CONTENTS

A Brief History of the South Australian Dairy Industry

The dairy industry began in South Australia in 1837 with the arrival of the first European settlers. The cattle breeds they chose to bring to Australia were a strange mixture that included Devon, Zebu and Durham (Shorthorn). Full of ideas from centuries of ‘Old World’ practice, these prospective farmers undertook the production of milk, cheese and butter for their new community.

Demand for dairy produce was high and within seven years there were 30 000 cattle in South Australia. The dairy industry was mainly concentrated on the Adelaide Plains and in the Adelaide Hills and, as early as 1842, some entrepreneurial dairy farmers were exporting high quality cheese and butter to India and South East Asia.

It was not until the 1880s, though, that the science of dairy production was introduced and farmers educated – mainly via the distribution of North American findings through the South Australian Agricultural Bureau. At the same time, machine technology for milking cows and making cheese and butter was made available. Behind this scientific and mechanical push were many far-sighted people, including Albert Molineux – a great innovator and activist for the improvement of agricultural produce.

Molineux also championed another concept that helped the industry to grow at a rapid rate – a system of dairy produce factories run by cooperative businesses owned by dairy farmers. By the late 1890s these factories were spread far and wide across South Australia and were exporting dairy produce in refrigerated ships. By 1917 South Australia had 86 311 dairy cows and produced over 4000 tonnes of butter and 1000 tonnes of cheese annually.

This cooperative system became the basis for the South Australian industry and some of the great names in butter, milk, cheese and ice cream, such as Farmers Union and Amscol were formed at this time.

Right up until the Second World War and well beyond, the daily duty for dairy farmers was largely unchanged. Mostly the herds on farms were small, under 70 cows, and dairy farmers ran them on land of between 32.4 ha and 48.6 ha. As there was little pasture irrigation available, production was seasonal with high points when most green feed was available. Milking was done twice a day – early morning and late afternoon – either by hand or machine. Stationary kerosene or oil engines powered the machines, until electricity was brought to rural areas. As the cows were milked the milk was placed into storage systems, which were mainly ten gallon (45.5 L) milk cans made from galvanised tin. These cans were placed on wooden platforms along roadsides and were picked up by horse drawn drays or motor trucks and taken to local factories. In some areas farmers delivered the milk to the factory themselves or placed the cans on their farm railway sidings for transport to factories. Some farmers also used machines called separators on their farms which, through centrifugal force, separated cream from the milk. The cream was placed in churns and sent to factories and the leftover skim milk often fed to pigs or calves.

Few dairy farmers were wealthy and their income from milk and cream was spasmodic and at the mercy of wide fluctuations. In the 1930 this led some dairy farmers to form breakaway cooperatives to gain higher returns for their produce. At places like Myponga, Meadows, Jervois and Kenton Valley, farmers formed new businesses, built factories and began making cheese and butter for export and the local community. These farmers formed state-wide organisations to handle their discussions with government and other large commercial producers.

The government also became more involved in the dairy industry. Largely because of the need to organise industries during the Second World War, governments began to regulate such matters as pricing, health and safety. Dairy and factory hygiene was of the utmost importance to governments. These regulations were even more important after the war, as the population of urban areas grew rapidly through immigration and a rising birth rate, and people demanded fresh milk daily. The government, and many dairy farmers, were concerned that the city milk market was controlled by a few large businesses and during the 1940s and 1950s there was a tussle to make this market open to the smaller cooperatives as well. In time, the cooperatives were successful.

Their success and a strong global demand for dairy produce led to the construction of a host of new dairy factories in South Australia during the 1950s. By this time a range of products, including powdered milk, were sought for export and local consumption. Yet each Australian State was self sufficient in dairy products and there was little interstate competition, other than in export markets.

Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, as South Australian farmers applied new irrigation techniques and adopted better pastures, the industry continued to flourish. Moreover, by the 1970s virtually all dairy farms had moved to a system of bulk handling for milk and had installed stainless steel vats in their milking sheds in which to store milk. Dairy cooperatives and companies provided transport from these vats, in tankers, to the factories.

There was also a strong move to better promote dairy produce and as large supermarkets became the main form of consumer shopping, the range and variety of dairy products increased. Cheese, milk in cartons – not the wide-mouthed glass bottles that had been used for generations, cream, powdered milk, ice cream, custards and flavoured yoghurt lined shelves.

By the 1980s the industry had been forced to change. Large herds, on irrigated pastures, became an economical alternative. High land prices in traditional dairying areas, such as the Adelaide Hills, began to push production to places where land was less expensive and water available. The creation of the European Economic Community in 1973 and the loss of markets in the United Kingdom were significant factors affecting the viability of smaller farms.

At the same time, State and Federal governments were deregulating the dairy industry and changing the ways in which farmers sold milk. Government subsidies and incentives were removed and deregulation led to milk prices being linked more closely to international trends and world market prices, rather than local trends.

Yet, with the many changes to the dairy industry, production has increased rapidly – up 75% in the last 15 years – and the consumption of dairy produce is also increasing. In Asia, demand for dairy products is rising and providing a sound export market.

Today the South Australian dairy industry continues to build on its innovative heritage and to adapt to the challenges it faces.