A large area of South Australia is eminently adapted to successful
dairying, and while the summer is dry, rendering it necessary to make
provision for succulent feed for several months, the temperate nature of
the climate enables the dairyman to keep his cows in the open right
through the year, the natural shelter in timber country being
sufficient, except on a limited number of days of extreme wet and cold.
Stall feeding for weeks at a time is unknown; the necessary shelter
sheds can be cheaply provided, while the labour of feeding is, under
these conditions, reduced to a minimum. In the northern districts
conditions are not so favourable as in the south, but even here dairying
can be profitably carried on; the fact that land is much cheaper
compensates for the shorter period during which the natural herbage
supplies practically all the feed required. In some of the driest of our
farming areas dairying has largely replaced wheat-growing, and, although
the yield per cow is naturally not so high as under more favourable
conditions, still low rents and large areas of natural pasture enable
the farmer to make a fair profit.
[Illustration: The Cream Cart, North Coast, N.S.W.]
The Dairy Industry, though of considerable magnitude, has not made as
much progress as was anticipated. This is probably due to the fact that
wheat-growing and sheep-breeding combined offer greater attractions to
the farmer. These industries require a great deal less labour than
dairying, besides which the work is not so continuous. So long as highly
profitable returns can be obtained from the production of cereals and
the breeding of lambs, the Dairying Industry is hardly likely to make
the progress that would otherwise be possible, though there has of late
years been steady and continued development in the industry, especially
in the northern districts. In the south and south-east, where conditions
are more suitable, there has, on the other hand, been very little
extension.
Large quantities of butter are exported to Broken Hill and West
Australia throughout the year, while during the spring months shipments
are made to Great Britain.
Butter is exported in increasing quantities to Great Britain each year.
In normal years from 1400 to 1600 tons are shipped.
Cheese is not made on such an extensive scale proportionately to butter;
indeed, in some seasons sufficient for local consumption is not
produced. Practically all the cheese is manufactured on the Cheddar
system, and an article of very high quality is produced in the best
factories.
Special facilities are afforded by the railways for the conveyance of
perishable goods, and cream is forwarded by the dairyman to the city
factories from districts 300 miles distant. Payment is usually made on
the butter-fat percentages; and in order to afford suppliers an
opportunity of checking the returns received from private factories the
Government established a butter factory in connection with the export
freezing works at Port Adelaide. At this factory every can of cream is
sampled, and the quantity of butter it will produce is ascertained by
the usual methods, and the supplier is paid accordingly.
A considerable number of butter factories have been erected in South
Australia, and the butter produced is generally of high quality. The
butter made from the milk of cows grazing on the natural herbage of the
country is of splendid quality and colour. Hand separators are in
general use, the cream being sent to the factories for treatment. The
percentage of butter-fat in the milk of cows grazing on the natural
pastures is unusually high.
Practically the whole of the midland, central, and south-east districts,
excepting that portion east of the Murray, are suitable for dairying
practice when carried out on systematic lines. The prices for such land
for dairying would range from $24.00 to $240.00 per acre according to
location, soil, and rainfall. No special terms are offered by the
Government for the occupation of dairy lands. Most of the repurchased
estates are in districts suitable for dairying, and these are allotted
under covenant to purchase. The purchase money is paid off in seventy
half-yearly instalments (the first ten bearing interest only at the rate
of 4 per cent. on purchase money). Purchase money may be completed at
any time after nine years. Reliable particulars of successful dairying
are difficult to obtain. It is safe to say that there are many hundreds
of dairymen making comfortable livings throughout the State.
[Illustration: Fodder Crops--Lucerne, Mangels, Rape.]
Capital may be safely expended for dairy practice, especially by careful
and intelligent men who have families, and they may depend upon making a
good living, especially when they combine dairy practice with
pig-raising. There are many instances where gross returns are obtained
of from $38.40 to $72.00 per cow per annum, and this in districts where
the milk is sold to the local co-operative or private factories, but
where they are situated within forty miles of Adelaide, and are able to
take advantage of a good train service, they can deliver their milk to
the capital and obtain gross returns equal to about $76.80 to $96.00 per
cow per annum.
[Illustration: Interior of a Cheese Factory.]