Dicky Bill salad farms enter administration with 180 job cuts before Christmas
Baby-leaf salad greens being harvested at sunrise at a Dicky Bill farm. (Supplied: Dicky Bill)
In short:
Family-run salad-farm business Dicky Bill, which supplies major supermarkets, has gone into voluntary administration.
It operates two farms at Maffra, Victoria and Drinan, Queensland, employing more than 180 workers.
What's next?
The owners, the McLeod family, say it is a devastating time for them and their employees.
An immediate shutdown of major Victorian and Queensland baby-leaf salad supplier Dicky Bill has put more than 180 people out of work just weeks before Christmas.
Dicky Bill operates two farms at Maffra, Victoria and Drinan, west of Bundaberg in Queensland, growing leafy salad vegetables and herbs year-round.
But late last Thursday, owner Ryan McLeod put the company into voluntary administration, owing hundreds of thousands of dollars to creditors.
Dicky Bill summer crops are grown at Maffra, Victoria. (Supplied: Dicky Bill)
Long history
The family-owned business was originally founded by Richard William (Dicky Bill) and Kaye Barnard in 1996.
Their son Ryan McLeod and wife Tahirih took on the business after Ryan's father died, supplying triple-washed and packed fresh salads to domestic and international markets.
At peak production, the business would wash and pack 40 tonnes of loose-leaf salads each week.
Dicky Bill supplies these salad kits, sold in major supermarkets. (Supplied: Dicky Bill)
In a statement, Mr McLeod said the situation was devastating for his family and employees.
"This is our family business. For months, we worked side by side with professional advisers to put forward a plan that everyone could live with," he said.
"We had the full support of our secured creditor. We genuinely believed we were close to a solution that protected our people and our community," he said.
"What has happened here will have a lasting impact on our family and on 182 employees who have done absolutely nothing wrong."
Dicky Bill's winter crop, including corn, is grown at its Drinan farm in Queensland. (Supplied: Dicky Bill)
Challenging times
He said the owner of the two farm properties, Warakirri Asset Management, was owed approximately $330,000 in rent arrears and negotiations to resolve that position had been "ongoing in good faith".
But on Wednesday afternoon, Mr McLeod said Warakirri issued termination notices for both the Maffra and Drinan leases and sent security guards to both farms at dawn on Thursday to lock the gates.
Mr McLeod said $2 million worth of crop was in the ground.
Warakirri Asset Management has been contacted for comment.
AUSVEG horticulture group chair Bill Bulmer said the news was hard to hear.
Dicky Bill's Maffra farm was damaged by floods in October 2023. (Supplied: Dicky Bill)
"No one likes to hear that anyone has gone into voluntary administration or had to wind up their business due to a number of circumstances," Mr Bulmer said.
He said the horticulture industry had faced multiple headwinds since the COVID pandemic, including a tight economy and surging input costs.
"Everything from running your trucks up and down the road, all these things have a flow-on impact, and growers have to absorb the cost,"Mr Bulmer said.
The Dicky Bill business supplies these fresh, packaged herbs to major supermarkets. (Supplied: Dicky Bill)