A dairy lobby group is calling for greater transparency when it comes to milk prices.
Farmer Power wants dairy companies to scrap so-called loyalty payments and instead just pay farmers fairly for the milk they supply.
President Chris Gleeson, a dairy farmer from Koroit in south west Victoria, says his group also wants the industry to make it easier for farmers to change suppliers without experiencing financial pain.
“Currently we’ve got a number of investors wanting to come to the south west and it’s crucial if we want more competition that we’ve got to be able to let the milk move from factory to factory,” he said.
“We are being restricted in regards to loyalty payments that at the end of the year if you chose to leave a manufacturer before the last payment, you might get that withheld because you are no longer with the factory.
“In some circumstances [farmers] have lost up to 30 – 40 – $50,000, yet the factory has taken that milk.”
Farmer Power is also calling on all dairy processors to announce their opening price by June 20.
Mr Gleeson says it’s crucial farmers know all the facts up front and are not forced to find out pricing after they’ve started supplying to a company for the new milk season.
“In the past, we’ve been producing milk into July and we didn’t know how much we were producing it for,” he said.
“So we want the price set before taking it.
“We want a mandate which says the price has to be put out and everyone has to have their opening price, so producers know exactly what they’re being paid, when they sell their milk on the first of July.”