Co-ops will save dairy, says farmer

31 October 2013

Dairy farmer Roma Britnell says a strong Australian co-operative is the only thing that can grow her industry.

Sitting at the kitchen table at her farm in Woolsthorpe just outside Warrnambool, she tells The Australian Financial Review she won’t sell her Warrnambool Cheese and Butter (WCB) shares to Canada’s Saputo or Bega Cheese at any price.

The 47-year-old farmer, who milks 1000 cows across three operations in the lush south-west Victorian country, spent two years examining Australian and international dairy markets as a Nuffield scholar. Britnell’s studies convinced her that a co-operative structure is the only way Australian dairy can compete on the world stage.

“As a milk supplier, I’m just a cost to the business for a corporate,” she said. “The Australian dairy industry is at a crossroads. We can’t sell our souls like we have in grain and other industries where we’ve lost control.”

Source: The Australian Dairyfarmer, Co-ops will save dairy: farmers, 29 October 2013