Coles, Woolies, come to the party for shoppers' levy for dairy farmers

The announcement that Coles and Woolies will get on board for a levy for dairy farmers comes just a day after the ACCC chief Rod Sims declared it was not supermarkets, but milk processors, to blame for $1 a litre milk, a price that is crushing dairy farmers.

Scores of dairy farmers are set to walk off their farms by Christmas as they battle the drought, high feed costs, and pathetically low milk prices, although there was one bright spot when processor Norco announced a 5c a litre rise for its suppliers two weeks ago.

But a move at a Federal level by Agriculture Minister David Littleproud to get supermarkets to support dairyfarmers appears to have paid dividends in a real way for dairy farmers.

Coles has announced it will also offer a milk range delivering 10 cents a litre directly back to farmers, after Woolworths earlier this morning announced it would apply a 10 cent a litre milk levy to help dairy farmers.

 “Aussies can now back our farmers at the supermarket checkout,” Mr Littleproud said.

“I congratulate Coles for getting on board and seeing that the people of Australia really wanted this.

“I rang retailers three weeks ago and asked them to consider a voluntary levy for our farmers and I’m rapt they’ve come to the party. They’ve shown they have a social conscience.

“Now it’s up to consumers to show they want a #fairgoforfarmers by buying this milk. It’s a small investment to keep our farmers on the land producing milk for our nation.

“Ten cents a litre may not sound like much but it’s huge for our farmers, many of whom are losing money every day, or struggling to break even.”

Shane Hickey, from Kyogle, uploaded a video to social media saying $1 a litre milk was "unfair" pay.

"I would like to do a personal shout out to our supermarkets Woolworths, Coles, Aldi and IGA. I'm a proud dairy farmer, I work very hard...but I'd like to say I worked for $2.46 an hour last month," Shane said in the video.

"I'm not asking for money or anything else, I'm just asking to be paid fairly," he said. 

"One farmer said to me this morning we're basically on the poverty line."

"My parents, in 1986, were paid 20 per cent more per litre than what I'm getting now," Mr Hickey said. “They were getting around 76ca litre."

How the levy money will be distributed is still being decided.

Australian Dairy Farmers (ADF)  voiced support for a move by Woolworths to introduce a special range of milk at $1.10c a litre to help drought-stricken farmers across Australia, but the farmer group has cautioned that the extra 10c must be distributed to all dairy farmers.

“Woolworths has announced this plan, but what we really need is clarity around how that extra 10c will be distributed back to the farm gate in a way that all dairy farmers will benefit,” ADF President Terry Richardson said.

“There are many regions of Australia affected by drought with high production costs impacting thousands of dairy farmers.

“We look forward to working with Woolworths on how this will work in practice.”

Coles also announced it will increase the price of its three litre Own Brand milk from $3 to $3.30 until the end of the year, with the extra 30c to be diverted to the National Farmers’ Federation’s 2018 Drought Relief Fund.

Mr Richardson said drought relief milk is only a temporary measure and not a cure as ADF remains committed to pushing for a permanent end to discounted dairy products, including cheap cheese.

“You can’t justify a situation where a litre of milk is being sold on supermarket shelves for less than a litre of water and this must practice must stop. We urgently need a shared solution to assist in building the long-term sustainability of Australian dairy farmers,” Mr Richardson said.

Mr Richardson encouraged the public to help dairy farmers by continuing to buy branded dairy products.

“Farmers put tireless effort and resources into producing quality product and to see it devalued has a deep and lasting impact,” he said.

“There is a groundswell of support for farmers hit hard by the drought and supermarkets have the best opportunity to scrap their discounted dairy products.

“We urge Woolworths to include ADF on their Drought Relief Oversight Committee to ensure the national voice is heard.”