Ryan and Alysha Conlan establish southwest Victorian dairy farm

Alysha and Ryan Conlan built their way towards making their dairy farming dream a reality. Here’s how they achieved it.

Alysha and Ryan Conlan’s lives used to be like the television renovation madness of The Block. These days, the southwest Victorian couple have built a career that’s more like TV sitcoms Always Greener or The Good Life.

The dynamic dairy duo had a goal to get out of the construction industry and enter dairy farming full-time by their early 40s.

“We both grew up in farming but our families steered us in a different direction — like many farming parents, they saw it as the hard way,” Alysha said.

“But once you get bitten by the farming bug, you can’t shake it.”

Ryan and Alysha Conlan with their two kids 9yo James and 7yo Lewis, Floppy the Jack Russell terrier and Rip the Border Collie on farm at Elingamite Picture: Zoe Phillips

Ryan’s family were in the sheep and cropping sector in central Victoria while Alysha’s family hails from south Gippsland with a background in market gardening.

“We had a construction business for 15 years. Our goal was to get out of construction by the time we hit 40 — we didn’t make the 40 cut-off but we got close,” Alysha said.

“Our work was like the TV show The Block — we were in construction and renovation but in a way, it’s good training for farming because you’re starting from the ground up.

“We had beef cattle on the side while we were in construction — 100 calves in the autumn, 100 calves in the spring. It was for a bit of cash flow, building up a beef herd.”

Mentoring from retired farmers and Dairy Australia assisted the Conlans into dairy farming but the banking sector was difficult with rising interest rates and more restrictive lending practices for prospective primary producers.

“We had a look at a Rochester dairy farm in 2021 but the bank pulled out on that one. That was the hardest part of the process, getting the banks across the line,” Ryan said.

The Conlans have operated a farm at Elingamite, a short drive from Cobden, since November 2023 with 300 cattle, 100 yearlings and 100 heifers on 315ha.

“Then we started looking at the southwest and this farm near Cobden came up,” Ryan said.

“We were lucky to establish a great relationship with the previous farm owner here — he really helped guide us through what to expect.”