Dairy

The latest Monthly Commodity Insights report from Bendigo Bank Agribusiness flags a strong start for Australian agricultural markets in 2025.

Changed eating patterns due to the rising use of anti-obesity drugs, a shift towards in-home alcohol consumption and increasing demand for dairy products tailored to older consumers are among some of the top global trends in food and agri set to be felt in Australia in the next five years, according to a new series of podcasts from Rabobank.

Bovaer is getting a lot of attention – and not the good kind. Bovaer is a feed additive for cattle – including some used to supply milk and beef sold at Coles supermarkets. Why? Because Bovaer reduces cattle methane emissions (in burps) significantly. Bovaer is made using silicon dioxide, propylene glycol and the organic compound 3-nitroxypropanol (known as 3-NOP).

A new RaboResearch report expects milk supply growth from the biggest exporting regions in the second half of 2024. Growth is expected to continue into 2025, with gains anticipated in all major regions for the first time since 2020.

As key players in the food supply chain set targets for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, Australia’s dairy sector is grappling with how to best transition to lower- emissions production, and how the cost will be borne, Rabobank says in newly-released research.

Ian Osborne. The 1922-established Group Settlement Scheme aimed to avert an annual loss of £940,000 to WA from the purchase of butter, preserved milk and cream, cheese, bacon and hams from the Eastern States. Settlers were placed on the land in groups of adjoining blocks so they could share the infrastructure and services installed before their arrival and the load of land development work thereafter.

Pioneering Adelaide Hills cheese producer, Udder Delights, has released a special cheese to help fundraise for the health and wellbeing of farmers and advancement of the agricultural industry. Stocked in Coles and selected independants nationally, 20 cents of the specially labelled Udder Delights Double Cream Brie is donated to the National Centre for Farmer Health...

The Minns NSW Labor Government slammed the door on Norco being reinstated as a supplier to NSW Health on the North and Mid-North Coast in parliament last week, despite a previous NSW government decision to dump the 100 per cent farmer owned co-operative being reversed. When the issue was raised in parliament last Wednesday night, a public interest debate erupted where a motion was put forward by the NSW Nationals calling on the Minns Government to reverse its decision.

Australia's most promising  paraders  of dairy cattle have been announced by Agricultural Shows Australia as eligible to compete in the national finals of the prestigious annual competition to be judged this month at Melbourne Royal Show. The winner of the dairy cattle young  paraders  competition will be determined by who has best prepared, presented and paraded their animal before a judge.

Terry Toohey’s family have been dairy farmers at Woodview, west of Casino since 1901. Back then a busy Bruxner Highway didn’t cut through the green paddocks and cows didn’t have to risk being hit by a car or truck ... The chance of that happening again has been dramatically reduced with the installation of signs with flashing lights when the cows cross the road twice a day.

The live export of dairy heifers – particularly to China – has been a lucrative market for Australian dairy farmers in recent years, offering significant trade opportunities and attractive prices for dairy cattle. But with Chinese demand for dairy heifers waning … and trade risks around Australia’s live export policy, the future prospects for the sector are far less certain, according to a new industry report by Rabobank.

"Another sad day for dairy processing in Australia. Every time we lose food and beverage processing infrastructure in Australia, we move closer to being net importers of manufactured products even in staples like dairy ... Whatever the fate of the cheese factory, it’s timely to think about whether it’s in the long-term interests of Australian farmers and farm communities to have so much processing ownership held offshore": Melina Morrison.

Australia's most promising young dairy cattle judges have been announced ahead of the Agricultural Shows Australia National Young Judges & Paraders Competition finals at the Melbourne Royal Show ... Katie Stanley, Executive Officer of Agricultural Shows Australia, says the competition is designed to recognise the best new talent in livestock judging nationwide.

Australia’s milk production continues to recover, as global supply is forecast to grow at a modest rate in the coming year, Rabobank says in its newly-released Global Dairy Quarterly. In the Q3 report, titled Market Narratives are Shifting, the global agribusiness bank says positive – though modest – milk supply growth is expected from the world’s major dairy-exporting regions through the remainder of 2024 and in 2025.

Local Nationals MPs have joined forces to call out the NSW Heath Department’s decision to scrap Norco supplied milk to hospitals from the Tweed to Port Macquarie, a move that could threaten the livelihoods of Northern Rivers dairy farmers ... "Given our 129-year heritage in the Northern Rivers region, we are naturally disappointed by their decision to no longer support local and 100 per cent Australian-owned," the Norco spokesperson said.

Increases in the price of wheat and lamb helped lift the NAB Rural Commodities Index* for the third consecutive month, rising by 0.4 per cent in June. NAB’s July Rural Commodities Wrap … reports while the wheat price rally slowed in June, prices continued to rise, increasing 3.5 per cent on average over the month.

For Norco, Australia’s oldest and largest dairy co-operative, its great tasting ice cream has always been crafted for indulgence, but the latest innovation from the 100 per cent farmer owned co-operative is set to take its premium portfolio to the next level ... Housed at its iconic ice cream factory in Lismore, Norco Co-operative is the first company in Australia to invest in a new machine which produces up to two centimetre inclusions in ice cream: taking ice cream decadence to the next level.

ABARES has expanded the Farmland Price Indicator to include a new series of experimental estimates by farmland type. Users can now access and download specific information for beef, dairy, cropping, forestry, orchard and even hobby farmland type via the ABARES Farmland Price Indicator dashboard.

Robert Onfray. While researching for my three-part series on the truth behind the rainforest wars in New South Wales, there was a constant theme in the historical account of utilising one species of rainforest timber. While the cutting of hoop pine (Araucaria cunninghamii) was undoubtedly very extensive in New South Wales, the scale of utilisation in Queensland was even more significant, and one of its primary uses was for butter boxes.

Melina Morrison. "The announcement by Fonterra that it intends to sell its Australian dairy processing assets is yet another blow to dairy farmers and a reminder about the precarious nature of our food security when staples like milk are passed around like commodities. This move, if it results in greater concentration of ownership of Australian dairy assets, will impact not only farmers but also consumers at the supermarket checkout."

The global dairy market may experience a slower price recovery than previously anticipated, particularly as China shows a reduced need for dairy imports, Rabobank says in recently-released sector research. But, despite this, the overall market outlook remains positive, the global specialist agribusiness bank says in its Q2 Global Dairy Quarterly, titled Searching for Equilibrium.