Community alerted price rise to have ‘minimal effect’ on viability

MONBULLA dairy farmers Lyndon and Ann-Marie Eason said they are concerned the public may perceive the 10 cent per litre price change announced by Woolworths this week as more impactful than what they believe the reality will be. During their time in the industry, the couple said they had watched as dairies around the area shutdown one after the other which they claim was an impact of the crippling conditions imposed by the devaluation of market prices. "We are one of maybe two or three dairies left around this area," Ms Eason said. "Only a couple of years ago there were more than 10, but the outlying costs greatly outweigh the returns dairy farmers are receiving and we just cannot keep up. "Many farmers are turning to beef or sheep to supplement the costs, if we did not have somewhere else to make money I'm not sure we could keep going." Ms Eason said the damage had taken more than a financial toll on the family-owned enterprise. "Lyndon has been milking his whole life - it is in his blood," she said. "Dairy farmers are some of the hardest workers you'll meet, day in and day out 365 days a year we're out here with our cows - if you did not love it you would not be doing it. "The thought we may not have the capability to continue in the sector in the near future is incredibly daunting - this is what our family has done for generations and something must change before the Australian dairy industry is long gone."