Danielle Wright: South West Victoria

Danielle Wright farms alongside her husband Tom in Southwest Victoria, but her path into dairy began with a career in graphic design and no agricultural background. Danielle shares how she found her feet in the industry, built confidence through study and established Gully View Dairy, producing bottled milk and hand-churned butter on farm.

The conversation explores the practical realities of turning an idea into a value-adding business, from setting up a processing facility and navigating licensing to pricing products and finding customers. We also chat about raising three young children, navigating family succession and creating your own role in a business with six generations of history.

We discuss:

• Danielle's journey from graphic design to dairy farming

• Returning to Tom's family farm and starting out in 2016

• Building knowledge and confidence through study and industry involvement

• Finding complementary roles within the farming business

• The New Zealand study tour that sparked an idea to process their own milk

• Establishing Gully View Dairy and setting up an on-farm processing facility

• Navigating licensing and food safety requirements

• Producing bottled milk and hand-churned butter, and exploring cheesemaking

• Pricing products, finding wholesale partners and selling at markets

• Connecting consumers with the people and story behind their food

• Balancing farming, a growing business and three young children

• Finding mentors and support beyond the farm

• Navigating succession and the emotional connection to family land

• Danielle's advice for farmers considering value adding

In the spirit of reconciliation, we would like to acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respects to their Elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

If you know someone who you think would be great on the podcast, or you would like to share your story, please get in touch by sending an email to podcast.morethanmilk@gmail.com or stay connected by following us on Instagram or Facebook and send us a message — I'd love to hear from you.