A NEW pricing tool for dairy farmers will bring much-need transparency to the Australian milk market, says its developer.
Independent milk services company Milk2Market says its free calculator provides farmers with a transparent and credible source of farm gate milk prices and payment information.
Commercial development general manager Richard Lange said the tool used publicly available data and allowed farmers to compare payment structures and pricing based on their individual farm system.
“Members across the supply chain, as well as government and regulators, have been calling for greater price transparency in the dairy industry,” Mr Lange said.
“Our goal is to make buying and selling milk better for everyone.”
The free tool gives farmers a customised gross annual income estimate based on processor prices in the region.
Another platform, called Milk Exchange, will be released later this year and allow registered users to buy and sell milk directly via an online platform.
“We expect the calculator tool will help buyers and sellers gain a better picture of the market ahead of trading on the new milk exchange,” Mr Lange said.
The Milk Price Calculator compares milk payments of major selected companies in Victoria and NSW. Milk2Market aims to extend the service to South Australia, Queensland, Western Australia and Tasmania.
“We’ve combined industry experience, published price announcements and publicly available data to produce the best milk pricing tool available,” Mr Lange said.
“Members across the supply chain as well as government and regulators have been calling for greater price transparency in the dairy industry.”
“We expect the calculator tool will also assist buyers and sellers to have a better picture of the market ahead of trading on the new exchange.”
Asked how the program could be offered for free, Mr Lange said the goal was to build relationships with farmers for the introduction of Milk Exchange.
He said the pricing had been obtained through open sources.
He said many companies published their pricing information on-line and some had verified the numbers with Milk2Market.
Asked if the companies would be uncomfortable with the program, he said this was a new world and pricing was an issue the industry had to face.
“We are aware that a lot of people have tried to do this before.”
“We have trialled it and taken on board suggestions.
Asked if processors might say it was not the whole picture, Mr Lange said there were other issues suppliers could advance with their processors.
“After pricing, the conversation moves on to other issues and that’s up to the field service guys.”
For more information and to access the calculator, visit: milk2market.com.au/milkcalculator