Ian Noake's herd, Western Australia Photo: Ian Noakes
Western Australia farming leader Ian Noakes says dairy farmers there are very grateful for strong beef prices.
They are being paid well for their bull calves and for their cull cows.
Otherwise, with a milk price to farmers of just over 50 cents a litre, (NZ $5.90 per kilogramme of milk solids) they're only just breaking even.
"Realistically the supermarkets have taken control of the milk pricing here . Milk is selling for a $1.20 a litre. There's probably not many other places in the world where it's that cheap and trying to get extra money out of the market place is really tough but it's going to have to be addressed," Ian says.
Sixty percent of the milk produced in Western Australia is sold as fresh milk within the state, some is exported to Singapore and the rest is made into fresh milk products like yoghurt and chocolate milk.
Ian is the dairy president of Western Australia Farmers and farms 600 cows near Margaret River. He says the state now has 130 dairy farms down from about 400 15 years ago, however much the same area of land remains in dairy farming.
He says it's becoming more and more difficult to attract young people into dairying as the mines pay big salaries.
The price of land is also high compared the amount that a dairy farmer can earn from it, he says.
Photo: supplied
Beach close to Ian's farm. Photo: Ian Noakes
