Matt and Alli Reid named The Weekly Times Coles 2020 Farmer of the Year

Dairy farmers Matt and Alli Reid have been named The Weekly Times Coles 2020 Farmer of the Year. All the category winners here.

Matt and Alli Reid, on their farm at Carlisle River, have been named The Weekly Times Coles 2020 Farmer of the Year. Picture: Zoe Phillips

A VICTORIAN couple who have overhauled their dairy business to extract maximum returns has been judged Australia’s best farmers.

Matt and Alli Reid, from Carlisle River, near Colac, in southwest Victoria, tonight took out top honours in The Weekly Times Coles 2020 Farmer of the Year awards.

The Reids run a finely tuned dairy operation milking 675 cows on 650 hectares. Since relocating to southwest Victoria from drought-ravaged irrigation districts of northern Victoria less than 20 years ago, the Reids have more than doubled the size of their business, switched from supplying the global to domestic fresh milk market to reduce risks associated with fluctuating prices and lifted annual returns on assets to almost 10 per cent — nearly double the average of local herds.

“We have spent a lot of time investigating methods of reducing risk and increasing the speed of getting to a point where life is easier,” Matt said.

Working on the basis that they don’t know everything, the Reids employ experts to fill knowledge gaps, are fastidious when it comes to planning and financial oversight, work hard to provide the best and safest working environment for their five staff, and have positioned themselves to capitalize on industry trends such as the A2 milk phenomenon.

“We want to be in that spot where preparation and opportunity meet,” Matt said.

The Weekly Times Coles Farmer of the Year awards honour the best in beef, cropping, dairy, horticulture, sheep and innovation.

The Reids earlier took out the Dairy Farmer of the Year title.

Matt and Alli Reid on their dairy farm at Carlisle River in Victoria. Picture: Zoe Phillips

Other Victorian winners included Tom and Olivia Lawson from Paringa Livestock at Murrindindi, who took out Beef Farmer of the Year, Paul and Sally Bethune from Bethune Lane Dairy at Lake Boga, who were named Innovative Farmer of the Year, and Darren and Kylie Schurmann from Hamilton, who triumphed in the sheep category.

The awards attracted finalists from NSW, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia and Victoria.

NSW and South Australian farmers walked away with one gong each, with the Bell family from Mountain Blue Farms at Tabulam winning Horticulture Farmer of the Year and the Baldock family from Karinya Ag at Buckleboo judged Cropping Farmer of the Year.

The awards were presented by Olympian and TV personality Giaan Rooney. Each category winner received $5000 with the overall Farmer of the Year collecting a further $10,000.

• Read more about the winners in a special 32-page magazine, free* in The Weekly Times on March 3.

*The Weekly Times $2.90 (VIC/NSW Riverina)