Supporting young farmers' dairy careers

Working full-time on a dairy farm in Natone in Tasmania’s north-west, Jenna is part of a generation of young farmers building careers in the dairy industry and looking for every chance to develop along the way. 

For Jenna, the Young Dairy Network (YDN) in Tasmania is helping make that possible. 

Dairy Australia’s YDN operates in dairy regions across Australia, supporting young people to build successful dairy careers through development and networking events and programs.

Earlier this year, Jenna attended a YDN event in Tasmania on becoming an “employee of choice”. The event was led by renowned leadership and organisational psychologist, Dr Nollaig Heffernan, who has almost 20 years’ experience – including working with dairy farmers.

For Jenna, the session reinforced that building a future in dairy is about more than technical skills. It's also about confidence, communication and mindset.

“Nollaig’s saying not to undervalue your skillset stood out the most to me,” Jenna says.

"Being only 19, I often felt that I didn't have the skillset that someone older than me would. But I learned that if you’ve got the skills and can do the same job, it actually doesn’t matter what age you are."

Jenna works as a farm hand on a dairy farm that milks approximately 510 cows in a 50-bail rotary. She works alongside a team of three employees and a manager.

Growing up around dairy farming helped shape Jenna’s own connection to the industry. What she enjoys most is the variety of the work.

“Every day is different,” she says.

“Yes, you’ve got to milk the cows every day and feed them every day, but some days you’re doing fencing, some days you’re in the tractor, other days you’re spraying."

Jenna says development opportunities through the Young Dairy Network, like the workshop with Nollaig, make a positive difference.  She says the session changed the way she thinks about pressure on farm and how stress can flow through a team, and even the dairy herd.

“Definitely how I manage my mindset at work is better now,” Jenna says.

“If I’m stressed, I sort of take a step back and focus on what needs to be done first and the deadlines for things.

“The workshop made me realise that you can take a step back and look at things from a different perspective.”

That shift in mindset has already influenced how she works with others. Jenna says communication on farm has improved, particularly around workloads and expectations.

“My manager has seen an improvement in communication, we communicate a lot better about tasks,” she says.

“If I’m stressed about something, I will tell him, and if he’s asking me to do a task, then I’ll ask, ‘Right, when do you need it by? Because I need to do this, this and this first.’ It’s a lot less stressful, and we can prioritise better which is really, really good.

“Timing is everything, Nollaig said it's all about ‘right place, right time’.

“You don’t talk to someone when they’re trying to milk cows unless you really have to,” Jenna says.

“Because it’s so noisy in there, you have to yell, and when people yell, people get stressed out, and then it stresses the cows out. It’s about trying to make it a nice and calming work environment for us and for the cows.”

For Jenna, this kind of learning matters because she knows very well that a career in dairy will come with both highs and lows.

“We’d definitely have a lot less burnt-out farmers because it’s teaching us to take that step back and look after ourselves,” she says.

She would like to see more conversation across the sector about farmer wellbeing.

“We definitely need to look after ourselves. A lot of the time it’s how to look after the cows, how to look after the equipment,” she says. “What about having to look after the farmers who deal with all that stuff?”

Through workshops and development events, the Young Dairy Network is supporting young farmers like Jenna to build not only practical skills, but also the confidence and resilience needed for a long-term career.

To find out more about the Tasmania Young Dairy Network visit Young Dairy Network or contact Extension Advisor, Nathan Bakker by emailing nathan.bakker@dairyaustralia.com.au or calling 0427 112 459.