One thing that really saddens me about the current dire state Australian dairy farming families are finding themselves in, is their inability to tell the real story
With 2011-12 pre-tax earnings to $1.356 billion Coles can afford multi million dollar campaigns that spruik they are ones delivering cheap groceries to Australian families.
That is absolute rubbish. Its Australian farmers who are producing high quality, nutritious food for Australian families at the lowest prices as a percentage of income never before seen in this country.
Yes again the statistics tell the real story. Food is less 10% of income in this country. That is 80% lower than it was in the 1900’s.
Its a beautiful thing really that farmers get up every day to do this. They don’t demand $15 million dollar salaries like Ian McLeod the CEO of Coles.
Our farmers look after over 60% of Australia’s land and yet only 6% of that land is arable and only half again is suitable for growing crops.
Not much is it. We have such a big country and a 5.7% arable land. That’s almost half the world average. We have so much to lose if we starve our dairy farmers and sadly Coles that is effectively what you are doing
That’s a whopping 54% of the land they just look after so the rest of us can have the clean water and those amazing landscapes we too often take for granted.
Even more amazing Australian farmers on average feed 600 people that’s 580 more people each than our farmers did in 1950.
I can guarantee this, because I know, because I am Australian farmer too, that if I can convince Coles to stop using milk as a loss leader and my processor can make enough money so it can flow down the supply chain to my family farm, my family will be spending any excess dollars in our pockets on our cows and those beautiful landscapes that we so proudly look after. Maybe Coles there might even be a little bit left over for a bonus for our dedicated staff
This is what is threatened Coles – jobs of wonderful Australians like Louise
What I can assure you is we wont be spending it on huge self serving advertising campaigns and destructive pricing policies that walk over Australian farming families to put mega profits in the till and pay huge huge salaries to CEO’s
This is what’s is threatened Coles – the cows and Australia’s beautiful landscapes
This comment from Ian Verrender in Business Today SMH August 30th 2012