Trends in production

As a result of deregulation of the domestic milk market in Australia in 2000 the number of dairy farms in the state has declined  – a trend which is similar to other dairy regions of Australia, particularly those formerly reliant on market milk production.

Over the 5-year period since 2000, total milk production in WA fell only 6% due to an increase in the average herd size however farm numbers in WA declined by more than 30%. In 2006/07, total milk production was 349 million litres (25 million kg of MS) from 222 registered dairy farms. Consequently, on average, WA producers are characterised by ‘scale’ economies relative to other Australian producers . While average production per farm in 2006/7 was 1,574,000 litres (112,000 kg MS) more than 50% of total milk production in the state is produced by less than 20% of its producers.

Table. Average farm area and cattle numbers for dairy farms in 2005/6

Source: ABARE, Farm Surveys Report 2006.