Australian Dairy Industry In Focus 2009 - Dairying For Tomorrow

Cows’ milk consists of solids (milkfat,
protein, lactose and minerals) in water,
with water making up about 87%
of the volume. The milkfat and protein
components are those on which companies
base their farmgate milk prices. Milk
composition varies between regions
due to a number of factors, such as cow
breed and age, nutrition and feed quality,
as shown in Table 8.
The previous long-term trend of expanding
total milk output, an increasing proportion
of milk used for manufacturing dairy
products and hence a declining drinking
milk share of production have been
reversed over the past seven years,
as shown in Figure 14.
The volumes of milk going into the
drinking milk sector have shown steady
growth recently and last year accounted
for 24% of total milk production – up from
a figure of 17% in 2001/02.
The differential in the proportion
of drinking milk to manufacturing
milk by state is shown in Figure 15.
It graphically illustrates the greater
focus on drinking milk in the product
mix in Queensland, New South Wales
and Western Australia.
Table 8
Average protein/fat composition by state (%)
NSW VIC QLD SA WA TAS AUST
Milkfat
2002/03 3.87 4.12 3.93 3.94 3.98 4.26 4.06
2003/04 3.94 4.16 3.95 3.96 3.98 4.32 4.10
2004/05 3.89 4.12 3.99 3.94 3.87 4.28 4.07
2005/06 3.91 4.08 4.00 3.88 3.91 4.29 4.05
2006/07 3.88 4.09 3.98 3.90 3.93 4.25 4.05
2007/08 3.97 4.14 4.01 3.95 3.95 4.20 4.10
2008/09 (p) 3.93 4.22 3.97 3.93 3.99 4.25 4.15
Protein
2002/03 3.21 3.27 3.13 3.24 3.11 3.29 3.24
2003/04 3.26 3.34 3.21 3.27 3.15 3.36 3.31
2004/05 3.23 3.32 3.23 3.24 3.11 3.35 3.29
2005/06 3.25 3.33 3.33 3.25 3.16 3.37 3.31
2006/07 3.24 3.33 3.22 3.25 3.20 3.37 3.30
2007/08 3.25 3.34 3.25 3.25 3.19 3.39 3.32
2008/09 (p) 3.26 3.38 3.28 3.28 3.26 3.39 3.35
Source: Dairy manufacturers
Australian Dairy Industry In Focus 2009 19