More than 80 per cent of Victorian dairy farmers have seen their milk prices slashed as changes in the global milk market continue.
Victorian Agriculture Minister Jaala Pulford met on Thursday with farmers, who said they wanted the support programs already in place to continue.
“People are experiencing some pretty significant distress, that’s why it was important to me to bring together the dairy industry,” Pulford said.
Fonterra Co-operative Group revised on Thursday its farmgate milk price from $5.60 per kgMS to $5.00 per kgMS for the current season.
Fonterra Australia is also offering its suppliers an interest-bearing support loan of up to 60c per kgMS linked to a supply commitment and is repayable from fiscal 2018.
“The price change better reflects the reality of the supply and demand imbalance that is affecting global dairy commodity prices, compounded by the recent strength of the Australian dollar,” it said.
Fonterra expects that the revised milk price will reduce the cost of goods sold to Fonterra Australia by around $48 million, subject to a number of factors.
