Meredith Dairy has expanded its operation and upped its production to become the largest employer in the west Victorian town.
Subscribe now for unlimited access to all our agricultural news
across the nation
or signup to continue reading
Overseen by Julie and Sandy Cameron, Meredith, the operation involves 10,000 dairy goats and 2000 dairy sheep, split across nine farms, with a 10th in the pipeline.
The company employs more than 150 people from 24 countries.
Since 2018, the farm has increased its average 300-day goat lactation by 50 per cent from 800 litres a year to 1200lt.
Ms Cameron said this was down to research in genomic breeding, animal husbandry and feeding, with the work supported by a PhD student from the University of Melbourne.
The average yield has increased by 20pc each year since the work began with a number of elite sires injecting improved genetics into the operation.
Goat herd milk production topped 9 million litres in 2023 and the sheep produced a further 400,000lt.
"When you have less animals producing more milk from the same amount of inputs, you get less greenhouse emissions," Ms Cameron said.
"Greenhouse gas mitigation is pretty serious."
The farm was also green-lit for trials using a methane-cutting feed supplement, aimed at further reducing its environmental footprint.
We've been in this game now for 34 years and we haven't seen a downturn at all.
In total, Meredith Dairy is stretched across 5000 hectares, all within a 20-minute drive of the home farm and factory.
Some 2000ha was used to produce fodder for stock and a further 300ha was managed for conservation.
The brand is known for producing its iconic range of fresh and marinated goats' cheese and yoghurt.
Ms Cameron said the business was "definitely growing".
"We've been in this game now for 34 years and we haven't seen a downturn at all," she said.
"We have seen a slowing but I think that's more consumer fear in the economy, cost of living."
The goats, kidding four times a year, were housed in open-sided barns and the milk sheep, lambing twice a year, were kept at pasture.
The Camerons manufacture all their own products and have supplied Coles and Woolworths since 2006.
Exports ramped up from 2015 onwards and now make up 12pc of the business.
"We're value-adding to our produce so we have a complete paddock-to-plate enterprise, all vertically integrated," Ms Cameron said.
Depending on the season and demand, the operation processes between 18,000-30,000lt of goat milk a day and between about 900-2000lt of sheep milk.
She said the vision was to produce food sustainably.
