Administrators for failed Australian salad farm company Dicky Bill have revealed its business debts to hundreds of staff and suppliers could exceed $10 million. 

Dicky Bill went into voluntary administration late last month, leaving 180 workers scrambling to find new jobs in the lead up to Christmas.

Dicky Bill operated two farms at Maffra, Victoria and Drinan, west of Bundaberg in Queensland, growing leafy salad vegetables and herbs year-round

The report by Cor Cordis shows suppliers are owed $6.5 million, while another $1 million is owed to 165 staff, but those figures could grow.

Farmers work to pick their spinach crop at Dicky Bill Farm in Gippsland.

Farmers picking spinach at the Dicky Bill Maffra farm.  (ABC News: Isabella Pittaway)

Debts could exceed $10 million

Restructuring firm Cor Cordis was appointed the administrator for Dicky Bill on December 1. 

Speaking to the ABC Victorian Country Hour, administrator Sam Kaso said the debts were “quite substantial”, and could exceed $10 million. 

“Trade creditors are owed circa $6.5 million, and we’re still working through the claims,” he said. 

“It’s quite a substantial amount, and likely as we go through the process, those amounts tend to increase as we have the chance to reconcile the position.” 

Mr Kaso said the first administrators’ meeting was held yesterday.

Warakirri Asset Management is the owner of the two properties leased to Dicky Bill Australia, at Maffra, Victoria and Drinan, Queensland.

It has confirmed new tenants for the two farms, and aims to bring them back into full production from January 1 2026.

Dicky Bill sign with photo of the family that runs the business

Dicky Bill summer crops are grown at Maffra, Victoria. (Supplied: Dicky Bill)

Family business gone 

The collapse of the family business has been devastating for its owners, Gippsland-based Ryan McLeod and his wife Tahirih.

They took on the farms after the death of Ryan’s father, Richard William (Dicky Bill), who founded the company in 1996, supplying triple-washed and packed fresh salads to domestic and international markets.

packets of crunchy asian lettuce on a supermarket

Dicky Bill supplies salad kits, sold in major supermarkets. (Supplied: Dicky Bill)

“Our immediate priority is to explore all viable options that maximise outcomes for stakeholders,” Mr Kaso said. 

It’s understood a substantial amount is owed to secured creditors and finance companies. 

A lasting impact

In a statement made when the company entered voluntary administration, Dicky Bill Mr McLeod said the family worked for months with professional advisors to put forward a plan, with “the full support of our secured creditor”. 

“The debt to Warakirri was modest, yet they have taken crops worth many times that amount,” he said. 

“What has happened here will have a lasting impact on our family and on 182 employees who have done absolutely nothing wrong.”

In a statement, Warakirri Asset Management said, while restructure options with Dicky Bill were being considered, other creditors of Dicky Bill commenced legal proceedings. 

The statement said that Dicky Bill then advised Warakirri that the business would be put into administration.Â