'If you think you know Australian dairy farmers, think again.'

Thanks to our brand partner, Coles

Have you heard the one about the four-day week? We've been talking about it a lot lately, on podcasts and articles on Mamamia.

The spreading idea is that since Covid upended the way lots of office workers work, we should be examining all areas of productivity and output in the name of work-life balance. Maybe we should all do more in less time, and the pay-off is more time at home, caring for our loved ones or, you know, doing pilates.

Four-day week? That sound you can hear, my friends, is the sound of dairy farmers laughing their heads off, hats rolling on the ground.

Nurses and teachers too, of course, but if there's one thing I've learned from working with Coles, meeting the dairy farmers around the country who provide their milk, it's that they work hard. A seven-day week, 52 weeks of the year. And a day off is not a thing.

I learned a lot of other stuff, too. That dairy properties are in beautiful places — yes, rolling green hills are involved, picturesque paddocks with pretty cows chewing vibrant grass.

Image: Supplied.

But behind that, there is the aforementioned hard work, by the bucketload. And constant forward planning and upgrading of technology that touches everything from the sort of grass being grown to measuring water efficiencies and methane output (yes, that's right, the farts), breeding, birthing and calf care.

All of that, along with a dedication to keep growing and improving farms and practices and a deep passion to protect the family business. There's a lot going on between the pretty paddocks.

The thing is, what Grant Sherborne and Kate Bland, two different dairy farmers — one from New South Wales, one from Victoria — both told me is that there's a constant fear that all that work might be for nothing.

That one of the most challenging things to deal with as a dairy farmer is the constant stress that all this hard work and dedication, all this planning and research and caring and, yes, early mornings, might not pay off. Because insecurity is everywhere.

And that, they both told me, is where their Coles Milk Purchase Agreements come in. Coles now has contracts in place with 108 dairy farms around Australia to provide milk directly to them at a fixed minimum price, for an agreed term.

For Grant's family, who have been raising cattle in the NSW Southern Highlands since the 1930s, having a multi-year deal with Coles provides certainty about their milk income. This stability has allowed them to make plans that previously just weren't possible.

It's literally meant, he said, that his now-adult kids can inherit the farm that they live and work on.

Farmer Grant Sherborne and his kids, Georgia, Sam and William. Image: Supplied.

Grant's daughter Georgia is a Dairy Major and deeply into animal science. Son Sam is an expert in the complicated process of breeding, and William specialises in the machinery that keeps the farm moving.

All of them, now, will be partners in the farm as Grant steps back and he said the long-term contract with Coles has facilitated that.

"It's gone beyond hope that they'll stay now," he told me, in the farm office above a shed holding the biggest tractor I've ever seen. "They're already in it because of how we've structured our business and again, that's since we've joined Coles.

"It's given [the kids] the assurance that things are going to continue, and also by doing our budgets, they can see the long-term future of what's happening."

For Kate, who works her family farm alongside her wife and sons, it has meant she could expand their operations and upgrade everything from machinery to transport.

Farmer Kate Bland. Image: Supplied.

When Kate talked to me about her farm, which is in Victoria's beautiful Gippsland, there was almost a sparkle in her voice. She told me it was calving season, and sometimes she would be sleeping down in the dairy — but not today.

Today she'd just come down at her usual 4am, cranked up the tunes and sung her heart out as she got through the first milking of the day.

Staying positive, she said, is easier now. "It's a hugely stressful job. You've got to surround yourself with positive people," said Kate.

"It makes it so much more fun when you're in front, you're moving forward. It's good to see your asset growing and to be proud when you're walking around. You know, everything we do, we do well and don't take shortcuts, and everything looks beautiful. And you know what, you're driving around your farm and you're proud."

Seven days a week, 365 days a year, Australian dairy farmers are getting up at the crack of dawn, going out in all weather, herding in their cows (at the Sherborne farm, every single one has a name), and providing milk to be processed and dropped into the fridge where you (and I) grab it, unthinking, some time later.

The effort, work and resilience that have gone into that carton aren't things most of us think about every day, and neither is the sustainability of an industry that so many rely on.

It's "just" milk, yes? And "just" cows. And "just" the green grass of a photogenic farm. Except there's nothing "just" about all that goes down on these farms, and nothing "just" about that whole milk in the Coles fridge.

For these farmers, it's everything.

Find out more about Coles' relationship with dairy farms around Australia.

Feature Image: Supplied.

At Coles, we go to great lengths for our relationships with Australian dairy farmers. It's why we have long-term agreements with over 108 dairy farms across Australia to directly source delicious, Coles Brand fresh milk. Because when you go to great lengths, you get great quality milk. Great lengths for Aussie dairy. That's Coles.