Merv and Mary Williamson perched on a water trough on their Whittlesea farm. Mary can remember building it with her father 70 years ago.
Merv and Mary Williamson are slowing down, but they are not finishing up their farming duties entirely. GEOFF ADAMS has the story.
For most people, winding up their milking herd when they were approaching their 90s might seem a logical thing to do.
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But, although they have shipped off their last milkers from their Whittlesea property after 66 years of milking, Merv and Mary Williamson haven’t finished with farming.
Merv, 89, is raising a new herd of Holstein steers on the 121-hectare farm, just north of Melbourne.
He travels to Shepparton to buy the calves and grows them out for sale to Greenhams abattoir.
“We raise them for about three years. The Holsteins grow out really well,” Merv said.
He has got more time, so he is catching up on a few things he has been meaning to attend to for years, like fencing.
Their decision to cease milking in 2021 marked a symbolic end for the Williamsons and for their community.
Although the farm was with the same family for 116 years, it was the last dairy farm in the Whittlesea area, which is now largely occupied by either suburban development or larger, lifestyle residential properties.
Their decision was acknowledged by the Floridia Cheese company in Thomastown, who had processed their milk supply for more than 20 years.
Merv Williamson, with Em Jays Ice Hilda, who will be staying on the Whittlesea farm. She enjoys a bite of lucerne hay.
Mary, 91, said the cessation of milking required some adjustment to their routines after 66 years, and she has taken up volunteer sewing for the Olivia Newton John cancer hospital to occupy her free time. She has made 137 pouches for chemotherapy patients.
While most of the dairy cattle have long since left the Whittlesea property, there is one cow who won’t be going.
The Holstein cow, known as Em Jays Ice Hilda, classified 91, will be seeing out her days on the gentle slopes of the Williamson farm.
Merv and Mary couldn’t bear to part with the loyal old girl, who is 18 years old.
“She’s a good old cow,” Merv says with affection.
“Never had mastitis, just a bit prone to milk fever.”
The Williamsons’ Whittlesea farm with the Holstein steers.
A plaque has been presented to the Williamson family acknowledging the property’s century-old history with the one family.
