Zoe connected with dairy farmer Benn Thexton through a mutual friend and started working as a milker on two of his farms. Zoe recalls that her first year in the industry was full of questions and hard work. She actively sought out as much information as she could from the people working alongside her to learn about other areas of the farm business.
As the business expanded, Zoe was given opportunities to develop her skills in other areas of dairying and has grown with the business. After 12 months, Zoe was promoted to Herd Manager. Currently she is the Farm Manager of a Thexton farm, managing around 87 hectares and maximum herd size of 300.
During the last seven years, Zoe has completed her Certificate III in Dairy Production and attended many GippsDairy and Dairy Australia extension courses. Zoe found that even though at times she felt a little out of her depth with the course content, the collaborative nature of the workshops meant that there were always other farmers around to offer support.
In 2020, Zoe participated in GippsDairy’s Don Campbell Memorial Tour – a six-day study tour of the Northern Tasmanian dairy industry. Coming from a non-dairy background, Zoe found the experience helpful in understanding how other farms are run and came away with fresh ideas that could be implemented on farm.
“Seeing a robotic farm for the first time was amazing – it was great to see the differences in paddock rotations and how the machines work,” she says.
One of the highlights of the tour for Zoe was having the opportunity to start networking with others in the dairy industry and meet people from varying backgrounds.
She emphasises the importance of having a strong support system in the industry.
“I have the support of the managers on the other three farms that are part of our company, and this has definitely helped me through a lot of times that I felt I didn’t have the right knowledge,” Zoe says.
“Being able to lean on them for support has been one of the reasons I have felt confident to take on the hard jobs and learn the things I didn’t know yet.”
Zoe feels she was given a great opportunity when she started in dairy. Despite the difficult times that farmers face, she truly enjoys her job. The weather plays a huge role on her unirrigated farm.
“It’s great to watch a storm come in after weeks without rain in the dry season, and seeing the sunrise every morning in the milking shed is always amazing,” she says.
Zoe finds joy in reaching or beating the previous year’s milk levels and focuses on keeping the herd in great condition for drying off and calving. A highlight of her year is calving season and watching the new calves grow and go out into the paddock for the first time.
In the future, Zoe sees herself maintaining her position as farm manager while continuing to develop and fine-tune her skills. She hopes in five years’ time to be enjoying life with her family and animals, perhaps with some additional horses and dogs.
For those just starting in the dairy industry, Zoe offers the following advice:
“Even though you will get covered in cow poop occasionally and the work can be hard, give it a good go before deciding it’s not for you. There are so many areas in the industry and the one you haven’t tried yet might be the right one for you.”
