Established by royal charter in 1825 with a 143,500 hectares grant from King George VI, it  was originally a sheep farm.

Now  it is Australia’s biggest milk supplier.

Thirteen of  the Van Diemen’s Land Company’s 25 farms are on its Woolnorth property nestled amongst tremendous historic buildings, howling winds and the picturesque Cape Grim.

There are also five farms at Togari and seven  in the wider Circular Head area.

Each farm is intricately managed as a separate enterprise  for a company 98.4 per cent owned by Tasman Farms, New Zealand’s New Plymouth Council’s investment management company.

After a $9 million loss last financial year, Van Diemen’s Land Company managing director Trevor Westacott said record production and heightened livestock valuations helped its parent company post a $7.2 million after-tax profit in October.

Mr Westacott, one of six company directors, has been managing the company for 11 months and carries 30 years’ dairy industry experience.

‘‘The evolution of time, a good season, good milk price and good people – they all come together to produce a profit,’’ he said.

‘‘The cows are improving, pastures are improving and the people are honing in their systems.’’

Last financial year    the Van Diemen’s Land Company produced 7.1 million kilograms of milk solids and 90 million litres of milk from its 18,000 cows – raising 10,000 heifers in the meantime.

Mr Westacott said milk production increased by 7.5 per cent in 2013-14 and was predicted to rise another 6 per cent this financial year.

All of the company’s produce is transported to Fonterra Australia at  Wynyard.

Mr Westacott said a predicted milk price drop would  test the industry.

However,   the  Van Diemen’s Land Company has fixed its milk price for 70 per cent of its production for 2015, at levels less than 10 per cent under last year’s record price.

‘‘A short-term blip will test the resilience of a few,’’ Mr Westacott said.

‘‘I believe the dairy industry has got a great future in the long term, particularly in the Circular Head area.

‘‘The climate’s right, it doesn’t get too hot during summer, and if it has a downfall, it is when we get an extremely wet winter.

‘‘There is an increasing demand from Asian countries ... as countries develop, they get a hunger  for  protein-type products.’’

The company owns 19,176 hectares with 1806 hectares subject to Commonwealth land clearance approvals.

Mr Westacott said a change in the market would not halt plans to grow its farms by a further 10 at Woolnorth.

The company has been trying to attract investors for a $180 million expansion since 2012, with the government-owned China Investment Corporation thought to be interested.

‘‘Every time we do a new development, it’s normally 350 hectares and about 1000 cows, so 10 would put another 10,000 cows in there,’’ he said.

‘‘Power has been put down Harcus River Road, so it has given us the opportunity to develop some dairy farms on what we currently call the  Heifer Block, which is in the southern part of the block near Mount Cameron.

‘‘We have got farms that range from 400 cows through to 1800 cows, and broadly on the farm  we have got a manager and a number of staff that operate that farm.

‘‘There is an individual farm manager who is responsible for providing input to their budget, and the budget is the road map that they follow throughout the year.

‘‘In the Smithton office, we have some farm operation managers and they assist and provide advice in developing the budgets, technical information or support in whatever way it’s needed.’’

Mr Westacott said the dairy industry in general needed capital to drive investment and to encourage new people into the game.

‘‘There are some farmers in the region that would like to hang up the boots and it is very difficult for a young person to come along and be able to afford the millions of dollars that a farm is worth now. 

‘‘We need to be very creative about how we give opportunities to the young and how we refresh this industry. We are seeing a lot of young people keen to get into the dairy industry, and it is incumbent on us to offer them a career path.’’

Mr Westacott said that Van Diemen’s Land Company did not use the most advanced technologies on the market but was looking at investing in holistic information management system.

 Reliable internet connectivity was a problem within the region.

‘‘There are three things that we work hard on: one is our work health and safety and our people, the second   is our animal welfare, and our third   is our responsibility to the environment,’’ he said.

‘‘We need reliable connectivity before we can progress with a management information system that is going to give us real live data.’’