GippsDairy hosted the 2024 Dairy Muster on March 14, with 230 people attending the farm of the Paul dairy family, at Trafalgar East.
Graeme and Louise Paul, with their children, Stephanie, Bayley and Darcy, hosted this year’s GippsDairy’s Dairy Muster. Their co-farm hosts were their sharefarmers, Simon Reid and Belinda Egan, of Jackiah Jerseys.
Dawn Dalley, of DairyNZ, was the keynote speaker. Well known to Gippsland dairy farmers from her time working at Ellinbank Research Farm, Dawn is now a senior scientist in the Farm Systems Research team at DairyNZ.
Her team’s focus is on methods to reduce nitrogen losses by 30 per cent on the farm.
There were four breakout sessions at Dairy Muster, with attendees rotating through two of them.
Breakout session one focused on productive pastures and how to capitalise on Gippsland’s pasture growing season.
Breakout session two focused on pathways into the dairy and career progression for those in the industry.
Breakout session three discussed succession and dairy farmers planning for their own and their business’s future, on and off the farm.
Breakout session four focused on potential environmental legislation that may affect farmers.
Full stories about Dawn’s presentation and the breakout sessions can be found on this website.