Cream rising to the top: Victorian dairy delivers

2 October 2023

A new report has found Victorian dairy farmers enjoyed one of their most profitable 12 months in the last 17 years.

Agriculture Victoria today released the 2022-2023 Dairy Farm Monitor, an annual survey tracking 80 dairy farm businesses statewide.

Agriculture Victoria Sector Development and Services Executive Director Dougal Purcell said the report showed that in 2022-2023, milk price increased by 33% to $9.77 per kilogram milk solids – the highest on record in 17 years – helping to offset rising feed costs and overheads including labour.

‘It is pleasing to see Victorian dairy farmers come out on top following a year of higher business inputs, wet conditions and flooding,’ Mr Purcell said.

‘We thank the Dairy Farm Monitor project participants for their dedicated support for this initiative, providing such valuable information to industry and government.’

Agriculture Victoria’s Dairy Farm Monitor project is a partnership with Dairy Australia, collecting and analysing financial and production data from dryland and irrigated dairy farms in south-western Victoria, Gippsland and northern Victoria.

Dairy Australia, General Manager for Research & Innovation Greg Jarman said farmers are making multiple operational and tactical decisions on a daily, weekly and seasonal basis.

‘Some of these decisions can have a lasting impact on the profitability and sustainability of their farm,’ he said.

‘The Dairy Farm Monitor Project is a valuable source of independent physical and financial data around a wide range of on-farm practices, equipping farmers with essential insights to inform their decision making. This information also ensures that on-farm consultants and industry stakeholders can use reliable, independent and useful information and resources to provide good advice to farmers.’

Project participants represent a distribution of farm size, feeding systems and herd sizes.

Farmers use the reports for business decision making, tracking performance of their business over time, making large scale changes and assisting with financial management.

Valued at $2.5 billion, Victorian dairy leads the nation’s exports. The gross value of milk produced in Victoria is worth $2.86 billion and the sector supports almost 13,000 jobs, almost half of which are in regional Victoria.

There were approximately 2,773 dairy farm businesses in Victoria that produced 5.14 billion litres or 63% of Australia’s national milk production in 2022-23.

The 2022-23 Dairy Farm Monitor report is available on the Agriculture Victoria website.

Media contact: Maida Anderson

Phone: 0431626178