Celebrating the simple greatness of milk

Not only does Evan love producing and promoting milk, he loves drinking it. The third-generation farmer from Corryong joined sports commentator, former AFL player and big milk drinker Dwayne Russell on a recent DairyPod episode to celebrate World Milk Day.

World Milk Day was established in 2001 by the United Nations to spotlight the importance of milk, not just for health and nutrition, but for communities, economies and sustainability.

This year's global theme shines a light on the power of dairy, while Australia celebrated the simple greatness of milk – those everyday moments that milk makes better and the hardworking Aussie farmers like Evan whose dedication makes it possible.

“We live milk every day, not only with the product that we produce and drink, but in the life of a dairy farmer and all that goes with that,” Evan says.

"Milk is our thing – it's what we do. It's what my father and my grandfather did, and we just love dairy farming and producing milk.” While the world changes, Evan says there’s one constant – dairy milk.

“Milk has stayed the same and it's still a beautiful product,” he says. 

“We're happy to be a part of it and to keep promoting milk, because it's not only what we do, we know it's so good for everyone.”

While he’s a proud dairy farmer, Evan is also a proud AFL fan and contributor to his local football club. He and his brother Thomas played over 500 games combined for Corryong.  

“We used to have our canteen lady, Jan, keep a 600mL of iced coffee for me, and Thomas would have an iced chocolate – and that was the first thing we drank straight after the game,” Evan says.

The trend to consume milk caught on.

“By the end, we had a few players lined up for the milk, so Jan used to make sure that no one stole those last couple of milks. They were sacred in the fridge.”

Evan likens milk to a super food.

“It's one of the only foods that we can actually live off,” he says.

“If we had nothing else, we could sustain ourselves for a long period of time just off milk. We take it for granted, but it gives you protein and all the amino acids that you require.

Sport plays a central role in bringing dairy communities together.  

“Dairy farming is a day-to-day job, so it breaks up your week. Having football-netball clubs in our communities is a great social thing,” Evan says.  

The presence of local clubs goes well beyond the game itself. 

“In a lot of our towns they are the heart of the communities. Everyone's equal and everyone gets an opportunity to be involved; it's a family away from your family,” says Evan.  

Evan enjoys seeing the fruits of his labour in action, such as tradespeople drinking iced coffee – and he hopes more people get to understand the passion of farmers.  

“I don't think the general public understands how much dairy farmers love their cows,” he says.  

“It's a love and a passion, so we appreciate that we can share World Milk Day with everyone.” 

Listen to the full podcast now: Milk, mates & match day: A World Milk Day Special on Omny