Dairy NSW welcomes new staff members

There are a number of new faces at Dairy NSW, with Jane Bower, Tania Ketteringham, Ben Norton-Smith and Carly Potts joining the team in late 2022.

Jane has joined the Dairy NSW team as Regional Extension Officer in the Hunter and Central West. She will also be assisting the Farmer Services Strategy team develop a greater understanding of farmer needs and making it easier for them to engage with Dairy Australia.

Jane joins the team following a 25-year career with a major bank specialising in agribusiness. Born and bred on a beef cattle property in north-west New South Wales, Jane now lives in the Hunter Valley on a property with her husband and two children.

With a passion for connecting with farmers and bringing them value, Jane looks forward to working in the Dairy NSW team.

Tania is excited to be part of the newly created Workforce Attraction and Retention Team with Dairy NSW. She brings almost 30 years of employment support and recruitment experience gained through operational roles with top performing Australian Government Employment Services.

Tania will leverage on her strong regional community networks and work closely with farmers and industry to facilitate recruitment, support retention and build capability of people in dairy. Through industry promotion, she aims to increase attraction to the industry and create a greater awareness of Australian dairy as an opportunity for a meaningful and rewarding career.

When not working, Tania loves spending time in the great outdoors with her husband and two children.

Ben has recently joined the Dairy NSW team to lead the Workforce Attraction and Retention Project. This project aims to develop the capabilities of farmers and staff to improve retention of the NSW dairy workforce while providing engagement opportunities for new entrants.

Ben has an extensive background in agribusiness consultancy in the United Kingdom. Since moving to Australia, he has worked in federal and state workforce policy.

Carly is the Project Manager for package three of the Storm and Flood Industry Recovery Program - 'Supporting Industry Development in Dairy'. There are six projects under this package, and her role is to support the project team through initiation, planning and scheduling to ensure project delivery. She is responsible for the project scope, budgets, governance and reporting.

Carly worked in the industry through the February and March 2021 floods as a Regional Extension Officer for the NSW mid-north coast region. In this role, she witnessed the flood impact first-hand, so this an exciting opportunity for Carly to ensure the investment of recovery funds have maximum impact.

Meet the rest of the Dairy NSW team.