WESTERN Dairy's annual showcase Dairy Innovation Day will return to its traditional single-farm, onfarm format this year.
Ravenhill Pastoral, owned and operated by Ken Ravenhill and Western Dairy director wife Bonnie, will host the 22nd Dairy Innovation Day on Thursday, May 11, 9am to 3.30pm, on their Narrikup dairy farm.
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Biosecurity concerns - with foot-in-mouth and lumpy skin disease cases confirmed in Bali and elsewhere in Indonesia and a fear an unsuspecting tourist might bring one or both diseases back to Western Australian farms - prompted a change of format for Dairy Innovation Day last year.
The morning session with industry speakers was held in the Dardanup Hall, while afternoon inspections of nearby dairying operations on two farms, run by brothers Kevin and Phil Depiazzi and Michael Twomey, were conducted by bus to limit exposure from vehicle and visitor movements.
Elaine and Neville Haddon and their son Garry and his wife Tiffany at Sabina River in 2021 were the last to host an onfarm Dairy Innovation Day.
COVID-19 forced cancellation of Dairy Innovation Day in 2020, but Michael and Leanne Partridge who had been scheduled to host it on their White Rocks, Benger, farm, hosted a Spring Forum instead later in the year.
Dairy Innovation Day is the biggest dairy conference and exhibition in WA, sometimes attracting 300 people from an industry that has only 116 dairy farms.
This year the Ravenhill's 100-stand rotary dairy, the only one of its kind in WA and a significant infrastructure investment in 2021, will be open for Dairy Innovation Day visitors to inspect.
"Ken and I have been to some inspiring Dairy Innovation Days in our time and we are pleased to share our farm and farming practices in 2023," Ms Ravenhill said.
She and her husband, who have been married nearly 20 years and have four children, believe in a philosophy of gradual improvement.
Having purchased the family farm 10 years ago, it has grown to 1780 hectares, with an average herd size of 1700 cows producing 16 million litres of milk a year.
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"We're dairy farmers because we want to be dairy farmers," Ms Ravenhill said.
"We make tiny improvements to suit us and our business which may not even be noticeable until two or three years down the track.
Western Dairy regional manager Jo Saunders said the organisation was "excited to collaborate with Ken and Bonnie to deliver what is sure to be another successful Dairy Innovation Day".
The day will conclude with a gala dinner at the Albany Entertainment Centre.
To register to attend Dairy Innovation Day 2023 or to purchase tickets for the gala dinner, search for Dairy Innovation Day 2023 Tickets on Eventbrite.
