Gardiner Dairy Foundation e-news, July 2020 No images? Click here The present time we are living through is remarkable in so many ways.Of course, the pandemic, the health crisis, and the impact on our lives are not ‘remarkable’ experiences we would wish on anyone.Yet, alongside the disruption, there has been a remarkable capacity to carry on and get work done. We should not be surprised at this but it is worth mentioning because it points to the expectation we will eventually get through the pandemic and get on with what we do best; which, in our case, is to provide essential and nutritious dairy foods for the people of Australia and to the nations we trade with. For those of us working in an office during this crisis, it has been science and technology, particularly communication technology, that has enabled us to continue to work together in isolation. Video meetings that allow us to talk to one another as if we were in the same room were simply not available the last time such a crisis – the Spanish Flu – cut a swathe through the world, 100 years ago. These technologies are not new by any means, but the crisis has forced many of us who were reluctant at first, to adopt unfamiliar technologies out of necessity. On more and more farms, teams are Googling and Whatsapping one another rather than meeting face to face, as exemplified by our story on ARLP scholar, Stuart Crosthwaite below. It is Gardiner’s commitment to science and technology, in partnership with Dairy Australia and Agriculture Victoria, that will ensure further advances in the dairy industry, particularly via the genetic improvement of animals and pastures, the core of the DairyBio program. At Gardiner Dairy Foundation we are approaching the busiest time of our year as we plan our 2021 People and Community Development activities. In the articles in this edition of e-news you will see we are progressively opening applications to our Tertiary Scholarships and to our leadership programs through Regional Leadership Australia, Australian Rural Leadership Program, and Nuffield Farming Scholarships. As many of our readers will know most applications for these programs are initiated by someone who has either participated in the program themselves or who is a leader and mentor in the dairy industry. We encourage you to look around you for potential participants in all these personal development opportunities and give them ‘a tap on the shoulder’. Gardiner has partnered with Dairy Australia in the rollout of the Our Farm, Our Plan (OFOP) program to assist farming families to work through their visions, goals and actions together, resulting in a ‘plan on a page’ that can be regularly reviewed. Delivery of the OFOP program will be ramped up in 2020/21 with the Victorian Regional Development Programs taking a lead role in delivering this business planning program. As Victoria enters a second and stronger wave of COVID-19 cases, we urge you to stay safe and take extreme care. No one can assume they are immune from this invisible and very contagious virus. – Clive Noble, Chief Executive 2019 Gardiner ARLP recipient, Stuart Crosthwaite from NE Victoria, never thought about his leadership impact until he undertook the Australian Rural Leadership Program. The experience changed his idea of what leadership is and changed the way he behaved as a leader on his farm. The changes he has made to his leadership approach have made him and his staff happier and have enabled everyone to be more productive. Gardiner’s investment in Nuffield scholars remains relevant many years beyond their programs. Our 2012 Nuffield scholar, Damian Murphy from Gippsland, studied young farmer finance schemes around the world. With the upcoming launch of the Australian Dairy Plan, the issue of attracting, supporting, and retaining young dairy farmers is once again a high priority. Damian’s study provides valuable insights into some, as yet untried in Australia, farmer finance models. It is encouraging to see young people from non-dairy background making a career in dairy farming. Recently, we have spoken to several young dairy farmers and asked them how they made their start. Their answers are widely varied and may surprise you. In 2019 Gardiner made a commitment to increase its digital communication activity to ensure our dairy stakeholders are aware of the opportunities available through the Foundation’s many people and community development and industry support programs.The digital platforms (social media and website as well as regular emails like the e-news) are a good way to report back to the industry on our activities and to receive feedback. It is very pleasing to report that an intensive effort to plan and deliver our digital communication more systematically is paying dividends with a significant increase in the number of impressions and engagement on all platforms. We invite you to join us on any of our social platforms and to share and comment on Gardiner activities. Joy Coulson thinks it is vitally important that people with a range of job titles, from varying backgrounds and with differing personalities pursue leadership roles.“Our dairy industry needs industry-experienced people from many and varied backgrounds to bring their unique experience and perspective to leadership; capable leaders can effectively relate to and engage with a range of industry members.” As a Farm Services Advisor, and in her numerous community roles in the Barwon South West region of Victoria, Joy is on a journey to further develop her own leadership capability. “I’d spoken to a couple of colleagues who had done the Leadership Great South Coast (LGSC) Program and everybody raved about it. For some, it was life-changing,” she said. “I don’t think we have enough women putting their hand up to be leaders, so I applied for the 2020 program because I’d heard such great things about it.” Sponsored by Gardiner Dairy Foundation, Joy started the 10-month program in February, shortly before COVID-19 struck, resulting in their fortnightly workshops and presentations moving to a video conference format. Each year Gardiner funds two places in each of five Victorian Regional Community Leadership Programs that cover dairying areas. The leadership programs are once again calling for applications for their 2021 programs. The Working in Dairy Communities (WIDC) Small Grants program, which is run in a partnership between the Foundation for Rural & Regional Renewal (FRRR) and Gardiner Dairy Foundation, has awarded $121,584 in grants to support 26 projects in Victoria’s three dairy regions.Now in its 18th year, the WIDC Small Grants program offers up to $5,000 to support community-driven projects that strengthen Victorian dairy communities through enhancing community infrastructure and local capacity. The Gardiner Dairy Foundation was established with $62m in funding from the sale of assets as part of deregulation of the dairy industry in 2000. Gardiner’s purpose is to maximise benefits to all sectors of the Victorian dairy industry and dairy communities by funding and promoting programs in RD&E, People and Community Development, and Industry Engagement and Support. The Gardiner Dairy Foundation www.gardinerfoundation.com.au |