A NEW report has found Victorian dairy farmers have enjoyed one of their most profitable 12 months in two decades.
Agriculture Victoria this week released the 2022-23 Dairy Farm Monitor, an annual survey tracking 80 dairy farm businesses statewide.
Agriculture Victoria sector development and services executive director Dougal Purcell said the report showed that in 2022-23 milk price increased by 33 per cent to $9.77 per kilogram of milk solids – the highest in 17 years – helping to offset rising feed costs and overheads including labour.
“It is pleasing to see Victorian dairy farmers come out on top following a year of higher business inputs, wet conditions and flooding,” Mr Purcell said.
“We thank the Dairy Farm Monitor project participants for their dedicated support for this initiative, providing such valuable information to industry and government.”
The monitor project is a partnership with Dairy Australia, collecting and analysing financial and production data from dryland and irrigated dairy farms in south-western Victoria, Gippsland and northern Victoria.
Dairy Australia research and innovation general manager Greg Jarman said farmers were making multiple operational and tactical decisions on a daily, weekly and seasonal basis.
“Some of these decisions can have a lasting impact on the profitability and sustainability of their farm,” Mr Jarman said.
“The Dairy Farm Monitor Project is a valuable source of independent physical and financial data around a wide range of on-farm practices, equipping farmers with essential insights to inform their decision-making.
“This information also ensures that on-farm consultants and industry stakeholders can use reliable, independent and useful information and resources to provide good advice to farmers.”
Project participants represent a distribution of farm sizes, feeding systems and herd sizes.
Farmers use the reports for business decision-making, tracking performance of their business over time, making large-scale changes and assisting with financial management.
Valued at $2.5 billion, Victorian dairy leads the nation’s exports.
The gross value of milk produced in Victoria is $2.86 billion and the sector supports almost 13,000 jobs, almost half of which are in regional Victoria.
About 2773 dairy farm businesses in Victoria produced 5.14 billion litres, or 63 per cent, of Australia’s national milk volume in 2022-23.
