Joyce puts milk retailers on notice

Agriculture minister Barnaby Joyce has put supermarkets on notice over dollar-a-litre milk and says the competition watchdog is investigating the matter.

Mr Joyce has dropped the idea of a one-off milk levy, saying it would require a change in law and an assistance package is a better way of dealing with the crisis.

Mr Joyce believes Australians are awake to the human cost of cheap milk, telling the Seven Network "they're going to say to you, dollar-a-litre milk ... gives us a bad taste in your mouth about your supermarket because we know the way that you get that dollar-a-litre milk is to exploit the person behind the farmgate."