Low farm-gate milk price and drought forces an end to 100 years of dairying

After almost 100 years of dairying, the combination of low farm-gate milk prices and the drought has forced a Darling Downs farmer to pull the pin.

This week Rowan Mengel sent another truck of cows away from his property at Felton, south-west of Toowoomba, in a last-ditch effort to boost his cash flow as the cost of fodder continues to soar.

"Now if everything was fine, I probably wouldn't sell them at this point in time," Mr Mengel said.

Underlying it all, he said, was an unsustainable farm-gate milk price which, combined with the drought, is sadly catching up to some in the industry.

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