Gold Coast’s last Numinbah Valley dairy farm closes because people are ‘not connected’ with their food

The Gold Coast’s last Numinbah Valley dairy farmer is calling it quits but he doesn’t blame the demise of the local agricultural sector on the “greenies’’, on taxes or the rising cost of living. It’s something else worrying.

THE Gold Coast’s last Numinbah Valley dairy farmer is calling it quits.

Leaving the property his family has farmed for five generations, lifelong farmer Peter Yaun doesn’t blame the demise of the local agricultural sector on the “greenies’’, on taxes or the rising cost of living.

He blames it on the growing distance between people and their food.

The 64 year old believes the diminished value of local produce has made it next to impossible to make a living off the land.

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Farmer Peter Yaun on his Numinbah Valley Property. Photograph: Jason O'Brien

“It is Coles and Woolworths that have driven the prices down and got us used to buying something for nothing,” Mr Yaun said.

“People don’t know the work put into their food so are OK to buy it dirt cheap.”

Now, more than 110 years after his family first claimed the 420 acre (168ha) property in the Gold Coast hinterland, Peter and his brother Barry — who works alongside him — are selling up.

“There has been a lot of soul searching. It was an extremely difficult decision,” Mr Yaun said.

“I grew up on this property and so did my four kids, working alongside myself and my brothers.

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“People don’t know the work put into their food so are OK to buy it dirt cheap.” Photograph: Jason O'Brien

“But it just has to happen. There is no other way.”

While the region around the Gold Coast is still farmed in a small capacity, Mr Yaun said the constant shrinking profit margins had ruined any farming family’s chance to thrive.

The first and most critical blow to the family farming legacy occurred in 2000 with deregulation of the dairy industry. The decision led to a major drop in farm gate milk prices, almost overnight.

Since the market change, the number of dairy farms in the state has dropped steadily from 1500 to just over 400.

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Mr Yaun said the price he received for a litre of milk halved.

“It was impossible. You had to bring on more cattle just to make ends meet,’’ he said.

“We then saw seven years of drought and milk selling for a dollar a litre.

Farmer Peter Yaun says he has no choice but to move on. Photograph: Jason O'Brien

“When I was growing up there were 50 or so dairy farms in this area. People had bees, had their own orchards. It was the definition of having a go and living off the land.

“But we were the last one.”

In 2007, hoping to adapt to the changing market forces, the family moved into beef cattle while supplementing income with odd property management jobs.

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“It was hard letting the girls go (the dairy cows), but we had no other option,” Mr Yaun said.

In a bid to survive they did anything necessary to keep the land profitable, from using it for a quad-biking business to looking after neighbouring cattle.

Now, with the added pressure of drought, it has become impossible.

“We have been talking about this for quite a while and have had enough,” he said.

“My brother and I are getting close to retirement and we have racked our brains.

“It is time we sold. The next generation have seen what we have been through and can’t take it on. It is the end of an era.’’

Beechmont dairy farmer Greg McKenzie, of Providence farm, has a legacy stretching as far back as the Yauns.

Like them, he has worked to adapt or risk losing his family property.

Stepping out of large production dairying post deregulation, he instead began selling bath milk (unpasteurised) to local health food shops, offering farm stays and weddings.

“The whole of the hinterland of the Gold Coast was once dairy farming. Now there are just a few left,” he said.

“There has been a disconnect between town people and country people. Farmers on the ground are the ones taking all the risks.

“I see it all going to tourism. That’s just the way things are. We won’t survive if we don’t adapt.”

Because of regional planning, existing farms are unable to be subdivided so those moving off the land are rarely making a big profit.

“It may be a great asset but a lot of people are scraping by to keep it. That’s just the way it is,” Mr McKenzie said.