THE annual Dairy Farm Monitor report has revealed that in 2021-22 Victoria’s dairy farmers experienced the fourth best financial returns since the project began 16 years ago. Despite this, and a strong 2022/23 opening price, milk production continues to decline across the region.

Figures are out for the July and August milk production across Australia, and western Victoria is over five per cent down year on year – the equivalent of nearly 19 million litres of milk. This drop is not in isolation, in effect the region has produced nearly 10 per cent less milk for the season so far than it did two years ago. Australia as a whole is down 6.6 per cent year on year, hinting that the national milk pool of just 8.5 billion litres is set to shrink even further.