Kenilworth Dairies offers lifeline to Queensland farm facing closure

John Cochrane, who owns Kenilworth Dairies, has agreed to take some of the 10,500 litres produced each day by the Rozynski family’s two farms at Imbil in the Mary Valley. The milk will be sold under a single-origin label called One Farm, One Herd, subject to demand for locally bottled Queensland milk.

Maleny Dairies gave the family the required three months’ notice that its supply agreement would not be renewed. Mr Cochrane had expected Lactalis, Bega, Dairy Farmers or Norco to take over the milk before a September 15 deadline, but the contract ended without a replacement processor. Queensland is currently in its peak milk-production period, when demand is lower.

The proposed retail product will be made entirely from Queensland milk. About half of the drinking milk consumed in the state—estimated at 250m to 300m litres a year—is transported from Victoria, where production costs are lower because of climatic conditions. Jason Rozynski said the family hoped public support, including attention received on social media, would help establish demand for its fresh milk.

“It’s three generations of blood, sweat and tears,” Mr Rozynski said, describing the situation as “the fight of our lives”. The family keeps Brown Swiss cattle and has said it wants to continue producing milk in Queensland. Mr Cochrane said losing the farms’ supply would harm businesses that provide fuel, fertiliser and other goods to the operation.

Mr Cochrane bought Kenilworth Dairies, including its factory and agritourism business, in 2017 and has invested millions of dollars in its expansion. The company began bottling milk in 2020. He said the new arrangement would not reduce the company’s commitment to its own label or to farmers already supplying it. He is seeking retailers and other markets for the new product.

Joe Bradley, a dairy farmer of more than 50 years and director of the industry group eastAUSmilk, described Kenilworth Dairies’ intervention as “a brilliant move”. Since Queensland’s dairy sector was deregulated in 2000, the number of dairy farms in the state has fallen from 1,500 to fewer than 220, according to Mr Bradley. He called the decision by major processors not to take the Rozynskis’ milk a negative signal for the industry.

To handle the rest of the production, Mr Cochrane contacted Richmond Dairies in northern New South Wales. That milk is expected to be converted into ingredients for Australian manufacturers and export markets, although Mr Rozynski said it would earn less than drinking milk. The arrangement may support the farms until next year, when seasonal supply is expected to be tighter and an additional processing contract could become available alongside Kenilworth Dairies.

Mr Cochrane said barcodes still needed approval and labels had to be printed before bottling could begin, a process expected to take at least two weeks. Mr Rozynski described Mr Cochrane as a family friend and thanked him and his team for taking up the proposal after other processors had declined it.