For more than 160 years, the Dodd family has farmed at Meningie on the shores of Lake Albert. Across six generations, their property, Lallawa, has evolved from a pastoral enterprise into a modern dairy operation, witnessing some of the most significant food safety advances in Australian dairy history.
Three generations now oversee operations at Lallawa: Michael and Helen Dodd, their son Sam, and grandson Alex.
History
Lallawa was purchased directly from the Crown in 1866 by Michael Dodd’s great-grandfather. Over successive generations, the farm supplied horses for the British Army as well as breeding sheep for wool, beef cattle for meat and eventually dairy cows.
Michael left school aged 17 in 1951 and began dairying with just a handful of cows and a borrowed single-unit milking machine set up in an old stone stable. The early days were labour-intensive and basic from a food safety perspective.
“We milked one cow at a time and we hand-stripped the cows. We’d wash the cows’ udders with a bucket of water and a cloth to stimulate milk flow,” Michael said.
Cream was stored unrefrigerated in cans, and collections occurred just three times a week. In summer, milk taken from cows on a Friday didn’t reach the butter factory in Tailem Bend until Monday.
“There was no refrigeration, no electricity, and no real cooling,” Michael recalls. “Compared to today’s food safety systems, it was primitive.”
Michael soon moved into an old dairy on the property, a walk-through dairy with four milking units. “We’d have eight cows lined up and you’d swing the units from one side to the other,” he said. “You’d spend the whole day bobbing up and down, which wasn’t great for your back.”
A new dairy was built in 1964 which Michael says was a step up – literally. “The cows were on a higher level, and we humans were about a foot below. That brought the cows up to a workable level, so we weren’t having to bend down all the time,” Michael said.
The Dodds transitioned from cream to liquid milk in the late 1950s when a milk factory was built in Meningie.
Food safety breakthroughs
The arrival of electricity in the mid-1960s marked a turning point in dairy food safety.
Before electricity, at Lallawa, milk cooling relied on pumping lake water through the inner pipes of a milk cooler and flowing the milk over the top of the cooler externally to cool it down. “In winter, that was manageable, but in summer, lake water could be as warm as the milk,” Michael said.
“Electricity changed everything. Suddenly, we could run electricity to power the dairy and, most importantly, properly cool milk.”
With electricity came bulk milk tanks, more reliable cooling, and eventually plate coolers that rapidly reduce milk temperature.
Milk quality testing has also undergone a dramatic transformation. In the early years, the only test available was the methylene blue test, which offered a rough indication of bacterial activity.
The introduction of bulk milk testing, somatic cell counts and individual cow monitoring fundamentally changed herd management. These tools allowed the Dodds to identify problems early, remove affected cows, and prevent issues from spreading.
Today, the herd consistently records extremely low somatic cell counts, around 50,000, placing it among the best performers.
“That wouldn’t be possible without modern testing and feedback from our factory, Saputo, who we have an excellent relationship with,” Sam said.
Antibiotics were another game-changer. In the early days of dairy farming, mastitis was common and difficult to manage. Antibiotics provided a way to treat infections effectively and prevent contaminated milk from entering the supply chain.
Over time, however, the Dodds shifted to a proactive approach. Through rigorous hygiene, selective breeding, calm stock handling and targeted dry-cow antibiotic therapy, antibiotic use has reduced dramatically.
“We haven’t treated a cow for mastitis with antibiotics in around 20 years,” Sam said. “That’s not because mastitis doesn’t exist, it’s because we detect issues early and remove cows before it becomes a herd problem.”
The dairy
The dairy system at Lallawa has transformed through various forms to the current 44-unit rotary dairy, built in 1987.
“At the time, we looked around at different dairy systems, but herringbones didn’t particularly appeal, nor did steel platforms. Then we spoke to a dairy farm advisor who suggested we look at building a ‘concrete donut’ with milking machines around the ring. This was a brand new concept in rotary dairies,” Sam said.
“There were none in South Australia at that time, so it was like stepping off a cliff in a way. But it was a very good decision as it’s still a contemporary dairy, almost 40 years later.”
Sam said the rotary style of dairy supports cow health as it’s a consistent, slow-moving environment, which reduces stress and promotes better milk let-down compared to faster, noisier systems. The dairy is equipped with automatic cup sanitisers and teat spraying, reducing the risk of bacterial spread between cows.
“The system itself supports food safety,” Sam said. “The cows aren’t rushed, teats stay healthy, and hygiene is built into the process.”
Technology has continued to evolve, from modern refrigeration and power systems to improved water management and traceability. Temperature records, collection dockets and daily checks are carefully maintained, a task overseen by Helen.
“I keep every ticket,” Helen says. “Temperatures, volumes, dates, and everything is checked and cross-checked. If something doesn’t add up, we follow it up with Saputo straight away.”
That attention to detail recently identified a missing milk payment, which was quickly resolved because Lallawa’s records were complete and accurate.
Water security
Food safety is also closely linked to water security. During the Millennium Drought, falling lake levels forced many dairies on Lake Albert to close.
The Dodds survived through diversification, reduced herd numbers and long-term planning, including dryland pasture development years earlier.
“There’s also been a huge evolution of mechanisation in irrigation. Now we can efficiently irrigate about 500 acres to support pasture production for 350 to 400 cows without employing outside labour,” Sam said.
Looking ahead
Today, the dairy continues to operate with the same rotary system, upgraded and maintained to modern standards. Alex, the sixth generation, is learning the trade while balancing life beyond the farm. The Dodds also run beef cattle on a nearby property.
“We have a 40-year-old dairy, so we either make vast investments back into dairy, or we focus our future on beef cattle,” he said.
“Livestock is mum’s and my passion, whereas dad’s is that deep connection to the land and farming, and Alex’s strength is his ability with machinery and modern technology. We naturally complement each other in our individual strengths and weaknesses.”
Across six generations, the Dodds’ approach shows that while technology changes, the principles of good dairy food safety – hygiene, monitoring, calm animals and record keeping – remain constant.
