Australian dairy industry: Counting down the sector’s most influential figures
We’ve counted down the top names in the dairy industry. See the list and have your say by voting in our poll.
From clawback doom to export boom — life in Australia’s dairy industry has long been a rollercoaster ride.
But the past decade has left the heads spinning of even the most seasoned dairy player.
And as 2022 begins, The Weekly Times has named some of Australian dairy industry’s most influential figures.
Whether it’s the managing director making the big decisions from the processor board room, the battler taking on the corporate players over past controversies or the sector’s leading advocacy voices — we’ve got them covered.
PAUL MUMFORD
The Gippsland farmer heads the largest of the state-based dairy lobby groups, and arguably the most powerful.
Appointed as United Dairyfarmers of Victoria vice president in early 2018, Mr Mumford took on the top job less than a year later after the resignation of Adam Jenkins.
For the past three years, he has led the Victorian industry from one of its toughest periods with the Fonterra/Murray Goulburn clawback to one of its most profitable, as record prices flow back to the farmgate.
But the UDV president has been clear-eyed about the challenges facing the sector, most notably its generational divide and long-term profitability prospects.
Mr Mumford runs a 320-hectare dairy farm at Won Wron with wife Lisa.
BARRY IRVIN
Barry Irvin has been executive chairman of Bega Cheese since 2000, transforming the NSW south coast processor into an Australian food juggernaut.
The farmer-turned-corporate titan oversaw one of the biggest corporate takeovers of 2020, spending $560 million to acquire the Lion Dairy and Drinks business from Japan’s Kirin. The Lion takeover occurred after the Federal Government let it be known a higher $600 million bid by China’s Mengniu Dairy giant would not be approved over foreign investment concerns.
It came less than three years after Mr Irvin and Bega successfully purchased Mondelez’s Australian grocery business – including Vegemite – and its Port Melbourne manufacturing facility for $470m.
DAVID NATION
Taking over Dairy Australia’s top job from Ian Halliday in 2018, David Nation had already established his credentials with the industry authority.
He previously held roles leading DA’s internal initiatives such as DairyBio and DairyFeedbase, and also held the title of Dairy Futures CRC chief executive.
Dr Nation said domestic consumption of dairy products has tracked well in recent times.
“(Australia) has one of the highest per capita dairy consumption statistics in the world,” he said. “We’ve retained a strong demand for drinking milk while also rowing cheese and consuming more yoghurt. That is not something you can say about other countries.”
LINO SAPUTOJR.
There’s fewer powerful figures in Australian agriculture than Lino A Saputo, the chairman, president and chief executive of Canadian dairy giant Saputo.
The Montreal-based company — founded in 1954 — is now Australia’s biggest dairy processor, having completed its purchase of Warrnambool Cheese and Butter in 2014 and Murray Goulburn in 2017.
In 2019, Mr Saputo addressed the Australian Dairy Conference and called for older Australian dairy factories to be mothballed to counter an oversupply in processing capacity.
“We need to take a good hard look at what types of products we are manufacturing, how much product we are supplying the world markets and whether there is a requirement for that,” he said. “The simple answer is that there is too much infrastructure in the system.”
RENE DEDONCKER
Taking over the reins from Judith Swales as Fonterra Australia’s managing director, Rene Dedoncker has enjoyed an eventful tenure as the head of the major processor.
Mr Dedoncker started his career with Fonterra in 2005, in the Australian Foodservice business.
In September 2021, he outlined plans for Fonterra Australia to loosen ties with its Auckland-based headquarters, with concrete changes anticipated this calendar year.
“To get the best of both worlds, we have Fonterra (NZ) maintaining that significant stake but ultimately freeing up some capital, so they can invest in their choices,” he told The Weekly Times last year.
SIMONE JOLLIFFE
When Simone Jolliffe took over the reins of the Australian Dairy Farmers group in 2015, she made history.
The first woman to lead the ADF and previously served at a local level with Holstein Australia sub-branch before going on to work as deputy chairwoman of Dairy NSW.
Along with husband Neil and their children, the Jolliffes operate a farm at Euberta, near Wagga Wagga.
Along with her ADF presidential predecessor Noel Campbell, Mrs Jolliffe returned to the headlines in 2020 to back the Australian Dairy Plan.
“The Dairy Plan is an enormous project — the processors and how much they contribute is only one piece of the puzzle,” she said.
JOHN DAHLSEN
Woolworths, Herald and Weekly Times, ANZ Bank — John Dahlsen has been at the decision-making table for all three household names.
He’s arguably best known by Victorian shoppers as the chairman of his eponymous hardware company JC Dahlsen.
Concerned by the decline of the domestic dairy sector, Mr Dahlsen used his business acumen to pen a 107-page report detailing how Australian milk prices were exceedingly low compared to other developed nations.
In what has been dubbed ‘The Dahlsen Plan’, the report outlines how a government-mandated levy could inject much needed price stability into the sector while having little impact on Australian consumers.
LEN STEPHENS
Anyone who takes on the role of Gardiner Foundation chairman is guaranteed a spot in any dairy movers and shakers list.
The foundation created with $62m in funding from the sale of assets, including milk brands, as part of deregulation of the dairy industry back in the early 2000s.
The deregulation largesse is redirected to dairy research and community initiatives, including scholarships.
In 2019, Adelaide based Len Stephens took on the role of chairman of the foundation, after previously serving as chairman of Australian Seafood Industries.
MATT AND ALLI REED
The winners of The Weekly Times Coles 2020 Farmer of the Year award didn’t accept the honour for 15 minutes of fame and a trophy, as nice as that may be.
“One of the things I’m most uncomfortable with is the title: ‘Matt Reid – Farmer of the Year’,” Matt says.
“I take it as an award for the whole business. I’m just one of the cogs in a bigger machine. We don’t see ourselves as any better or any worse than any other farmer.”
Instead, the Reids wanted to show that in the post-clawback era it’s not only possible to survive in dairy, but thrive.
Operating on the lush pastures of Carlisle River, near Colac, in southwest Victoria, the Reids run a streamlined dairy operation, milking 675 cows on 650 hectares.
Since relocating to the edge of the Otways from drought-ravaged irrigation districts of northern Victoria less than two decades ago, the Reids have more than doubled the size of their business.
GRAHAM FORBES
While his Dairy Connect group recently merged into a new NSW-Queensland cross-border entity eastAUS Milk, the advocacy impact of Graham Forbes is set to continue.
Unafraid to buck the dairy industry orthodoxy, the dairy farmer based on NSW’s mid north coast has called out Australia’s big three supermarkets over cut-price generic milk.
Along with Dairy Connect chief executive Shaughn Morgan, the NSW advocacy duo have made a splash both in Macquarie Street and in Canberra — letting those in the corridors of power about the plight of the average dairy farmer.
SHIRLEY HARLOCK
Six years ago, the Australian Dairy Industry Council presented Shirley Harlock with an outstanding service award.
Her curriculum vitae included executive positions with United Dairyfarmers of Victoria, director of Australian Dairy Farmers, chairwoman of Dairy Food Safety Victoria as well as heading up the Dairy Australia Future Dairy project.
But the Warrnambool region farmer’s biggest role was yet to come.
In 2019, Mrs Harlock took on the role of Joint Transition Team chairwoman for the Australian Dairy Plan.
Alongside former premier John Brumby, Mrs Harlock called for the sector “to move on from the industry institutions that helped us succeed in the past” and create a new unified model.
BRIAN TESSMANN
Theerstwhile head of the Queensland Dairyfarmers Organisation may no longer have a title, but there’s no doubt Brian Tessmann continues to have an impact on the sector.
After a six-month process, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission granted authorisation for the QDO’s Fair Go Dairy scheme in March 2021.
The qualifying products must contain at least 80 per cent unprocessed milk produced by Queensland cattle and bought from a Sunshine State farmer for not less than a “sustainable and fair” price calculated by QDO.
However, the Australian Dairy Products Federation lodged an application with the Australian Competition Tribunal seeking to set aside the ACCC’s determination.
ACCC deputy chairman Mick Keogh said the scheme was likely provide greater clarity for consumers, as well a small increase in retail competition in Queensland.
SALLIE JONES
When the 2016 clawback hit the Victorian dairy sector, Sallie Jones and business partner Steve Ronalds created Gippsland Jersey in 2016.
The well-marketed business buys milk from farmers, processes it and sells bottled milk under the brand.
Ms Jones grew up on the farm at a time when her parents ran it as a mixed dairy.
In 1980 her father was the first person in Australia to gain a dairy food-safety licence to process milk.
“I remember when I was young packing milk in crates, washing buckets, going on deliveries,” she says. “We learnt how to have stamina, a work ethic, energy and passion.”
From those family links, Ms Jones has turned Gippsland Dairy into a ‘agritourism’ attraction, that is now regularly cited as a drawcard for foodies heading to Victoria’s eastern districts.
JOHN VERSTEDEN
When former Victorian premier John Brumby unveiled the Australian Dairy Plan just prior to Christmas 2019, the Longwarry farm of John Versteden was chosen as the launch pad.
The former ADF director said has been keen to push back against what he perceives as industry negativity among some in the sector.
“There are farmers in every region of Australia, including Queensland, that are making really good money,” Mr Versteden said in December 2020.
“(But) we don’t talk about that we talk about all the negatives.”
TANIA LUCKIN
Originally from New Zealand, Tania Luckin and husband Stephen have been in Australia for more than two decades.
After a stint in farming in the Warrnambool region, the Luckins relocated to a farm near Heywood where they run a 500-head enterprise.
Mrs Luckin has established her name as a leader within the industry through roles such as a non executive director of Dairy Australia, a WestVic Dairy board member and participation in the Australian Dairy Leadership Alumni group.
IAN ZANDSTRA
When the NSW Agriculture Minister sought to establish the role of NSW Fresh Milk and Dairy Advocate, the first name that came to mind was Ian Zandstra.
Appointed in September 2019, Mr Zandstra operates two dairies, including one on the south coast near Nowra.
Previously chairman of the Dairy Farmers Milk Co-operative from 2004 till 2013, the Nowra farmer was not afraid to criticise the big three supermarkets when the introduced the ‘dollar a litre’ milk scheme in January 2011.
“A lack of returns to farmers from the supermarket generic brands has been a constant issue for the industry throughout the past decade,” he said last year.
BERNIE FREE
Southwest Victoria’s Bernie Free has been one of the most effective new voices for grassroots farmers in recent years.
Mr Free has been a critic of the Australian Dairy Plan since its release in late 2019, saying it missed its potential to be a fresh start for the sector.
“I approached (the Dairy Plan) meetings with an open mind in the hope that we would have a real chance of stronger advocacy for dairy farmers and much greater accountability from the Dairy Australia board,” the Winslow farmer said.
“We realised that more of the same attitudes, undemocratic decision-making and no decision making we have witnessed and experienced from our dairy leaders was unacceptable.
LISA DWYER
While Lisa Dwyer has been in the dairy sector less than two decades, she has emerged as an industry leader through her previous work as a director of Dairy Australia and a non-executive director of Murray Goulburn Co-operative.
She’s also non-executive director of the Australian Live Export Corporation and now serves as the chairman of the Great south coast Regional Partnership, as a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors advisory committee, as well as a fellow of the Australian Rural Leadership Foundation.
“Unlike my husband Eddie, who has been around dairy his entire life, working on the family farm, my background is in management in the thoroughbred racing industry,” Mrs Dwyer told The Weekly Times in April 2021
MARK BILLING
The relatively new vice president of the United Dairyfarmers of Victoria is a well-known figure in the sector, having worked in leadership roles for more than a decade.
After winning the vice presidency last year, the Colac farmer told The Weekly Times that the 2021-22 financial year was shaping up to be one of the best in living memory.
“If we had 2021-22 farmgate prices coupled with input costs from a couple of years ago, then it would be boom time for dairy,” Mr Billing said.
“The fact is labour shortages are leading to increased costs — the post-Covid labour market without international workers has really altered things considerably.
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