Life on a dairy farm can be a hard slog but working with his son and local businesses makes the job easier for John Fairley.
The Country Valley Milk farm at Picton, NSW, has been in the family for six generations and Mr Fairley's son Tom has recently come back to work on the farm.
"It has been great to have my son around to help out on the farm and it's nice that I am able to help him build a house on the property," Mr Fairley said.
"Tom has come back to take over the running of the farm eventually and that means I can get out and meet more people, do more sales and make a retirement plan."
Mr Fairley said he enjoyed working with his father before he retired, but like most family businesses, they occasionally clashed.
His father often comes to the farm once a week to help out.
"I couldn't see myself not working with my family on the farm," he said.
The Fairleys more than 100 head of Friesian/Jesery cross cattle on 120 hectares.
The milk is bottled and sold on site rather than sending it to another processor.
The dairy supplies the factory with milk, which is processed and is sold in one, two and three litre plastic bottles.
The farm also produces yoghurt and cream.
Mr Fairley is proud that he can support other local farmers by buying milk from their farms.
"I pay the local farmers 13 per cent more than what the major milk companies would, which means the farmers can make money, get paid and have a holiday," he said.
Mr Fairley is also proud that he supplies local business such as R Coffee at Picton and Picton IGA with milk, which in turn allows those business to hire local staff.
"Anytime I can use a local supplier I will," he said.
Working on a farm does not come without its challenges, the main one being the weather.
"There were big floods in June last year and now we haven't had rain since October," Mr Fairley said.
"Our only option is to buy hay feed for the cows to eat because they can't graze the grass."
Mr Fairley said the commodity prices were a killer for farmers because the price of raw milk was too low.
He encourages everyone to support local dairyfarmers even if that means paying a few dollars extra.
Mr Fairely also supports and sponsors community events such as IlluminARTe, they send milkshake kits to schools, churches and fetes and support the breakfast club at Picton High School.
"Locals have supported me by buying my milk in major supermarkets and in corner stores so it is my way of giving back to the community and it means the money stays in the local economy," Mr Fairley said.
