The South West Young Dairy Farmers (SWYD)

1. Group Vision

To create a vibrant and self-sustaining ‘melting pot’ of young, motivated, forward thinking people aspiring to a career in dairy, that together will help deliver a positive image for dairy and contribute to the creation of an economically and socially sustainable dairy industry.

2. Mission

The ethos of the Group is to engage participants in activities essentially through social learning and interaction and to use this as a base to motivate and inspire industry peers.

3. Operating Guidelines 

3.1 The Group will be administered under the auspices of Western Dairy 

3.2 There will be no formal membership (as this was seen as structure and boundaries that many potential participants would not welcome)

3.3 The founding participants (as listed on the front of this document) will maintain a Contact List comprising names, emails and mobile phone details of “qualifying persons”

3.4 Only persons under the age of 35 and with a career (or intending career) in dairy, are considered “qualifying persons” and can be included on the Contact List.

3.5 There is no geographic restriction applied to people on the Contact List, however those residing outside the Cape region will need to travel to attend events and activities

3.6 Activities managed and conducted by the Group will be predominantly in  the areas of Busselton, Cowaramup and Karridale.

3.7 The Group will, from time to time, invite “Industry Celebrities” (those over 35 with a special skill) to join an activity – either formally or informally

4. Activity Guidelines

There are four different categories of “Activity”.

1. Executive - Founding participant executive meetings (to schedule group activities and prioritise learnings) - will be scheduled on an as-needs basis.
2. Bi-monthly Group Social Learning Activities – essentially social gatherings (certainly marketed this way), but with deliberate ‘introductions’ of learning opportunities through experience.
3. Formal learning activities - structured in response to seasonal needs, and facilitated and scheduled as identified during the Social Learning Activities.
4. Social Events – scheduled at an adhoc basis, but facilitated through the Bi-monthly group Activities.

Of the four activity types, only the Bi-monthly Group Social Learning Activities has firm operating guidelines, as described below:

4.1 Invitation Style – utilising the contact list, invitation is to be largely through personal contact of the founding participants, direct to persons on the list.

4.2 Gathering Style – needs to facilitate optimal interaction, so minimal time taken ordering meals (making decisions/paying) – so this needs to be well organised before hand

4.3 Learning Style - The gathering should include a presentation of “experiential learning” -  15 minutes maximum (By that we mean a presentation where someone presents a personal experience of relevance to the group – as this provides for the most comfortable form of delivery and optimal form of listening)

4.4 Mentor Style - The gathering may include an “industry celebrity’ guest – who would be introduced to the group and would have the opportunity to provide a maximum 2 minute overview of their particular skills/experience that may have relevance to the group

4.5 Decision Style – the gathering will be managed by the group facilitator in order to extract learning needs and priorities from the group. The intention is that most “industry celebrity” presentations will lead to a formal learning activity – that will be well supported due to the networking and informal contact the group will have had.

5. Training Activities

Overwhelmingly, the guideline for training identification works according to the following quotation:

“Just get us here socially and we’ll learn from each other”

All training activities to be facilitated with consideration to the “reluctant learner”.

Training opportunities to be identified via the Social Learning Activities

Training opportunities to be restricted to persons within the Contact List demographic, to ensure that participants are not overwhelmed by more senior/experienced people. The essence of the training must be that participants work in a like-minded, like-aged group.

6. Provisional “Formal” Training Priorities

This list described below is to be considered a living list and will be developed as meetings progress. The first round of prioritising provided the following items for training needs:

• Grain rations – balancing feed
• Pastures for Profit 
• Succession planning 
• People management 
• Leadership and personal development opportunities

More information: SWYD Coordinator, Esther Price – at the Western Dairy offices +61 8 9525 9222.

esther@estherprice.com.au

7. Dairy Traineeships - More Information

Please download the following documents for more information:

• Prospective Trainee Information Flyer
• Information for Prospective Trainee Employers