More Than Milk Chloe Brown

This is the second part of my incredible chat with Aaron Thomas, so if you haven't listened to part 1 yet, head there first and then come back here because you won’t want to miss this chat.
In this week's epsidoe Aaron shares his involvement within industry and the newly formed Dairy Farmers Victoria, how he has taken on part of the farming business and we delve in the 3 pillars of the business and chat about all things farming. 
In the spirit of reconciliation we would like to acknowlegde the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their Elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. 
If you know someone who you think would be great on the podcast, or you would like to share your story, please get in touch by sending an email to podcast.morethanmilk@gmail.com or stay connected by following us on Instagram or Facebook and send us a message - I'd love to hear from you. 
PROUDLY SUPPORTED BY CREAM OF THE CROP 
Cream of the Crop is a two day conference, providing an opportunity for women in the dairy industry to come together to learn, connect and grow. Recognising the contribution, regardless of their role, they make to the industry and their wider community. Save the Date for the 30-31st of July. More details are coming soon, so keep an eye on Instagram  or Facebook   or check it out on the Website 
 
 
 
 

Aaron Thomas farms with Paul & Lisa Mumford in South East Gippsland, starting in a farm hand role and slowly progressing, taking on more responsibility and every opportunity to gain experience and knowledge as a self proclaimed sponge. He believed he was ready to take the next step and when Lisa & Paul purchased a second farm, Aaron was given the full reins to manage the operation. But it was here that his relationship with alcohol became increasingly damaging to his mental and physical health and detrimental to the farming business. 
I had goosebumps for the entire chat, so for part 1 this week he shares incredibly openly and honestly about his mental health and relationship with alcohol, his 2 failed suicide attempts, how it was Paul and Lisa who saved his life and how completing the Australian Rural Leaders Course changed it.  And just a heads up we do discuss mental illness, alcohol dependency and suicide, and how Aaron is working to normalise the conversation around mental health, with one conversation at at time, but if you are struggling with your mental health or dependency on drugs or alcohol I do urge you to chat with someone you trust and seek help from a GP or healthcare professional. 
In the spirit of reconciliation we would like to acknowlegde the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their Elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. 
PROUDLY SUPPORTED BY CREAM OF THE CROP 
Cream of the Crop is a two day conference, providing an opportunity for women in the dairy industry to come together to learn, connect and grow. Recognising the contribution, regardless of their role, they make to the industry and their wider community. Save the Date for the 30-31st of July in Echuca Moama. Tickets and the full program will be released soon, so keep an eye on Instagram  or Facebook   or check it out on the Website 
If you know someone who you think would be great on the podcast, or you would like to share your story, please get in touch by sending an email to podcast.morethanmilk@gmail.com or stay connected by following us on Instagram or Facebook and send us a message - I'd love to hear from you. 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Pia Osborne is an animal lover with a real passion for farming. Currently she is working in Gippsland in a farming family business but her farming career began in large scale corporate farms after working as a vet nurse. In today’s chat Pia shares the differences between the farming systems, how she’s been able to transfer her skills from vet nursing into farming and shares some ideas about how to encourage others to become involved in dairy.
Now I also want to apologize up front, the audio quality is not as perfect as I'd like it to be, so please bear with us. 
In the spirit of reconciliation we would like to acknowlegde the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their Elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. 
If you know someone who you think would be great on the podcast, or you would like to share your story, please get in touch by sending an email to podcast.morethanmilk@gmail.com or stay connected by following us on Instagram or Facebook and send us a message - I'd love to hear from you. 
PROUDLY SUPPORTED BY CREAM OF THE CROP 
Cream of the Crop is a two day conference, providing an opportunity for women in the dairy industry to come together to learn, connect and grow. Recognising the contribution, regardless of their role, they make to the industry and their wider community. Save the Date for the 30-31st of July in Echuca Moama. More details are coming soon, so keep an eye on Instagram  or Facebook   or check it out on the Website 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Brendan Saunders grew up in New Zealand and farming was always going to be what he was going to do. Now if you’ve listened to Nicole’s episode from a couple of weeks ago, you’ll have half of the story… but there is so much more to hear. Brendan loves a simple farming system! From the way he grows grass, to the way they breed cows, Simple is his moto. Having a system that is easy to replicate so when and if an opportunity comes they’ll be ready to jump in to action. But he also shares how they’ve prepared themselves for each opportunity. 
In the spirit of reconciliation we would like to acknowlegde the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their Elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. 
If you know someone who you think would be great on the podcast, or you would like to share your story, please get in touch by sending an email to podcast.morethanmilk@gmail.com or stay connected by following us on Instagram or Facebook and send us a message - I'd love to hear from you. 
 
 

This week to celebrate 50 episodes, we are doing things a bit differently - the guest today is me!!! It is the most commonly asked question, when will you share your story? so here it is, why I’m involved in dairy and how and why the podcast came to be.
I am joined by my lovely friend Renata Cumming who is guest host for the episode and although we touch on some heavy topics, including pregnancy and child loss it gives an insight into why I love dairy, why I really do love having these conversations and bringing them to the world.
In the spirit of reconciliation we would like to acknowlegde the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their Elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. 
PROUDLY SUPPORTED BY CREAM OF THE CROP 
Cream of the Crop is a two day conference, providing an opportunity for women in the dairy industry to come together to learn, connect and grow. Recognising the contribution, regardless of their role, they make to the industry and their wider community. Save the Date for the 30-31st of July. More details are coming soon, so keep an eye on Instagram  or Facebook   or check it out on the Website 
If you know someone who you think would be great on the podcast, or you would like to share your story, please get in touch by sending an email to podcast.morethanmilk@gmail.com or stay connected by following us on Instagram or Facebook and send us a message - I'd love to hear from you. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Nicole Saunders moved to Australia from New Zealand with husband Brendan in 2018 and has been focused on growth ever since. Starting out as sharefarmers, they’ve grown each year allowing them to be in a position to purchase their current farm, lease another dairy and have multiple outpaddocks along with the very successful hospitality business the Berry Dairy.
In this week’s chat, Nicole shares the differences to farming in New Zealand, how they were able to progress to their current farming operation, why they’ve diversified the business and stated the Berry Dairy as well as how they’ve gone from an empty paddock to a pick your own strawberry farm and cafe with upwards of 130 visitors daily. She is incredibly open about the challenges and the many things they’ve learnt throughout the whole process. 
Check out the Berry Dairy for more info at https://theberrydairy.com.au
In the spirit of reconciliation we would like to acknowlegde the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their Elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. 
If you know someone who you think would be great on the podcast, or you would like to share your story, please get in touch by sending an email to podcast.morethanmilk@gmail.com or stay connected by following us on Instagram or Facebook and send us a message - I'd love to hear from you. 
PROUDLY SUPPORTED BY CREAM OF THE CROP 
Cream of the Crop is a two day conference, providing an opportunity for women in the dairy industry to come together to learn, connect and grow. Recognising the contribution, regardless of their role, they make to the industry and their wider community. Save the Date for the 30-31st of July. More details are coming soon, so keep an eye on Instagram  or Facebook   or check it out on the Website