A reluctant starter, Zoe Greenslade is now embracing the dairy industry.
Photo by
Rick Bayne
Fate has played a big hand in setting Zoe Greenslade on an unexpected journey into the dairy industry.
Hold tight - we’re checking permissions before loading more content
Although she grew up on the family dairy farm at Kennedy’s Creek, Zoe didn’t plan to become a dairy farmer, but that’s when fate stepped in.
On the negative side, a broken leg and a follow-up knee injury put an end to her planned career in the equine industry.
On the positive side, a dairy renovation introduced her to her current share farming partner – not to mention her fiancé and father of her soon-to-be-born first child!
It has been an unconventional route to farming, but Zoe is now embracing the industry, particularly breeding.
Zoe and her fiancée Mark Alcaniz are on a 50-50 share farming agreement near Peterborough.
Her pathway is now inspiring others.
Zoe recently spoke to Timboon Agricultural Project Year 7 Science - Cows Create Careers students, admitting she was “a terrible student” even though she had good scores.
However, she stuck at it at her mother’s insistence and eventually found a good path through VCAL to complete Year 12.
She completed VCAL with two TAFE courses, agriculture and engineering, and worked two days a week on dairy farms, but her first love was horses and in 2018 Zoe went to Marcus Oldham College to study a Diploma of Equine Business Management.
“I’ve always ridden and was competing every weekend,” she said.
“If I wasn’t on the horse, I was asleep and I worked whatever job I could to pay for it.
“I really wanted to work with off-the-track thoroughbreds, re-training them and finding them homes. That all went to hell but you just have to roll with it and adjust.”
In 2019, Zoe returned to study farm business management but had trouble finding a placement and ended up on a sheep farm, even though she doesn’t like sheep.
“I couldn’t get on a dairy farm so I said I’m done and came home and was working at the Timboon supermarket and became a temporary department manager and then fell off my horse and broke my leg,” she said.
At the start of 2022 she injured her knee in another horse fall, later completely tearing her ACL while playing netball.
She’s now waiting on a knee replacement.
Zoe and her fiancé Mark Alcaniz have settled into a share farming arrangement at Peterborough.
Photo by
Rick Bayne
The initial break wasn’t too bad and healed in three months but by then Zoe’s supermarket shifts had been filled and she instead found a job milking, while avoiding the morning shifts.
About eight months in, a neighbour had to use the dairy to milk while his was being re-built. That was Mark Alcaniz.
“When Mark’s cows were able to go back to his dairy, they were going to spook a bit so I gave him a hand and he offered me a job. About six months later I moved in and it all went from there.”
They are now in partnership as share farmers, engaged and expecting in September.
Zoe has taken on a leading role for breeding decisions in the herd.
Photo by
Rick Bayne
“I couldn’t think of a better person to work with,” Zoe says.
“They say you shouldn’t work with your spouse in the yard, but we can work a mob of cattle with nothing more than about 10 words and a few nods.”
About three years ago they moved from Nirranda South to Peterborough in a new 50-50 share agreement, continuing to develop their herd along the way.
It’s a mixed herd but the main focus is Viking Aussie Reds with a few more Viking Holsteins being added to the mix.
About 15 per cent of the herd are excess calves purchased from local farm Long Road Dairies. When they moved, they bought 190 primarily Holstein cows from the previous share farmers though they are being bred out of the system.
Zoe also has a handful of Jerseys, a tribute to her grandfather.
“We like Holsteins for the good milk production but we mostly like the Reds,” she says.
“The Reds are a robust, healthy animal. They might be the highest portion of the herd, but they’re the lowest portion for where we have to spend more for health problems, and they’re typically really fertile.”
Coming off the drought, Zoe and Mark minimised their spring herd but are rebuilding numbers and will be up to 250-260 after calving.
“When we came here, the cows calved from March till October but we’ve divided it into split calving, 10 weeks in autumn and three weeks in spring,” Zoe said.
“We’re going to use an LIC short gestation bull this year for the last three weeks. It will mean we will join for 10 weeks but calve for seven before the real wet weather hits the springer paddock, which can get pretty boggy.”
Zoe has embraced the breeding side of farming.
“I didn’t know until I started looking at the breeding how much I enjoyed it,” she said.
“I get a tonne of enjoyment going through the catalogues and looking up bull stats. I sort of took over that.”
In the past, stature was the most important trait because the Nirranda farm had a small, narrow rotary dairy .
“We had to breed down in height but we’re starting to bring in more height now we have a herringbone, which will bring more capacity to make more milk,” Zoe said.
Udders are also a priority along with health traits and production, with the cows mostly achieving kilos to match body weight.
Mark does most of the milking and physical work and manages the pastures, Zoe oversees the breeding and computer cow management, using Easy Dairy.
Zoe, 27, wants to contribute to the industry, joining the Young Dairy Network leadership team for a year, becoming a Dairy Australia ambassador and joining on a New Zealand study tour.
When speaking to the students, her message was simple – there are unconventional ways to get into the dairy industry and when you do, it’s not just about putting cups on cows.
10°C