Ross Walker - October // 2026 Mental Health Calendar
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Ross Walker: The Last Dairy Farmer in Cann River
Ross Walker is the last dairy farmer left in far-east Gippsland.
On the very block his grandfather selected more than a hundred years ago, Ross and his son Ross Jnr now milk 350–370 cows. Once there were twenty-five thriving dairies along the Cann River; today there is only one. Freight killed the rest – when Murray Goulburn added a 4-cent freight component while farmers were paid just 16 cents a litre, milking cows in remote country simply stopped making sense.
A Life on the Land
Six hours east of Melbourne, Cann River taught Ross self-reliance the hard way. He and his wife Laura cleared land, bought silage gear, milked twice a day and raised a family. When his father died young, Ross was 23 and had just finished high school. He came straight home and never left – even though his dad had wanted him to choose another path.
At 75, Ross is facing a rare and aggressive Merkel-cell cancer that has spread to his brain. It’s terminal. He’s having radiation and meeting it with the same matter-of-fact grit he’s brought to everything else.
“I’ve lived life on my terms. Most blokes my age don’t realise they’re on borrowed time. I know exactly where I stand.”
He never wanted sympathy – only acceptance. Work keeps his mind busy. The only thing that truly upsets him is knowing his beloved Laura will one day be alone.
These days his son (an electrical engineer who used to travel the world for mining and oil companies) is a full partner on the farm, but Ross is still out there every day doing what 75-year-old bodies don’t always want to do.
One Good Sunrise
His small joy? Walking into the dairy at dawn and watching the sunrise spill over the hills.
Ross’s message to every Gippsland farmer turning these pages:
“Keep going. Do it your way, believe in what you’re doing, and never give up. Farming’s not just a job – it’s who we are. You wouldn’t do it if it wasn’t.”
Ross Walker – third-generation, the last man milking in Cann River, living proof that pioneer stubbornness and one good sunrise are still enough to get you out of bed.