Brothers in arms at North View Dairy at Ringarooma

The Cox brothers tend to stay in their own lane when it comes to running North View Dairy at Ringarooma, but they’ve proved that together they’re heading in the right direction in an increasingly challenging industry.

Last week Geoff and Stan Cox claimed the prestigious title of 2026 ANZ Dairy Business of the Year, at the DairyTas Dairy Awards in Devonport. 

A strong focus on herd and pasture management and consistently good production statistics from 1350 milking cows helped them rise like cream to the top in their first year entering the competition.

Geoff has the business mind, overseeing operations at North View plus two nearby dairies they share-farm on their land.

He’s on the board of TasFarmers and has chaired its Dairy Committee for about  10 years and admits he likes a good project.

Stan is the cattle king, taking care of the breeding program for the milking cows as well as a growing dairy beef operation.

He’s been responsible for successfully value-adding to the dairy venture and boosting productivity of the herd.

Their combined effort is producing high levels of pasture and exceptional milk production per hectare, driven by a high stocking rate of four cows per hectare.

Without compromising cow performance they achieve above average per hectare profits.

Stan said he’s always been interested in livestock and breeding cattle.

The dairy beef provides extra income and creates an asset from bobby calves.

“It’s important that you have the right kind of cow for this system and I enjoy taking care of the feeding and the breeding side and matching the right bull with AI to get the outcome that we want,” Stan said.

“It was nice to be recognised for what we do.”

Entering the dairy awards involved handing over key data from the business, an exercise that doesn’t sit well with all dairy farmers, with some preferring to keep their cards close to their chest.

The number crunching was followed by an on-farm inspection and assessment process for the top performers.

“We’ve always been into benchmarking because it enables us to compare ourselves against the rest of the industry as well as see how we go from one year to the next and identify how our costs have changed,” Geoff said.

“There’s not a wide margin in the numbers so we concentrate on maximising pasture grown and utilised - it’s the single most important driver of profitability on the farm.”

North View stretches across the edge of the river valley basin, the dairy itself on a hill with stunning views of the Blue Tier Range to the east, the North East Highlands and Mt Maurice to the west.

The original 150-year-old homestead where Stan lives with his wife and three daughters was built by one of the three Krushka brothers, Prussian immigrants who found massive tin lodes on the Cascade River and developed the historic tin mine at nearby Derby.

In 1882 Christopher Krushka established a private township originally called Krushka Town, renamed Ringarooma in 1888, on some of his family’s land.

His former home and a parcel of land was later purchased by the Cox family who started the dairy enterprise that endures today.

Geoff re-built another home on the land where he lives with his wife and three children and he and Stan have worked hard over the past decade to purchase more titles and build up the business while diversifying into beef and potatoes.

They still use the old but reliable 60-unit rotary dairy, built in the late 1980s, which provides good milking speed but is more labour-intensive.

Irrigation comes from river rights, dams and buy-in to the Upper Ringarooma Irrigation Scheme.

Having plenty of water has allowed them to power ahead through many dry years.

“Water security makes the North-East great for dairying and while growing grass is crucial, so is balancing the rotation lengths with grazing at the right leaf stage to maintain quality in the pasture and maximise productivity,” Geoff said.

“Our high stocking rate pushes utilisation of pasture to the limit.” 

Effluent from the dairy is stored in a gravitational two-pond system and recycled on to the pastures through the irrigation system.

Around 40,000 litres of milk is produced from the two milkings each day and a tanker visits twice a day for collection for Lactalis.

A small percentage is used by Westhaven Dairy in Launceston to make yoghurt.

The equivalent of three full-time farm hands and several backpackers assist with day-to-day dairy operations.

TIA Dairy Development extension officer and awards judge Symon Jones said the Cox brothers continue to drive improvement by reinvesting in critical infrastructure to maintain and improve animal health and welfare and cow performance.

“They also continue to improve efficiency in and around the workplace and ensure staff are safe and supported,” he said.

“The farm is self-contained with all young stock grown out on farm support blocks and they were assessed by the judges as outstanding.”

The ANZ Dairy Business of the Year Award is conducted by the Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture (TIA) as part of the Dairy Farm Monitor Project, which is funded by Dairy Australia and TIA. 

About 30 farm businesses participated in the program.