This past year saw the launch of a new innovation centre, Dairy Innovation Australia, with $15 million of ongoing funding over the next three years. Dairy Australia instigated the rationalisation of five dairy manufacturing research centres into one physical entity led by one Board and organisational structure. The staff of each centre must be congratulated for the speed, professionalism and efficiency of the merger. Another example of the Company’s growing maturity is its alignment with the RDPs. The RDPs are critical to the dairy industry in taking onto farms the research carried out by Dairy Australia and its partners. The people within the RDPs have a good feel for local needs and are the natural conduit between the service provider and the farmers. Dairy Australia will seek to enhance the work of the RDPs in the future. Dairy Australia’s ability to respond rapidly to industry needs was tested during the most recent drought but the response again demonstrated the value of collective action. The Company used levy funds to help co-ordinate the industry’s response, pulling together resources and co-ordinating the additional and significant support given by the dairy companies, the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, state Departments of Primary Industries and the RDPs. With a member-elected, skills-based Board, an experienced management team and a wealth of industry partners, Dairy Australia is a service body that has strong connections and commitment to industry and a growing recognition of its value to individual dairy farmers. It is by no means perfect and it does have a major role in communicating the value and benefits of levy-funded investments to dairy farmers. The Board recognises that the levy paid by farmers is a significant amount of money relative to total farm income. It is Dairy Australia’s role to ensure the levy is regarded by dairy farmers not as a cost but as a genuine investment in collective action for the industry and in their own future well-being. In communicating the benefits of investment in dairy research, the Company also needs to identify and communicate the spin-off benefits to the wider community. Dairy Australia’s investments are closely aligned to the Australian Government’s National Research Priorities and the new Rural Research and Development Priorities. The much-hoped-for swift recovery from the drought will demonstrate the benefits to the wider community of a vibrant and growing dairy industry. THE CURRENT YEAR According to the Dairy 2007: Situation & Outlook Report, the outlook for the Australian dairy industry is finely balanced. World dairy demand remains positive with both local and international markets showing great strength and world prices reaching record levels. But the outlook at the farm level is much less certain as farmers face tough decisions about their future due to the effects of the drought, uncertainty about future water access and rising feed costs.
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