Cadbury Farmer of the Year award winners announced

Mondelēz International has announced the winners of the Cadbury Farmer of the Year Awards, celebrating excellence in agriculture and the efforts of its dairy suppliers. Five farmers were recognised for their performance across the categories of milk quality, innovation and sustainability, young farmer and female farmer.

For over a century, local food manufacturer Cadbury has been sourcing over 110 million litres of fresh milk each year from dairy farms across Tasmania. Many of the approximately 50 dairy farming families have been supplying the company for generations.

Darren O’Brien, Mondelēz International President for Australia, New Zealand and Japan, said the awards were established to honour hard-working Tasmanian farmers.

Mark Griffin, a fifth-generation farmer from Mount Patrick Estate, emerged as the recipient of the Milk Quality award.

“It’s an incredible honour for our team and 950-strong herd who work hard twice a day, 10 months of the year to produce high-quality milk. To deliver high-quality milk — it’s a bit of a jigsaw puzzle and you’ve got to get all those one-percenters right,” Griffin said.

In the Innovation and Sustainability category, the joint winners were Darren Fielding and Paul Lambert.

Fielding has invested in a robotic dairy that automates the milking process for his 330 cows, while Lambert has adopted smart cow collars, providing real-time data on the health and fertility of his cows and capabilities to control their feed allocation and movement across his 300-hectare property. Collectively, Fielding and Lambert’s families have been supplying Cadbury for nearly 80 years.

The Young Farmer award recipient was Brodie Hill.

Hill demonstrated a spirit of innovation and promise for the future of the industry, with a passion for developing aspiring farmers.

23-year-old Alice Abblitt was the winner of the Female Farmer award, showcasing leadership and dedication in a male-dominated industry. Abblitt has taken charge of the Abblitt family 500-cow farm.

Cadbury extended its heartfelt congratulations to all the winners and expressed gratitude to all farming families for their invaluable contributions to Cadbury and Mondelēz International.