The Dairy Farmers co-operative will establish a pilot extraction plant next year, after CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation) developed technology to extract bodybuilding and immune stimulating proteins from milk, which can then be sold to US pharmaceutical and cosmetic companies. The proteins are worth over A$400,000 a tonne, and it is hoped that the patented extraction process will prove a boost to Australia’s struggling dairy industry.
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The proteins are extracted from whey, a waste by-product of cheese production, using a technological process that aims to mimic human digestion. In this way, a product commonly used only for low value powder or irrigation can form a profitable resource of proteins.
Dairy Farmers will use the extraction process under a licence agreement. Calvin Boyle, general manager of the company’s cheese division, commented: “We are commercialising Australian-developed technology and transforming a waste or low grade commodity into a very valuable product. We already have markets in the nutraceutical and pharmaceutical industries in the US where they don’t have this type of technology.”
The plant will cost A$12m to build, and will initially be based near the Dairy Farmer’s Malanda factory, before expanding to the Toowoomba cheese factory.
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