Murray Now

‘Keeping up with the Joneses’ was the concept behind the name that Wayne Somerville created. Wayne wanted to have the best milk and in order to make a fair and decent living from it he set about creating Jonesy’s Dairy Fresh.

With the poor price dairy farmers were receiving for their milk in 2009, Wayne decided to produce his own milk and sell it independently. Wayne likes to think that “with the groundswell of support we are empowering dairy farmers and consumers in a way that benefits both.”

The dairy industry in Australia produced over $3.4 billion at the farmgate in 2009/10 and it ranks third behind beef and wheat. Although what we are all thinking about is the longevity of the industry and how long will milk stay cheap for. “As dairy farmers we started processing our own milk as a result of receiving 18 cents per litre for our milk when we needed 40 cents per litre to survive,” Wayne said.

“The rationale in all this is, if we allow supermarkets to screw down prices paid to farmers to unviable levels, we will drive small businesses and corner stores out of business. We (Jonesy’s Dairy Fresh) have been contacted daily by Melbourne customers wanting to sell our milk,” Wayne notes.

Wayne Jones and Rhonda Somerville. Photo: Courtesy of Richard Cornish

Jonesy’s Dairy Fresh is a family business run by Wayne, his wife Rhonda, sons David and Michael, daughter Melinda and five other employees. Wayne is a self-made farmer having previously worked for relatives and running an earthmoving business for some years.

At the moment Wayne has sheep, dairy cows and some cropping spread across five farms in Kerang (Victoria) and one farm in Mt Gambier (SA). “We have three dairies and we try to farm sustainably leaning away from chemicals and towards a more natural approach on the farm.” Wayne comments. The farms run Friesians and Jerseys for higher fat content. There are a thousand dairy cows plus some larger beef cattle and sheep.

“We calve all year round to keep the milk consistent and have the capacity to produce 10,000,000 litres per year off the three dairies, two of which are herringbones and one rotary in S.A”. (A herringbone dairy is where cows enter, in single file, and line up almost perpendicular to the central aisle of the milking parlour on both sides of a central pit).

Jonesy’s Dairy Fresh are currently using close to 100 % of their own milk which is taken to Kyabram in their own milk tanker to Southern Processing for bottling. Their aim is to plug in like minded farmers to supply milk when they reach 100 % usage of their own production. “We are also purchasing a facility at Barham to value-add into specialty products like cheeses and yoghurts – there will be better returns when we can get the volume up, but it takes a lot of work,” comments Wayne.

A real accomplishment for Jonesy’s Dairy Fresh was winning gold at the 2010 Royal Melbourne Show with their non homogenized full cream milk while the low fat and full cream milks both claimed silver.

The milk produced at Jonesy’s Dairy Fresh has minimal processing, ensuring the product remains at its highest quality. Jonesy’s Dairy Fresh is Australian owned and operated with all the profits staying in the country.

“Distribution is expanding all the time across a wider range of areas. We have our own small fleet of branded trucks to coffee shops, bakeries, milk bars and independent supermarkets and also get a great response at farmers markets.” Wayne concludes.

For more information on Jonesy’s Dairy Fresh please go to the website www.jonesysdairyfresh.com

Credit: Stock & Land