Don Campbell Memorial Tour 2021

by Katherine Byrne, Regional Extension Officer, GippsDairy

In March this year, eleven participants from Gippsland and South Australia headed off to Tasmania to participate in the Don Campbell Memorial study tour. Due to the COVID-19 lockdown last year, the Don Campbell Memorial Tour was unable to take place, however last year’s successful applicants were given the opportunity to participate this year along with some new faces.

The five-day study tour of the northern Tasmanian dairy industry took place from 15-19 March. Participants had the opportunity to explore different farming systems across six dairy businesses. The chosen farms were all very different from one another, but all shared a common philosophy of staff retention and the importance of pasture management for optimum production and consumption. Farms on the tour included a fully robotic dairy, a biodynamic fertilising operation, a focus farm and a Tasmanian Dairy Farmer of the Year award recipient.

The group also visited the Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture and a farm holding a top six position in the state for BMCC over the past five years. Each of these visits was of great value, as the farmers openly discussed their businesses, their successes and learnings from experiences over the lifetime of their careers.

One of the highlights of the tour was the Tasmanian Dairy Conference and Awards Dinner. It allowed the group to dress up and feel the buzz as farmers celebrated each other’s success.

One of the participants even managed to win a door prize from guest speaker Mick Collis, vice-captain of the Australian National Sudoku Team.The pre-conference tour to Tasmanian Focus Farm Rosemount Ag was another highlight, as participants had the chance to meet the dairy industry ambassador Jonathan Brown. The annual Tasmanian Young Dairy Network (YDN) Networking Dinner was a great chance to mingle and have a little friendly competition with their counterparts down south.

Thank you to all our hosts and bus driver! It was a great experience to be remembered.

If you would like to know more about the Don Campbell Memorial Tour, please contact GippsDairy on 03 5624 3900 or info@gippsdairy.com.au