The NFF is currently on a 12 day fact finding trip to Europe and the UK to “explore new market pathways and strengthen ties.” The UK's exit from the EU represents opportunities for both British and Australian export markets, and the meeting provided the chance for both sides to improve relations and learn slightly more about how the other country operates.
Terry Richardson, President of the Australian Dairy Farmers, led the discussion on dairy, focusing particularly on supply chain management, dairy contracts and farmer-processor relations.
Contracts were an important topic on the agenda for both the Australian and the UK delegates. A recent inquiry into dairy supply chain imbalances in Australia had led the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to recommend that a mandatory code of conduct should be considered to address bargaining power imbalances between processors and farmers.
The NFU is also currently looking into the creation of a UK Dairy Contracts Law to which all milk buyers would be compliant to ensure UK dairy farmers have fair, balanced contracts as well as calling for better farmer representation to ensure there is not undue bargaining power on the side of processors. It was noted that in Australia dairy farmers did appear to be more aligned with their milk buyers despite the removal of exclusivity clauses from their contracts.
Speaking after the event, National Dairy Board Appointee Paul Tompkins said: “It is clear that dairy farmers in Australia and the UK are facing similar issues when it comes to fairness in the supply chain, changing consumption trends and negotiating future trade deals.
"Australian farmers plan to effectively resolve many of these issues through a combination of collaboration with milk buyers and light government support where necessary. The Australian delegation was particularly interested to learn about our assurance schemes including the additional costs they bring to our side of the farm gate whilst we in turn learnt more about how Australian government support is provided through the funding of new technology, research and development.”