Farmers were generally happy with the proposed sale of Murray Goulburn (MG) to Saputo, says South Australian Dairyfarmers’ Association president John Hunt.
“They really want to believe in their processor and don’t want to be chopping and changing who they supply,” Mr Hunt said.
He defended the competitiveness of Saputo which did not drop its milk price last April, unlike MG and Fonterra.
“If Saputo were going to be (anti-competitive) they would have by now,” he said.
Tyrendarra dairy farmer Larissa Gardiner agreed. “Saputo stayed at $4.80 kilogram/milk solids (kg/MS) and that is why a lot of farmers moved to that processor,” Ms Gardiner said.
“The ACCC needed to take the honesty of Saputo into account.”
Crossley dairy farmer, Karinjeet Singh-Mail, said any sale would mean milk would have to be moved to other plants, meaning higher costs.
