Winegrowers consider co-op,
Australian Broadcast Company, Sydney, Australia 6/14/05
Swan Hill winegrowers, frustrated with low returns and contractual difficulties with major wineries, consider setting up as a co-op

Grower Del Haupstein, who moved to Australia from Canada seven years ago, says a co-operative structure can particularly help smaller growers retrieve some influence in the system.

"In Canada we have lots of co-operatives running quite successfully - it wasn't until I got over here and saw how multinationals are pretty much controlling our industry that we have no checks or balance against them and that's when I realised that's what the co-operative was doing in Canada," he said.

Co-op farmers to get milk price rise,
Australian Broadcast Company, Sydney, Australia 6/15/05
Dairy Co-op helps farmers through tough times.

Dairy Farmers corporate affairs general manager, Lina Melero says: "We have done the best possible because as a co-operative we do have an obligation and of course a strong desire to support our farmers who are facing increasingly tough times as a result of not only the worsening drought, but the on-farm costs that they're facing."