Victorian Dairy Farm Monitor Project Report released
Victoria’s dairy farmers are enjoying a welcome turnaround, with a new report showing improved returns and growing confidence after a challenging season.
Minister for Agriculture Michaela Settle today released the 2025–26 Victorian Dairy Farm Monitor Project Annual Re-port, marking 20 years of the project.
Delivered by Agriculture Victoria and Dairy Australia, the project tracks 90 dairy farms across northern Victoria, south west Victoria and Gippsland. The report shows 86 of the 90 participating farms recorded positive returns after a challenging 2024–25 season.
Better conditions have helped farmers recover from drought, rebuild feed reserves and increase milk production.
South west Victoria recorded the state's biggest improvement in dairy farm profitability.
The Dairy Farm Monitor Project was first launched in Victoria in 2006, supporting farmers to improve productivity and strengthen their businesses. This model has since been replicated across Australia.
Upper Murray dairy farmer Evan Nicholas has contributed to the project for 20 years, using its data to improve his business.
Milking around 600 cows, Nicholas says the project helps farmers manage costs, boost productivity and plan for the future.
“Having 20 years of data gives us a really clear picture of how our farm has changed and where we’ve improved,” Nicholas said. “It helps us look at things like feed costs and production year-on-year, understand what’s working for our business and make better decisions about where we go next.”
More than 80 per cent of participating farmers expect their returns to improve or remain stable in 2026–27.
“After some really tough seasons, Victoria's dairy farmers are bouncing back, with stronger profits and growing confidence about the year ahead,” said Victorian Minister for Agriculture Michaela Settle.
Dairy Australia CEO Matt Shaffer said the longitudinal data from the Dairy Farm Monitor Project supports farmers to establish a long-term view of their farm’s performance.
“Over the past 20 years, the Dairy Farm Monitor Project has built a valuable set of farm-level data, helping participating farmers track their performance over time and contributing to our broader understanding of farm production, profitability and emissions.”
“It’s encouraging to see improved profitability among participating farms in South West Victoria and Gippsland following some challenging seasonal conditions, and we’re pleased to see participation in the project continuing to grow, from 80 farms last year to
To read the full report, visit Dairy Farm Monitor Project.