Bega says shrinking pool of cows to keep milk prices high

Simon EvansSenior reporter

Jun 27, 2023 – 3.14pm

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Key Points

Bega Cheese is doing a review of dairy processing factories including plants at Koroit and Tatura in Victoria.
Executive chairman Barry Irvin says there’s a ‘disconnect’ between milk prices in Australia and international dairy commodity prices.
The company has done a $115m sale and leaseback deal on its Vegemite factory at Port Melbourne, with property group Charter Hall.
Bega says there’s been a 9 per cent reduction in total raw milk supply in Australia over the past two years.

The executive chairman of Bega Cheese, which owns the Dairy Farmers, Big M and Farmers Union milk brands along with Vegemite, says labour shortages on dairy farms are contributing to rising milk prices for households.

Barry Irvin said there had been a 9 per cent drop in the volume of milk being produced by dairy farmers in Australia in the past two years, a reduction of 700 million litres.