Happy World Milk Day! This global celebration, held on 1 June every year, recognises the importance of milk as a wholesome food and the role dairy farmers play in producing high quality milk.
We are proud to support and supply dairy farmers in south west Victoria and Gippsland with the water they need to grow pasture and crops that underpins healthy herds and quality milk.
Victoria is Australia’s largest dairy producing state, producing 64 percent of Australia’s milk. Northern Victoria, south west Victoria and Gippsland dairy regions account for approximately 19 percent, 22 percent and 23 percent of Australia’s milk production, respectively.
These impressive numbers are made possible by the hard work of families like the White’s who manage four properties and milk a 480-head seasonal-calving, self-replacing, Friesian-cross dairy herd in Riverslea.
Brad and Jenna White were one of the many Riverslea farmers who benefited from phase 1B of our $159.7 million Macalister Irrigation District 2030 modernisation program.
These works included installing 38 kilometres of pipeline, upgrading 28 kilometres of existing channels and automating the channels across the Riverslea section. Seventy new outlets were also installed that allow farmers to control the flow of water onto their properties.
Our investment gave the Whites the confidence to invest in on-farm improvements that have increased their water efficiency, productivity and given them more time to plough back into their herd and family life.
Our sights are now set on completing the Newry pipeline project we’re delivering as part of our Phase 2 MID2030 program. Nearly 30 dairy farmers in the Newry region will benefit from the upgrade with improved water delivery and water savings that allows them to ramp up productivity and be more climate resilient.
Farming is a challenging job. It takes grit, courage, and optimism to work the land and put food on our table every day. It’s why we’re passionate about funding projects and finding ways to make our precious water resource go further for farming communities.
We’d like to raise a glass (of milk, of course) to the Whites and thank all farmers across Victoria and the world for keeping us supplied with dairy goodness.