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Migrant's Stories
Over the past 10 years or so people from all over the world have chosen to be a part of the Tasmanian dairy industry.
These include:
Bruce and Venice Morgan-French From Tasman Agriculture
Bruce and Venice were interviewed about their experiences. You can hear their interview by downloading the audio file below. (Right click on the link and select 'Save target as', then listen to the interview in your computer's media player).
Click to download the MP3 interview
Alastair and Leslie Macdonald (NZ)
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.
Chris and Suzanne Cowley (NZ)
After hearing about the farms that were being developed by corporate agriculture and the opportunities that this offered, Chris Cowley moved to Tasmania from New Zealand.
His first job was building dairies and, during that time he had a good look over the area and sought employment on one of the corporate farms.
Marcel and Emma Leifhebber (Netherlands)
After falling in love with Australia as a young exchange student, Marcel Leifhebber, with the support of his family, moved from the Netherlands to Tasmania to begin dairy farming.
While on exchange, he met his future wife, Emma, and after returning to Australia, the couple moved onto a local Tasmanian farm as 33 per cent sharefarmers. After two years, they moved onto a corporate farm where they sharefarmed one farm (33 per cent) for two years, before adding the management of a second farm to their business.
Michael and Cheryl Hughes (NZ)
With a motto of "work hard, save and increase production" you can be sure that Michael Hughes and his family are running a successful dairy business in Tasmania.
Michael and his wife Cheryl decided to make the move to Tasmania after seeing some job advertisements in New Zealand newspapers.
Ashley Ker (NZ)
It's not often that someone decides to relocate countries after reading a sharefarming advertisement from across the Tasman, but Ashley Ker saw an opportunity to break into the Australian dairy industry and made the move to Tasmania.
Thirteen years later, Ashley realises how successful the move was. He is now milking 770 cows that produce 300,000kgs milk solids from 260 effective hectares with big plans to extend.
Drew and Kate Carter (WA)
The Carters made the move across the country from Western Australia, following the deregulation of the Australian dairy industry, to take advantage of the lower cost of production and the high returns from dairying on Tasmanian soil.
The venture has been a great success, with steady growth and progression on the farm in the seven years since then.
Matthew and Pippa Gunningham (UK)
Disillusioned with farming in the United Kingdom, Matthew and Pippa Gunningham decided to try their luck in Tasmania.
"In the UK, we experienced a great deal of pressure when we were farming - in particular the red tape that exists, and the demands of the general public to change how we farmed," Matthew says.
Ralph and Louise Heathcote (NZ)
Originally from New Zealand, when Ralph and Louise Heathcote were given the opportunity to sharemilk at Brittons Swamp in north west Tasmania they jumped at the chance.
Fourteen years later, they are still full of praise for Tasmania and are running a successful dairy business.
Herman and Suskia Van Luloff Umbgrove (Holland)
When Herman talks about his move to Tasmania you can't but help hear the excitement in his voice. He describes the whole process as "a piece of cake." Like so many others that have moved from Holland to Tasmania they did so because of their desire to farm in a far less regulated, more animal friendly environment.
Jon and Caroline Van Adrichem (Holland)
Jon and Caroline made the move to Tasmania nine years ago. According to Jon they have achieved here in nine years what they could only have hoped to achieve in Holland in 90 years. "In Holland if we wanted to milk an extra 10 cows we had to buy five hectares as well as extra quota, both of which are very scarce", Jon says. "In Tasmania the ability to grow is pretty well unrestricted."
