Jodie Foster has always loved being outside.
But despite her passion for the outdoors, she worked in an inner-city office after finishing school.
“There were days I had to chain myself to the desk,” Jodie said.
After spending years working in the office but not getting much enjoyment out of it, she knew it was time for a change and placed an ad on Gumtree, asking if anyone needed help on their farm.
A farmer in Colac contacted her after he saw the ad and she started working at his dairy farm milking 1100 cows.
“I just needed something different,” Jodie said.
“I wanted to be outdoors, and I’ve always loved animals. When the opportunity came up, I took it and it changed my life.”
Her first job on the farm was milking, and she had no previous experience whatsoever.
That did not stop her from jumping in and learning all she could.
Her employer encouraged her to attend a Cups On Cups Off (COCO) course in her first week on-farm, which took her to Gippsland.
“The course gave me a great foundation to work from,” she said.
Jodie is passionate about farming and loves to improve her skills.
She did a Certificate III in Agriculture at GOTAFE Warragul, a Certificate IV in Agriculture at TAFE Gippsland, and attended most of GippsDairy’s courses like Farm Business Fundamentals, Drones in Dairy, Healthy Hooves, In Charge Fertility, Milk Quality and more.
“I’ve done pretty much every course GippsDairy offers,” Jodie said.
But the one she says she still gets the most value out of was COCO.
“Everyone should do this course. It teaches you best practices in the shed and how your actions affect your cows.
“Anyone on the farm can benefit from this course and I guarantee you will learn something whether you’re a fifth generation dairy farmer or new to the industry.”
When Jodie moved to Gippsland from Colac more than six years ago, she also became part of the Young Dairy Network (YDN), which helped her find out about upcoming courses and gave her an opportunity to network with other young farmers in the South Gippsland region.
In 2018 Jodie received a spot in the Don Campbell Dairy Study Tour of Tasmania.
“The Don Campbell tour was an amazing experience,” she said.
“The opportunity to go away with a group of like-minded people, attend the DairyTAS Conference and study the dairy industry in Tasmania was something I’ll never forget.
“I still keep in contact with participants and facilitators from the trip.”
Jodie was also selected for the 2020 UDV New Zealand Study Tour. Unfortunately, COVID-19 put this on hold.
“I cannot wait to see what the New Zealand tour has to offer.
“Their way of dairying is quite different from South West Gippsland and I’m keen to see how they do things and to hopefully make more lifelong friendships along the way.”
When she is not milking, Jodie works at HICO as a herd test officer.
“The value of herd testing for farmers is immense,” she said.
“I feel there is a lot more work that can be done in this area to assist farmers.
“I would like to see more education for farmers on how to read the reports they receive and interpret these results to help with on-farm decisions, like dry-off for example.”
Her advice to new starters is simple.
“Don’t give up. The more you put yourself out there by attending workshops, the more relationships and knowledge you’ll build.
“Network as much as you can and build relationships with mentors.”
Jodie is doing exactly what she loves, working with animals and being outside.
But she never takes things for granted and always looks for ways she can improve her skills and expand her knowledge.
“There’s so much to learn on a farm and things are always changing. Take every opportunity you can to keep learning.
“The best thing about the dairy industry is that there are so many jobs that need to be done.
“If you don’t like one aspect, there’s a million other things that need to be done. You’re bound to find something you enjoy.”
Jodie enjoys her work and all that comes with it and cannot see herself doing anything else.
“It’s incredibly satisfying helping and watching a calf being born and a couple of years later you’re in the shed milking her.
“You don’t get that in any other job.”
She found her passion and thanks to a well-placed ad, now gets to do what she always wanted.
“I love going out to different farms and meeting awesome people along the way.”
If you want to know more about how to get started in the dairy industry visit www.gippsdairy.com.au or contact GippsDairy on 03 5624 3900 or email info@gippsdairy.com.au