James Maxwell is happy in his manager’s role at Cooriemungle Operations in south-west Victoria, but he’s intrigued by other farm set-ups.
Earlier this year, James was part of a three-day tour of Tasmania to visit leading dairy operations and agriculture research facilities.
The tour was organised by WestVic Dairy for the Port Campbell Dairy Discussion Group and supported by DemoDAIRY Foundation.
James had been on earlier tours to New Zealand with the UDV in 2012 and to Mystery Creek Field Days with Saputo and he said these trips were a great way to experience new places and farming systems and meet like-minded people.
James noticed the popularity of sharefarming in Tasmania with young farmers using the model to work towards farm ownership.
“The highly structured and huge popularity of sharefarming in Tasmania was a key takeaway of the tour,” he said.
“We met three young dairy farmers that had been in the industry for five-plus years and had worked their way up to 50:50 sharefarming positions, two of which were on multiple farms simultaneously after starting from nothing.
“They’re making fantastic return on equity while growing the business for the farm owners.”
The group also visited one farm aiming to maintain dairy farm ownership in the community.
“We had the opportunity to meet and talk to people involved in the Circular Head Farms group that partner with young and enthusiastic farmers to generate wealth for both parties,” James said.
“They use a four-step sharefarming model adapted from NZ and that gave people the opportunity to achieve farm ownership.”
James manages the Cooriemungle Operations farm, along with a second nearby farm for the corporate entity, on a salary with a profit-sharing incentive.
“I get rewarded for a more profitable business,” he said.
“I enjoy dairy farming with modern facilities and infrastructure and creating a sustainable workplace where people want to be.”