Yarram farmers Andrea and Graeme Barlow star in Dairy Australia campaign

The Barlows have taken their humble dairy from a 330-head establishment to more than 1000-head in a 10-person operation.Here’s how they did it.

Forget their surname — when it comes to dairy productivity, Andrea and Graeme Barlow set the bar high.

The Gippsland farmers have been milking for more than three decades and in that time have taken their humble dairy from a 330-head establishment to more than 1000-head in a 10-person operation.

Working in a four-way business partnership with Mrs Barlow’s parents Ken and Marina Dixon, the Yarram farm is a multi-generational story with Andrea and Graeme’s son Jayden also working on the property.

“We started off with 330 cows on 500 acres (200 hectares) and now we have 1000 cows on 2500 acres (approximately 1000 hectares) — so there’s been a lot of change,” Mr Barlow said. “It wasn’t our intention to grow to a big scale, it just sort of evolved.

“We bought dad’s cousin place, in two different purchases, as they were located close by.

“Like any farmer, often you purchase adjacent land because it makes sense for the growth of the business and you keep progressing.”

Jayden and Graeme Barlow in the dairy on their farm at Yarram

The Barlows feature in a new Dairy Australia social media campaign to highlight the organisation’s work in on-farm worker training.

“We’ve held a lot of different GippsDairy and Dairy Australia programs on the farm over the years — AI courses, preg testing course, hoove management, a facial eczema course,” Mrs Barlow said.

“The dairy industry is changing all the time — there’s always something changing with dairy science and technology, so you’ve got to keep up to date.

“We’ve always encouraged people to take part in the Dairy Australia sessions because when they’re held locally and people show up, often there are more down the track.”