• Subtropical Dairy
  • SD Management Team
  • Regional Teams
  • SD Annual Reports

Subtropical Dairy is one of eight regional development groups across Australia's dairying areas. Dairy Australia established this structure to provide a mechanism for dairy farmers to have strong involvement in identifying, selecting and managing research, development and extension activities their own regions.

Australia's sub tropical dairy region extends from Kempsey in NSW to the Atherton Tablelands in Far North Queensland. This region has a variety of environmental, climatic and production conditions which pose some unique challenges to dairy farming.

The real aims of Subtropical Dairy are to give industry direction to R,D&E in tropics by;

• Capturing information on farmers' needs/issues
• Developing relevant projects to address these needs
• Ensure farmer input into project selection, development, & implementation
• Ensure funds are captured from all possible sources
• Ensure outcomes achieved for industry.

Our Mission

"The Subtropical Dairy Program fosters a collaborative and unified approach to farm viability, by facilitating research and extension, improving technology and empowering people in the industry."

Our Vision

"The subtropical dairy industry is a profitable, sustainable and market focussed industry practicing responsible resource management and offering a fulfilling lifestyle to adaptable professional people."

Goals

• Productivity: To achieve annual increases in on-farm productivity of 3% by 2010."
• Natural Resource Management: To have regionally defined, nationally consistent targets for natural resource management and animal welfare by 2002 and these targets achieved by 2010.
• Human Resources: To have 50% of farm owners/operators and managers achieve Level 6 competency, and 50% of farm workers achieve Level 3 competency by 2010.
  

Regional Teams

The size and spread of the Subtropical Dairy area has led to the establishment of the Regional Teams. Each team can focus on issues specific to their own region and farming systems.

The Regional Teams propose their own projects. These along with other major projects that Subtropical Dairy is investigating are assessed by the Technical Advisory Group, a fairly informal group that can lend scrutiny to methodologies prior to the project being approved.

Business aspects of the organisation are managed by the Management Committee and the entire organisation is overseen by the Board which is comprised of farmer members.