South Australian dairy industry optimistic for growth opportunities

"There was a focus in on-farm infrastructure and technology, which will allow farms to be more efficient in the coming years," he said.

"While robots were the poster child, many different technologies were adopted from underpasses to collars to improve the long-term operations of dairy businesses.

"Rising input costs and inflation were the big issues for all dairy businesses while the impact of flooding in the lower Murray was a critical issue for a section of our industry.

"The increasing costs of power, fertiliser, fuel and feed, combined with labour shortages, took the gloss off what could have been a standout year."

Uncertainty regarding access to water in the Murray Darling Basin and in a number of Water Allocation Plan areas caused concern.

Mr Brokenshire said 2023 created opportunities and challenges for the dairy industry, including working with farmers along the River Murray to assist with the significant challenges they faced in milking again and continuing to milk after the floods had an enormous impact on their operations.

"The season in itself also proved to be a challenge for all SA dairy regions with a late opening followed by continual rain and then almost a complete shut off from September, which has had significant impact on silage and hay cuts and the flush of spring pasture," he said.

"Milk prices also have been varied, with the opening prices being strong to steady for some dairy farmers and a partial reduction for others where their processor has a focus on export.

"A number of storm clouds are gathering on the horizon of 2024, which mean it is likely to be a cautious year.

"International pricing for dairy is depressed and somewhat volatile while the impact of El Nino and erratic weather patterns mean that it will be important to bunker down and cement in the gains of the last year or two.

"We will hopefully have a better feel for the year to come by April."

Mr Brokenshire said dairy farmers were hoping for a reduction in input costs during 2024 after inflation and interest rate increases took the shine off better milk prices in the past few years.

"With a strong domestic market and a soft international export market the dairy industry will closely monitor opening prices for July 2024," he said.

"While China will always be an important market, while it is available to us, future exports are likely to focus on South East Asia.

"The Indian market remains both a great and distant opportunity."

He said the Environment Protection Authority was reviewing its Dairy Effluent Management Code with possible legislative changes, occurring at the same time as significant changes to federal and state biosecurity - all of which impacted dairy.

"On a positive note there are signs that the demand for dairy across the globe is starting to pick up as indicators are showing countries starting to slowly recover from high inflation and interest rates," he said.

"In 2024 we will launch our revised Dairy Industry Action Plan, which will provide focus for our ongoing development across the industry.

"Our key goal will be in partnering to deliver premium dairy products to local and distant consumers which are healthy and nutritious and have strong sustainability credentials."

Mr Brokenshire says as the world gets hungrier and seeks affordable protein and nutrition, there are growing opportunities for dairy, that could be achieved through collaboration.