand on when it comes to claiming to be ethical. Again I'm not belittling you, you've belittled yourself through your choices and I just hope you are willing to change.
I'm not belittling anyone by my comment.
Yes you most certainly are.
You're belittling yourself by the decisions you make.
I am completely at ease with the ethics of the choices I made. How dare you judge me like that. Seriously, where do you get off that you think you have the right to decide on my behalf what is right or wrong.
Playing the offended card when you're forced to face your own decisions is such a futile tactic.
I'm not playing anything. You have decided that you are morally superior and decided to judge me. You're still doing it but you either don't see it due to your zealotry, or you're being dishonest. I really don't care which.
How about I put it in less scary terms for you, you just said you hate somebody that values the life of another living being.
How about I put it to you that you're the one that doesn't value life. You'd rather that life never existed and was never enjoyed because it ends in pain or because there is some suffering. What you're advocating wouldn't save animals, it would cause entire species to become extinct, and you'd congratulate yourself over their disappearance. And you think you're the one with the leg to stand on. Tell me, have you ever heard of any creature that lived and never experienced pain? Do you honestly believe that it is impossible to give food animals a good life right up to the point of slaughter. If this isn't happening, this is what you should be advocating. not the extinction of domesticated cattle. Wiping out animals because you are uncomfortable with their existence is what is monstrous. This is exactly how you end up with organisations like PETA who profess to be the voice for animals and actually kill them by the thousands every year. If you want animals to be treated better fight for that. Don't fight for them not existing at all. The cows do not live some pain free life. They never get a chance to live. Utterly MONSTEROUS.
Look to be honest I don't have the time right now to refute every one of your insults and broken lines of logic point by point. It is sad and disturbing that you can't see that the way you are behaving isn't ethical at all, and that if you were in a position of power you'd make people and animals alike miserable. You're behaving like a religious zealot that believes they are right and that no one else can be. You didn't find ethics. You found religion.
Imagine our next life, we are all cows. If that happens I would like to OP for quick steak meat instead of milking 24/7.
lol.
Lolz.
Our family budget is screwed up due to this hypothetical scenario created by Alan Jones and liberal which leads to increased milk prices….
No one helps me to run my home when I loose job so why do you force Cole's, Woolworths and Aldi to increase milk prices and ask government to give more subsidy.
Supply and demand should work out prices not political influence or sympathy.
I read in the paper during the 'big real estate boom' in 2016 3 old-framers (not dairy in fairness) who owned 100+ acres sold there land to developers for $150m - ~50million a piece.
I wonder how many handouts they got during there time farming? wonder how much of it they gave back?
I highly doubt now they have lined there pockets they are going to hand any money back or give some of that 150million to other farmers in need. I dont understand why farming is a social issue when farmers are struggling but when making the big money its a private business. I respect it is a hard occupation and dictated by certain environmental factors out of ones control but no one forces an individual to be a farmer if you do it, then it is because it is a choice. I dont understand why it is my problem?
The A2Milk (ASX Share Price $12~) company is absolutely killing it how much money are they handout out to other farmers? why do working Australians consistently have to fork out I dont see Jayne Hrdlicka the CEO of A2milk opening her cheque book out to help those in need even though she is making millions every year? why the faq should i when im just a regular worker trying to pay for a family and a mortgage?
Thats my opinion but here is the facts……..
It is about supply and demand if farmers want more $ then charge more for the milk (or reduce running costs) a free open market always dictates the fair price because people pay what they are willing to pay and people sell for what they are willing to sell. If certain farmers are struggling it is due to the individual not being able to provide milk at a profitable level within the supply and demand needs of the market - it is not a social issue it is people who are poor a business trying to make it a social issue.
It might sound really harsh but the truth is I buy coles/woolworths/Aldi milk because its generally under $1.30 litre because as a consumer it is the best value for money - i didnt support the 10cent increase to give to farmers when Coles CEO is making $3.5million a year why do i have to fork out the extra 10cents for my milk. When you can pay your CEO and executives over a 1.5 million dollars each!
Dont let the media bullshit you most of the people on tv are loaded and want it to stay they way so the more money they can extract off gullible people the better for them!
All the dairy farms i know are millionaire, it is the media creating news for some farmers that has no business mind. People cannot run business should just close their business and work for someone
They are rich in assets but poor in liquid… Liquids other than milk, that is :p
Anyway as we know fewer operations are becoming larger the only thing I fear is after the clean out they will play the game smartly similar to what we have seen with petrol companies in the past !
How do I support local farmers? By buying Australian milk and cheese products.
When I visited various European countries and the USA I had a look at their milk prices. About AUD$1/L in Europe, under that in the USA. There is a global glut of milk production so I'm afraid our farmers are competing with overseas competition that also has depressed prices.
Do you really want to help our farmers? The solution is simple: find a way to get China to use more milk. Australians use on average 105L per annum per person, while Chinese citizens use just over a third of that.
The solution is simple: find a way to get China to use more milk
Hmm, okay, but that solution doesn't sound simple.
I support farms and farmers for geopolitical reasons (guaranteed supply of fresh food without relying on allies and enemies).
But if it is true that the farmers by their own free will, sold out to foreign interests then F 'em.
Dairy isn't a strategic national resource nor a basic necessity.
(I'm not vegan.)