THE SOUTHERN
Part of the Farmer Group Rural Newspapers Covering Victoria Published since 1986
JUNE, 2017
WINTER WARMTH AND HEATING PAGES 14-15
www.nemedia.com.au
MACHINE BUYERS GUIDE
FARM SECURITY
PAGE 16
PAGE 18
Success with the milk of a different kind The 1990 Australian wool crisis certainly threw a spanner in the works for Julie and Sandy Cameron, but it was far from disaster
KIDDING AROUND: Sandy and Julie Cameron have carved out a large niche for themselves at Meredith Dairy.
Trust only Bondioli & Pavesi and Bima for
IN fact, you could say it was the best thing that ever happened to them. It was just before the crisis that the pair had taken up residence at Mr Cameron’s family farm in Meredith. They arrived to take over the Merino herd that had been established over the last decade, after the farm was converted from a fat lamb and Angus operation that had been running since 1924. Both were brought up from farming roots, and after a meeting in Western Australia 30 years ago, they were married. “Sandy was doing a veterinary PhD at the time, but all he ever really wanted was to be on a farm,” said Mrs Cameron. “And I came off a Merino farm in South Australia, so we both had that farming link.” Once married, the couple
g ting the farmin Proudly suppor nce 1950 community si
“The complete agricultural driveline solution”
BY JARRAH LOH
jloh@ nemedia.com.au
took over the family farm, only to be greeted by the greatest industry collapse in Australian history. For 150 years, wool was the number-one trade in Australia, but in February 1991, this once mightiest of all industries suffered a near fatal blow. And though there are a myriad of stories of lost farms, suicides, family breakdowns and a generation of kids that didn’t get a decent education fortunately, the Cameron’s faced adversity with diversity. “We could see that our recent move back to the farm was not going to provide us with an income,” said Mrs Cameron. “So, we looked at
alternative ways to make money off the land.” They weren’t the only ones out there trying to survive by moving into a different market, the collapse saw an emergence of alpacas, cashmere goats, angoras, emus, ostriches, venison and various other exotic animals. Everyone was doing their best to fill what was hoped to be future boom markets. Though the Camerons were looking to change things up, it turned out they didn’t need to change animal. It was a chance meeting with a cheese maker that sent them on a path that would direct their business for the next 26 years. “We had some White Suffolk sheep and this cheese maker suggested we milk them and make cheese,” said Mrs Cameron. Continued page 3
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