The South Australian Dairyfarmers’ Association has welcomed the announcement that farmers impacted by the collapse of Beston Global Food will receive financial support through a South Australian Government assistance program.
The $3 million support scheme will be administered by SADA to help farmers left out of pocket re-establish themselves and grow.
The grants will be available to dairy farmers listed as creditors in the Beston liquidation process, to enable them to invest in farm modifications, pay invoices or accounts or reduce working capital debt facilities.
The grants will not exceed the amount lost as a result of Beston going into administration, and applicants would be required to submit a plan for how they intend to utilise the funding to grow their business.
SADA president Robert Brokenshire said SADA will work with affected milk suppliers to submit their plans for funding.
“We appreciate the understanding and support the state government has shown,” Mr Brokenshire said.
“The state government is committed to a strong dairy industry as outlined in the SA Dairy Industry Action Plan 2024-2029 and this support to those Beston farmers is paramount to the sustainability of the billion dollar SA dairy industry.
“The Beston farmers have had a double whammy, with the impact of a severe drought like all other farmers, but further complicated by not receiving significant milk payments for milk they had produced.
“This will help them to get through a very tough situation and also be able to pay creditors in the regions that have been waiting many months for their payments of goods supplied to those farmers.”
SA Treasurer Stephen Mullighan said the government was committed to ensuring the state’s dairy industry continued to thrive, despite recent challenges.
“We’ve listened to the SA Dairyfarmers’ Association and through a $3 million support scheme, we’re helping South Australian farmers get back on their feet,” he said.
Beston went into administration on September 23, 2024, and by November 26 the administrator, KPMG, announced it no longer had the funding to continue operations.
Milk production ceased on December 6 and after a creditors meeting on February 21, Beston was placed into liquidation.
The COVID-19 pandemic and rising interest rates have been blamed for contributing to Beston’s collapse.