SOUTHERN Australia will be called on to supply 22,500 dairy cattle to Sri Lanka after securing two contracts worth almost $100 million.
The contracts which were negotiated by Wellard Rural Exports with the Sri Lankan Department of Economic Development (SLDED), builds on the recent and successful completion of a previous contract to supply 2000 dairy heifers to SLDED, which also included the renovation existing facilities and provision of management and education.
Wellard will source and supply 20,000 Friesian-Jersey heifers in the next two years to service the larger contract, as well as providing management and veterinary support.
In a second contract, supported by Rabobank and Australia's Export Finance Investment Corporation, Wellard will supply 2500 Friesian Jersey-cross heifers to a greenfields farm in Sri Lanka to be built by Wellard complete with sheds, milking parlour and machinery.
Wellard chief executive officer Mauro Balzarini said the contract with the Sri Lankan Government reflected Wellard's previous performance and ability to provide high-quality animals and capacity building.
Sri Lanka currently produces only 42 per cent of its milk requirements and imports the remainder at a cost of US$300 million a year. To improve this scenario the Sri Lankan Government has a long-term commitment to increase domestic milk production.
Wellard Dairy general manager Colin Webb said Wellard would source Friesian-Jersey heifers because the breed was best suited to the local environment and production systems.
The company expects to convey the heifers in up to five shipments over the next two years and will source the cattle from around Australia. But given Wellard has its own pre-export quarantine facility in Victoria, and there are a lot of dairy cows based in south-eastern Australia. It is to be expected that quite a number of the heifers required for the contracts will come from the greater south-eastern dairy region.
Mr Webb said the previous 2000 cattle supplied by Wellard to the Sri Lankan Economic Development Industry had performed well in terms of reproduction and milk production, and the dairy installed by the company was operating efficiently.
"All parties to the original supply agreement have been delighted with its implementation," he said.
"We are therefore pleased to have been able to build on that relationship and the knowledge gain with a significantly larger contract."
