Dairy deal delights brothers

Yarloop dairy-farming brothers Joe and Tony Angi say the world will love WA fresh milk.

The pair, a major supplier of milk to Harvey Fresh, are toasting a deal which will see WAFarmers’ fresh milk delivered to outlets in China. Harvey Fresh packages the WAFarmers product.

On Friday a sample pallet of milk was packed and labelled under the lobby group’s name for inspection by China Certification and Inspection Group Australia, before it was air-freighted to China by WA food products exporter Lifeland.

The partnership between Lifeland and WAFarmers was officially announced in September and it has been a race against time since then to land the first milk shipment since that time, which will be the first time WA fresh milk will have been successfully exported and sold in Northern China.

The Angis are part of a second-generation dairy farming family and today run about 400 Holstein Frisian cattle on their lush Yarloop property.

The pair have worked together for many years milking the cows each morning and afternoon, which they supply to Harvey Fresh just down the road.

The brothers, who believe WA dairy farmers have not been paid a fair price for the milk they have supplied to the local markets for many years, say booming world markets will love the taste of the product grown in the State’s lush pastures throughout the South West.

“I believe West Australian milk compared with what is available around the world is the cleanest and freshest milk that anyone could buy,” Tony said.

“In the past there has been contracts won on the basis that WA milk is the cleanest and freshest product available.”

Joe said the brothers keep their pastures protein rich by using only the best quality ryegrasses and a history of using lime fertilisers.

“We use good clovers to put nitrogen in the soil as well,” he said. “We also keep the pastures young, which makes them the of the most benefit to cows producing milk.”

The brothers said their Yarloop farm also had the advantage of good water.

“All the water is run through the farm’s state-of-the-art irrigation system,” Tony said.

The brothers said there was family pride attached to the farm.

My uncle and my father started the farm more than 60 years ago,” Tony said.

“They worked very hard using the old milking methods in the early days, but they had a passion to be part of the industry,” he said.

“When my brother and I took over the farm, we inherited their passion, because we love our cows, the genetics and also doing the day to day things in running a dairy farm.”

Joe said there plan was to continue to produce the finest milk-producing cows to supply world markets into the future.

“I think there is room for promoting WA fresh and green milk, because there are less and less dairy farmers, so the ones that remain will be in demand for delivering high-quality milk, all over the world,” he said.

“The beauty about the WA dairy industry is that the cows are always roaming around from pasture to pasture in the open environment.”