Dalby ag business celebrates 50 years
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HALF-a-century in business is no mean feat and definitely worth a bit of a party to celebrate.
That was the thinking of Agrifoods Dalby owners Rob and Megan Anderson, who were thrilled to welcome guests to the business for a special celebration of its history and the future.
The Anderson family bought the business in 2009, but had the pleasure of re-living its rich history for guests at the event.
Sadly, the vagaries of the farming industry prevented former owners Murray and Jenny Wilkins from coming along because they were stuck harvesting.
Mr Anderson said the business was originally established by New Zealand-based company Wright Stevenson, which had already established a number of outlets to the south.
He said much of the early history was filled in by well-known local producer Nev Wirth.
“Nev met the manager of the business Ian Scott Toms after the cattle sale one day soon after the business opened in February 1967,” Mr Anderson said.
“Nev was frustrated with the $40 per tonne he had been receiving for his Japanese millet as birdseed and Ian Scott Toms suggested that he may be able to try to move the Japanese Millet into a planting seed market and generate a greater return.
“Nev’s product tested well for seed and he was offered $70/mt.
“Nev signed a contract for 100MT and promptly delivered the first ever product into the site in around April 1967.
“Grain markets at this time were largely regulated, with both wheat and barley under board control.
“This created challenges for growers and for a business like Wright Stevenson, so together they searched for opportunities to grow different crops that could be marketed outside the regulated system.
“Other crops introduced at the time included, oats, lentils, lab lab and cowpeas and a number of crops of mung beans were also grown.”
Bernie Hartmann bought up the business in 1984 and re-named it B&L Seedgraders.
Under his stewardship the mung bean and chickpea arms of the business began to grow.
Just over a decade later in 1995, Murray and Jenny Wilkins threw their hats in the ring and bought the business.
They continued to expand and installed more silos and improved grading equipment to better manage the mung beans and chickpeas that were fast becoming part of the annual crop rotation for many farmers across the region.
It was around this time that Ronny McKay was commissioned to custom build a prototype packer to help with the fast-growing bulk packing side of the business, a piece of machinery still used today.
The next change of ownership came in 2009, when the Andersons took over.
In 2014 they re-named it to Agrifoods Australia to better reflect the business’s focus on delivering value-added agrifood products
Mr Anderson had the jokes all ready for Mr Wirth, who was unable to attend in the end due to a family matter.
“We are very grateful that the Wirth family have continued to be a valued supplier to this business over the entire 50 years of operation,” Mr Anderson said.
“Nev hasn’t changed much – it’s just that birdseed Jap millet is worth about $400 a tonne and Nev is still asking for $700.”
He gifted Mr Wirth an artwork to thank him for half a century of support.
He also took the opportunity to thank long-serving staff members and customers who continued to provide support.
The night was also the perfect opportunity to support a few charities, with funds raised going to Movember and the GI Cancer Institute.