WestVic Dairy Team

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Lindsay leads the team at WestVic Dairy. Before starting at WestVic Dairy in 2016, he established a career in the agricultural industry spanning a number of sectors including consulting, accounting, academia and government.

He was a senior lecturer at the University of Melbourne's Glenormiston Campus for 14 years, leading the business management section. More recently, Lindsay managed the business development team in the Barwon South West Region with Regional Development Victoria.

He returned to the dairy farming sector with a passion to see the industry thrive.

Office hours: Monday - Friday

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Born and raised at Terang, Amanda started with WestVic Dairy in July 2010 with a background in organisational administration and small business. She developed her skills in educational administration over many years at Glenormiston College.

Amanda’s role includes organising event catering, taking RSVPs and making sure everything runs smoothly within the organisation. Amanda is known for her friendly voice answering the phone and is always happy to help.

Office hours: Monday - Friday

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Libby is the coordinator of office operations including human resources and people, finance, and Project Officer Support. Libby works as Regional Extension Officer one day a week and also supports the WestVic Dairy Executive Officer and the WestVic Dairy Board.

Libby and her husband Rod run a dairy farm and Holstein Stud at Nalangil, outside Colac.

Office hours: Monday - Friday

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Liza is a long-standing employee and works as Project Officer delivering a range of WestVic projects including the Great South West Dairy Awards, Sungold Field Days, the Ladies Luncheon and numerous special events.

Liza was raised on a south-west Victorian dairy farm and now farms with her husband at Terang. She is a great contributor to many community activities.

Office hours: Monday - Friday

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Melissa supports the WestVic Dairy office, team and Board in a range of administration tasks to keep the office functioning in both current and new ways. She brings significant corporate administration experience from a range of jobs and most recently from the community banking sector in northeast Melbourne.

Office hours: Wednesday - Friday

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Peter joined the team in 2015 and takes responsibility for feedbase extension. He grew up on a dairy farm at Ardmona in northern Victoria and graduated from Dookie College with a degree in Applied Science Agriculture.

For more than 10 years, Peter has worked as a milk supply officer across Tasmania, Gippsland and south-west Victoria. These roles helped Peter develop strong working relationships within the dairy industry.

Office hours: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday

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Debbie is WestVic Dairy's extension officer responsible for Animal Health and Performance. Debbie qualified as a vet from Massey University, New Zealand in 1996.

Since graduating, she has always preferred working with dairy cattle and has spent the last eight years working in south-west Victoria for The Vet Group at their Allansford practice.

Office hours: Monday - Friday

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Michelle joined the WestVic Dairy team in 2016 with her extension role focusing on the 'people' area, including employment, skills and safety. She studied Commerce/Law at Deakin University and worked in Warrnambool for several years as a lawyer. Having now completed her Diploma in Human Resources, she is well equipped to support the industry in workforce matters.

Michelle was brought up on a sheep property on the northern edge of the WestVic Dairy region and is now dairy farming with her partner at Simpson.

Office hours: Monday - Wednesday

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Matt is WestVic Dairy's extension officer focussing on the 'people' area, including employment, skills and safety. He grew up on the family farm in the Lake District, England. After completing ag college he worked on several farms before travelling to Australia.

Following 10 years working as a paramedic both in England and Australia, Matt returned to the dairy industry as the Marketing and Communications Officer at WestVic Dairy, before stepping into his new role in extension.

Office hours: Monday - Friday

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Chris has joined the team at WestVic Dairy as the Regional Extension Officer in charge of delivering the ‘Our Farm Our Plan’ program.

He has close to 20 years’ business experience in Australian agriculture across a range of sectors including livestock, pasture and grains. After growing up in the Wimmera on his grandfather’s cereal farm, Chris managed national and regional roles in seed production, sales and marketing along with ruminant nutrition and livestock production.

Chris comes to WestVic Dairy after recently completing a bachelor’s degree in Commerce - focused on business management and international trade.

Office hours: Monday - Friday

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Sam will be coordinating and implementing plans and activities to ensure regional workforce attraction delivery activities lead to successful recruitment on dairy farms. Originally from Young, NSW, she grew up on a cherry orchard and has never lived in the city as she loves country communities and the laid-back feel with everyone pitching in to help a mate in need.

She has worked extensively with people in real estate, mining and the corrections system and now lives on her family dairy farm in Bookaar, breeding Scottish Highland cows as a hobby.She is passionate about the great region we live in and hopes to be able to make a difference, attracting new people to dairy so they too can experience the excitement of the industry.

Office hours: Monday - Friday

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Sheeraz is West Vic Dairy’s Regional Extension Officer in Farm Business Management, working to deliver innovative, well planned and collaborative regional extension and education activities in the region. He focusses on facilitating maximum practice change to achieve profitability and sustainability improvements on dairy farms. Sheeraz is also passionate about NetZero emissions and has worked as a project coordinator Zero30 Project and strategic research initiatives at the University of New England.

Sheeraz studied dairy extension at the University of New England and then completed his PhD in agribusiness management at the same university. He has worked in a range of research, development and extension roles including Regional Extension Officer with Pakistan Dairy.  

Office hours: Monday - Friday

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Jacinta liaises with schools, employment agencies and other organisations working in this space - and of course with farmers. She is working hard to inform and interest people, both young and mature, in the broad range of career opportunities in the industry. She is also providing dairy input into a number of employment programs running in the region. Being born and raised in Colac, she lives in Barongarook, just south of the city. With a background in land management and agriculture, she has been employed in a variety of roles within agriculture most of her working life, utilising her tertiary qualifications in agronomy and Conservation & Land Management. Through those various roles she has worked with and for farmers, land managers, landcare

groups, government authorities, community groups and training organisations. Jacinta also owned and operated a weed and pest control business for eleven years until the sale of the business in 2021. Since then she has pursued a few different roles until realising she needed to be back in the agricultural industry. If you are aware of chances to inform or promote workforce opportunities in the region, for example at your local school or community group - then please contact Jacinta.

Office hours: Monday - Friday

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A local, Aylish has a Bachelor of Arts with a major in Public Relations. While studying Aylish was employed by the Deakin University Student Association at the Warrnambool campus, and in that role supported the delivery of a range of service and engagement activities. She has also been involved with community groups and brings that experience the role. Aylish's interest in agriculture was sparked by her grandfather, who farms beef and sheep in south-west Victoria. She is excited to join the WestVic Dairy team and is looking forward to supporting and advancing the region's dairy industry. She will be actively working on our publications, email and social media channels, so welcomes any great stories or news that will help advance the dairy farming community.

Office hours: Monday - Friday