Last Eungella dairy farm closing as milk becomes 'cheaper than water'

ABC NEWS (Australia)

The last dairy farm in the Mackay region of Queensland is closing amid pressure from cheap supermarket milk and back-to-back wet seasons. Eungella was once home to about 60 dairies. The farm's owners will instead focus on beef production.

Transcript

00:00As morning sunlight hits the Yungela range, Dale Fortescue is in his paddock, watching

00:08over his herd for one of the last times. He and his wife Paula are giving up dairy farming

00:15after 17 years.

00:17The last dairy in Yungela sort of says goodbye. Yeah, unfortunately that's how it goes I suppose.

00:26They've been working close to 80 hours a week to keep up with the rising cost of production.

00:32But two extreme wet seasons have turned Yungela's grass sour and decreased their cattle's milk

00:38output.

00:39We didn't want to go back into debt to keep going basically. Our milk production has gone

00:47down so low.

00:48To beat dropping supermarket prices the pair started processing their own milk six years

00:54ago. But even strong support from local businesses wasn't enough to stay afloat.

00:59Family had a farm up here when we were kids. Back then there were 65 dairy farms so to live

01:05long enough to see the last one close is a really sad day.

01:10Dairy Australia says many other farmers are holding on rather than expanding after a difficult

01:16season.

01:17We've seen some challenges around farm margins and weather especially this season.

01:21Dale Fortescue will sell more than half the dairy cows on his farm as he begins a transition

01:27into the beef industry that could take years.

01:30Dale Fortescue will sell more than half the dairy cows on his farm as he begins a transition

01:31into the beef industry that could take years.

01:33Especially my favourite cows they'll be still there so we won't be selling them so yeah you

01:36know you still have a lot of interaction with them.

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