THE SA dairy industry has a new leader with South East dairyfarmer John Hunt elected into the role of SA Dairyfarmers’ Association president at its annual general meeting last week.
The announcement came after David Basham, who had held the role for more than a decade, stepped into the role of Australian Dairy Farmers acting president to guide the industry through its issues, including a low milk price.
Mr Hunt and wife Karen are equity managers in a 600-cow dairy and co-own a neighbouring 240-cow dairy with his brother at Allendale East.
The couple have recently purchased an adjoining 75 hectares, with plans to convert it into a 250-cow dairy.
They arrived in SA from New Zealand eight years ago with a dream of dairy farm ownership.
Mr Hunt joined the SADA board in 2013, and says he has a passion for supporting the needs of grassroots farmers and ensuring their voice is heard.
He says his interests lie in helping the next generation of dairyfarmers, protecting the farmer’s right to farm, securing profitability in the industry and establishing more transparency in industry-relevant government policy and planning.
He manages a team of full-time and casual staff with his family, which a helped build a desire for skills development and self-improvement.
This led him to study and complete an Advanced Diploma in Agriculture, which helped him establish industry best practice education.
It is this that allowed him more time off-farm for industry advocacy involvement, as well as providing his team with opportunities for career advancement.
Mr Hunt said, despite the occasional bump in the road, the future was bright for dairy farming in SA.
He said the state compared well in its business climate, agronomic advantages, relative water security and climate, to other dairying countries.
Mr Hunt believes having a strong team in place in his own dairy business, will allow him to dedicate more of his time to the dairy industry to achieve SADA’s mission of giving a voice to all dairyfarmers, and improve the viability and profitability of dairying into the future.
In accepting the role of president, Mr Hunt acknowledged the work done by his predecessor Nick Brokenshire.
“Nick did a power of work as interim president when he took on the role following David Basham’s departure to the ADF,” he said.
“He stepped up at a time when the industry was in significant turmoil and has guided the board and our new chief executive officer tremendously.”
At the AGM it was agreed Nick Brokenshire would continue in the role of vice-president of the association for the coming year.
