Meet the dairy farmers up for this year's Great South West awards

The finalists for the 2024 Great South West Dairy Awards, hosted by WestVic Dairy, have been announced ahead of the awards gala on May 16 at the City Memorial Bowls Club, Warrnambool.

Kim Wilson and her husband Greg, Irrewillipe, are finalists for the Farm Business Manager award, and milk about 1200 predominantly-Friesian cows.

They are sharefarmers with 11 full-time staff on a property with more than 1000 hectares, including 580 hectares of the milking platform.

Mrs Wilson said they day-to-day includes milking twice, feeding the animals, and using a mixer wagon for mixed rations while they aren't grazing.

"And feeding young stock, checking young stock, general farm maintenance," she said.

"We've just finished calving, we calve four times a year and batch calve, we calved in February and March and again in April."

She said they won't calve again until June, and despite less-than-normal rain for the time of year, they planned to have grass at a similar time to normal.

Mrs Wilson said they were rapt with the anonymous nomination for the award, and looked forward to celebrating on the night.

"Greg and I really love milking cows and we love what we do," she said.

"We think if things like this give us an opportunity to tell a positive story about the dairy industry and it inspires other people to be involved in the industry, then that's a positive.

"It's a great opportunity to tell our story and speak about the benefits of the dairy industry as a career, business and the great things it's provided us."

Mr and Mrs Wilson have three children, aged 7, 5 and 3, who love the dairy farm.

"We always knew that was what we wanted to do," she said.

"And the business we have now and the relationship we have with the farm owner is really fantastic."

Gregor Mews, Southern Cross, is a finalist in two awards categories including Young Dairy Leader and the Employee awards.

"I found out almost two weeks ago, I feel nervous but excited, almost a sense of pride getting to the step of finalist," he said.

"I've been at Southern Cross for the past 15 months but I've been working for three years at the Harper Kilpatrick farm."

He said they milked 425 cows and did split calving, with 80 per cent in the autumn and 20pc in the spring on about 200 hectares.

"We plan the day-to-day roles that need to be carried out, we have three full-time workers so working alongside them and planning ahead for events we'll face in the months to come," he said.

He said the awards were a great opportunity to showcase the dairy industry, particularly in south-west Victoria.

"Anyone that applied should be proud of themselves as well, it is a big night and a big achievement, and good luck to everyone else," Mr Mews said.

WestVic Dairy Chair, Brendan Rea, said it was fantastic to be able to celebrate the dairy industry through the awards.

"With 2024 marking the 16th year of running the awards, we're proud to continue our tradition of recognising the hard work and dedication of our region's dairy farmers," he said.

"Excitingly, WestVic Dairy will also be celebrating its 30th anniversary this year."

The Dairy Farm Business Manager finalists included Harold Benzon, Minhamite, Dave Stewart, Glenfyne, and Greg and Kim Wilson, Irrewillipe.

The Young Dairy Leader finalists were Chloe Brown, Kirkstall, Rachael McGrath, Orford, and Gregor Mews, Southern Cross.

Up for the Natural Resource Management and Sustainability award is Alistair Harris and Caitlin Sauro, Larpent, Aurora Dairies Welbourne, Simpson, and Aurora Dairies Poorinda, Cooriemungle.

The Employee Award finalists were Romar Grolleman, Mepunga, Kerry-Leigh Hume, Glenfyne, and Gregor Mews, Southern Cross.

The Service Provider Award finalists included Harold Hanlon, Colac, Eamon Maher, Naringal East, and Lisette Mill, Laang.