Dairy Industry Case Study Current issues in primary industry (in Australia and overseas): §  Impact of climate change / Drought §  Environmental externalities of irrigated farming §  Urbanization / Diminishing economic returns  Australia DAIRY farmers  in particular are  in crisis as demonstrated by a recent report published by Dairy Australia “cash incomes are expected to plunge by 80 per cent on average this financial year as farmers in the grip of a severe drought endure a fall in production and ballooning fodder costs... Overall, average farm income is expected to fall dramatically in most dairy regions, and by 77 per cent nationally, to $19,907 a farm... Total farm debt is expected to rise by 8 per cent, according to estimates of the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics..."Feed costs, the limited availability of fodder and questions over water stocks mean farmers still face some tough decisions...Farmers in northern Victoria and the Riverina are reporting the greatest fall in cash flow this year — an estimated $100,000 less than in 2005-06...Nationally, milk production is expected to fall by about 8 per cent to 9.4 billion litres this year. Assuming a return to normal seasonal conditions and a slight improvement in output per cow, it is still expected to fall another 2 per cent next year...Milk production in the state's north has dropped by less than 5 per cent this year, but feed costs have almost doubled...The report warns that many farmers face a critical fodder shortage that may trigger more herd culling...A national survey of 1000 dairy farmers in February and early March 2007 found that only 54 per cent felt positive about the future, down from 61 per cent the previous year...Dairy farmers who irrigate pastures with water from the Murray-Darling Basin face the prospect of no water at the start of the irrigation season in July unless heavy rains fall...” Source: Orietta Guerrera, TheAge, May 24, 2007 - based on interview with Dairy Australia managing director Mike Ginnivan and a report issued on 23 May 2007 by Dairy Australia   Dairy Industry trend and farmers attitude towards change 25% of Dairy farmers surveyed in 2006 said they intend to make changes to their irrigation system including - re-use systems within the next 2 years. While many dairy farmers have upgraded their effluent systems over the past few years, 59% believed there was further room for improvement and 31% intended to make changes over the next two years. A high 81% of this group believed it would be important to receive independent advice and support when they made changes to their system. Deregulation, drought and global trends led to consolidation of the industry and corporate style management of large scale farming – as a result small farms face a challenge in making a living while remaining on the farm.  Source:  www.dairyaustralia.com    Our solution The SV solution enables small farmers to maintain their farm through:  1. Diversification as opposed to scale!  2. Efficient reuse of scarce water for intensive diversified and sustainable revenue streams    Currently, many Victorian dairy farmers in northern irrigation regions are underutilising existing bore water that is mainly used for conjunctive irrigation with fresh surface water as part of a sub-surface drainage approach to managing salinity. Additional use of this saline groundwater includes dairy wash down, but with little or no additional use of the nutrient rich effluent which accumulates on the farm. The SWS will treat this scarce resource, separate the solids from the liquid fraction and reuse the bioremediated water for the production of more/alternative crops and/or other ‘fit-for-purpose’ on-farm uses (such as dairy wash down = full recycle).   Author: staff writer Keywords: dairy,  casestudy Created on 30 May 2007,   Modified on 30 May 2007