Dairy lovers looking to buy local should check the label next time they take the cap off a bottle of milk.
The exodus from the industry has resulted in dairy processors trucking fresh drinking milk thousands of kilometres across the country to meet increased demand.
"It is very sad when people that love dairy farming have to cease because of the business circumstance," said dairy farmer and president of advocacy group eastAUSmilk Matthew Trace.
"Even though they love it, and people still want the product."
Mr Trace says demand is not the issue, but supply is a problem in Queensland.
"We're basically at a 50 per cent deficit, so about half of what's consumed," Mr Trace said.
"There is a lot of milk not far over the border in New South Wales, but there's also a significant amount coming all the way up from Victoria."
'Soul destroying' as history is lost
Coalstoun Lakes farmer Robbie Radel has said goodbye to his beloved milkers and the industry his family has been proud to be part of for 117 years.
"The only processor that comes through here has closed the door on us and said they were not prepared to pick us up, even though they go right past our gate and happily drive to Victoria for milk," Mr Radel said.
"It's pretty soul destroying."
The Radel's Central Queensland Farm Fresh bottled milk will be missed by disappointed Bundaberg cafe owner Carrie Grima.
"We can't get any other milk that's coming from our area," she said.
Milk prices paid to farmers have improved significantly, but the cost of production remains a challenge — especially for smaller dairies.
"Farmers have suffered inflation like all other people in the economy," Mr Trace said.
"We've had fertiliser, grain, electricity, wages and costs, rising interest rates as well."
Changing industry
Since 1980, Dairy Australia estimates the number of dairy farms declined from 21,989 to 4,163, but the average herd size grew from 93 to 305 cows.
The trend is towards fewer farms, larger herds, and increased production.
Supplementary feeding and improved breeding have more than doubled the average dairy cow's milk supply from 2,900 litres in 1980/'81 to 6,164 litres in 2022/'23.
Victoria leads Australia's milk production with 2,774 registered dairy farms, compared to 466 in New South Wales, 351 in Tasmania, 278 in Queensland, 182 in South Australia, and 112 in Western Australia.
Since 2006/'07 Dairy Australia estimates the number of registered dairy farms dropped by 62.13 per cent in Queensland, 49.57 per cent in New South Wales, 49.55 per cent in Western Australia, 48.67 per cent in Victoria, and 26.11 per cent in Tasmania.
In the same period, Australia's milk production only reduced from 9,583 million litres to 8,129 million litres.
Southern domination
As an auctioneer, John Cochrane has consoled many devastated dairy farmers after selling off their herds, but he is also helping keep farms in business.
Since he purchased Kenilworth Dairies in 2017, Mr Cochrane said trade has tripled.
He employs 58 workers in a town with a population of 604 people to bottle milk and make specialty cheese, mousse, yoghurt, and ice cream.
While Mr Cochrane is not as pessimistic as some who predict the demise of Queensland's dairy industry, he worries about the future.
"When deregulation happened, we were losing farmers one at a time," Mr Cochrane said.
"Now we're losing bigger farms and that is becoming a bigger percentage of the total supply."
Mr Cochrane said when it came to paying extra for local milk the price point was an issue for customers facing a cost-of-living crisis and farmers remaining at the mercy of retailers.
"Milk being one of those products that's consumed by probably 90-odd per cent of people on a daily basis, it makes the perfect loss leader, doesn't it?"
Future investment
Mr Trace said he loves the industry and remained hopeful of attracting new entrants, although land prices and set-up costs remain a barrier.
"Where we've seen other agricultural industries take off is when, essentially, managed funds or agricultural companies with large amounts of capital come in," he said.
For him, dairying is a very satisfying job.
"When you do your day's work you've produced something at the end of the day, and you can physically see it," he said.
"You can go and have a look in the milk vat and see there's a whole lot of milk there that you know would feed thousands of people.
"You can see your achievement every day. It's a really practical sort of way of living."