Won Wron’s Paul Mumford appointed United Dairyfarmers of Victoria interim president

WON Wron dairy farmer Paul Mumford has been appointed interim president of the United Dairyfarmers of Victoria.

Paul Mumford, pictured with wife Lisa, has become the latest leader of the United Dairyfarmers of Victoria. Picture: Chloe Smith

WON Wron dairy farmer Paul Mumford has been appointed interim president of the United Dairyfarmers of Victoria.

Mr Mumford takes over the reins from Adam Jenkins, who recently announced he was retiring after four years in the top job.

The UDV’s policy council appointed Mr Mumford at its meeting in Melbourne this week.

It was a fast track to the top, after only becoming vice-president early this year when his predecessor, John Versteden, resigned when he was elected to the Australian Dairy Farmers board.

Mr Mumford’s position as UDV president will be formally put to members at its annual conference in Melbourne in May but he is almost certain to be elected.

“I am on a steep learning curve,” he said.

“I have to engage with all sectors of the industry and am going to be extremely busy over the Christmas period.”

Mr Mumford runs a 320-hectare dairy farm at Won Wron with wife Lisa and two full-time and a part-time employee.

He said they normally ran 450 cows on the farm but made a decision to cut milker numbers back to 360 in August and September due to the drought.

Mr Mumford said he was typical of most dairy farmers in that his farm’s cash flow was “horrid”.

“We may turn a profit if we get an autumn rain,” he said.

“Everyone is under stress.”

Mr Mumford paid tribute to Mr Jenkins, who, he said, steered the UDV through one of its most tumultuous periods in history.

“I take my hat off to Adam for his commitment,” he said.

“He always had dairy farmers’ best interests at heart in anything he tried to achieve.

“Whether you personally liked him or not is not the issue: we got to look at the job he did and the outcomes he achieved.

“The pressures that were put on him personally and his family were very difficult to manage with the problems of the industry during his presidency.”

Mr Mumford said Mr Jenkins was instrumental in delivering $900 million from the sale of the Port of Melbourne to agriculture, achieving farm energy grants from the State Government and played a role in the fires in southwest Victoria earlier this year.