MELBOURNE'S northern fringe is one of the last places that springs to mind when you think dairy farming, but that hasn't always been the case.
Standing down the paddock with Merv and Mary Williamson and you could be in any Victorian dairy region.
A glance in one direction is the beautiful landscape of Mount Disappointment and the Yarra Glenn Mountains.
Look the other way and you see roofs of some of the 500 homes in the Eden Park housing estate. This is a swift reminder that you are just on the outskirts of Melbourne.
The Williamsons are the last dairy farmers in Whittlesea, a town less than 50km north of the Victorian capital and, thanks to recent development, is on the fringe of suburbia.
Long before town houses littered the landscape, Merv and Mary were milking and showing cows at Whittlesea.
After 53 years, nothing has changed for them.
"We realise where we are, we like the views from the office," Merv said. "While we are milking the cows, we can see the mountains."
Their herd of up to 70 registered Holsteins supplies Italian cheese company Floridia Cheese in Thomastown.
"At times we (were concerned) we wouldn't find a factory, we are in an isolated area," Merv said.
For a least the past five years, the Williamsons Em-Jays Holstein herd has been the last in the region.
The farm has been in Mary's family for 102 years.
She met Merv, originally from Tatura, when he was share-farming next door.
Back then, there were about 100 dairy farms stretching from Epping, down to La Trobe University at Bundoora, according to Merv.
Now urban sprawl is at the doorstep, but developers aren't knocking - just yet.
The couple own 121ha and until 2030 their farm is considered part of a "green wedge", which means it cannot be subdivided into lots less than 40ha.
"We have no idea what the children will do with it," Merv said.
"It is still worth a lot of money because it is close to Melbourne, it is not farm value - nobody would buy this farm to milk cows."
Meanwhile, the couple is happy to continue milking - they can't see themselves doing anything else - and working at the Whittlesea show.
For Mary, her involvement in the show spans five generations, and Merv has been working at the animal nursery for 20 years.
The annual show in November attracts up to 60,000 people, with 20,000 going through the nursery.
Years ago, the Williamsons would show cattle, but now their Holsteins are responsible for the milking demonstration - helped enthusiastically by grandson Hayden Williamson.
Dairy farming has been the cornerstone of the Williamson family.
Son Murray and daughter-in-law Julie milk at Waaia in northern Victoria, while their granddaughter Erin Hendy works on dairy farms in the Goulburn Valley and is involved on the show circuit.
