Milked-dry farmer goes for the cream

A sixth-generation dairy farmer near Kiama on the south coast, Kel Grey, is about to join the ranks of gourmet farmers, due to the parlous state of the dairy industry.

Grey will use his milk to produce gelato and old-fashioned milk products, which he’ll sell locally under The Pines brand, with future plans to sell at Sydney growers’ markets.

‘‘The supermarket squeeze on milk prices is just part of it,’’ he says.

‘‘There are the feed prices and the cost of land, because the only way to make it now in dairy is to be big. There used to be 95 dairy farms around here, now there are 12. When my father came back home in the 1970s, the farm supported four families. Times have changed — my dad and I haven’t taken a wage from dairying for the past year.’’

Grey hopes The Pines products will help the business turn the corner.

‘‘We’re going to do an old-fashioned milk like our grandparents used to drink. Pasteurised but not homogenised, with a creamy layer on top.’’