The University’s Farm Management Committee has today decided the dairy will cease to supply milk from November 2003. 

This will allow the University to free up key assets for use in other more profitable farming activities. 

“The move will enable CSU to focus its resources on other agricultural activities and permit the expansion of the mixed farming enterprise, including prime lamb production, rotational cropping and irrigation. The enterprise change will provide an opportunity to demonstrate a farming model for the University’s agriculture students that is more relevant to most of their interests,” said Head of the School of Agriculture Peter Cregan.

The CSU Farm, including the dairy, is run as a commercial enterprise and is not subsidised by the University. The decision to mothball the dairy is a result of its poor financial performance. 

The deregulation of the dairy industry, low milk prices, the ongoing drought and high grain prices has made the decision necessary. The lack of profitability from dairy production and the need to carefully evaluate production options to ensure financial viability is a problem common to many farmers.

“The dairy is not immune to the downturn in the milk industry and the move to mothball the dairy is merely a reflection of what is happening in the sector both domestically and internationally,” said CSU Farm Manager Jim Mellor. 

Unlike many specialist dairy farms suffering from the current economic conditions, the CSU Farm is fortunate to have infrastructure which can support mixed farming. 

In addition to its limited role as a demonstration site for agriculture students, the dairy supplies milk to Murrumbidgee Dairy Products. 

The dairy will not be dismantled, enabling the CSU Farm to re-enter the industry should there be a turnaround and economic conditions improve in the sector.