A 120-year-old family dairy farming dynasty is coming to an end with Peter and Trish Mulheron selling their Swan Marsh farm in south-west Victoria.
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But ending such a deep connection wasn’t an easy decision – even if all the stars were aligning.
Peter admits his body can’t cope with the daily grind of farming but at the same time he’s just completed a long-term revamp of the property.
The timing was right to make the move.
Peter’s great-grandfather bought the original 60-acre block in 1906 and the property has expanded over the years to 156.01hectares (385.49 acres).
At 63, Peter admits he’s struggling to keep up.
“You wear yourself out over time,” he said.
“It’s a fairly physical job and I probably haven’t been kind to my body over the years. I’ve had a hip replacement and broke my leg at one stage. Things like that catch up with you.
“Some things that should be easy day-to-day things to do become a bit more difficult as we get older.”
Peter says moving will be emotional after being born and raised and spending his entire working life on the property.
“It has been a really tough decision but we realise at the end of the day the whole family will be better off.”
Colliers’ Duncan McCulloch and Connor Dixon have been appointed to market the farm at 360 Settlement Road, Swan Marsh, via expressions of interest closing at 4pm on Wednesday, November 25.
Peter says the property is in good shape, with land in high demand in the region.
For more than three decades, he has been chipping away at an extensive redevelopment plan.
“In 1992, I did a whole-of-farm planning course with the Department of Agriculture,” Peter said.
“We put it down on an aerial photo and drew up what our ideal future may look like. About six months ago, I finished everything on that plan. That’s not something a lot of people get to do.”
The plan included growing the size of the business but also subdividing existing paddocks.
“My father and his father had a different way of farming, with much larger paddocks and less intense grazing,” Peter said.
“We subdivided into smaller paddocks and put more water around the farm whereas previously it had been a central point in larger paddocks.
“Every paddock has its own water supply and that has given us flexibility to more intensely graze areas further away from the dairy, which probably got neglected a bit in the old days. The further away from the dairy, the quality of the pasture deteriorated but now that’s not the case.”
The farm milks about 220 Holstein cows, producing more than 1.6 million litres of milk annually, with up to 570 kg/ms per cow each year.
A further 75 replacement heifers are reared annually.
The dairy features a 24-unit swing-over system, wide pit, automatic cup removers, Easy Dairy herd management software and auto-drafting capability. Supporting infrastructure includes a 10,000-litre milk vat and concrete yards with capacity for 300 cows.
Water supply is supported by interconnected stock and domestic bores and a recently constructed six-megalitre storage dam, plus the property receives about 723mm average annual rainfall.
The farm is also one of the first in Australia to have a transportable renewable power system installed. The PHNXX microgrid system can be rolled out of its shipping container and moved to wherever it’s needed. After some government red tape, the system is now fully commissioned and running part of the dairy.
The family has ensured the infrastructure is up to date.
“We’ve always had a project every year to update something and we’re proud of what has been established here.”
After a long dairy career, Peter has seen the industry transformed by advancements, particularly over the past decade.
“There have been a lot of improvements in pasture species and the information you’ve got on hand. You have much more control over what you’re doing. The biggest advances have come in the past 10 years with the introduction of collars.”
Peter believes the best might be yet to come, including virtual fencing collars.
“I can see Halter collars being a good option for this farm. We would have done it if we were at a different stage of our lives. The farm is split down the middle of a road so collars would have given us much more control over how we use the area.”
The farm started as a Jersey stud but transitioned to Holsteins under Peter’s father.
“Back in those days, Holsteins were much higher producing cows, though things have changed and the solids are more important today. They’re also a bit more robust. It’s not a wet farm now, but back in the day it was and some of the Jerseys might have struggled a bit.”
As he nears retirement, Peter looks back on an enjoyable family lifestyle.
“The thing I enjoyed the most was the family aspect of it. It’s a great lifestyle to bring up a young family. You’re busy but you still have time to spend with your kids and they can help around the farm when it’s safe to have them around.
“But it’s a busier lifestyle on the farm now than it ever was. It’s a big commitment to take over and James has a life outside the farm.”
Peter is unsure what happens next.
“I have the philosophy that life tends to take care of itself. We’d like to move closer to Colac where my mum lives and to be a bit closer to our kids.”
“We’ve tossed up the idea of beef but I’m inclined to think that if I’m struggling to handle dairy cows, I might struggle to handle beef. I’ve got to face reality but I want to keep myself busy. I’ll no doubt find some sort of project.”
Connor Dixon from Colliers said properties that had remained in the same family for more than a century were rarely offered to the market, making this a distinctive opportunity to acquire a long-held farming asset with genuine generational significance.