It’s so wonderful to have the warmth of summer here again.
Dare I say that the season in the south-west is generally looking optimistic?
Many of us have enjoyed a good spring that has allowed us to build-up feed reserves for the coming months. This combined with a decent milk price will hopefully put our region’s farmers in a more positive position.
During the favourable conditions, I’m very much aware of our farming friends in many areas of the country who continue to struggle with drought and inaccessible irrigation water. I sincerely hope their situation improves soon.
Award nominations open
By now you will have heard that our Great South West Dairy Awards will be returning in March 2020.
The awards are a fantastic way of acknowledging and celebrating the achievements of the region’s farmers and others working in our industry. Applications for the seven award categories are open until February 14.
I encourage you all to head along to www.westvicdairy.com.au to check out the categories and consider either applying yourself or nominating someone who you feel is worthy of the recognition.
You can also call the office on 5557 1000 if you prefer to apply or nominate that way. Please don’t think you haven’t done enough, or “I don’t want everyone looking at me”. We need to celebrate our successes more and stand-up for what we’re proud of.
New team members
This month we welcome two new members to the WestVic team, Heather Smillie and Jim Burrell. Heather takes over the Young Dairy Network extension officer role and Jim joins us in a new career development co-ordinator position. We are all fully aware of the need to attract, educate and retain good people to our industry in order for it to thrive. The board wants to ensure we at WestVic Dairy are on the front foot and delivering significantly in this space.
Season’s greetings
The season’s festivities are fast approaching.
It seems we all lead such busy lives in our businesses and down time is a real rarity.
However, I am looking forward to taking some time out to catch-up with family and friends and I hope you all do too. As you know, being there for loved ones, friends and neighbours is a value I hold dear.
As always please feel free to contact the office, our staff are always happy to help with any queries or questions you have.
For now, I wish you all a merry Christmas and a prosperous, healthy and happy 2020.
- Simone Renyard, WestVic Dairy chair