Terang region farmer Daryl Crawford still in dairy at 78

While many dairy farmers have long since left the milking pit, 78-year-old Daryl Crawford is still fighting fit.

Ask Daryl Crawford what it’s like to be a dairy farmer at 78 and he’ll give you his usual comedic quip.

“As the years go in, the hills get steeper and the mud gets a little deeper,” he says with a chuckle.

Alongside wife Val, the Crawfords have operated a farm at Dixie, near Terang in Victoria’s southwest for more than five decades.

One of five boys, Mr Crawford grew up on a 45-cow farm and worked as a linotype operator for the Terang Express newspaper in his formative years.

The Crawfords started sharefarming around 1968, rented from 1970, before buying the herd and farm in 1973.

“We milk between 260 and 280 cows now, so the farm is far larger than what we started out with. The operation is now five farms all joined up together,” Mr Crawford said.

Dixie dairy farmers Daryl and Val Crawford. Picture Yuri Kouzmin

Dodging both the 1983 Ash Wednesday and 2018 St Patrick’s Day bushfires, the Crawfords have no immediate plans to exit dairy farming.

They often work in the dairy pit but also employ a number of the region’s up-and-coming farmers.

“We’ve had plenty of young people work for us over the years. They’ve paid their way through uni or bought their first car working for us,” he said.

When asked about the drop in farmer numbers over the past decade, Mr Crawford said there’s no single reason why dairy is in decline.

“Retirement is a natural part of life but I want to keep at it for now,” he said.