Dairying

DESCRIPTION

NameDairyingEvent LocationShellharbour City LGADescriptionThe 1840's saw the expansion of farming, and wheat fields appear across Shellharbour. Potatoes and maize were planted, and butter, wheat, eggs, fowls and pigs, were taken to the harbour for transport to the Sydney markets.

Wheat crops were turned over by a single furrow plough, drawn by a horse or bullock, reaped with a reaping hook, and threshed, bagged, and taken to the nearest flourmill for grinding. The industry continued until the 1860s, when rust disease reduced the wheat crop substantially.

In the early days, dairying was very basic. Butter was churned and packed in wooden cases on the farm, and farmers received two to three shillings per pound. Cows on the other hand, were worth ₤10 to ₤25 per head, so cattle breeding began to prosper.

David Johnston, owner of Johnston’s Meadows estate at Albion Park, reputedly imported the Shorthorn Bull Melmoth, which was said to have been the father of the celebrated Illawarra stock. Important breeders in those early years, included the Johnston, Osborne, Hughes, Cole and Dudgeon families. They opened up the way for succeeding generations, who stocked the district with good milking cattle, eventually the famous and prize winning, Illawarra Shorthorns.

Milking was done twice a day, and cream was set in large shallow pans. The next day, the cream was skimmed from the surface with ladles, and churned into butter with a hand-operated churn. Butter was placed into wooden casks, and carried on horseback or wagon to the boat store at Shellharbour, to await transport to Sydney. Farmers formed the Shellharbour Butter Export Company in 1869, to assist with better organisation of the butter market. The eventual success of refrigeration in 1879, opened up new opportunities for butter producers.

The farmers who worked so closely together, proposed the establishment of a cooperative butter factory scheme, that would reduce the drudgery of manufacturing butter on individual dairy farms. Cooperative factories were established at Dunmore, Albion Park, Yellow Rock and Tongarra. The Albion Park Butter Factory, beside the Macquarie Rivulet (Calderwood Road) was the first to begin operations 10 November 1885, with six cream separators driven by a 16-horsepower steam engine. The site was central to all suppliers from Albion Park, Marshall Mount, Calderwood and South Dapto. Part of the butter factory, and manager’s residence Tulkeroo still stand today. Outlying communities began to do the same as Albion Park, and cooperative factories were established in the 1880s and 1890s, at Tongarra, Yellow Rock, Marshall Mount, and Dunmore.

The railway became an important carrier for goods after its arrival in 1897, and the milk trade began with the dispatch of a special milk train for Sydney, engaged by the Fresh Food and Ice Company. To carry on the cooperative movement, the farmers decided a new central factory, with a refrigeration plant was needed, close to the railway for the fast delivery of milk to Sydney.

On 27 September 1899, the Illawarra Cooperative Central Dairy Factory (ICCD) was officially opened, beside the railway line (Creamery Road, Albion Park Rail). Two steam engines drove the machinery and refrigeration plant. There were 51 suppliers to the factory. The ICCD separated all surplus milk, and used the cream for butter manufacture. By 1903, the factory was manufacturing 20 tons of butter, and pasteurizing 140,000 gallons of milk per week.

The establishment of the ICCD, eventually saw the closure of the smaller factories in the area, and the ICCD became the only factory between Dapto and Jamberoo. Modern methods overcame souring of milk, cream losses and graded butter. The company continued to improve, and the famous Warrilla brand of butter was produced at the factory from 1956. The ICCD, which employed generations of locals since its commencement, closed its doors in 1985, after 86 years of operation.

Don and Ian Grey milking at 'The Meadows', Albion Park.

CONNECTIONS

PlaceIllawarra Cooperative Central Dairy FactoryYellow Rock Butter FactoryTongarra Creamery (Butter Factory)The Butter Track - TongarraDunmore Butter FactoryAlbion Park Butter FactoryLocalityShellharbour City LGA

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Dairying