WestVic Dairy Board
WestVic Dairy is run by a Board of Directors, made up of six farmers and three industry service providers who meet eight times per year.
The role of the Board is to ensure that levies collected from the region's dairy farmers are directed to regionally relevant research, development and extension. It then makes the results of this research easily accessible to local dairy farmers with the intent to increase profitability and sustainability of the western Victorian dairy industry.
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Brendan has been farming on a multi-generational family farm in the Allansford area for the past 40 years. He is confident about the future of the industry but says it is not without challenges.
Brendan believes communication at a local level is vital to the industry’s success.
He wants to ensure a good delivery of the knowledge and advice that Dairy Australia generates through their research funded by levies.
Will McDonald
Vice Chair
Will is a Bessiebelle dairy farmer milking approximately 500 cows on 454ha in partnership with his wife and parents-in-law.
Will was drawn to a position on the WestVic Dairy Board because he has a keen interest in helping to guide and promote extension activities in the region. He experienced first-hand the positive results of the ongoing access to resources, training and industry events he participated in, which helped with the successful development of his own farming career, having come from a grazing sector background.
He believes attracting and supporting good people into the industry is vitally important and is looking forward to contributing to this in his position on the board.
Jacqueline Suares
Director
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Jacqui farms at Larpent with her husband Ross, where they milk 170 registered Holstein cows year-round on 130 hectares. Jacqui and Ross also support the extended family’s beef operation at Hordern Vale on the Great Ocean Road. Jacqui is actively involved in all aspects of the day-to-day management of the farm but has particular interest in all herd improvement aspects and young stock management.
Jacqui’s professional background as the CEO of a for-purpose organisation providing services to people with a disability engendered a focus on continuous quality improvement and a commitment to lifelong learning and evidence-based practice. She passionately believes all dairy farmers, regardless of stage and size of their businesses, should have ready access to beneficial research outcomes; practical, timely information; and the very best in farm extension services.
Lucy Collins
Director
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Originally from South Gippsland, Lucy worked for a neighbouring dairy farm during her teenage years. She holds qualifications in both agricultural and veterinary sciences and practiced in Northern Victoria before moving to the south-west.
Involved on-farm in a partnership with her husband and his family in Dixie, Lucy supports the farm business at both an operational and strategic level. In addition, she works off-farm as Fonterra Australia's Animal Health and Welfare Manager.
Lucy is completing a master's degree with the University of Melbourne, investigating welfare opportunities in the Australian dairy industry, and is a 2021 Nuffield Scholar supported by The Gardiner Foundation. She is also a co-founder of the Cream of the Crop conference for women in dairy.
Ella Credlin
Director
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Ella and her husband Jed own and operate several farms in Ecklin South milking approximately 1,500 cows. In addition to the family business, Ella is employed as a Senior Agribusiness Banker with ANZ. Ella holds a Bachelor of Applied Science from the University of Melbourne and is a recent graduate of the Australian Rural Leadership Programme #29. Ella is also a board member of Food & Fibre – Great South Coast and on the steering committee for the Australia Dairy Conference.
Ella is passionate about the dairy industry - particularly about educating the next generations on career pathways and opportunities for equity growth and ownership. Ella brings both a strategic and operational perspective to the board as well as 15 years’ experience in the financial sector.
Mike Huth
Non-Farmer Director
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Mike grew up on a dairy farm in Queensland and now works at Ridley Stockfeed’s as the Territory Manager – Ruminants. He has worked in the AI industry for 22 years after studying agribusiness at the University of Queensland.
Mike believes the dairy industry is at a turning point and he is keen to be part of its reinvigoration.
He wants to collaboratively support farmers and those in the broader industry to improve their productivity and profitability.
Rhonda Henry
Treasurer Non-Farmer Director
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Rhonda is an agribusiness banker, who has worked in banking for 48 years, the last 15 of which have focused on dairying. She has a wealth of experience in the banking and agricultural sector. 45 years of her career was with CBA and the last 3 have been with Westpac. Rhonda also has strong Board experience as Deputy Chair of Leadership Great South Coast and recently joined Food and Fibre Great South Coast as the treasurer there also.
Based in Warrnambool for all her working life, Rhonda is passionate about the region and its farmers. Agriculture is critically important to the advancement of our region’s prosperity.
One of the main reasons Rhonda joined the WestVic Dairy Board was to give back to the industry and help in creating a sustainable and profitable dairy industry for western Victoria. With a clear set of relevant and strategic priorities she looks forward to contributing to this work as part of her role with WestVic Dairy.
Bruce Officer
Non Farmer Director-Associate
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Bruce grew up on a farm in South-West Victoria, he has a Graduate Diploma in Agribusiness from Monash University and has significant agricultural industry experience with supply companies to the dairy industry. Bruce is a Senior Sales Representative at Zoetis and has been in this role for nearly ten years.
Bruce is excited about the opportunities new technologies and constant improvements are bringing to the dairy industry.
He hopes in this role to support farmers in the region to enhance all aspects of their farm business.
Brooke Lane
Director
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Brooke and her family lease a 400 cow farm in Alvie, where they started off 50/50 sharemilking in 2014. A desire to continue to develop her representation skills as well as contribute towards the dairy industry in a positive manner motivated her to join the WestVic Dairy Board. She hopes to bring a critical and analytical way of thinking to the role. She is also passionate about attracting young people to the industry.