This letter to Coles from the Darling Downs from Donna and Mark Fitch outlines the true costs to farms.
Dear Coles…
Thank you for your drought relief funds, however I would like to make a point that the consumers are actually the ones receiving charity – from the pockets of the dairy farmers who are trying to make ends meet, and in many cases are unable to.
We have milked for three generations and have invested into our business to meet market demands. Our herd numbers and workload have doubled to ensure that we are able to remain viable in the face of an industry that is capped by the $1 litre milk. We supply two million litres to Norco on the Darling Downs.
We received $6200 from the drought relief fund, however we calculated that the added feed cost alone per month is $17,500 extra over that of a normal season.
With those figures, the $4 million that Coles collected would support about 20 farms to break even for 12 months. Feed on the Darling Downs is becoming difficult to source. Our summer silage has been cooked off in the recent heatwave.
To add insult to the situation, we spent $50,000 in November on a new bore as our bores are running dry with stock water pumps running 24 hours to keep supply to our herd.
This bore has now failed, and we have been forced to drill another bore totalling $90,000.
Our only option will be to cease supply within the next six months if we cannot get the market to carry some of the burden of the cost of production.
I ask that you please consider increasing the price of milk to the consumer to allow the money to return to the farmers who are desperately trying to survive this crippling drought.
Regards,