Young gun Brooke Monk has her sights set on sole ownership
Belladonna Pastoral’s Brooke Monk is running a thriving 500 cow operation. The 20-year-old says seeing what others do helps her make business decisions.
Belladonna Pastoral’s Brooke Monk is one step closer to her dream of taking over the family farm.
The 20-year-old farm manager wrapped up the Proud to be a Dairy Farmer program on Friday, as one of this year’s 28 participants. She is currently managing a 500 milking cow dairy farm.
“I’m the only family member on the farm now, I went from assistant manager to my dad passing away, so I took over running the farm,” Brooke said.
“Dad (John) was my mentor, I worked beside him every day. Going from that to the big step, now I make the decisions and need to make the right one, which was a bit of a change.
“Eventually I’d like to take over the business and be the sole person of ownership. Being a young farmer I need to work a few things out before I’m able to take it all on.”
The Fonterra Australia Suppliers’ Council-supported program reached its fifth year with 100 applications total. Deniliquin’s Jane Napier was also one of 28 selected farmers.
The program aims to support young farmers with 78 participants from every state to date, representing 18 processors.
“Everyone has different farming systems and it’s been quite eye-opening to see green pastures, it’s very different compared to where I come from,” she said.
This year’s group visited two small and large-scale operations at Labertouche. Brooke said the visits reinforced her focus on producing a quality product.
“That’s what I really love doing, I love growing the grass and pushing the cows to do good milk solids to be able to produce a premium product,” she said.
“You never stop learning, and I like seeing and talking to other people about what they do to put back into the business at home and see whether it will work or not.”
Brooke has since returned to the farm and will focus on autumn sowing clover and Italian rye-grass, and her self-named “rainbow herd” of Jerseys and Holsteins will begin calving in 12 days.
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