My name is Montanna. I'm 15, from Tasmania and am part of Australia's dairy industry.
Today I overheard someone say: "The dairy crisis isn't real. We should just move on from what has occurred in the past 12 or so months. Everyone should pull their heads in and stop worrying about pointless issues."
To even hear of someone say something such as that was bloody astonishing.
The dairy crisis is real. It has hit so many individuals, impacting the lives of every single person who works in the industry.
Many may say "I don't understand it, so why worry about it?" or "it's a pointless issue, not worth discussing".
The thing is, though, I'm only 15 and I understand it.
The dairy crisis scares me.
Many farmers have exited the industry or have cut back on operations, leaving many without a job.
Everyone else with a job is overshadowed by the constant doubt that there is a lack of sufficient funds to maintain your weekly or fortnightly wages.
The job that I once used to enjoy with an open heart now has a shadow - you go to get up at 4:30 in the morning and not have a clue about whether you'd still have a job the next day or not.
It's now been 12 months since Murray Goulburn dropped its prices and its largest rival, Fonterra, followed suit, causing the industry to dive head on into crisis.
Farmgate milk prices were slashed, as the processors clawed back past payments and left many hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars, in debt.
Many had no choice but to sell up and leave, while others had developed mental health issues due to the stress that they were put through.
It's now been 12 months, yet Australia's milk production sits at a massively gut-wrenching 21-year low.
Many farmers started to struggle with finances, some more than others as farm infrastructure became too expensive to maintain and some started to see horror milk quality issues, thus reducing their milk prices even more.
MG revealed in February 2017 that it had been hit with a $31.9 million dollar loss in just the last six months and that 20 per cent of its milk supply had evaporated.
Although the government stepped in and offered loans, many still missed out and the application period was too long for some.
They have made and are continuing to make an enormous amount of profit from farmers and are making us pay it back.
I honestly believe that it's nowhere good enough for the people who continue to work in the industry day in and day out and who are looking for a prosperous career later on in life.
It's nothing less than a national disgrace and it should be described as a national disgrace that Australian farmers are still dealing with 12 long months on.
*Montanna Gilroy is a Grade 10 student at Winnaleah District School in north-eastern Tasmania and works part-time on two dairy farms.
