STORIES about going against all odds and coming out victorious are always inspiring, and that kind of story is exactly what scored local Undera farmer, Izaac Dwyer a sponsorship to the Australian Dairy Conference in Canberra.
Sponsorship recipients were selected based on their applications in which they wrote about an experience in the dairy industry they considered to be ‘Bold, Brave or Brilliant,’ also the theme of this year’s conference.
Mr Dwyer, who moved from the western districts to northern Victoria after buying a farm in September, wrote in his submission of trialling a grazing corn instead of traditional maize for silage.
Izaac said, “Before the water prices skyrocketed, we weighed up what we were going to do. When we got the corn crop seed, everyone said we were mad.
“It didn’t take long for it to start growing and before we knew it, the crop was hip to shoulder height…all without fertilizer.
“I am looking forward to learning what I can at the conference and implementing anything I learn back here.”
Georgia Mundy from Cobram was also offered a sponsorship to the event.
Herd manager in the family business, Georgia wrote about undertaking an irrigation infrastructure upgrade to improve water use efficiency on their farm. Despite planning from the spring of 2017, seasonal conditions combined with feed prices have posed a challenge to the business but she remains positive about the longer term benefits.
“Even though it’s been a difficult project, we are looking forward to the increased productivity that it will bring,” Georgia said.
Both recipients will be supported to attend the conference in Canberra from February 19 to 21 where they will be joined by other young farmers from across Australia.
