The Australian Dairy Industry
Australian dairy farmers milk 2,010,000 cows on 9,256 farms and produce 10.1 billion litres of milk per year.
The Australian dairy industry has a strong domestic market, with 50 - 60 per cent of its products sold at home. Australia accounts for 12 per cent of the world export dairy market.
Farming systems
Australia's climate and natural resources are generally favourable to dairying and allow the local industry to be predominantly pasture-based, with approximately 70 to 80 per cent of cattle feed requirements coming from grazing. This results in efficient, low-cost, high quality milk production.
Most dairy production is located in coastal areas, where pasture growth generally depends on natural rainfall. However, the inland irrigation schemes in northern Victoria, southern NSW and east Gippsland have become significant, and now account for around a quarter of total milk production.
Irrigation is also used in other regions, particularly Tasmania, using on-farm water storages and ground water.
The use of bought-in supplementary feed, such as hay, silage and grains, is becoming more widespread. These feeds give Australian farmers the flexibility to manage seasonal conditions and use systems that strategically use supplements to improve their profitability.
Nitrogen is widely used to boost pasture production and good grazing management can achieve high levels of pasture consumption. This is variable depending on soils, climate, rainfall and irrigation.
Australian dairy farmers continue to increase on-farm productivity through improved pasture, feed and herd management.
