Bushwalk Australia

Is the milk you buy contributing to the demise of our farmers? Let's see a little people power here!!!

Being very limited Milk users we buy Devondale Long Life reduced fat Smart Milk produced by Murray Gouldburn Co Op which I believe is Farmer owned and I suspect my milk is processed at Edith Creek in the NW of Tas .
corvus

There's the rub - how do we put pressure on the big companies without hurting the farmers who are supplying them? We responded by switching to Real Milk or Ashgrove Milk, both of which are owned by single producers (as far as I can tell). Unfortunately that doesn't put any money into the hands of the farmers who supply the big producer. I'd love to support a Tasmanian dairy farmers cooperative if one existed.

Seems the two mainstreams are Pura and Betta.
So which should we be buying to "help" the farmers?

Betta is Fonterra. These guys treat farmers marginally better than Pura (National Foods). Pura's latest ploy is to divide and conquer by individually approaching farmers to tie them down to two year contracts! Farmers are saying we're all going broke anyway, so hit the company by not purchasing their milk. It's all they have left , the poor *&%$#!.

Buddy wrote:Betta is Fonterra. These guys treat farmers marginally better than Pura (National Foods). Pura's latest ploy is to divide and conquer by individually approaching farmers to tie them down to two year contracts! Farmers are saying we're all going broke anyway, so hit the company by not purchasing their milk. It's all they have left , the poor *&%$#!.

Just a small correction Betta is a Tasmanian independent company who source their milk from Fonterra.
corvus

Ashmore's make a non-homoginised full cream milk, it's great and local.
Pyengana Dairy make 'Real Milk' also a non-homogonised milk.
Richmond Milk in the South also do this.
All of these companies are locally owned and operated, and you should see how their milk is selling now.

Apparently the homogonisation process kills most of the good bacteria we need from milk, so the other stuff really is just, white water.

Oh, it taste's better too .

This only helps farmers aligned with these dairy's though.
Unfortunately the farmers have to move with the market. Tassie will never compete on cost and we should never try, it's about quality, purity and cleanliness, and, having a bit of an understanding how many large industrialised dairies operate these factors suffer.
It's a harsh call I know, but farmers all over Tassie are faced with the same problem, and it's the one's that focus on quality rather than quantity that come through and succeed.
Many parallels with forestry on the big issues IMHO

Just a quick note - Betta are the betta of two evils according to my source, Pura re-use their waste product over and over....

What happened to Controversy Corner???

Just a quick note - Betta are the betta of two evils according to my source, Pura re-use their waste product over and over....

What happened to Controversy Corner???[/quote]

Can you please explain this comment and I don't use eigther of their liquid milk products.
corvus

Are some Tasmanian Dairy Farmers' operations too small to expect to be viable? I don't know.

The industry was deregulated some years ago, and the less viable were sifted out then. What is left is highly efficient.Now if they could only get a price that is MORE than the cost of production..........................

corvus wrote:Just a quick note - Betta are the betta of two evils according to my source, Pura re-use their waste product over and over....

What happened to Controversy Corner???

Can you please explain this comment and I don't use eigther of their liquid milk products.
corvus[/quote]

Hi corvus,

What's wrong with throw-away lines? Wasn't that the good thing about CC?

A mate that worked making a corporate puff piece(propaganda video) for NF(Pura), there is a waste product from the pasturisation/homogonisation process.
This product is then recycled through the loop and makes up to 10% of the Pura product. It is my understanding that Betta do not practice this.

That's all I (think I)know, take it or leave it....

P.S. These problems all stem from industrialisation of agriculture. We all need to go back to the farm gate and reclaim our agrarian roots, we are all ultimately, of the land.
P.P.S. How's the weather

stepbystep wrote:

corvus wrote:Just a quick note - Betta are the betta of two evils according to my source, Pura re-use their waste product over and over....

What happened to Controversy Corner???

Can you please explain this comment and I don't use eigther of their liquid milk products.
corvus

Hi corvus,

What's wrong with throw-away lines? Wasn't that the good thing about CC?

A mate that worked making a corporate puff piece(propaganda video) for NF(Pura), there is a waste product from the pasturisation/homogonisation process.
This product is then recycled through the loop and makes up to 10% of the Pura product. It is my understanding that Betta do not practice this.

That's all I (think I)know, take it or leave it....

P.S. These problems all stem from industrialisation of agriculture. We all need to go back to the farm gate and reclaim our agrarian roots, we are all ultimately, of the land.
P.P.S. How's the weather [/quote]

Thanks for the clarification sbs and the weather up here in the NW is perfect as allways

tasadam wrote:

stepbystep wrote:What happened to Controversy Corner???

viewtopic.php?f=11&t=2979

Yeah, I know but controversy is the spice of life....