In just his second year of managing a dairy farm, Mahesh Gampala has achieved the coveted ANZ Tasmanian Dairy Business of the Year Award.
Dalmore Dairy at Dairy Plains is overseen by investment group BWB and managed by Mahesh Gampala.
Dalmore Dairy was recognised for excellence in dairy business performance at the Tasmanian Dairy Industry Awards Dinner in Devonport on Friday, March 22.
The Awards Dinner is hosted by DairyTas.
The Dairy Business of the Year Award is conducted by the Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture (TIA) as part of the DairyHIGH 2 project, which is funded by Dairy Australia and TIA.
The free benchmarking program considers a range of efficiency and performance indicators of dairy farming businesses factors including financial, management, pasture, herd size and environment.
The businesses were assessed for the 2022-23 financial year.
TIA’s Lesley Irvine said Mr Gampala’s attention to detail and keen eye for pasture management contributed to the business’ success.
“Mahesh studied a Master of Applied Science (Agricultural Science) at the University of Tasmania,” Ms Irvine said.
“He has worked at Dalmore Dairy for a number of years, working his way up to become second-in-charge and more recently taking on the role of farm manager.
“We assessed each of the three finalists as being strong dairy businesses, looking at different aspects of dairy farm management including people, environment, safety and overall business performance.
“Dalmore Dairy stood out because of Mahesh’s attention to detail and the effort he has put into managing the farm and being across the details.
“An example of this is his commitment to measuring pasture through weekly farm walks, measuring how much the cows are consuming, and undertaking a wide range of analysis on options to improve the farm.”
DairyTas regional manager Deb Morice described the awards as a wonderful opportunity to acknowledge businesses and individuals within the Tasmanian dairy industry that have excelled over the past year.
"This is a wonderful opportunity to bring Tasmania's dairy industry together to honour its top performers and collectively reflect on and celebrate the past year,” Mrs Morice said.
“As we celebrate the wonderful success stories within our dairy farming community, we would also like to acknowledge the generous support and remarkable commitment of our dairy service industry which makes the Tasmanian Dairy Industry Awards possible.”
Results of the 2024 Tasmanian Dairy Industry Awards
- ANZ Dairy Business of the Year Award: Dalmore Dairy, part of the BWB group and managed by Mahesh Gampala.
Finalists: Ashburton, located at Dairy Plains, owned by Aurora Dairies and managed by Francesco Fornar; and Juniper Lea, located at Dairy Plains, owned by BWB and managed by Luke Davey-Baldock.
- Fonterra Share Dairy Farmer of the Year Award: Terry and Catherine Viney, farming at Chudleigh.
Finalists: Ryan and Bridget Langley, sharefarming with Circular Head Farms at Redpa; Craig and Zoe Waterhouse, sharefarming with Circular Head Farms at Redpa; and Wayne and Caroline Saward, sharefarming with Aurora Dairies.
- Safe Farming Tasmania Dairy Farm Safety Award: Kooparoona Dairy Pty Ltd.
- NRM North Dairy Environmental Award: Cheryl McCartie and Theo Van Brecht.
- Blackley Pipelines & Irrigation Dairy Employee of the Year Award: Charlotte Jessop.
- Aurora Energy Employer of Choice Award: Compass Agri.
- Mondelez Young Dairy Farmer Encouragement Award: Brenton Adams.
- Elphinstone Stevens Dairy Service Award: Cheryl McCartie.
- Future of Dairy Scholarship (sponsored by the Lawrence family): Seraya Spark
TIA is a joint venture between the University of Tasmania and the Tasmanian Government.