About Us

It was 2008, in the middle of a drought, which meant, as John notes, “there was nothing to pump!” – but it all worked out and 12 years later the business is going strong.  These days two of the original four buyers have left the business and John runs the operation with his brother Brendan. Daish Irrigation and Fodder has branches at Murray Bridge and Strathalbyn, so the brothers each head up one location, working together on issues that affect both sites. John says he jumped at the chance to buy the business because he simply loves what he does. “Every day when I got out of bed I wanted to go to work,” “I’ve always enjoyed it because every customer is different, every company is different. I love the people you meet, the things you learn.” Making work a great place to be has been part of the recipe for success for John and Brendan. “We want our team to be happy to come to work. You can’t perform in a job if you don’t like doing it.” The brothers are well-known in the region as numbers seven and eight in a family of nine siblings. They are big supporters of the local community – in fact, John says it’s easier to ask what they don’t sponsor than what they do! “We’re right into sporting clubs to keep them going and keep young people out there trying. Golf, basketball, soccer, football, netball, all of it. We also get behind lots of community events through council and the local Christmas festival. Our family has been here a long time and it’s important to us.” Another way the brothers give back is by employing locals, with 25 staff across the two locations. There is about an 80% crossover in the type of projects each store supports, but Strathalbyn is near SA’s famed wine regions so Brendan works with vine growers and market gardeners, while John has more large irrigators because his site is right on the Murray. Overall, the customer base is extremely diverse, which means staff need a really broad knowledge base. “One call will be a little old lady with 10 drippers and the next will be a commercial irrigator talking about 10km of mainline,” John says.