Dairy's leadership future looking bright

Certificates were presented to 50 up-and-coming dairy industry workers by Premier Jeremy Rockliff and Agriculture and Water Minister Gavin Pearce at the Paranaple Convention Centre in Devonport on Wednesday night.

The recipients had successfully completed the 2026 Tasmanian Dairy Farm Manager/2IC Program aimed at developing dairy leaders of the future.

One of those recipients was Bailey Grace of Scottsdale, who works at Clovelly Dairy – two 54-bail rotary dairies near Bridport, each milking 2000 cows.

Five years ago the former bartender decided he wanted a change of scenery and expected to return to what he’d grown up with, farming spuds and onions, but he never thought he’d end up in the dairy industry.

“For the first three years I was just a worker, but I got more and more interested in it and decided to take up opportunities that were offered, such as the My Farm My Plan program, where you plan for the future in farming,” he said.

“Three weeks ago I went to Melbourne with the Proud to be a Dairy Farmer members from around the country and learned so much more.

“Combined with this manager/2IC program it’s setting me up to hopefully have my own farm one day.”

The DairyTas management program was run over four days - one day per week - and covered farm financials, people management, operations and compliance and decision making and planning.

Penny Williams was the program leader, assisted by dairy industry stalwart Sian Savage and DairyTas executive officer Alycia Jones.

“I am proud to say that since it started in 2020 the program has produced some of our finest Tasmanian dairy farm managers including the Tasmanian Dairy Farmer and Share Farmer of the Year,” Ms Williams said.

“And this program will be no different in helping to develop our best farm managers and 2ICs.

“A strong focus of the program is culture and leadership expectations. This begins well before the first session, with clear guidelines provided during the Expression of Interest process, including expectations around professionalism and punctuality.”

Participants travelled from around the state to be involved in the training delivered by DairyTas with funding support from the Tasmanian Government through the Strategic Industry Partnership Program (SIPP).

DairyTas chair Luke McNab said the program relies heavily on the expertise of consultants who contribute their time and knowledge, in this case Andrew Beattie from BWB, Nicki Hayward from HR Unpacked, Andrew Cameron from Primary Employers Tasmania and Phil Johns from Safe Farming Tasmania.

 “We’re grateful for their support, along with the commitment of participants, their employers who supported their staff to take part, and the Tasmanian Government.”