Dairy Australia's promotion of the sector reaches a million pairs of eyes

DA said the Dairy Jobs Matter website, launched in September 2022 in response to labour shortages, has received almost 1 million unique visitors.

DA's research has shown while most Australians previously hadn't considered working on a dairy farm, the lifestyle and benefits of working on farms were appealing.

The Dairy Farms Job Board, which connects job seekers with vacancies, had seen more than 50,000 potential job seekers looking for work since its late 2022 launch.

Amy Cosby and husband Rowdy run Ballagh Cosby farm, south of Koonwarra, with husband Rowdy and their three children, Oscar, four, Xavier, two and Noah, seven-months..

They're milking a herd of more than 200 Holstein and Jerseys.

"My husband is a third generation dairy farmer, from south-west Victoria, and we came together when I was 17," she said.

Ms Cosby said she had always been involved in agriculture, as her father was an agricultural teacher at Langwarrin Secondary College.

She completed a Bachelor of Agriculture and Law and PhD in Precision Engineering from the University of New England, Armadale, NSW and is also employed by CQ University as an Associate Professor in Agricultural Education and Extension.

"We came back to Gippsland nine years ago and worked on a dairy farm, but it had always been our goal to own our own place," she said.

"If you are going to get into farming, that regular cash flow obviously makes it easier to pay off debt - we have three young boys, who are really involved in the farm - they love it as well."

She said her work increasingly involved improving the digital capability and literacy of people in agriculture, to support them to adapt to on farm technology.

"I'm working with people in industry, but also trying to attract new entrants through that new technology," she said.

"Since we have been here we have installed automatic calf feeders, we have a collar system for heat health detection, coupled with an auto-draft, so I guess we are trying to incorporate technology to improve production and save time."

The Cosbys had also started genomic testing, to accelerate the improvement of their herd.

Ms Cosby said there was potential for people interested in technology and data to bring their skills to farming, as an adjunct to the more manual side of the industry.

There was a need to demonstrate viable career pathways to young people, particularly as it was becoming harder and harder to buy property

"I don't think its an urban-regional divide, I think its a lack of knowledge even among young people in Leongatha - they don't actually know what a job in agriculture entails," she said.

"As part of my work, we have programs where we are bringing young people out onto farms and into agricultural workplaces to showcase that technology and what actually occurs."

She said the right attitude, good work ethic and passion would open doors to many opportunities to learn and develop skills.

"It's such a rewarding career, and best of all, you get to work with beautiful animals every day," she said.

DA National People Lead, Mick Fuller said Australians were attracted to the prospects that came from working on a dairy farm, with the opportunity for career progression, working outdoors, caring for animals, and having a job with purpose.

"Dairy farming can provide workers with opportunities for on-the-job training, learning a diverse blend of practical and technical skills, which is attractive for Australians looking for this," Mr Fuller said.

United Dairyfarmers of Victoria president Bernie Free, Winslow said the industry was still looking for qualified and educated staff.

'Backpackers only fill a certain part of the market, but the industry is still looking for managers and second-in-charge staff, so it can continue to grow - they are still hard to find," Mr Free said.

"DA needs to concentrate on doing stuff that makes farmers profitable; a profitable farm will make people interested in working on it because they will see a future in the industry."

He said there were plenty of areas were DA spent money on projects where it "was questionable whether it translated into profitability".

"A lot of the stuff has costs behind it and that's not going to grow the industry," he said.

But Dairy Farmers Victoria president Mark Billing, Colac, said he had found the jobs board particularly helpful.

"We have had quite a lot of backpackers ringing up and I have actually sent them the link to the jobs board, as I haven't personally had work for them," Mr Billing said.

"I have had some positive feedback from some of the backpackers, as I think it gave them a bit of an idea about what the job was about, so I think it's a positive move, on a whole."

While it was not a "silver bullet", it was heading in the right direction.

"It's about providing quality training," he said

"I would like to see a dairy farming apprenticeship come back into the mix - we have a bit to go as the skills we need on farms are changing, as we deploy technology and need people to digest and use the information that's collected.

"But putting cups on cows and helping out with the general farmhand stuff is still important."