To make sure you never miss out on your favourite NEW stories, we're happy to send you some reminders

Click 'OK' then 'Allow' to enable notifications

Dairy Farmer Begs Australians To Pay More For Milk So We Don't Have To Import It

Dairy Farmer Begs Australians To Pay More For Milk So We Don't Have To Import It

Joe Bradley said the current conditions are unprecedented and we need to act now.

Stewart Perrie

Stewart Perrie

Some of the big Australian supermarkets threw dairy farmers a bone when they announced they would bump up the price of their milk by 10 cents to help those struggling with the drought.

The news was met with applause and farmers have said it has provided a mild financial relief.

However, now they're turning their attention to the consumer to plead with them not to opt for the cheaper stuff so that they can get a decent return on their product.

Joe Bradley from Rush Creek, Queensland has told The Today Show: "What we're saying to the consumer is if you want fresh, Australian product...if you're paying anything less than $1.50 a litre for milk...the dairy industry can't survive on that...the farmers are being ripped off if you pay anything less than that figure."

The dairy farmer has described the current conditions as 'unprecedented' because at the moment they, and many others, are losing around 10 cents for every litre they sell.

"Every dairy farmer in Australia at the moment is losing money. The cost of feed, the cost of producing milk, it's unprecedented," he told the Channel 9 programme.

Joe said he is the fourth generation to run the farm but he doesn't know how much longer he has left.

PA

"We're taking this as a week by week basis," he said. "I've never been in a situation before where I can't source feed for my cows.

"That is coming to that now. We just can't source feed, we can't find feed anywhere and it's not just me, every farmer, anyone who's got any sort of animal is in the same boat as what I am.

"This drought is unprecedented. These conditions are unprecedented and unfortunately we've been kicked to death for the last 10 years for our prices and we've got no fat in the system, we've got nothing left and it's just catastrophic, it really is.

PA

"I just don't know where it's going to end up. We're not going to have a sustainable Australian dairy industry; you're not going to have fresh, Australian dairy products unless something changes very, very quickly."

There have been fears for quite some time now that Australia was reaching a point where we would have to start importing the majority of our dairy products because we don't have the capacity to do it here.

So, if you can, please pay a little more at the till so farmers don't have to give up their livelihood.

Featured Image Credit: Channel 9

Topics: News, Australia