Dairy Australia: Management or treatment of liquid raw milk for disposal on and off farm
Opportunity for
- Partners, researchers, and solution providers to address on farm disposal of liquid raw milk by reducing its biological oxygen demand and transforming it into a fundamentally different, environmentally safe product.
Opportunity description
Industry challenge
When raw milk cannot be collected or processed (e.g. due to contamination, plant or equipment failure, or logistics disruption), it becomes a high-risk waste stream on and off farm. Waste milk has an extremely high biological oxygen demand (often tens of thousands of mg/L, compared with roughly a few hundred mg/L for domestic sewage), making it one of the most oxygen depleting organic wastes if released to the environment. Milk cannot be discharged to waterways under Australian environmental laws, and emergency on and off farm- disposal options (such as land application, feeding to livestock, directing to effluent systems, sacrifice areas or burial) are limited, regulated, and can be costly or environmentally risky if mismanaged.
Current opportunity
Victoria typically produces around 60–65% of Australia’s milk, concentrating both production and processing in a single region and creating strong local demand for rapid, on farm milk management and treatment options during disruptions. This creates a growing market for technologies that reduce BOD or convert waste milk into different, environmentally safer solutions.
While Australia's dairy industry diverts 85% of manufacturing waste from landfill and pursues 100% by 2030, with initiatives like the 2023 Food Waste Action Plan providing roadmaps for supply-chain reductions, no dominant on-farm transformation tech exists, leaving a niche for rapid-response solutions amid ~8.5 billion litres annual production. We aim to collaborate on innovative biological, chemical, or physical processes that enable safe treatment, reuse, or conversion.
We are open to pursuing commercially aligned partnerships (where applicable) and contributing to trial/pilot costs to accelerate practical access and on- and off-farm adoption.
Enquire now through growAG to submit your interest.
Opportunity background
Dairy Australia is the national Research and Development Corporation (RDC) for Australia’s dairy industry, funded primarily by the Dairy Services Levy and government co-investment. Its role is to invest in R&D, extension and industry capability to improve farm productivity, sustainability and competitiveness. More information on Dairy Australia and its research priorities can be found here.
"RDC"