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Alastair and Leslie Macdonald
Like many Kiwis, the Macdonalds moved from New Zealand to Tasmania for a number of reasons: the land was reasonably cheap compared to other places in the world, it had a suitable climate for dairying and there were opportunities to grow their dairying business.
And grow their business they certainly have.
"Eleven years ago we started out milking 400 cows on 211 hectares with no irrigation," Alastair says. "We've now increased the scale of the business to the point where we now milk 580 cows on the same area. We have 80 hectares of centre pivot irrigation and will increase this to 130 hectares this year, which will allow us to milk about 650 cows on the home farm."
"We also lease another farm nearby and milk 250 cows on that, and have purchased run-off blocks and now live off the farm with employees running the farms."
The Macdonalds see further opportunities to grow the business and to increase production. Part of this stems from Fonterra's commitment to encouraging milk growth, as well as improvements in the industry over the past few years.
"The industry is better serviced now than when we first arrived - although we did receive a significant amount of invaluable support from the field staff," Alastair says.
Other than their successful farming business, the Macdonalds also enjoy the lifestyle that Tasmania offers.
"The climate here is very comfortable and the natural environment is unspoiled and right on your doorstep," Alastair says. "The education system is wonderful and the local community has made us feel very welcome."
"We're also able to get to both New Zealand and Melbourne in a reasonable amount of time from the local airports, which is lucky because we do miss family and friends in New Zealand a lot."
"One thing that we have found hard to get used to is the isolation. In New Zealand we were surrounded by a lot of people who were also dairy farming. It's unusual not to have a lot of people around us doing the same thing."
"The summers here are a lot drier than we initially expected, and we had to adjust our farming practices accordingly. This showed us that, although most things here are similar to New Zealand, we do have to do things differently."
Alastair and Leslie Macdonald
