Crossley dairy farmers Karinjeet Singh-Mahil and Brian Schuler have driven a tractor into Warrnambool, to protest outside the Fonterra’s supplier meeting.
Fonterra managing director Rene Dedoncker, milk supply manager Matt Watt and Bonlac Supply Company (BSC) board chairman Tony Marwood are touring Victoria, to explain the company’s forecast full-year farm gate milk price range of $5.30 to $5.70 a kilogram of milk solids (kg/MS) for the coming season.
The company has also offered an additional payment of 40c/kg MS, payable in 2017/2018
Ms Singh-Mahil, a former Fonterra supplier, said she believed the company should pay back everything it owed to farmers.
“They should pay back everything they took from farmers in financial year 2015-16 – some farmers lost over a dollar kilogram and we lost a great deal more than 40 cents,” Ms Singh-Mahil said
She said Fonterra had taken farmers’ money and were trying to use it “to entice people into their clutches”. “It needs to be paid to people who are owed money – with interest.”
She said she had been contacted by disadvantaged farmers who had urged her, and Brian, to keep the pressure up on Fonterra.
“They don’t feel as though they have a voice, so we have to continue with this, because, if we don’t, who is going to look after these people?”
Ms Singh-Mahil urged members of the public to sign her petition, on Change.org calling on Fonterra to pay back the money, and boycott the company’s products.
But Mr Watt ruled out repayment of former suppliers, saying Fonterra felt its decision was “the right thing to do”, as it gave farmers a “line of sight” for the coming season.”
“Farmers can see this is a way forward, they can budget around a number, they can see the additional 40 cents provides them additional funds to respond and increase production,” Mr Watt said.
“The first thing this is about is making sure we have a sustainable future. Our first priority is to existing farmers and those who want to come back, to make sure they have the ability to do so.”
Fonterra understood there were groups, which the new offer did not satisfy, and the company fully understood their position. “One of the things that is important for us, as we rebuild our business and have Stanhope coming on line, is that we think it will provide existing farmers the confidence to increase their production.” He said Fonterra had contacted all farmers who had left the company “and a number have expressed an interest in coming back”.
He declined to put a figure on the number of farmers who had left Fonterra as a result of the cut in milk price, saying only “it’s a significant amount, right across the network”.
“We worked through what the right way to apply this in a lot of detail. We took our time, we consulted heavily, we had multiple meetings with the BSC board. We fundamentally believe this is the right way and best way to apply it.”
South Australian Fonterra supplier Lorraine Robertson said the Warrnambool meeting was “very well contained” but suppliers told the company “how it is”. She said she had only half the number of cows she once had, which meant her production was down.
“Why can’t we just be paid back for 2015-16? Why are they using this money to entice suppliers?”
She said Fonterra’s closing forecast was only a proposed milk price, and not a guarantee.
“They can move the goal posts at any time. It’s only a guesstimate and they can move it up, down or around,” Ms Robertson said. “The only guarantee was 40 cents and they should be paying us back. They desperately need supply. Without supply, I think Fonterra have shot themselves in the foot.”
But Chris Griffin, who milks 400 cows north of Moe, said he believed a lot of farmers had not fully studied the Fonterra offer.
“From my perspective, it seems a reasonably good deal. We haven’t heard, or seen, anything from the other companies,” Mr Griffin said.
“They have come out early, with a price, and I think that’s positive. Unfortunately people are looking backwards, not forwards, and might want to move on.”