But those imports are also going to cost a lot more, with prices jumping up to 30 per cent in the past week because of global shortages.

Cheese specialist Will Studd says the current high milk prices aren't making much difference to producers, and shoppers could be surprised at what's left on the shelves by Christmas.

"It's quite hard to find cheddar at the moment, and of course that was made last year, so it's not looking good for making any cheddar at all in any volume for this year," he says.

"And then you start to look into things like butter, and that's very, very difficult to get, most of its coming in from New Zealand now.

Source: ABC Rural