The Australian Dairy Industry faces challenging times with softening global milk prices and reduced demand.
If we review the history of the dairy industry over the past 35 years we can see that the national herd size is quite similar yet there is less than one third the number of farms as the trend towards larger farming operations.
Australian Dairy Industry Overview
Number of Registered Dairy Farms;
- 1979/80 21,994 farms
- 2014/15 6,128 farms
Number of Dairy Cows;
- 1979/80 1,880,000 cows
- 2014/15 1,740,000 cows
Average Herd Size;
- 93 cows in 1985 to an estimated 284 cows now
Australian Dairy Industry 2014/15
Milk Production;
- 9,731 billion litres
Average Annual Milk Production Per Cow;
- 5,730 litres
The Dairy Industry is a $13.5 billion farm, manufacturing and export industry making it Australia's 3rd Largest Rural Industry
Milk Utilisation;
- Cheese 31 per cent
- SMP/butter 27 per cent
- Drinking milk 25 per cent
- WMP 8 per cent
- Other 9 per cent
Dairy - Major Export Industry;
- $2.88 billion (2014/15)
- 6 per cent of world dairy trade
Percentage Of Australian Milk Production Exported;
- 34 per cent (2014/15)
Major Markets For Australian Dairy Products (Tonnes);
- Australia 3,033,000 (including drinking milk)
- Greater China 136,400
- Japan 103,900
- Singapore 86,600
- Indonesia 59,400
- Malaysia 51,100
Per Capita Domestic Consumption;
- Drinking milk 105 litres
- Cheese 13.6 kilograms
Dairy Industry Workforce;
- Direct employment of approximately 39,000
