More Than Milk

Michael Harvey is a Senior Dairy Analyst at Rabobank, with decades of experience within the dairy industry. He grew up on a dairy farm in Northern Victoria before heading to Melbourne for Uni, working at Dairy Australia before making the move to Rabobank. He publishes a yearly seasonal outlook report around Global Markets, local conditions and gives an independent view on the farmgate milk price a...

Monique Jeffries is an agri-accountant, working for McLaren Hunt in Warrnambool. She always had an aspiration to be an accountant, growing up in New Zealand, it was her fathers accountant who was a real inspiration. But It was whilst working on her family farm that Monique took a role with open country, a milk processor in New Zealand, before making the big move to Australia to work at UDC as a fi...

Jacqui Suares is a dairy farmer at Calderbrae Holsteins, in Larpent where she and husband Ross milk around 165 Registered Holsteins. Whilst at Ross's family farm in Hordern Vale, their eldest daughter was diagnosed with a disability and so they made the move closer to Colac for the best opportunities for her. Jacqui began her working life as a nurse, but it soon became clear the services on offer...

Paul Weller is based in Lockington, Northern Victoria, and has spent his life in dairy.  His father and grandfather farmed before him, with many changes to the farm over the years. In the early days, Paul had seen the dairy business fund the beef operation and quickly came to the conclusion that dairy was the best financial return. Although now is running both cropping and dairy businesses on his...

Rebecca Toleman is the newly appointed Teaching & Education Manager for Agriculture at South West Tafe. Although she never completed high school herself and never imagined she would get into Education - she is an absolute trailblazer. Having spent time on farm before making the move into teaching she has a real passion for people and sharing knowledge, especially those key skills she would have lo...

Celia Hobbs grew up on a sheep property in the Wimmera before her parents made the move to Northern Victoria, where their sheep were surrounded by dairy cows. Her parent's made the switch to dairy farming in 2018, but it wasn't until after her brother stepped away from the farm that Celia made the move to take over the operation.  She always thought a career off farm and within the arts was where...

Mary Burgess is an absolute inspiration. Whilst teaching in South West Victoria, she closed her eyes and stuck a pin in a map looking for her next adventure and found it on a farm in Swanpool in Northern Victoria. She has spent the last 37 years alongside husband Derek as a Dairy Farmer, splitting her time between teaching and the farm. After retiring 16 years ago, Mary became full time on the far...

Rem has recently made the move from Nursing to Agriculture and is currently working alongside her partner Josh in Wallacedale. Although she grew up on a dairy farm, her dad sold the cows and leased the land when she was young, and never really experienced the day to day of a working farm. She however is quickly becoming aware of all of the different aspects of dairy farming and has a real eagernes...

Adam Dee has had quite an impressive career within the dairy industry. His passion for cows and breeding was obvious at an early age and it was within genetics that he had a career spanning over 20 years. 12 months ago he made the move back to his family farm, Clydevale Holsteins in Northern Victoria. He now works alongside his 2 brothers and father, within a farming business that has evolved over...

Teena Pearse farms in Northern Victoria and does NOT like mud. She cut her teeth during the millennium drought and has faced many challenges over the years including the extended wet season of 2022. In this chat she shares the impacts the wet season has had, how it compares to drought years and the unnexpected flow on effects. She also shares her unique approach to joining and calving each year th...

Nathan Mugavin had a passion for cows and dairy farming from an early age. He is currently managing a farm with his partner Sophie near Warrnambool in South West Victoria. He has had quite the journey in a relatively short period of time, having many roles varying from a relief milker, working full time, trying his hand at share farming, working briefly at Genetics Australia and as an AI tech befo...

Carlie Barry and husband Owen milk 300 cows on a certified organic farm near Camperdown in South West Victoria. In this chat we cover everything from her experience as a young mum, her time working at Landmark and Fonterra to how they've taken each opportunity to get them to their current farm. We also delve into what organic farming practices she is using on the farm, her love for crazy and quirk...

Today is International Women's Day, a day where we can celebrate the incredible achievements of women across the globe, educate and raise awareness for women's equality and lobby for gender parity. This year's theme is around challenging gender stereotypes, calling out discrimination and embracing equity. And I think you would struggle to find someone better to encompass all of that than Mandi McL...

James Clyne is a fourth generation dairy farmer with a real passion for innovation, beautifully uddered cows and irrigation, milking just over 1100 cows in the Macalister Irrigation District of Gippsland. This chat is a real insight into the whole operation, we talk mastitis, irrigation, contingency plans for drought and everything in between. This is James' story If you would like to listen to Ja...

Stu Griffin is a fourth generation farmer with a real passion for dairy. He studied vet science and worked in Northern Vic before returning home to the family farm, where he milks just under 500 cows with a 10 in 7 milking interval. In this chat we explore a whole range of topics including the influences his parents have had, his time as a vet, what the farm looks like now and the decision to move...

Jess Howe was a farmer in her own right, before meeting her husband and becoming part of his family farming operation. In this chat she speaks openly about her job with Warrnambool Cheese and Butter, as a field officer, working through the transition to Saputo. And how quickly her career path quickly changed as children and in particular medically complex babies became the most important occupier...

Cecilia Sbrizzi is an Argentinian born backpacker who had her first experience of dairy in 2018 whilst traveling in New Zealand. Traveling on a Working Holiday Visa, she and partner Geronimo completed their regional work requirement on a dairy farm in Northern Victoria. But as the Covid Pandemic hit they quickly made the decision, if they were going to be locked down they wanted to do it on a farm...

Dean Turner didn't come from a farming background, but this hasn't stopped him from having a successful dairy farming career spanning 25 years and he isn't done yet! He started out as a farm hand milking only a couple of times per week for the Campbell family, in West Gippsland and has progressed, as their business, changed, evolved and grew.  He moved from a management position, into share farmin...

Emily Walsh grew up surrounded by agriculture but never thought it would be where she would find her passion.  In this chat you'll hear just how she figured out what she wanted to do, the impact her dad and his untimely death has had, and the path to her career as an Agronomist. She gives a real insight into her approach on farm, her love for growing grass, soil and how she uses science and data t...

Emma Bant grew up on a dairy and had aspirations to take her parent's dairy farm to the next level. Although was laughed at by a careers councillor at school, that's exactly what she has done. In this chat you'll hear how she fell in love with the cows, took time off the day to day operations to raise her 4 children and how she grabbed the opportunity to be the full time 'farmer' after the breakdo...

Do you know it truly means to be a dairy farmer or work within the industry?? In this new podcast you'll hear from the incredible people involved in all things dairy as they share their story. In this trailor episode host, Chloe Brown gives an insight into what you can expect from this new series, hoping you will recognise It's More than Milk