Meet Casey!

The newest recruit to the Lely Gippsland team, Casey will soon become a familiar face as she steps into Farm Management Services, helping customers set up and get the most out of their Lely system.

Like most of the Lely Gippsland crew, Casey grew up on a dairy farm and has worked with animals ever since.

“Mum and Dad had about 400 cows out in Shady Creek”, she says. “My brother runs the farm now. I think he’ll be there forever.”

“Before Lely, I worked at the Ellinbank Research Farm for a couple of years. It’s a working dairy farm but they also run trials. We did a lot of feed trials and my focus was on pasture-based cows. Before that, I was a vet nurse at an equine clinic.”

Casey says she loves the local land and working with cows. “I guess I’m just used to being around animals and having a lot of space!”

Now at Lely Gippsland, Casey is an Advisor in Farm Management Services.

“You’re basically there to assist the farmer the whole way”, she explains. “Planning out the dairy and the grazing based on the robots, setting up the farm’s cows on the system, getting them going freely through the robots. Then you help the farmer get the best out of the system and the data”

“I’d like to be known as the person who always follows up. If you ring Casey, you know she’ll get it done. If she doesn't know the answer right away, she’ll find out and get back to you."

Casey says she made the move to Lely because “it’s a progressive company” and she loves how driven the team are in Warragul.

“They have big plans, and I think it’s a good move for dairy. It’s getting less and less common for people to get into it. Reliable labour is the problem I hear about most, or family not really wanting to work there. I don’t know how viable a traditional farm will be eventually.

“Even at my brother’s farm their biggest challenge has been finding someone they can leave in charge of the farm so they can step back. I think people will just implement more and more technology, and eventually all farms will be robotic. I think that’s the way it’s headed.

“It makes it much more appealing for people to think about working there.”

When she’s not on a farm, you’ll find Casey at the local harness races where she works as a Clerk at the track. She covers Warragul, Yarra Valley, Cranbourne and Melbourne race meets.

“You’re basically officialling the meet”, she says. “You make sure all the horses get onto the track in time, make sure they all go into the barriers, and you lead the winners back in.

“I’ve always had horses. I have three living with me now, two work at the track and one is just a pet. That keeps me pretty busy!”