The great milk debate continues

Winner of a gold Milk Quality Award in 2023, Matt Brett, Dardanup, said it was frustrating these products were marketed as milk and as their sales climbed, they cut into the slim profits of the fresh milk industry.

WAFarmers has also weighed into the debate and its dairy section has done a lot of promotional work to educate consumers about the nutritional and sustainability benefits of fresh, locally produced milk products and how efforts are being made by dairy farmers to improve the environmental credentials of running dairy herds.

Major Australian plant-based milk processor Vitasoy Australia recently revealed it would this year produce 70 million litres of soy, almond, oat, rice and coconut milks and some soy and oat-based yogurts in its biggest year of manufacturing these products to date.

Dairy Australia estimated these beverages account for about eight per cent of the total share of the retail milk and plant-based beverage market.

Australia is forecast to produce about eight billion litres of real milk annually - or 76pc of the nation's fresh milk market.

Plant-based beverages have been around for a while but have experienced slow but continued growth in recent years, Dairy Australia said.

"Regardless, the market for plant-based beverages remains something of a niche," it said.

In the past year, 42pc of households in Australia bought plant-based beverages.

Most of these consumers also purchased fresh milk (96pc of households), with only a small portion exclusively buying plant-based beverages.

The past decade has seen an increase in the types of plant-based beverages on supermarket shelves, including those made from soy, nuts, coconut, rice, oat, peas and newer sources, such as hemp and quinoa.

These products are mostly sourced from outside WA and marketed as dairy alternatives and, when sufficiently fortified with calcium, are included with dairy foods in one of the five food groups recommended in Australian dietary guidelines.

Dairy Australia's research shows about half of consumers buy plant-based beverages in the belief they are healthier, 36pc said they preferred the taste and 30pc think these are better for the environment.

This indicates a need to educate consumers about the nutritional, health and sustainability benefits of milk, which is an affordable nutrient powerhouse delivering a unique array of nutrients.

Dairy Australia said there was potential for consumers that buy plant-based beverages to pay more for less nutrients.

"Plant-based beverages struggle to replicate the unique nutrient package milk offers, with a large variation in nutrient quality," it said.

"Compared to milk, plant-based beverages contain a different package of vitamins and minerals, which are often added in (through fortification) and in smaller quantities.

"Only soy protein contains all the essential amino acids animal protein contains, but not in the same amounts as milk.

"Milk contains nutrients in their natural and most bioavailable form.

"Plant-based beverages often have little in common with the plants they are derived from.

"They also cost more on a per litre basis for less nutrition and can vary widely in nutrient composition."

Scientific evidence shows consuming milk, cheese and yoghurt is linked to a reduced risk of heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure and type two diabetes, and is not linked to an increase in weight or obesity risk.

There is limited evidence to demonstrate the health benefits of most plant-based beverages.

But there is a strong body of scientific evidence for milk, cheese and yoghurt.

Dairy Australia said water was the main ingredient in all plant-based beverages.

As well as being fortified with vitamins and minerals, many plant-based beverages had ingredients added during processing, such as stabilisers, starches, thickeners and emulsifiers to improve texture, shelf life and product stability.

Some also contain added sugar.

Plant-based beverages often contain only small quantities of the original ingredient, so consumers don't get the wholefood benefits.

WAFarmers dairy section president Ian Noakes said manufacturers of plant-based beverages should not be able to label their products as milk.

"It is false advertising and often that industry denigrates the production of fresh milk for its poor environmental and health credentials," Mr Noakes said.

"We have been taking action to promote fresh milk and its health benefits compared to the ultra-processed plant-based beverages.

"We are also educating the market about how dairy farmers are continuing to work to lower carbon emissions.

"The fossil fuel industry is the main contributor to carbon emissions - not agriculture - and this needs to be recognised by consumers.

"There are less cattle and sheep in Australia than 50 years ago, so not much has changed in carbon emissions.

"As WA dairy farmers reduce our carbon footprint, we can make a difference to Australia's output of greenhouse gas."

WAFarmers is a contributor to the Australian Dairy Sustainability Framework.

This has four key pillars of enhancing economic viability and livelihoods, improving wellbeing of people, providing best care for animals and reducing environmental impacts to 2030.

To reduce environmental impacts, dairy farmers are keen to embrace innovations in farm and herd management that increase productivity and enhance the environment.

Fodder additives and grazing strategies have been developed to reduce the production of methane from cows during rumination.

Genetically climate-smart dairy cattle are being bred to produce fewer emissions and cope better in a warming, drying climate.

A new Sustainability Index for genetics guides farmers in breeding the most efficient animals possible.

They recognise the value of turning waste into a resource and keeping and re-using nutrients on farm is a priority.

The effluent produced from cows at milking sheds is valuable for irrigation, fertiliser and compost.

Washdown water can also be recycled.

Current dairy farming practices are regenerative.

All dairy farmers store carbon in their soils via rotational grazing systems which pull carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to feed growing pastures.

They minimise soil disturbance, maintaining living plant roots all year and good soil cover and dung beetles help by pulling carbon-rich manure into the soil.

Modern, diverse pasture plants increase resilience to a warming drying climate.

Vitasoy said its almond milk was the biggest plant-based beverage seller, with oat milk hot on its heels.

Vitasoy Australia chief executive David Tyack told ABC Radio the market for plant-based beverages was expected to continue to grow.

He said almond milk sales had increased by 31pc between 2020 and 2022 and oat milk had "gone ballistic" in the past four years.

Mr Tyack put this down to a rise of veganism and perceptions of the health benefits of these beverages.

"There are not many coffee shops that don't offer soy, almond or oat milk," Mr Tyack said.

"Oat milk, in particular, is viewed as the most sustainable crop in the plant-based milk game, uses less water, has less emissions and has a neutral taste.

"This makes it a good gateway jump from dairy."

While oats are grown in WA, they are shipped to Italy for processing into oat milk then shipped back, greatly reducing the actual environmental benefits.

Bretts' milk wins awards

DAIRY farming is in the blood for Angela and Matt Brett, who produce some of Western Australia's best milk.

This is based on the main quality parameter of low bulk milk cell count (BMCC) and they were recently rewarded for their efforts with a Dairy Australia 2023 Milk Quality Award.

Mr Brett is a fourth-generation dairy farmer whose family has milked cows in the Ferguson Valley, near Dardanup, for close to 100 years.

He and Ms Brett now manage 180 cows on 142 hectares that receive an annual average rainfall of 800-1000 millimetres and have good loam soils and a flat topography that supports quality pastures.

Their Tulloke Dairy property is one of only about three dairies left in the Dardanup area.

About another nine local dairies have transitioned out of the industry in recent years due to the cost-price squeeze and long hours of work.

The Bretts have always run Holstein Friesian cattle and have a breeding focus on key milk production and quality traits, including BMCC, milk fat, milk protein levels and good udders.

They have been the recipients of Dairy Australia's Milk Quality Awards for the past 15 years and in the past nine years they have been in the top 100 in Australia to earn themselves an impressive nine gold diamond plaques for their farmgate.

The Milk Quality Awards are the premier Australian awards for the dairy sector and celebrate farmers who produce the best milk nationally.

Dairy Australia animal health and fertility national lead Zoe Vogels said the awards were part of the organisation's commitment to supporting decision-making onfarm to maintain the health of dairy herds and the quality of milk that is produced.

"Achieving good milk quality is a win-win for farmers, processors, retailers and the community," Dr Vogels said.

"The whole dairy industry benefits from having high quality milk.

"Farmers see improved milk production from healthier udders, receive higher milk premiums and have lower herd health treatment costs.

"Dairy processors see increased product yields and prolonged shelf life of their products."

The Milk Quality Awards form part of a national mastitis control program called Countdown that aims to support dairy farmers in achieving cost-effective, best-practice milking management and mastitis control.

Mr Brett said having top quality milk depended on being able to achieve consistently good farm management and having healthy cows.

He said genetics were the other key ingredient.

The Bretts select their sires for low BMCC, about 4 per cent milk fat and 3.1-3.2pc protein.

"We use an adviser to evaluate the cows and then artificially inseminate them to the best matched sires," Mr Brett said.

"In this way, we are getting the right sire for each individual cow.

"Typically this involves using about three or four bulls each year.

"This system ensures we are getting the best genetic mix to produce the highest quality milk and we are optimising our production to keep making productivity improvements."

What goes down the cows' throats is the other main factor contributing to productivity.

The Bretts re-seed much of their pasture each year and work with an agronomist to get the best species mix and fertiliser application rates.

Mostly their property is covered in annual ryegrass, with some perennial ryegrass, white clover and kikuyu.

They use flood irrigation, watering sections of the farm every two weeks in the summer using a rotation system.

Fertiliser application at the break of the season is typically 150 kilograms per hectare of super potash and nitrogen.

In winter they apply nitrogen and sulphur and 80-100kg/ha of urea after grazing.

During spring, rates of nitrogen and potash fertiliser are increased to 200-250kg/ha to maximise pasture growth at this critical time of peak feed.

"We want to make sure that, year-round, we are giving our cows the best quality feed we can possible provide," Mr Brett said.

"Our silage is very high in protein and energy and this is fed out over the summer months, when cows are also grazing on the irrigated pastures.

"We use a high energy pellet mix in the dairy."

The Bretts have pushed their milk production to a total 8500-9000 litres per head per year, with cows producing 28-32L per day in spring.

"We are choosing genetics to push this production higher each year and we figure we might as well provide the best quality feed we can to support our breeding efforts," Mr Brett said.

Management of the dairy is important and he said high standards of cleanliness helped to minimise BMCC and mastitis levels.

"Clean machines mean clean milk," he said.

Mr Brett said they were always looking for suitable land to expand the dairy, but the main prohibiting factor was high land prices across the South West, coupled with high and increasing interest rates.

He said it was understandable that many WA dairy farmers had walked away from the industry due to prices being paid for milk not keeping up with increased input costs.

At an average farmgate price of 71 cents per litre, the margins were tight when costs of production were about 60-65c/L.

"That is not a lot of profit for the amount of work that goes into running an efficient dairy," Mr Brett said.

"All the slight price rises we have gained for our milk have mostly been absorbed by higher input costs, particularly feed and fertiliser.

"It means we have to run a tight operation and costs need to be kept under control."

The Bretts use a Herringbone dairy set up and have one full-time staff member.

Mr Brett said when it came to marketing, the dairy sector needed to put more effort into promoting the 'real milk' product as superior to other plant and nut-based drinks that were also being branded as milks.

"This is all wrong and calling those products milks takes away from the real milk," he said.

"Consumers need to know more about what it takes to get real milk to market and the superior attributes it has compared to those other products.

"The industry needs to work harder on this issue.

"It is very frustrating,"

WA dairy sector

National diary sector

Key global factors