Ben Fordham is turning up the heat on the major supermarkets to show some leadership and add a drought levy onto the price of milk.

On Tuesday, Ben spoke to the president of a dairy industry group who’s is pushing for our large supermarket chains to add 10 cents to the price of a litre of milk.

The Queensland Dairyfarmers Organisation (QDO) wants the price to be upped to help farmers struggling through drought and soaring fodder costs.

Dairy farmer and QDO’s President Brian Tessmann told Ben Fordham “it’ll never happen if nobody takes the first step”.

“We’ve been talking to the supermarkets, we’ve been talking to the retailers, but the issue is the supermarkets say, ‘Oh well, we’ll do that if somebody else does’.

“It’ll never happen if nobody takes the first step.

“(We want to) show them that the customers do want this, that they’re concerned about having local milk… and not let them die out.”

Click PLAY below for the full interview

The organisation is circulating a petition to get the 10 cent levy over the line and their signature count has now exceeded their goal of 20,000.

Now, Ben Fordham is putting the pressure on Coles, Woolworths and Aldi to do the right thing, saying “they’re the missing piece in the jigsaw puzzle”.

“We put two simple questions on this issue to Coles, Aldi and Woolies today: are you supportive of this intuitive and when will a final decision be made?”

Aldi says they’ve made contact with the Agriculture Minister’s office and remain “committed” to “playing our role in contributing to the ongoing success” of the dairy industry.

Woolies has also responded, saying they’re willing to “work constructively with the federal government on temporary drought relief measures for dairy farmers”.

But none of them have made a clear commitment to adding a 10 cent levy to the milk on their shelves and Ben is urging the profitable supermarket chains to “show some guts and just do it”.

“Who’s going to be first?

“Is it going to be Woolies, is it going to be Coles, is it going to be Aldi? Or is it going to be option D – none of the above?

“Sadly, I seem to think that option D is the most likely outcome.”

Click PLAY below to hear Ben’s thoughts in full