Latest News
One of the highlights while away was celebrating his 22nd birthday.
“We went to a disco in Belgium,” Andrew said. “Then we drove back home to stay in Holland. It was pretty cool celebrating my birthday in two different countries.”
Andrew was among a handful of Young Farmers, who supply to Dairy Farmers, selected to travel on a three-month farm exchange, where he stayed with two different families in Holland, both about an hour’s drive from Amsterdam.
“There’s such a huge population of dairy farmers over there,” Andrew said.
“In Australia, we have about 9,000 dairy farmers spread across the whole country, in Holland, there are 24,000 all close together.”
While on exchange, Andrew worked on the farms, as if he was a local. During this experience, he discovered some very different techniques to those used on his family’s Hunter Valley farm where they graze 330 cattle on 500 acres.
Coming from one of the region’s most technologically progressive farms, Andrew was particularly interested in Holland’s widespread use of robotics in dairies.
“There are 6,000 robotic milking machines in Holland – the highest number in the world,” he said.
“Each robot can milk 70 cows per day, as many times as the cow wants to be milked.
“The cow walks into the robot, which electronically locates the teats, milks them and feeds them.”
Andrew said his travel experience provided him with insight into the future of dairy farming, but it also taught him about himself.
“I was pretty nervous about going over for such a big trip by myself,” Andrew said. “But it has really helped with my self-confidence. I feel like I’ve grown up a bit.”
While he missed home and his family during the exchange, he said he had to admit to missing his Coon Cheese.
“They call it the ‘land of tulips and cheese’ and I absolutely loved the cheese over there,” he said.
“But I have to say Coon is still the best. I love it on toasted sandwiches.”
