Katrina BRANDON
MAXIMISING opportunities for farmers, Elevate Dairy held an innovator showcase at the Morwell Bowling Club on August 5.
Elevate Dairy is a program that attracts and integrates innovative solutions from around the world into Victoria’s dairy industry. It connects two key groups: global innovators and Victorian dairy farmers who are continuously looking at improving operations.
Funded by the for-purpose, not-for-profit organisation Gardiner Foundation, Elevate Dairy is delivered by Beanstalk AgTech. It aims to provide the dairy industry with infrastructure to introduce and adopt new technology.
Elevate Dairy was launched at the 2026 Australian Dairy Conference in Melbourne.
With about 50 people in attendance, attendees were able to walk around and get to know seven different innovators.
Before the discussions took place, Gardiner Foundation’s CEO, Allan Cameron, welcomed attendees to the event.
“We (Gardiner Foundation) have been around since 2000,” Mr Gardiner said.
“We have five strategic priorities: financial stewardship, which is all about how we manage our funds; community development, industry support, people in dairy, and research and innovation. Our purpose is to manage our funds to maximise benefits to all sectors of the Victorian dairy industry.
“What we’re trying to do is to help dairy farmers make more informed decisions about what they are doing and how they’re running their businesses on a day-to-day basis. We’re hoping that, by doing that, dairy farmers will be able to make choices that lead to greater profitability and ultimately put their heads on their pillows and sleep better at night.”
Helping to decide on who to bring in, Elevate Dairy’s Program Director and Principal at Beanstalk AgTech, Jolien Paalman, explained to the group that they wanted to target current challenges and solutions that the farmers present could utilise.
Some of the challenges that they came across were rising energy costs, multiple data systems, and body wear-and-tear.
“With all of that in mind, we set out to go and look for those innovations,” Ms Paalman told the group.
“We looked at all the companies and ran them through a selection process. We did that with support from some of the industry experts and our industry advisory committee.
“(The event is) about showcasing them to all of you so that they can hear your response to their products. Have conversations about the products. Understand how it fits. What might need to change. But also, we’ve been taking them onto multiple farms.”
Ms Paalman said that she hopes to take the innovative showcase further, rather than just a once-off, but as a continuous resource event. Morwell was the first stop in the “roadshow”, with areas in The Murray and West Districts next for the showcase.
After introducing Elevate Dairy, Ms Paalman welcomed and introduced each innovator: Levno, Ocean2Earth, Resolution, Skelex 360 (K2Agri), Surge Energy, Trev and UNIFORM-Agri.
Attendees were given group numbers, and they went to different innovators’ booths, where they heard their pitches, asked questions, and took a look at their products before moving on to the next innovator.
Levno
Levno is a New Zealand software company that gives dairy farm managers real-time visibility of their milk vats, fuel tanks, water troughs, and feed silos from one app. Levno sensors send automated alerts when something needs attention, catching problems before they become costly.
Ocean2Earth
Ocean2Earth is an Australian company that helps dairy farmers improve nutrient use efficiency, build healthier soils and progressively reduce reliance on synthetic fertiliser through a biological nutrition program made from recycled Australian marine resources.
Resolution
Resolution is a New Zealand software company that helps farm managers bring their tasks, records, maps, and team coordination into one simple, map-based app. Built by a group of New Zealand farmers, Resolution is designed for easy adoption by the whole team and works offline where reception is limited.
Skelex 360 (K2Agri)
Skelex 360 (K2Agri) is a hardware company from the Netherlands that helps dairy farmers and their staff to reduce the physical toll of milking. A wearable support that takes the strain off arms, shoulders, and back, Skelex 360 makes manual milking more sustainable and less painful over time.
Surge Energy
Surge Energy is an Australian Energy company that delivers Embedded Energy as a service for dairy farms, providing reliable, lower-cost, on-site renewable energy without upfront capital. The system is installed, owned, and maintained by Surge through a simple service agreement.
Trev
Trev is a New Zealand software company that helps dairy businesses turn farm data into clearer decisions. A single platform that brings together farm records, processor data, and compliance. Trev aims to make farms more productive, profitable, and sustainable.
UNIFORM-Agri
UNIFORM-Agri is a software company from the Netherlands that gives dairy farm managers a single platform to track individual cow health, fertility, and production. Cloud-based and integrated with all major milking systems and sensors, UNIFORM is the official replacement for MISTRO ( Australia’s herd recording software managed by NHD).
For more information on Elevate Dairy, go to https://elevatedairy.com.au/
