End of farming era

The family and its estate Corridgeree, which spans 360 acres at Tarraganda and is the site of the original Bega settlement, have been part of the local dairy industry for over a century.

The Ubrihien family has supplied milk to Bega Cheese since the birth of the company in 1899, but brothers Peter and Ray have decided to call it a day.

They have sold their 170-head of cattle and leased Corridgeree to their neighbours, the Apps family.

The brothers said it was the right time to let the business go.

“I’m 67 and Ray’s 65 and we both decided we’ve had enough,” Peter said.

“It’s a family estate so, in keeping with our grandfather’s will, it can’t actually be sold until the last life tenant dies.

“But I’m very happy the neighbours have taken it on because I know it’s going into good hands.”

The Ubrihiens said it had been a hard life at Corridgeree but they were proud of the land and it had been good to them.

“We’ve had a great life farming here,” Peter said.

“I am proud because the history of this farm really tells the story of the Bega Valley; it’s the guts of the district.

“Up on that hill there is the original Bega Cemetery where 17 people who drowned in the big flood of 1851 are buried.

“And apparently it would have been a lot more if it wasn’t for the Aboriginal people in their hollow canoes who managed to save a lot of people.”

The Ubrihien family emigrated from Germany in the 1850s after Peter and Ray’s great-grandfather was offered a viniculture contract in Kameruka.

Soon, however, gold fever struck and he went off to the goldfields to seek his fortune.

When the gold dried up, the family went into dairy farming and has been doing it ever since.

The Ubrihien’s grandfather, also named Peter, came to Corridgeree in 1921.

He saw the fertile promise of the land and paid what many thought was the outrageous price of £40 per acre for it.

Corridgeree paid for itself within 15 years.

Peter and Ray’s father Claude took over management of the farm, steering it from the hard times of the depression era through to the prosperous years of the 1950s and 1960s.

Some will remember Claude’s milk delivery through town, filling up the pails that customers left on their doorsteps from the drum on the back of his truck.

Claude encouraged his sons to enter a trade, with Peter becoming a pipe-fitter in the petrol industry and Ray working as an electrical mechanic.

But Corridgeree called them back.

They have managed the property together for 30 years and seen plenty of changes both in Bega and in dairy farming.

“The family motto in the old days was you only ate what you could grow,” Peter said.

“We killed our own meat, had our own crops and orchards, everything really, and the only things we bought were bread and butter.

“Bega is really different now, we’ve got everything but a corner store.

“We’ve also got modern milking machines, rotary bales, and genetics which increase the butter-fats and protein content of milk.”

These advancements had made life easier, Ray said, but not necessarily better.

Both brothers have encouraged their own children to seek a future outside of dairy farming.

“To do it properly you still have to work your guts out,” Ray said.

“The hours are long, the early mornings are tough and there’s no golden handshake at the end like in some businesses.

“But I wouldn’t trade it for anything because we did it for the love of farming and you can’t put a price on lifestyle.”

“We are also thankful to have worked for a good productive dairy company (Bega Cheese) with a lot of foresight,” Peter said.

Bega Cheese chairman Barry Irvin said the change of management on the farm would not alter the long term association and friendship between the family and the company’s staff.

“The Ubrihiens have been very much a part of the fabric of Bega Cheese for generations,” Mr Irvin said.

“The family have always been wonderful supporters and have had the success of Bega Cheese and the region in their hearts.

“I am sure Peter and Ray are looking forward to retirement and will only miss those cold mornings a little bit.”

The brothers now plan to travel and pursue their hobbies, which include showing and judging poultry.

And what will they miss most about the farm?

“The cattle,” Ray said.

“I was an automotive mechanic for 20 years and often dealing with cattle is a lot easier than dealing with people.”