The dairy industry is in "crisis".
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
But there is a plan being compiled "for farmers by farmers" hoping to pull the industry back from the brink.
And dairy farmers in northern Victoria and southern NSW are urged to come along to workshops in June to have their say on the Australian Dairy Plan.
"The future of the dairy industry right across the country is in our hands," Murray Dairy chair and Eskdale dairy farmer Karen Moroney told The Border Mail.
"I haven't seen the industry like this for at least four years and it all started with the price drop and the collapse of Murray Goulburn.
"Something had to be done and that is where the Australia Dairy Plan came from, a group of industry leaders who stood up and decided on a way forward.
"Everyone I think at the moment is hung up on the short term but for things to get better we have to come together and work towards a long term plan."
A recent report prepared by the Australian Dairy Plan partners - Dairy Australia, Australian Dairy Farmers, Australian Dairy Products Federation and Gardiner Dairy Foundation - highlights the decline in dairy across the country.
"The Australian dairy industry has innate strengths but faces significant challenges," the Dairy Situation Analysis report said.
"The market has evolved faster than the industry, making a profit on farm has become more difficult and our people and organisations need to adapt to succeed."
Ms Maroney said despite a 27.5 per cent decline in milk production in March compared to 12 months earlier in northern Victoria, the region has a lot of "strong voices that need to be heard".
"Something amazing can come out of the workshops but we just need farmers to step up and be heard and not have a whinge after it is too late," she said.
"It is really important for dairy's future in our region and across the country."
Ms Maroney said although there are things "farmers can't control" the industry needs a plan.
"And it needs to come from those who are directly affected," she said.
"Water is obviously the most important thing at the moment and we will be watching the federal election more closely than we would have before.
"But if we stand together and have a plan going forward the industry can continue to survive."
The workshops will be held in the Murray and northern Victoria region at Cohuna on June 3, Tatura on June 4, Finley on June 5 and Wodonga on June 6.
They will all run from 10am-2.30pm.
For more information or to book your spot visit dairyplan.com.au/get-involved or have your say online.