A hotly contested issue of late has been the emotionally charged issue of the ‘Milk Wars’ within the supermarket shopping isles. For those of you not in the know, lately, the price of Coles and Woolworths brand milk has dropped to just $1 a litre. For many this low price of such an everyday, family staple is brilliant. For others it is an absolute atrocity, as these new savings are coming at the expense of local Australian dairy farmers, whose earnings are taking the hit to accommodate such low prices.

As awareness of the farmers plight has grown, so has the number of consumers putting the hands in their pocket to show their support for local dairy farmers by choosing to buy the more expensive, privately run and operated milk brands that delivers better margins for farmers. Personally, I’ve always preferred to buy Maleny brand milk when I can, not just because they’re family owned and operated, and not to mention relatively local, but due to preference of taste. It’s an authentic taste, it tastes like real milk, with real cream, although a low fat option is also available, and that is synonymous to my Sunshine Coast lifestyle and its value to me as a resident. Things are simpler here, simpler and real. If only there was more that could be done to support them. Funny I should mention that…

The Maleny Dairies is offering a tour for families and visitors curious enough to want to take a closer look at their farms, cows, paddocks and indeed their bottling process. From teet to bottle, the tour covers the whole process. You can discover it all for yourself, or if you prefer, cuddle up to some of the dopey-eyed, gentle beasts yourself and give them a feed – or get up close and personal and watch the tour cow being milked. After the tour there’s a tasting where you can see why they have won so many awards for their product, and why I personally prefer Maleny Dairies milk.

The stand-out for me at the dairy farm tour has to be the coffee on offer at the on site Kiosk. There’s nothing better than a well-brewed cuppa made with fresh, full cream milk overlooking the beautiful paddocks of grazing cows as the sun begins to roll over the hills.

The warm colours of the setting sun clashing with and bouncing off of the dark and varied greens of the grasses, dusted with dew – it’s surely a spectacular view I never tire of.

For more information on the Maleny Dairy, the tours or even to just to get a glimpse of what the cows themselves are up to via the website’s ‘Cow Cam’, visit the Maleny Dairies website. Tours are $11pp and are offered twice daily at 10:30am and then again at 2:30pm. Outside of tours the site is open Monday to Saturday, 8:30am to 4:30pm for visitors.