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Australia's Dairy Industry |
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The Australian dairy industry today Dairying continues to be an important rural industry of Australia.
Today, dairy is Australia's third largest rural industry and a major regional employer, not only on-farm but also through processing, manufacturing and distribution of finished products. It is a cost-efficient and proficient producer of high quality milk. On-farm productivity continues to increase through improved pasture, feed and herd management techniques.
While supplementary feeding with grains is becoming increasingly common, the Australian dairy industry remains predominantly pasture-based. All States (Victoria being most dominant) have viable milk productions, supplying fresh milk to nearby cities and towns. As a major regional employer, the industry value-adds through the processing of milk to produce fresh lines such as butter, cream, cheese and yogurt. Bulk milk and specialised powdered milks are also significant. |  |
Australia's Dairy Heritage In 1788, Captain Arthur Phillip and the First Fleeters came ashore at Sydney Cove with seven cows and two bulls bred to survive a hostile environment. This small herd soon moved to the greener pastures of Parramatta where they escaped into the bush not to be seen for some seven years. Upon their recapture, the herd comprised 61 cattle. It was the cows of this group which became Australia's first dairy herd. By 1800, through breeding and importing, there were 332 bulls and 712 cows in the colony. The settlers were adapting to their new Australian environment. They made butter and cheese during spring and summer (when cows produce most milk), and preserved these commodities with salt for autumn and winter.
Pioneers such as John Macarthur imported more dairy cattle to his Parramatta farm while, in 1805, Dr John Harris built Sydney's first commercial dairy at what is now inner-suburban Ultimo. However, Tasmania gave Australia its first cheese industry. In the 1820s, the Van Dieman's Lan Company established Australia's first commercial cheese factory. Farmers from the NSW district of Illawarra began to send their cheese and butter to Sydney markets by sea, and as more ports opened, dairying extended all the way down to Bega.
In 1832, with two cows and two calves, John Fawkner arrived in what was to become Melbourne. With the ideal dairying conditions around Port Phillip Bay, the herd grew. Within a year, there were 155 cattle in the district. By 1850, there were 347,000. South Australian dairy farmers were becoming so successful that they were selling cheese to Tasmanians. In 1891, there were almost 1 million dairy cows in Australia. The gold rush brought thousands of people to Australia. With its collapse, many were offered Government pastoral leases on the outskirts of inland towns. By 1900, there was hardly a township, even in remote outback Australia, that did not have its own fresh milk. The future of an extraordinary industry |  |
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Dairy & The Community