JANEFIELD Dairy has been recognised for its excellence in dairy business management, being announced winner of the 2022 Tasmanian Dairy Awards for the second time.
The awards recognised the top dairies from 36 Tasmanian dairy farms who provided benchmarking data for the 2020- 2021 financial year, part of the DairyHIGH-2 project, which is funded by Dairy Australia and TIA.
The awards were held at James Greenacre’s Rosemount property in Cressy.
Mr Greenacre also acted as a judge alongside TIA’s Lesley Irvine, after winning the accolade in 2021.
Before to the event, the four finalists for the 2022 ANZ Dairy Business of the Year were announced, including Ashburton of Dairy Plains, managed by Francesco Fornari and The Avenue, located in Parkham and managed by Pradeep Badavath, both of which are owned by Australian Dairy Pastures.
Woodrising Dairies, located in Cressy, owned by Compass Tas Dairy Operations and managed by Troy Ainslie was also nominated as a finalist, alongside Janefield, the Meander-based dairy owned and operated by Brian and Michele Lawrence.
In the end, it was Janefield which took home the award, the emotional acceptance speech from Brian and Michele giving credit to the support of their workers and their family, before the true seasonal reflection began.
“Reflecting back on the season, we had a great start to build from, the cows came out of winter in really good condition, a condition score of 5, they milked really well, and we found we had good pasture cover to calve on too,” Mr Lawrence said.
“The spring also went well for us, and we have irrigation to cover us over the summer, so we were able to carry the good conditions right the way through.”
Each nominated farm business milked over 500 cows and had highlighted the importance of their team in helping them achieve success, while pasture management and animal welfare were also a strong focus on each farm, as pointed out by TIA’s Dairy Extension Team Leader and award judge Ms Irvine.
“It was great to visit each of the finalists and see the focus on ensuring their people have a good work environment, the opportunity to develop, and a good work-life balance,” she said.
“Each of the finalists also exhibited a high standard of pasture management with all farms undertaking regular pasture measurement to assist with their decision making.
“Sustainability was also a key focus on each farm businesses.”
Also recognised at Rosemount were Michael Bennett and John Bennett, founders of Ashgrove, who received the Tasmanian Dairy Service Award, while a further six individual awards were given;
Fonterra Dairy Employee of the Year Award – Ujjwal Chapagain
Aurora Energy Employer of Choice Award – Mount Patrick Estate
Mondelez Young Dairy Farmer Encouragement Award – Megan Jackson
NRM North Dairy Environmental Award – Chris and Suzanne Cowley
Saputo Dairy Farm Safety – FarmRight (Aust) Ltd
The Fonterra Share Dairy Farmer of the Year Award by was won by Craig (Rabbit) and Jo Morgan-French from Circular Head.