4 Corners report on desperate dairyfarmers tonight

On a freezing winter evening, truckload after truckload of dairy cows are delivered to the saleyards at Camperdown in south-western Victoria.
Some arrive in herds. Others are brought in by farmers just two at a time.
Murray Goulburn: What went wrong


Murray Goulburn was counting on the success of its dairy foods in China to shield its farmers and investors from a dramatic collapse in global commodity prices — instead, the cooperative shocked its suppliers by cutting prices.


This is prime dairy country and many of the cows arriving are pedigree dairy cows, bred for milking and hand-reared by their dairy farmer owners.
Only yesterday, these cows were lining up at dairies, waiting to be milked.
No longer valued for their milk, but only for their weight in kilograms, at the saleyard they are all called "choppers", because they are destined for the abattoirs.
This is the grim face of the crisis in the Australian dairy industry, detailed in tonight's Four Corners.
It began at the end of April when Australia's biggest milk processor, Murray Goulburn, slashed the price dairy farmers had been expecting for their milk.
Instead of the $6 a kilogram that farmers had been relying for their milk solids, they were suddenly told they would be getting well under $5 a kilogram.
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To add insult to injury, the farmers themselves would have to pay back the difference, a total of around $200 million between about 2,500 farmers.
It meant many dairy farmers were being paid less for their milk than it cost them to produce it — now, sending prize dairy cows to the saleyards for slaughter is the only way many farmers can pay their bills.
Livestock agent Phil McVilly, who deals with many of the local abattoirs, noticed the impact of the milk price cut almost immediately, with a record number of "chopper" cows being dropped off for sale within days of Murray Goulburn announcing its price cut.
Since the beginning of May, this one yard has been selling around 700 dairy cows a week to the abattoirs, and there is no sign of the sell-off slowing down.
Soon after Murray Goulburn announced its price cut to farmers, New Zealand dairy giant Fonterra cut its prices even further, spreading the pain across the whole industry.
For some farmers, it is the end of dairying

In a few weeks, Kathleen Johnston will be turning out the lights in her dairy for the last time.
She is already fighting back the tears.
Tonight ABC TV 8PM.
Dave R.