Key points:
- A cream cheese factory in Mount Gambier is celebrating its 50th year in business.
- SA’s dairy leader says the industry needs younger farmers because older ones are leaving.
- To keep up with demand, milk processors in the South East buy milk from Victoria.
Mondelez, a company that makes cheese all over the world, was celebrating its 50th anniversary at its factory in Suttontown, in South East SA. Premier Peter Malinauskaus and Minister for Primary Industries Clare Scriven went to the factory to mark the occasion.
Mr. Hunt said that even though there were commercial-sized dairy farms in the area, many of the big processors, like Mondelez and UDC in Penola, had to get extra milk from Victoria.
The South East produces the most milk in the state, with a total of 270 million litres per year.
The South East needs more dairy farmers because milk from the Limestone Coast is in high demand. 1
Premier Peter Malinauskas visits the plant where Mondelez makes philly cheese in Mount Gambier.
(Supplied: Mondelez)
Mondelez uses more than half of that supply to make nearly 80 million tubs of cream cheese products every year, and the company said it could use even more.
Adam Borchers, the manager of Mondelez’s Suttontown site, said that the company processed about 150 million litres of milk each year. Most of that milk came from farmers in the South East, but it also got milk from farmers in Victoria near the border.
Mr. Borchers said, “All of our milk comes from within 150 kilometres.”
“Fresh milk is still hard to come by but very important to us, and we’re looking for more sources to keep growing our volumes.
“Having said that, we are very dedicated to buying locally.”
What’s next?
Mr. Hunt said that production had gone down in the last 10 to 15 years, but that things were looking up now because a new generation of farmers was joining the business.
He said, “People are leaving the business because the average age of dairy farmers is getting up there.”
“Good prices for land and good prices for stock (cattle) have also led some farmers to start raising beef or sell everything and leave the business.
“But a lot of young people are also coming back into the industry, which is good.”
The South East needs more dairy farmers because milk from the Limestone Coast is in high demand. 2
John Hunt is a dairy farmer who says that education helps young people get into the business.
(ABC Rural: Jemima Burt)
Mr. Hunt said that the industry needed education and ways to help the next generation of milk producers get into the business.
“The dairy business is a great way to make money,” he said.
“But we need young people to get into the industry through different ways of learning so they can see what it can offer them.”
