The South Gippsland Dairy Expo celebrated 25 years last week, but the event at Korumburra was nearly stopped in its tracks with the storm that swept through Gippsland at the start of September.
A live powerline on the ground halted set up at Korumburra Showground at the beginning of the week. Many exhibitors were still bringing in their machinery on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, prior to the opening of the expo at 10am on Wednesday, September 4.
Fortunately fine weather for most of the two days saw the event well attended by dairy farmers.
The gumboot races on Thursday afternoon were completed just prior to rain that brought the expo to an early close.
About 110 exhibitors brought a range of generators, tractors, twin rotor rakes, milking machinery, stock feeders, silos and other farm machinery and equipment, examples of forage brassicas and rye-grass, along with information about services to the agricultural sector.
A breakfast on the Thursday morning honoured long term gold and silver sponsors of the expo, including three that had been founding supporters — Reid Stockfeeds, Saputo Dairy Australia (and previously as Murray Goulburn) and GippsDairy.
The expo is the initiative of Strzelecki Lions Club, and continues to be managed by them. Funds raised in the past 25 years has enabled the club to distribute more than $600,000 back into the community.
In the first decade or so, the expo was held at the Poowong football ground; since 2013, it has been held at the Korumburra Showground.
Almost since its inception, a panel of dairy farmers has discussed topical issues; it was facilitated originally by John Mulvaney, who was followed by Matt Harms since 2011.
“I began facilitating the farmer panel in 2011, when the expo was still at Poowong,” Matt said.
“We missed one year recently with COVID, and did one panel during an online expo during another lockdown period because of COVID.
“This year — 2024 — was my 12th panel.”
Each year in January, Matt and members of the Lions club meet to decide on the theme and brainstorm appropriate farmers who could be approached to talk about their business and their lives.
This year, the dairy farmer panel heard from Colin Gray and Ancret Shipton about their individual stories of meeting adversity in their farming businesses.
Since its inception, the farmer panel has been sponsored by South Gippsland Shire Council.
There have also been individual speakers, with Reid Stockfeeds and Rabobank sponsoring presentations.
Although there is an entry fee for the public, this has sometimes been scrapped during times of hardship, with expo sponsors covering the cost for farmers.
Last year, the Australian Dairy Industry Association supported the attendance of world class cheesemakers who spoke at a cheese tasting event at the end of day one of the expo.
Over the 25 years of the two-day expo, there have been a variety of novelty events pitting exhibitors, Lions club members and attendees against each other, including a beach volleyball competition and milking contest involving Jersey cows.
In recent years, the Gumboot Gift, a footrace, has attracted a growing following, with separate races for men and women, and the Lions race. This year’s Lions race finished in controversy.
The Udder Truth showbag was instigated in this past decade and has proven to be very popular. It also provides a considerable incentive for attendees to go through the expo, collecting proof they have visited exhibitors, and answering a quiz correctly — with $3000 first place, $1500 second place and $500 third place.
Some of the organisers have been involved in the expo since its inception.
Foundation members of the Lions club still involved are Graeme Lancey, Cliff Wallace, Bill Loughridge, Maurice Schwenneson and Noel Gregg.
Graeme Lancey was the president of the Lions club at the time the expo began. Graeme, his son Chris and grandson Callum are all involved in set up and pack up, with Chris also responsible for marshalling duties during the expo.
Cliff Wallace has been president of the organising committee for the past 24 years.
“All of us were dairy farmers,” he said.
Cliff and Bill are still involved in their family dairy farms, albeit each have stepped back from day to day involvement for the younger generation.
“We wanted to have an expo that brought the latest technology and machinery into our region, and focused on the farming side of things.”