Farmer engagement to set eastAUSmilk priorities

This year the dairy exhibitors put in a tremendous effort to prepare the cattle and attend the show. They battled with both the wet weather conditions and the staff shortage issues stemming from Covid-19 at home on their farms. It was an amazing to see them band together and put on an exception dairy display and particularly special this year as Sydney Royal Agricultural Show celebrated 200 years of the show.

Watching the dairy judging and walking through the shed the quality in the animals presented was exceptional. The judges gave praise to the exhibitors and all breeds were complimented on their various traits when the Supreme Champion was named. The ultimate award went to the Jersey breed.

EastAUSmilk Project Officer, Torie Harrison, and I attended the show which for many was their first introduction to eastAUSmilk. The engagement with farmers was very positive, we were able to make important inroads into the understanding and awareness of the what the organisation does and how this is vital to the long-term future of the dairy farmer and their industry.

It was a great opportunity to meet the farmers we are representing, to gather feedback on the organisations current work and hear from the grassroots what priorities eastAUSmilk should focus on for the year ahead.

It was a pleasure to be hosted by Max Wake and family of Benleigh Brown Swiss. Max is the longest serving dairy shed captain at the Sydney Royal Agricultural Show. Over lunch with Max in the Cafeteria he shared some of the history of the show. Max has attended the show every year since 1966. Although Max was only able to attend the show for 1 day in 1973 as he had just returned from his honeymoon.

Before heading home, we travelled to the South Coast with Ruth Kydd, the board representative for the region, engaging with more farmers in the region.

The continuous wet weather has put a huge strain on the dairying business and people in them. Loss of production and compromised animal health with lameness and milk quality issues is common. Most farms are also 6 to 8 weeks behind in planting Winter pasture and crops with a significantly smaller area being planted as it is just too wet to access some parts.

We hosted a dinner in both Shoalhaven and Jamberoo which were well attended. It was an important event for us to consult with more grassroots farmers but more important particularly at this time for farmers to come together to ensure the social and mental resilience of the industry.

Special thanks to Tim Cochrane for organising our visit to the South Coast. EastAUSmilk will be engaging with farmers in all areas of NSW in the coming weeks.

Lynelle Rogers – eastAUSmilk Executive Officer