Going gold: Norco dairy farmers receive top honours

Four of Norco Co-operative’s dairy farmer members have been recognised for their milk quality at Dairy Australia’s Milk Quality Awards 2022.

The awards distinguish the top 100 farms nationally with the lowest bulk milk cell count (BMCC), demonstrating how Aussie farmers are continuing to safeguard the health of their animals and deliver high-quality milk.

All four Norco farmers have been crowned Gold, two in the Dairy NSW region and two in the south-east Queensland region.

Mike Jeffery, Chairman of the Board at Norco, said it was an honour for its co-op members to be recognised.

Norco couple Philip and Debbie Borham received the award for the fourth consecutive year.

“Our 250 cows are part of our family, and we pride ourselves on providing the highest quality of care, which has resulted in us receiving the gold quality milk award for the fourth year,” Philip said. “Another accolade to hang on the gate which shows not only our dedication to our herd but to the people that drink our milk.”

The McDonald family partnership also joined the Borhams as gold recipients in the Dairy New South Wales region.

“After experiencing the toughest year to date, it was a very pleasant surprise to receive gold and we will be displaying the award on our living room wall,” the McDonalds said.

For the south-east Queensland region, the McVeighs and Zischkes, both family partnership operations, were the gold recipients.

Based in Haden, Queensland, the Zischkes were honoured to receive their sixth consecutive gold.

“We are continually looking for ways to improve our farm practices to provide the best tasting dairy and being nationally recognised shows how committed to our community we are,” said the Zischkes.

With the goal of celebrating and recognising the highest quality milk producers across the nation, Dairy Australia’s Milk Quality Awards has been running since 2002.

To be eligible, dairy farms must process BMCC data for a minimum of nine months before it is supplied to Dairy Australia. The results are then used to calculate the annual average BMCC for each farm and gold status is awarded to the 100 farms with the lowest BMCC.

Image caption: The McVeighs