As someone who doesn’t like to be in the spotlight, John Dalton appreciates the irony of his inclusion on the South West Victorian Dairy Industry Honour Board.
John was chair of WestVic Dairy when the Great South West Dairy Awards and the honour board were introduced.
Little did he realise that one day his name would be added to the board.
Now retired from dairy farming, John is typical of many farmers when it comes to modesty, and that’s why he wanted to introduce the award more than a decade ago.
“Farmers aren’t good at celebrating their personal and business successes,” he said.
“That was the driver for the awards and I thought we needed to celebrate the people who had really contributed to the industry.”
John admits he never looked for accolades.
“Farmers in general don’t like the spotlight, and I’m a perfect example. For me, it’s not about awards. You want to be involved to make a difference and make it better for the industry overall. In my case, it was about improving education for people.
“I was a bit embarrassed when I was told about it. I don’t think I’ve done anything remarkable. I’ve just had certain roles and given them the best go that I can.”
John wasn’t born into the industry and had worked as a paramedic for 11 years before he and his wife Kathy became farmers.
“We were married for seven to eight years and lived in Ballarat before moving to Naringal when Kathy’s dad (Des Rea) became sick,” John said.
“I started doing bits and pieces on the farm and we had the opportunity to have a go at running it. I saw it as a business opportunity and it worked out okay.”
The first thing that struck John was the supportive nature of dairy farming.
“When I came across, I couldn’t believe how helpful people in the industry were. There were three or four in particular but a lot of people helped me and that got me on my feet,” he said.
“When I got going, I thought it was time for me to give back. With a different background, particularly with my interest in education, I wanted to do something to help others.”
A big part of his learning came from being chosen as a Focus Farm in the 1990s, just a few years after moving to the farm.
“That’s where I really started to learn and to think about it as a business.”
John started his industry involvement on the South West Dairy Regional Education Advisory Committee, following his interest in people and education and training.
He then spent six years on the WestVic Dairy board, including three as chair, and later joined a Fonterra farmer representative group and the Bonlac Supply Company board, including three years as chair, before it was realigned to become the Fonterra Australian Suppliers Council.
John retains his passion for education. He believes the industry has made significant progress over the past two decades, but still has a long way to go.
“The way farms are now; people are forced to manage people better but we still need to improve. I still see some not managing people as they should.
“Dairy is the same as any profession — it’s about your willingness to learn and be open minded. You have to be invested and involved and give it a really good go and be willing to learn off other people and gather the right information. It all comes back to education and communication.”
Last September John and Kathy leased their home farm at Naringal and now live at the their former outpaddock at Kirkstall, which is now home to Angus beef.
“Kathy wanted to keep the farm in the family but I’m definitely retired as a dairy farmer,” John said.
Instead, the 64-year-old has switched to Angus beef.
“I’ve farmed for more than 30 years with black and white cattle and was okay with my dairy husbandry but quickly came to realise I knew very little about black cattle.
“I had to learn to recognise good black cattle and learn about the feeding and joining. It’s a new adventure.
“We want to travel so I didn’t want to have cows in calf so went to beef.” Their former employee Brad White will look after the beef when they’re away.
While not missing the dairy work, John admits he misses the people.
“The last 15 to 20 years I have been involved in different things in the industry and you get to know a lot of people and forge some really good relationships. I miss that connection.”
He remains upbeat about the future of the dairy industry.
“There’s definitely a future for dairy in Australia, but will it look like what it does now, I don’t know. I think it will keep evolving.
“Most Australian businesses have become more domestic focused but we’re still a bit too big to be fully domestic, but where does that leave the balance with the number of farms and volume of milk?
“When I started at WestVic Dairy, Australia was producing up to 12 billion litres but it’s now back to nine to 10 and it continues to shrink. Where’s the sweet spot so everyone can make good money?”
John hopes there is always a place for the family farm.
“In all my roles, I’ve always said we need to make sure we don’t lose sight of the grass-based family farm.
“It may even self-correct because of the labour issue. Big farms rely on employing people, but people are hard to get. Smaller family farms might be able to get by with their own labour, which they should value.”