A Dairy Educator Wins Australian Rural Woman of the Year

Zanker operates a mixed farming and dairy enterprise covering 4,000 acres, where 300 cows are milked under a year-round calving system. The property gives visitors direct exposure to commercial dairy activities, including mechanised milking, calf rearing and on-farm biosecurity procedures.

Before joining the farming operation, Zanker spent four years working as a classroom teacher. She applied teaching methods to the farm’s activities, creating programmes for urban school groups, early-childhood participants and retirees. Visitors can observe how milk is produced in a commercial setting.

More than 1,200 people took part during the enterprise’s first year. The visits have provided practical lessons about dairy production and the path from farm to consumer, using the working property as an educational setting.

The national award comes with financial support for expanding the initiative beyond in-person farm visits. A cumulative Westpac development grant of $35,000 will support the next stage of the project, including improvements to access along working-farm routes for people with different physical abilities.

The development programme also includes virtual classroom material, to be prepared with industry organisations such as Dairy Australia. Zanker’s plans include children’s educational books intended to bring information about dairy operations into schools in metropolitan areas across Australia.

The farm-based model presents animal-care practices, milking-parlour hygiene and environmental stewardship to visitors. Its activities are intended to give younger people and urban consumers more direct knowledge of where food comes from, while also supporting tourism income in rural dairy regions.