Isy lived in Geelong on a small acreage and, she said, had an ambition to work outdoors and in the environment.
When she was at school, Isy enjoyed the opportunity to work for five weeks on a dairy farm.
“I liked the routine of it, and the work I did,” Isy said.
After finishing school, she went on to work in an environmental conservation program.
It was a previous relationship that saw Isy move from Geelong to Gippsland, to begin working casually on a dairy farm.
The lockdowns during COVID-19 pandemic meant she was stuck in Gippsland, but the resourceful Isy made the most of the opportunities.
“Pete and Kate offered me some casual work, then I got more involved with the farm through helping with calving,” Isy said.
Peter Neaves and Kate Mirams own an irrigated dairy farm on the outskirts of the small township of Newry, in central Gippsland, where they milk a spring-calving herd that peaks at 322 cows.
Peter and Kate received the 2024 Lyrebird Award from West Gippsland Catchment Management Authority for their environmental sustainability efforts, that have included protecting waterways and a lagoon on their property and reducing nutrient runoff, while managing a profitable dairy farm.
Sharing an environmental ethos created synergies between Kate and Peter as dairy farmers and their worker, Isy, who eventually was offered full-time employment.
“I enjoy working with the cows, milking, sunrises, and the stability of working on a dairy farm,” Isy said.
When she was at school, dairy farming wasn’t considered a career option, but Isy would like to see that change.
“Dairy can be pitched as a career, because there are pathways for development, and opportunities to build wealth and equity,” she said.
“There’s also opportunities in your job as a farm worker to specialise, for example, as a milker, or to grow pasture and make silage.”
Isy was encouraged by her employers to apply for the Don Campbell Memorial Tour scholarship and as a scholar, she was part of a cohort of young people in the dairy farming community to undertake a tour of Tasmanian farms and processors.
The tour immerses scholars in conversations about dairy farming, as they tour farms, research facilities and milk processors in Tasmania.
Isy said she saw farmers using virtual fencing collars on their cows, doing multi-species cropping and soil drenching.
“I took so many notes, my hand was cramping,” she said.
The tour enabled her to expand her understanding of dairy farming as a career.
“I’m personally more invested in farming after going on the tour,” Isy said.
“I’ve learnt more about breeding, and what other farmers do.
“Pete and Kate grow multi-species crops on their farm, and I saw what other farmers are doing with multi-species crops in Tasmania.
“You don’t know what you don’t know, and now I know more about dairy farming that I can talk about to other people.”
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