World Guernsey Conference

01/04/2026

Hard to believe it has been 3 weeks since we celebrated the end of the World Guernsey Conference with our Gala Dinner! Photos from Sam at oakburnphotography are now available to view and download
https://oakburnphotography.pixieset.com/18thworldguernseyconference2026/

Many thanks go to our Gala Dinner Sponsor GENEX Australia.
It was a night that celebrated the conference, the Guernsey breed and the community it has created. Brian Leslie took us on a journey through the history of Guernseys in Australia featuring many of our dinner attendees and was a real tribute to what we have achieved in Australia. We also presented the 2025 Photographic Competition winners as well as the winners of the Great Guernsey Snap Off competition. We capped off the evening with our auction and we thank everyone who bid or bought items

22/03/2026

Final day for the tour - a stop in Warwick at the Australian Rodeo Heritage Museum, where former champion Danny Kong showed us a great selection of rodeo memorabilia, with a stint at the steer roping.

A quick stockup of snacks at the local Woolworths before heading over to Summerland Camel Farm for a camel pie for lunch!

An informative session and an opportunity to feed the younger stock before heading back to Brisbane for our farewell dinner.

We hope you had a lovely time on tour, safe travels and look forward to seeing you in Canada in 2029!

21/03/2026

The tour visited the Fernybank herd of Laurie Dunne & family this morning- after a slight detour involving a railway bridge! We got to see a nice selection of the herd including daughters of Indigo, Helios and 2 herd bulls, Sunny Valley Excalibur Bentley and Shadow Valley Lawman.

The Queensland branch covered lunch at the Beaudesert Historic Society with drinks and ice cream treats from Norco Milk

From there we travelled across the Scenic Rim to Jim O'Donohues Shadow Valley Guernseys. What an absolute delight to finish the herd visits with such an enthusiastic and passionate breeder.

A small herd under 80 effectively managed with little outside support - selected herd bulls from Golden Ray, Glencrest and his own cow families resulted in consistent udders, robustness and clean dairy quality throughout the herd.

Another lovely show of hospitality from Jim too for afternoon tea.

The group is in Toowoomba for the final day of tour!

20/03/2026

The tour group left Coffs Harbour today to visit Yarrawarra Aboriginal cultural centre where the group embarked on a bush tucker walk sampling local plants along the way. From there we travelled to Lismore where Sunny Valley Guernseys had kindly sponsored our lunch at the local bowls club - a quick nip on the green before we headed out to the farm.

A real treat from Allan, Julie and Shannon Clark to see the Sunny Valley herd - heifers and milkers separated out from the Holstein herd to view 40% of the herd.

A bigger framed animal than some of our other herds we have seen, with tremendous rib and mid sections complemented by strong mammaries.

We saw milking daughters of Vengeance, Drone and Java along older Lambeaus.
Young stock include daughters of Torpedo and Missile.

From the Clark's we headed to the Gold Coast where we enjoyed the Australian Outback Spectacular - Gold Coast, Australia !

18/03/2026

Today the tour group kicked off the morning at Guulabaa Place of Koala with the arborists providing as much entertainment as the koalas.

We then travelled onwards to Marloo Guernseys - run by Michael & Paula Gray and family. With approximately 50 Guernseys within the 200 mainly Holstein herd, it was great to view the cows on the covered feedpad which had already lifted production! The Gray family supply a2 Milk Australia with every animal being A2A2.

Some great Australian families were represented including the Bundara Hettys of course.

After a delicious lunch and refreshments it was time to head onwards to Coff Harbour, but not before stopping for a tour of the Trial Bay Gaol, and of course sneaking in a snap of the Big Banana!

17/03/2026

The tour group headed to Grace Springs Farm for our first visit heading out of Sydney. Virginia Mall and family were very open talking about the opportunities and challenges of farming on a smaller scale, farming on 26 acres.

The small but lovely herd of Guernsey cows is complemented by layer hens, meat chickens and pigs.

Their Guernsey rose veal is grown to 6 months for optimum balance of growth and yield. Pigs are fed the milk, and the chickens drivers of natural fertilisers.

Very interesting to hear how they connect and that locally-farmed, ethically raised product is a priority for their customer base.

From there we drove to the Mortel Sheepskin factory, the home of the original 'ugly boot'!

An insight into maintaining Australian manufacturing against a wave of Chinese imports and legal battles with an overseas behemoth.

We are now in Port Macquarie gearing up for tomorrow!

16/03/2026

Everyone enjoyed a free day in Sydney yesterday and now we enter the last week of the tour. Check out what’s happening in the last few days as we head to Queensland!

14/03/2026

The tour has entered New South Wales… as we travel the Hume highway check out what is happening next week!

12/03/2026

Post tour is under way - check out what’s happening in the next few days

11/03/2026

The official proceedings of the 18th World Guernsey Conference have now come to a close. What a fantastic 2 days of speakers, conversation and networking! The room was filled with passion for the Guernsey breed and there was plenty to take away and think about as we take our next steps forward as farmers, breeders, enthusiasts and promoters of the Guernsey and the agricultural industry.
It was great to see the interaction with our sponsors at the trade stalls and a big thank you to everyone who supported us and the speakers that shared their insights.
We would like to recognize all of our sponsors
⭐️ Jefo - Major Sponsor
⭐️ GENEX Australia - Gala Dinner Sponsor
⭐️ Agri-Gene - Satchel Sponsor
⭐️ Semex Australia - Trade Stall Sponsor
⭐️ World Wide Sires Australia - Trade Stall Sponsor
⭐️ Zoetis - Trade Stall Sponsor
⭐️ Dairy Australia
⭐️ Lallemand Animal Nutrition Australia
⭐️ Halter
⭐️ Agriculture Victoria
⭐️ Digestron Probiotics
⭐️ SA/WA Branch Guernsey Cattle Society
⭐️ Guernsey Gold Milk/Guernsey A2 Milk

10/03/2026

Dr Zankar offered some great insights into transition management today! It has been wonderful having the local Jefo team here! We look forward to a great Day 2!

🐄✨ Where Dairy Excellence Meets Precision Nutrition

Jefo Australia is proud to attend the World Guernsey Conference on March 10–11 at the Paranaple Convention Centre, Devonport, Tasmania.

As a major sponsor, we look forward to connecting with the dairy community. Visit our booth to meet Dr. Razaq Balogun and Edwin Van Raavesteyn — and don’t miss Abdallah Zankar’s presentation!

See you in Tasmania.