'The eight Regional Development Programs are the 'on ground legs' of Dairy Australia, providing a
regional source of research, development and extension, and a direct link to the activities
funded by the R&D levy.
Click here for the RDP map.
Click on the title of each region for a full regional profile.
The Subtropical Dairy Program's region covers approximately 1500 dairy farmers stretching from
Kempsey on the NSW North Coast to the Atherton Tablelands in North Queensland. The great geographic
diversity of this RDP requires diversity in the projects that are at work, to ensure each is
tailored to the specific needs of the dairy farmers and their associated catchments.
The DIDCO regional plan has been written with the consultation of the 960 dairy farmers in the
central regions of NSW. The region's dairy herd is split equally between the Northern and Southern
coast.
The Murray Dairy region reaches 3300 dairy farmers in Northern Victoria, North East Upper Murray
and the Riverina. The Murray Dairy RDP is the largest of the regions and is responsible for almost
30% of the national milk production. Except for some high rainfall farms in the North-East, dairies
in this region are mostly reliant on irrigation, sourced from the Murray River.
This region incorporates some 2600 dairy farmers from Whittlesea north of Melbourne, to the Can
River in far-East Gippsland. The mild climate, reliable rainfall and rich soils make for an ideal
dairying environment.
The Westvic Regional Development Program extends West of Melbourne, along the South coast of
Victoria. Most dairy farms in this region rely entirely on the average rainfall of 700-1000mm, with
roughly one quarter of the farmers utilising some form of irrigation to supplement feed production
over summer/autumn.
The Tasmanian dairy herd, represented by around 600 farmers, is predominantly in Northern Tasmania.
The Tasmanian dairy industry contributes approximately 6% of the national milk production.
The DairySA Regional Development Program prepared its regional action plan for around 550 dairy
farmers that populate the Adelaide Hills, Mid-North, River and Lakes districts and South East
regions.
The Western Dairy Regional Development Program represents around 300 dairy farmers, whose
properties hug the coastal agricultural areas from 60km South of Perth, South to Augusta and
Albany. About half the WA dairy farmers incorporate some kind of irrigation.
