A young dairy farmer, who has "fallen in love with Tassie", hopes what he learnt on a study tour to Victoria will assist him in reaching his own goals in the industry.
Chris Hill, 25, is working on a dairy farm in Smithton while in the country on a working holiday visa.
Despite his original plan to return to the United Kingdom once his visa expires, Mr Hill now wants to achieve his dairy farming goals in Tasmania.
"Being from the UK, the opportunity to work in Australia is very exciting," Mr Hill said.
"There are a lot of career opportunities and career paths and people are keen to get young people in the industry.
"My goal is to own a herd of cows.
"I've fallen in love with pasture-based dairy farming and hopefully I can forge a career here in Tasmania."
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To help him achieve that goal, Mr Hill recently travelled to Victoria for a tour focused on progression, resilience and innovation with other members of the Young Dairy Network, which connects, develops and supports young dairy farmers to excel and prosper.
"For me, I wanted to see how Victorian farms were growing their dairy businesses," he said.
"They are growing their herds by the thousands but milk production has dropped.
"I wanted to cement in my mind why their farms are expanding but milk production is dropping and floods were a contributing factor."
As part of the tour, the group focused on their personal goals, something that Mr Hill praised.
"Dairy Australia's Our Farm, Our Plan scheme makes you write your personal goals on paper and makes you think about targets and how to achieve them," Mr Hill said.
"It holds you accountable and that is brilliant."
Despite Victorian farmers facing differing challenges to those in Tasmania, Mr Hill said there was still learnings he brought back that could be adapted to the farm he currently works on.
"We should be looking through our herd and making sure we are reproducing from efficient cows," he said.
"There is a lot of positivity, especially in Gippsland where there is a lot of grazing.
"In Northern Victoria, there is a change as the climate is playing a part in how farms are evolving and it is not suitable for grazing during hot summer days.
"We can grow grass very well, especially in Circular Head because of good rainfall.
"It's all about making use of your natural resources and looking after the cows and the environment."
Rodney Woods
I'm excited to have joined The Advocate team having grown up reading the publication. I have experience in agricultural, general and sport reporting during my time in northern Victoria. If you have a story idea, contact me at: rodney.woods@austcommunitymedia.com.au
I'm excited to have joined The Advocate team having grown up reading the publication. I have experience in agricultural, general and sport reporting during my time in northern Victoria. If you have a story idea, contact me at: rodney.woods@austcommunitymedia.com.au
