DemoDAIRY Foundation has now contributed more than $500,000 over the past six years to help develop a better future for the dairy industry in south-west Victoria.
The Foundation has recently topped the $1/2 million milestone as it continues to support the next generation of dairy farm and agribusiness workers to develop their skills and expand their experiences.
DemoDAIRY Foundation (DDF) was formed in 2018 after the former DemoDAIRY Cooperative near Terang was wound up, with funds from the sale of the property invested into a fund.
The good news is that grants and scholarships are expected to continue for several years.
DDF secretary Ian Teese said that over the six years to June 2024, the Foundation provided scholarships and grants totalling $517,475. This does not include the Powell Legacy Fund grants that are also administered by DDF.
Mr Teese said DDF retained more than $500,000 in capital and would continue to support the local industry. “The plan is to allocate this capital and future income from it to dairy related scholarships and grants over the next 3-4 years,” he said.
In 2024, DDF awarded scholarships worth up to $5,000 per year each to three postgraduate students, three students studying degrees, and 11 certificate and diploma students.
Mr Teese said most previous scholarship recipients were now working on dairy farms or in agribusinesses supporting dairy farms.
One such student is Cailtin Martin who is working as a graduate agronomist and in retail for AG Warehouse in Colac.
Ms Martin, who lives on her family dairy farm near Camperdown, said her DemoDAIRY Foundation scholarship helped as she completed her agribusiness degree at Longerenong College.
“The course gave me a great start to go out in the industry and now I’ve got a mentor agronomist to support me while I also help with sales in the store,” she said.
Other activities funded by DDF in 2024 include more than $25,000 to support two study tours to New Zealand by young dairy industry representatives, and a four-day training workshop for young dairy farmers on developing skills at act as second in charge on larger dairy farms.
In addition, DDF administers the Powell Legacy Fund which has awarded 11 scholarships valued up to $10,000 each to students with links to the Port Campbell Surf Life Saving Club.
The Powell Legacy Foundation will use all the Federal Government grant allocated in memory of Ross and Andy Powell by June 2025 but the Fund has some remaining money from other sources to support continuing scholarship holders for up to two more years.
DDF will hold its annual meeting on November 26 and is looking to fill two director vacancies.
DemoDAIRY Foundation is keen to sponsor more people in the farming industry. More information can be found at https://www.demodairy.com.au/scholarships/ or from DDF secretary Ian Teese on 0427 358987 or itag@bigpond.com.
