Murray Dairy farewells retiring directors and welcomes new members to the Board

Murray Dairy held its Annual General Meeting online on 21 October and is pleased to welcome new directors to the Murray Dairy Board. The Board also acknowledged and thanked the outgoing Directors.

Farmer director Hamish Crawford, specialist skill director Phil Candy and co-opted specialist skills director Jason Scott were welcomed to the Board. Directors Tony McCarthy and Chris Thomas were farewelled. Both Tony and Chris had completed six years on the Board, bringing tremendous knowledge, passion and vision for the dairy industry in the region.

When asked why he joined the Murray Dairy board, Hamish Crawford said:
“I have admired Murray Dairy’s resilience over the past 15-20 years. It continues to offer a broad range of resources to dairy farmers. Its ability to serve different farming systems and farming families at different stages of their dairy career is truly impressive and I want to be a part of shaping that into the future”.

Jason Scott, an agronomist, joins the board with key expertise into feedbase production and with a valuable connection to both dairy producers and fodder growers in the region. He is keen to contribute to the strategic conversations on the challenges and opportunities for growing quality feed for the dairy industry.

“I see the trial work conducted by Murray Dairy and its partnerships designed around driving profitability and sustainability for our region’s dairy producers, ensuring the industry can meet the requirements of society now and into the future and I want to be an integral part of that process,” Jason Scott said.

Highlights from the AGM

In his Chairman’s report, Andrew Tyler, returning chair of Murray Dairy, highlighted the importance of engagement with farmers across the region and, in particular, reflected visiting Northeast Victoria in April to talk with farmers affected by the fires about the recovery, their ongoing needs and future opportunities.

Andrew also highlighted the importance of the forth coming Dairy Levy Poll, encouraging farmers to learn more about how their levy is invested and seek more information via the Dairy Poll website or contacting Murray Dairy farmer directors to discuss further.

The AGM also saw farmer director Rachael Napier take up the role of Deputy Chair and Andrew Mann return to the role of Treasurer. In providing the financial report, Andrew Mann highlighted Murray Dairy’s success in recent years in attracting additional funding.

“For every $1 of levy funds Murray Dairy attracts a further $4 of additional funding, which is invested across research, development and extension activities specifically for our region’s dairy farmers,” Andrew Mann said.

In wrapping up the AGM, Chief Executive Officer Jenny Wilson provided a snapshot of the recently released Murray Region Trends Report 2021 which is a useful resource of facts and figures on the dairy industry in the Murray region. The report highlights land use, manufacturing, water resources, farm facts, feedbase systems, irrigation, farm physical performance and financial performance and can be found on the Murray Dairy website, along with this year’s Annual Report and Achievements Report.