Built on the back of the dairy industry, Atherton Tablelands families are bucking the trend as family-owned dairy farms are being deserted in other parts of Australia.
The picturesque Atherton Tablelands in Far North Queensland was built on the back of the dairy industry.
Townships like Malanda flourished, but it was not until the influx of tens of thousands of American soldiers during World War II that the local dairy industry really took off.The Malanda Milk factory was built in the 1940s to help supply pasteurised milk to US soldiers during World War II.The local factory in Malanda expanded to try and keep up with the demand, in what would become the longest milk run in the country.
He runs the 240-head operation with his wife, Anna, supplying more than a million litres of milk to the Malanda factory."With the previous factory owner there was no appetite to have new farms at all. But since Bega have taken over we've had one new farm start up, there's another one not far starting up as well.Kasey Clark runs a dairy in Malanda and says she loves the dairy lifestyle, in particular being her own boss.
Dairy farmer turned Millaa Millaa chief executive Rob Watson said the industry was feeling more positive about the future."Now the price is going up more young people are becoming interested in taking over from mum and dad, or buying an existing dairy farm," Mr Watson said"You've got to be able to do animal husbandry, pasture management, fix a tractor, pull a calf out … it's a very complex job and it's long hours.
"We don't get the same prices as they do in the north where it's about 10 per cent higher per litre."
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