‘The clock has run out and it’s time to say goodbye’ — farmer’s fond farewell to her herd

Third-generation dairy farmer turned journalist Casey Treloar has said a tearful goodbye to her herd of cows in a touching video filmed on the last day on the farm.

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They’re the latest casualties in an ongoing battle which is changing the face of South Australia’s agricultural landscape.

But the Treloar family have at least gone down fighting.

A video about the closure of the family’s Fleurieu Peninsula dairy farm spread quickly online and was seen by about 300,000 people in 24 hours.

The video shows Casey Treloar, 26, choking back tears as she moves between her herd of 200 Holstein dairy cows and describes the demise of the 40-year-old family venture near Parawa.

“This is a video I hoped I wouldn’t ever have to film,’’ Casey begins. She then delivers a devastating seven-minute “rant” against the $1 per litre milk war which since 2011 has become a plaything of the major supermarkets, and government policy which has done nothing to stop family farms being sold to large commercial ventures.

Departing dairy farmer Casey Treloar made a heartfelt video farewelling her cows.

“It breaks my heart, but the clock has run out and it is time to say goodbye.’’ Casey’s father Stephen yesterday said it was too late for his farm, but he hoped the attention might spark action to help other families facing a similar fate.

SA Dairyfarmers’ Association chief Andrew Curtis said drought in northern Australia had added another blow to struggling SA dairy farmers. Mr Curtis said drought-stricken eastern state farmers were buying up feed supplies, doubling hay and grain prices.

The number of registered dairy farms in SA has dropped from 1730 in the halcyon days of the late 1970s to just 228 last financial year.

“The artificial $1 per litre price set by the supermarkets has kept returns low and while we don’t have the rainfall problems in our dairy areas, we rely on a lot of brought-in feed,’’ Mr Curtis said.

Ms Treloar said while the $1 per litre milk war was not solely to blame for the demise of the family farm, which once boasted 270 cows, it “did not help”. “The average we are getting paid for milk is now 38c per litre across the year and it is completely unsustainable when the cost of production is 60c per litre,’’ she said.

Ms Treloar, a former Port Lincoln Times journalist, was yesterday en route to a new job as a journalist in Tasmania, which she “loved doing”, but said her dreams would always be on the family farm.

“That will be the last time I see my herd of cows and it is something I have loved doing my entire life,’’ she said.

“The produce is world-class and is worth something, but until government get off their arses (tackling price cuts and costs) and holds that process accountable, nothing will change.’’

Mr Treloar said she feared for the future of the dairy industry in Australia, but her father would continue by managing a large nearby farm.

Mr Treloar said he hoped to save around two thirds of the herd, and was philosophical that he and his wife Helen, 53, had been able to raise four children on the farm.

“It has always been one step forward and three steps back, and if we were smart we would have gotten out sooner, but I wanted to give it a go and bring the kids up,’’ Mr Treloar said