With income falling from a decrease in milk production, Dairy Australia will rationalise its expenditure and commit resources, in a way that maximises their effect, to shorter-term projects that affect productivity more immediately.

Dairy Australia’s managing director Mike Ginnivan said the five-year strategic plan focused on programs that would increase farm profits, accelerate adoption, and enhance the industry's ability to recover from the drought as quickly as possible and adapt to climate change.

“The first change we’ve made is to focus on activities that will protect and increase farm business margins, profitability and confidence. Some of the ways we’ll do this are through improving our responses to business drivers, better feedbase options, identifying technological innovations, accelerating the rate of genetic gain and ensuring an appropriate regulatory framework,” he said.

Dr Ginnivan said: “We will deliver programs that will achieve a faster return on investment. For example the availability of feed grains is a high priority for many dairy farmers. A new program Grains2Milk will tackle this issue and enable farmers to make better use of feed and concentrates within their chosen feeding system.

“Existing programs will also be challenged to deliver faster benefits. Our long-running $13.7 million Feedbase Program is being refocused to increase home-grown forage growth and to drive profitability and recovery in the short-term, while other projects will continue to build the industry's capability,” Dr Ginnivan said.

Dairy Australia manager of strategy and planning David Roche said it was important that the industry recover as quickly as possible from the drought to take advantage of much improved milk prices driven by high international prices.

“The plan demonstrates how the organisation will contribute to a rapid dairy industry recovery and help farmers exploit the opportunities ahead.

“Farmers need to rebuild their confidence and their physical and financial assets to take advantage of the opportunities available. Our five-year strategy, developed in consultation with the industry, reflects our commitment to helping farmers achieve this,” Mr Roche said.

Other strategies in the plan address biosecurity, GMOs, animal welfare, growing markets for higher-margin products and components, and improving communication to farmers.

Dr Ginnivan said: “It is essential that organisations like Dairy Australia demonstrate to their stakeholders that they are providing a strong return on investment by providing services that tackle the issues that matter most to the industry.

ENDS

For further information contact Sarah Kulman on 03 9694 3849, 0417 006 295 or email This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it