A BIG FAMILY
CHEELONGA FARMING is a family owned dairy entreprise that aims to continually supply and produce a quality product. We also love sharing our work and experiences with others!
ONCE UPON A TIME
Our home farm was established as a dairy in the early 1930’s. A portion of the original dairy shed is still in use. William Bruce Henry Morrow Graham (grandfather) purchased the farm in 1940, and thus began the Graham families’ dairying history at Minbun on the Atherton Tablelands, Far North Queensland.
100 COWS MILKED BY HAND
Bruce, his wife Edna and 3 young sons milked 100 cows by hand; they then had to separate the milk into cream and whey. The cans filled with cream were loaded onto a horse and cart then delivered to the Minbun rail motor 4 klm away, and then it was off to Malanda where it was made into butter or bottled as cream. We still have two of the original cream cans, with their brass farm identity plaque!
NEW FARM IN MAREEBA
Towards the end of WW2 there was a shortage of men to work on the farms, so Grandfather leased out the dairy at Minbun, and purchased a smaller farm in Mareeba, where he set up a dairy to supply the town folk with fresh milk.
BACK TO MINBUN
By 1950 Bruce returned to his farm at Minbun, and began supplying Malanda Milk Factory with fresh milk. The cattle numbers were way down and the property needed some tender loving care.
RAISING A FAMILY
Barry Graham, Bruce’s eldest son and Ray’s father, returned to the farm in the 1960’s he worked and raised his family along side Grandfather on the dairy farm.
NEXT GENERATION
Having milked and driven tractors, since he was a young boy Ray knew that this farm was in his blood so in 1980 Ray and Donna bought the farm allowing Grandfather and Barry to retire. We were only milking 45 cows in 1980 and have since grown the enterprise to milking more than 750 cows
CHEELONGA FARMING
Today we have the 5th generation on our “Cheelonga Farming” property, and we continue working with our son Jason, his wife Kelly, and their 5 children; to keep the passion for dairying in the Tropics alive.
