Meet Woody!

Growing up in a family-owned farm machinery dealership, Andrew (or ‘Woody’ as he’s known to us) always had an interest in agriculture. In the years since then he’s touched most facets of the industry, finding his place living and working in dairy in Gippsland; “Beautiful, fertile, high-rainfall farming land” as he calls it.

“I’ve been working in Gippsland for over 15 years in the dairy industry”, Woody tells us. “After finishing my Bachelor of Ag Science I started in dairy as a ruminant nutritionist in stockfeed. I also ran my own Hay contracting business for several years. Other roles involved milk supply, managing an Agri-supplies business, and heading up Redwood Agsolutions which is a consulting business.”

One of those roles involved Woody travelling to the US to do some training in dairy, where he took the opportunity to elope in New York. “It was all pre-planned, not last minute!” he assures us. “My one-year-old at the time was my best man.”

But mostly Woody enjoys being out in the elements and working with farmers. “I love the challenge of helping farmers to achieve a better result in whatever they do”, he says.

“I’m proud of the relationships I’ve developed with farmers and others in dairy. It’s important to build strong networks. We’re all in this industry together and you might be surprised by the amount of people willing to share their knowledge and work together."

Now at Lely Center Gippsland, Woody describes his role as “Assisting farmers with understanding how AMS may work for their operation and providing options to optimise it”.

“Technology and data have always been an interest of mine and this is what AMS is all about”, says Woody. “I’ve seen what robots can achieve, being lucky enough to work with Darryl Hammond - who has been an AMS farmer for seven years - as a consultant. He has taught me a lot over the years.”

Woody says that while farms continue to face “all the usual suspects” like volatility of input costs, milk prices and seasons, “For some farmers, skilled labour and succession planning are becoming their most important challenges”. 

“With the decades of R&D that have gone into the Lely AMS and how well it can work, it may be the best option for some farms to mitigate risk with skilled labour and entice the next generation.”

“I think AMS is at that same turning point as Rotary platforms were 20-25 years ago when they really took off. Using technology and data to improve profitability and work life balance is the future for the people in the business who are on the same page.

“Adopting change will be the challenge facing the industry. But I’m excited to see what it will look like on-farm in 20+ years from now.”

When Woody’s not out talking shop with farmers, you’ll find him with his family in the great outdoors.

“Family time with Libby my wife and our kids is the best. I have a five and seven year-old that enjoy the outdoors and adventures. Water skiing (until I broke my foot), mountain biking, camping trips away or just travelling in general.”

Woody says Gippsland is perfect for them as it’s “Not too far from the beach or the Victorian High Country - location, location, location!"