His call comes as long-range weather forecasts point to another dry autumn and winter in the South West, meaning it is likely the State’s embattled dairy farmers will again have to fork out big dollars for livestock feed.
Mr Woodhouse, a second-generation dairy farmer at Scott River, near Augusta, whom WestBusiness recently reported planned to sell his massive dairy farm because of the lack of personal and financial reward, supplies milk to Woolworths.
He said Woolworths’ recent axing of $1 one-litre milk had made a big positive impact on his business.
Based on his production of 20 million litres a year, the move by Woolworths to charge an extra 10¢ a litre (which applies to 20 per cent of all production) returns an extra $400,000 a year to Mr Woodhouse’s bottom line.
“When you’re down and out, hearing you’ll get paid a few extra cents a litre is like a pat on the back, it really goes a long way,” he said. Mr Woodhouse said the move would not change his plans to sell, which is driven by personal as well as financial reasons, but the higher price had helped ease the pressure.
Since speaking candidly about spending 14-hour days working to barely break even, Mr Woodhouse has received an outpouring of public support.
“Woolworths has shown leadership by finally breaking the eight-year stranglehold on heavily discounted milk,” he said.
“But we need to get the other supermarkets to budge on their pricing, so the farmers supplying to these supermarkets can also be paid a fairer price.
“If all shoppers avoid buying home-brand milk from Coles and Aldi, this will put pressure on the supermarkets to act.”