Any gains in milk prices in recent years have not kept up with the burden dumped on coastal dairy farmers who have copped the brunt of multiple natural disasters.
First it was prolonged drought followed by the devastating black summer bushfires and then COVID-19 restrictions.
But several flood events and unrelenting rain has pushed many NSW coastal dairy farmers to the edge.
In the north dairy farmers were battered by floods, which saw stock, infrastructure and pasture losses.
In the south of the state, farmers have faced their annual rainfall of 1200mm in just three months.
And with continued rainfalls still wreaking havoc even just millimetres can impact the already saturated ground.
Paddocks are wet, feed that should have been planted for winter has been reduced and farmers are managing animal heath welfare issues with sore feet and mastitis.
On top of that the increase in input costs with fuel, fertiliser and feed rises means the farm gate price of milk is not keeping up with economic conditions.
And with a new price set to be announced in June, farmers want to see a reflection of those increased input costs.
There are fears the current conditions will see an exit of farmers who are not prepared to withstand continued challenges of producing every litre of milk.
"What we have gone through is incomprehensible ... after a lifetime of farming I have never been in a situation as difficult. I don't know how we will survive," one dairy farmer said, who did not want to be named.
The only way Alan Henry, who is a third generation dairy farmer at Numbaa on the south coast, could described the current situation was 'grim'.
"I am 55-years-old and I've never seen it so wet for so long," Mr Henry said, (who is pictured on our cover with Sue Boyd and Tracey Russell).
"We've had our annual rainfall of 1100mm to 1200mm in the first three months of this year.
"A lot of farmers from Queensland to Victoria have lost half of their pasture due to flooding."
Mr Henry, who milks 400 cows and has lost a third of production, has just planted rye grass on his riverbank country but he won't get to the pasture on the southern side of the property for at least two months as it's too wet.
"If we can't plant rye grass then we will have to buy all our feed in," he said.
Mr Henry said he was considering joining a portion of his cows to beef as prices in that sector were skyrocketing.
"You could once buy a cow and calf for $700 now the same unit would be $4000, every other commodity has gone up bar milk," he said.
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His neighbour Tracey Russell, who milks 650 cows three times a day, is down 8000 litres a day in production.
"I have no idea when we will get it back, we are so broken," Mrs Russell said, whose grandchildren are the eighth generation on her farm that dates back to 1826.
"It's absolutely dreadful, we have sick cows from constant mud."
Currently she is feeding 100 cows in what she calls the 'bucket herd' that have been separated and are in their silage bunker on woodchip to protect them from the mud and rainfall.
"Even a millimetre just wets everything again, it's been the most horrific experience," she said.
Tim Cochrane, who dairy farms in the same area, milking 1000 cows on two farms, said the last three months of rain had prevented a corn crop harvest and sowing of rye grass.
"The paddocks are that wet we can't do a lot and the grass has low nutrient value in it," Mr Cochrane said.
With the new milk price set to be announced in June, he said the natural disasters as well as the rising input costs from fuel and fertiliser needed to be taken into consideration by the processors and supermarkets.
"When we ask the price of milk to go to $1.50 a litre there is a justification," he said.
Meanwhile Shoalhaven dairy farmer Sue Boyd said that there was also the pressures of juggling rosters and staff due to COVID-19.
She added the cost of production was huge compared to beef and sheep.
"We are just getting by, there's no more fat to trim off and the food stores are coming out saying we need to look after consumers who are price sensitive about things," Mrs Boyd said.
"Even though milk prices went up in 2018, the home brand price milk is still too low.
"All other products in food stores are going up from bread to baked beans as well as fruit and vegetables but milk still stays the same price.
"It's like it's the holy grail you can't touch."
NSW Farmers Dairy Committee Chair Colin Thompson said it was difficult to tell how the recent flooding and rain events would affect supply issues.
"There is a significant amount of milk on the coast that has been affected by ongoing conditions of rainfall," Mr Thompson said.
Before the new price is set in June, Mr Thompson said the dramatic increase in inputs on top of severe conditions should be recognised.
"Other commodities have enjoyed significant lifts in prices but milk has not seen changes since this time last year," he said.
Mr Thompson said farmers across the state were getting as low as mid 50c/litre to low 70c/litre as average prices that were set nearly 12 months ago.
Norco chief operating officer Michael Hampson said farmers were doing it tough at the moment as the floods had made it difficult for them to recover the loss of pasture, animals, infrastructure and their ability to maintain supply.
"There will be a number of suppliers not at full production for some time, others that haven't been so impacted and there will be others who will be able to find the opportunity to grow," Mr Hampson said.
"As we sit today, there will be many animals that will need to wait until next lactation before they are bought back into production."
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