Katrina BRANDON
LAST month, the Women in Dairy Discussion Group had their third annual lunch at Moe Racing Club.
The group was originally co-founded in 2017 by Poowong North local, Allison Potter, who has spent her life in the agricultural world.
Ms Potter grew up with her parents on a beef farm that was later converted into a dairy farm when she was five-years-old.
“I didn’t have any exposure to dairy before that, but then quickly fell in love with the dairy farming lifestyle and a different pace to beef farming at the time,” Ms Potter told the Gippsland Farmer.
“I went to university and studied ag science, and at the end of that, I got my first job as a field officer at Murray Goulbourn in Leongatha.”
Allison spent six years with Murray Goulbourn and started dairy farming in 2011. On the property with her family, she started milking 300 cows alongside her brother and husband.
Eight years later, Allison sold the cows and some of the farm. During those eight years, Allison said that she worked many positions in the dairy industry, which led to her current position with Bulla Dairy Foods in field services.
“I have worked in the dairy industry throughout those eight years, mainly in field service roles and some consulting and farm auditing. I am now head of field services with Bulla Dairy Foods, which has been a great opportunity for me in the industry,” she said.
“I am still beef farming. I don’t have a dairy herd anymore.
“If you love it, you love it. I couldn’t imagine not doing that. There are so many goals that you can achieve in dairy farming that you can achieve, whether it is pasture production or whatever your thing is or cow production, breeding, genetics, business management side of things, OH&S. There are so many things that you can really excel at.”
