Plagued by a moving goal post with milk prices, dairy farmers across the nation have been advocating for a code of conduct to be confirmed between processors and farmers.
Following the unveiling of the new Code of Conduct in milk supply agreements by Federal Agricultural Minister, Bridget McKenzie, president of the United Dairyfarmers of Victoria, Paul Mumford said, “While the code will not be responsible for setting the farmgate milk price, it will bring back some balance of power between farmers and processors and set standards and commitments for industry participants.”
The mandatory code will require processors to publish standard form agreements on 1 June each year and will ban unfair practices including retrospective step downs, unilateral changes to contracts and processors withholding any loyalty payments.
“Requiring processors to publish a non-exclusive agreement by default means farmers can take advantage of milk trading platforms that are currently being developed, if that suits their farming business,” he said. “Processors can also publish an exclusive supply agreement too, giving farmers much more flexibility with their supply arrangements.” said Mr Mumford.
For more information about the mandatory Dairy Code of Conduct visit the Department of Agriculture’s website at https://www.agriculture.gov.au/ag-farm-food/meat-wool-dairy/dairy-dairycode
