The Australian Dairy Farmers (ADF)’s National Council plays a crucial role providing input to ADF’s strategic direction and policy focus areas.
The National Council is responsible for developing policy for the ADF Board’s consideration and advising the Board of opportunities to improve the implementation of the ADF Strategic Plan. The National Council is a larger body that also keeps the ADF Board informed of member issues.
The National Council also oversees the Policy Advisory Groups (PAGs), providing valuable insight and support on new and emerging issues amongst the three PAG areas.
Ben Bennett is an experienced dairy farmer from south-west Victoria. He has experience in low-cost, lucerne-based pasture systems and domestic seasonal calving.
Prior to his work in the dairy sector, Ben worked for 13 years in the meat processing industry. In this role he managed everything from procurement to processing and international marketing exposure and has experience with costings modeling. Ben began his career on the floor with roles that ranged from labouring to quality control and technical project management. He then moved to the line and gained experience in executive management and whole of business consulting.
He has a graduate diploma in agriculture and a degree in biotechnology and bioprocess engineering.
Robert is a dairy farmer from Mount Compass and former member of the South Australian Parliament. The Brokenshire family currently milks 440 jersey cows and maintains a Jersey stud, breeding from a fourth-generation herd. The dairy is in an expansion stage at the moment and while they milk in a conventional herringbone dairy, they are in the process of upgrading to a high-tech rotary.
In parliament, Robert spent 23 years across a number of roles and as a member of both houses. He has been a dairy farmer for 40 years.
Although there are ongoing challenges and complexities in modern dairy farming, Robert sees that there are also great opportunities to sustainably grow both dairy farm gate returns and overall milk production. Consumers around the world are looking for healthy, natural, and affordable nutritious food and Robert says scientific and medical reports indicate that dairy can meet this demand.
Geoff Cox has developed and managed a 1,250Ha family farming business located at Ringarooma in North East Tasmania. The business consists of a dairy enterprise running 1,600 dairy cows, a dairy/beef enterprise and a processing potato production enterprise.
A third generation farmer, Geoff studied to obtain a degree in Agricultural Science through Melbourne University and has been a member of the Tasmanian Farmers and Graziers Dairy Council for a number of years, becoming chair of the Dairy Council in 2019.
Daniel Meade is a dairy farmer from Garvoc, south-west Victoria. Along with his family and team he milks 550 cows in a pasture-based herd focused on efficient, majority grass-fed milk production.
Daniel has served in local government, including as Mayor of Moyne Shire, and is currently a policy councillor for United Dairyfarmers of Victoria. He is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (GAICD), a Nuffield Scholar, and a member of the Global Farmer Network.
Daniel is passionate about strengthening the voice of dairy farmers in policy development, ensuring practical outcomes that support farm profitability, resilience and community sustainability. He values collaborative leadership and evidence-based decision-making and is committed to contributing constructively to the strategic direction of Australian Dairy Farmers.
Ian Noakes is President of the WAFarmers Dairy Council.
Ian and his wife Helen milk 600 cows on their farm at Forest Grove, south of Margaret River, which they took over in 1988.
Four generations of the Noakes family live on the farm and Ian and Helen now share farm decision-making with their sons Brad and Steve.
Ian is passionate about the cost-effectiveness of home-grown pasture for milk production, and breeding appropriate cows for Australian conditions.
He also has a strong interest in natural resource management issues and believes dairy farmers have many opportunities to reduce the industry’s carbon footprint.
Ian was previously a Director of Western Dairy. He also works part time for Genetics Australia.
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