Patrick Desmond Rowley | |
---|---|
Born | Melbourne, Victoria, Australia | September 23, 1935
Spouse | Mary Rowley (m. 1959, died 2021) |
Patrick Desmond Rowley CMG (born 23 September 1935) is an Australian agricultural leader. He was chairman of the Australian Dairy Farmers Federation from 1977 until 2006, during which time he assisted in initiating significant industry changes. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation described him in 2003 as "the most influential figure in the history of Australian dairy farming". [1]
Rowley was born to Charles "Charlie" Rowley and Lilian Henn [née] on September 23, 1935, in Melbourne, Victoria. He is the eldest of four siblings. The family moved to Queensland, and established their dairy farm in Burpengary, north of Brisbane, where Rowley Road is today. Pat Rowley attended Marist College, Ashgrove, a Catholic boarding school for boys, from grades 5–12. [2]
Rowley married Mary Monica Rospigaroff [née] on September 12, 1959, at St Peter's Catholic Church in Caboolture, Queensland, after meeting at a Junior Farmers gathering in Caboolture. [3] After marrying, the couple moved to Dayboro, north-northwest of Brisbane [3] They have five children together [3] and as of 2020, have a total of eleven grandchildren. Mary died at their farm on 16 July 2021, after having received a terminal cancer diagnosis of glioblastoma exactly one month prior. [4]
Rowley, along with his wife, identify as Catholics, a denomination of Christianity, and are regular parishioners at St Francis Xavier, Dayboro.
Organisation | Abbreviation | Position | Start | End |
---|---|---|---|---|
Australian Dairy Farmers Association | ADFA | President | 1985 | 2003 |
Australian Dairy Farmers Federation [1] | ADFF | Chairman | 1985 | 2003 |
Australian Dairy Herd Improvement Scheme [3] | ADHIS | Chairman | 1985 | 2003 |
Australian Dairy Industry Council [5] | ADIC | Chairman | 1985 | 2003 |
Dairy Australia [6] | N/A | Chairman | 2003 | 2006 |
Premium Milk Supply Pty Ltd [7] | N/A | Chairman | 1998 | 2007 |
Queensland Dairyfarmers' Organisation [8] | QDO | President | 1977 | 2003 |
In 1984, in an effort to make the export of milk more competitive, the federal government undertook a Public Benefit test to examine the benefits of the current regulation levies in place across all Australian states. After most states failed to prove public benefit, the State Dairy Authorities concluded the results proved ending regulation would ultimately benefit the dairy industry. [9] Because the current legislation prevented the interstate sales of milk and other dairy based products, the government determined that deregulation would relieve significant pressure on the commercial sales of milk in Victoria, in which the largest production of dairyfarming, and manufacture of milk, occurred. [10]
In 1999, the federal government announced plans to implement the Dairy Structural Adjustment Program (DSAP), a scheme that would be introduced nationwide to deregulate the dairy industry. This involved the removal of state and federal legislation surrounding the manufacture, sourcing and pricing of milk as a commodity. Deregulation would ensure a far more competitive dairy industry while simultaneously benefiting consumers by lowering retail prices of milk. Prior to deregulation, the Domestic Market Support scheme, a federal initiative, ensured that dairy farmers across Australia received efficient financial compensation for their contributions to the commercial dairy industry. [11]
Recognising the inevitable and the chaos that would follow, the Australian Dairy Industry Council, chaired by Rowley, approached the government in partnership with Federal Minister for Primary Industry John Kerin, with a proposal that would better prepare farmers for the deregulation of the industry in a commercial climate. [12] The DSAP significantly lessened the blow of the inevitable industry restructure, and provided dairy farmers with a choice to remain in the industry or to leave with financial compensation. A levy of 11 cents per litre was also imposed upon commercial dairy based beverages. [13]
Despite a dramatic decrease in dairy farms across the nation, many farmers believe the effects of deregulation in the absence of Rowley's initiative would have been utterly devastating. The DSAP significantly lessened the blow of the inevitable industry restructure, and provided dairy farmers with a choice to remain in the industry or to leave with financial compensation. [13]
“We could have let commercial forces take prices down and hurt people very badly. What we did was go in front of government, put all those facts in front of them and say we think that on the first of July there ought to be some help. We put together the biggest re-structure scheme in the history of agriculture, $2.1 billion, to farmers on the basis this game is going to get hard in Western Australia, New South Wales and Queensland, you need to use this money to get yourself into the new market realities to try and be able to operate. We never ever said it was going to be easy, it was going to be tough. There was very little impact in a state like Victoria, but we had to have a national scheme,” Rowley said in an interview for ABC's Landline [14]
Year | Honour | Status | Description |
---|---|---|---|
1989 | Order of the Companion of St Michael at St George [15] | Awarded | In 1989, Rowley received The Most Distinguished Order of the Companion of St Michael and St George for his outstanding service to the Australian dairy industry. |
1989/1999 | Australian Export Hero Award [16] | Awarded | Awarded by the Export Council of Australia for contribution to "Australian Dairy Products" |
1996 | Rabobank Agribusiness Leader of the Year | Awarded | The Rabobank Agribusiness Leader of the Year was jointly awarded to Rowley and Woolworths CEO Roger Corbett. |
1997 | University of Queensland Honours Degree, Doctor of Philosophy [15] | Awarded | In 1996, the University of Queensland awarded Rowley with an honorary PhD (Honours Degree, Doctor of Philosophy). |
2000 | Centenary Medal | Awarded | The Australian Government awarded Rowley with a Centenary Medal in 2000. |
2017 | Australian Dairy Farmers Federation (ADDF) Life Membership [17] | Awarded | Over a decade after his retirement, Rowley was presented with a Life Membership from the Australian Dairy Farmers Federation (along with former ADFF CEO John McQueen) in recognition of his 40-year industry involvement. |
Although Australia is mostly arid, the nation is a major agricultural producer and exporter, with over 325,300 people employed in agriculture, forestry and fishing as of February 2015. Agriculture and its closely related sectors earn $155 billion a year for a 12% share of GDP. Farmers and grazers own 135,997 farms, covering 61% of Australia's landmass. Across the country, there is a mix of irrigation and dry-land farming. The success of Australia in becoming a major agricultural power despite the odds is facilitated by its policies of long-term visions and promotion of agricultural reforms that greatly increased the country's agricultural industry.
An agricultural cooperative, also known as a farmers' co-op, is a producer cooperative in which farmers pool their resources in certain areas of activities.
The Lockyer Valley is an area of rich farmlands that lies to the west of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia and east of Toowoomba. The Lockyer Valley is rated among the top ten most fertile farming areas in the world, and the intensively cultivated area grows the most diverse range of commercial fruit and vegetables of any area in Australia. The valley is referred to as "Australia's Salad Bowl" to describe the area as one of Australia's premium food bowls.
Camel milk is milk from female camels. It has supported nomad and pastoral cultures since the domestication of camels millennia ago. Herders may for periods survive solely on the milk when taking the camels on long distances to graze in desert and arid environments, especially in parts of the Middle East, North Africa and the Horn of Africa. The camel dairy farming industry has grown in Australia and the United States, as an environmentally friendly alternative to cow dairy farming using a species well-adapted to arid regions.
The Milk Marketing Board was a producer-run product marketing board, established by the Agricultural Marketing Act 1933, to control milk production and distribution in the United Kingdom. It functioned as buyer of last resort in the milk market in Britain, thereby guaranteeing a minimum price for milk producers. It also participated in the development of milk products, introducing Lymeswold cheese. It was based at Thames Ditton in Surrey.
The City of Moreton Bay, known until July 2023 as the Moreton Bay Region, is a local government area in the north of the Brisbane metropolitan city in South East Queensland, Australia. Established in 2008, it replaced three established local government areas, the City of Redcliffe and the Shires of Pine Rivers and Caboolture.
Mount Mee is a rural town and locality in the City of Moreton Bay, Queensland, Australia. In the 2021 census, Mount Mee had a population of 519 people.
West Lynn Creamery, Inc. v. Healy, 512 U.S. 186 (1994), was a United States Supreme Court case.
Nocton Dairies is a British company which was formed by Devon farmer and cheese-maker Peter Willes and Lancashire milk producer David Barnes in order to construct an 8,100-cow dairy at Nocton Heath in Lincolnshire, objectors to which claimed that it would have been the largest in Western Europe.
Dairy Australia is the Australian national body for the dairy industry, and a Research and development corporation (RDC). It is mainly funded by the Dairy Services Levy, a tax paid by farmers based on milk production. It also acts as a funding body through which the federal Department of Agriculture provides funding for rural research and development in Australia. Dairy Australia also attracts funding at project level from state governments, universities, research organisations and other dairy support organisations. It was previously known as the Dairy Research & Development Corporation.
Canada's supply management, abbreviated SM, is a national agricultural policy framework used across the country, which controls the supply of dairy, poultry and eggs through production and import controls and pricing mechanisms. The supply management system was authorized by the 1972 Farm Products Agencies Act, which established the two national agencies that oversee the system. The Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada federal department is responsible for both the Canadian Dairy Commission and its analogue for eggs, chicken and turkey products, the Farm Products Council of Canada. Five national supply management organizations, the SM-5 Organizations — Egg Farmers of Canada (EFC), Turkey Farmers of Canada (TFC), Chicken Farmers of Canada (CFC), the Canadian Hatching Egg Producers (CHEP) and the Ottawa-based Canadian Dairy Commission (CDC), a Crown corporation — in collaboration with provincial and national governing agencies, organizations and committees, administer the supply management system.
Rocksberg is a rural locality in the City of Moreton Bay, Queensland, Australia. In the 2021 census, Rocksberg had a population of 277 people.
The Downs Co-operative Dairy Association Limited Factory is a heritage-listed factory at 57 Brook Street, North Toowoomba, Toowoomba, Toowoomba Region, Queensland, Australia. It is also known as Dairy Farmers Factory. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 18 April 2008.
Colonsay Farm is a heritage-listed farm at 125 Doolong Road, Kawungan, Fraser Coast Region, Queensland, Australia. It was built in 1909. It is also known as Doolong Farm. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 11 March 2011.
The Bega Group is an Australian diversified food and drinks company with manufacturing sites in New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia and Victoria. Founded as an agricultural cooperative in the town of Bega, New South Wales by their dairy suppliers, it became a public company in 2011 when it listed on the Australian Securities Exchange. Close to half of shares publicly traded are still held by Bega's farmer-suppliers. It is currently one of the largest companies in the dairy sector in Australia, with a base milk supply in 2018 of approximately 750 million litres per annum.
First Milk is a dairy cooperative in Britain which manufactures cheese, specialist dairy ingredients and whey proteins for its customers, as well as providing traceable fresh milk to a range of dairy manufacturers and food processors. As a dairy co-operative, owned and run by farmers; the area covered by its milk pool runs from the Mull of Kintyre in Scotland down through England and Wales.
Nanango Butter Factory Building is a heritage-listed factory at George Street, Nanango, South Burnett Region, Queensland, Australia. It was built in 1927. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 3 June 2005.
The Boonah Butter Factory is a heritage-listed former butter factory in Boonah, Scenic Rim Region, Queensland, Australia. Constructed in 1916, it is a prominent landmark at the intersection of Boonah-Rathdowney Road and Railway Street on the northern entry to Boonah. During the first part of the twentieth century, it was one of the most modern butter factories in the Commonwealth, the largest butter factory in the Southern Hemisphere, had the second highest output of butter in Queensland and was a major supplier of dairy products to Brisbane. The former Boonah Butter Factory office, which is currently the premises of Flavours Cafe, is on the Local Heritage Register of the Scenic Rim Regional Council in acknowledgement of the site's historic, aesthetic and cultural significance.
Agriculture is a major component of the New York economy. As of the 2012 census of agriculture, there were over 35,000 farms covering an area of 7 million acres (28,000 km2) which contributed $5.4 billion in gross sales value and $1.2 billion in net farm income to the national economy. Dairy farming alone accounted for $2.5 billion or 45% of sales. The Finger Lakes region is the center of state agriculture, and the state is a top-ten national producer of cow milk, apples, grapes, onions, sweet corn, tomatoes, and maple syrup. New York places second in apples next to Washington.
Agriculture is a significant sector in Wisconsin's economy, producing nearly $104 billion in revenue annually. The significance of the state's agricultural production is exemplified by the depiction of a Holstein cow, an ear of corn, and a wheel of cheese on Wisconsin's state quarter design. In 2017 there were 64,800 farms in the state, operating across 14.3 million acres of land.