President Paul Mumford said the news of the Dennington Fonterra factory closing was disappointing.

"It's showing the signs of the times in the industry," he said.

"We've seen our farmers screaming about poor returns and the stresses that we all know about in the industry. It's now flowing on to the processors in the supply chain.

"We represent dairy farmers and what we need to make sure is that they are getting the best return for their milk product."

He said the Dennington closure was due to cost efficiencies.

"It's a business decision for Fonterra to make sure they are creating the most profitable product for our milk and delivering the best possible return for our milk," he said.

"There are major problems in the industry.

"It is very difficult to find solutions here and now, but the problems are being worked on. We are fighting at every front. One thing we have to drag our feet around is the dairy plan.

"We need that to go through its consultation process. This eventually will give us the mandate for what all farmers want of the industry."

Former Victorian Premier John Brumby will independently chair the industry-led plan, which aims to set a new agenda, identify national priorities and create positive change in the embattled industry.

Groundwork for the plan began with consultation sessions for farmers across the south-west last week.

Mr Mumford said the consultation data for it would be correlated at the start of July.

"We should get some interim data prior to that," he said.

"It's imperative we hear what the farmers have to say."

He said south-west people were "very resilient people".

"They will move forward and they will move on," he said.

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