As Australia marks World Milk Day on 1 June, the dairy industry is shining a light on the women whose passion, skill and resilience help bring fresh, nutritious milk from farm to fridge every day.

Aligned with this year’s theme, Celebrating Women Farmers, the story of northern Victorian dairy farmer Lindsey Bowyer shows there’s no single pathway into dairy and that women are playing a vital role in shaping the industry’s future.

A former professional circus performer, Lindsey, now 27, is leasing a 600-acre dairy farm in northern Victoria, with a milking herd of around 200 Jersey cows and is dreaming of much bigger things to come.

Yet if not for COVID, her move into dairy may never have happened. With the pandemic effectively bringing an end to live events in 2020, Lindsey found herself grounded. She’d been on the verge of heading overseas to perform but instead, was on her way back home to northern Victoria and at an unexpected crossroad.

“I really didn’t know what to do,” Lindsey recalls. “Then a friend mentioned a local dairy family – Saputo suppliers Peter and Rachel Romans – were looking for help. That was my first introduction to dairy.”

Having grown up on her parents’ beef cattle property, Lindsey knew her way around a cow, just not a dairy cow. “I knew the front end from the back end, but I’d never milked a cow.” What followed was a crash course in dairy that would spark Lindsey’s love for dairy cows and the industry. Under the guidance of Peter Romans, Lindsey was given the opportunity to learn how to run a successful dairy, from handling cows and milking systems to daily routines and the continuing a strong business partnership supplying milk to Saputo.

After four years – and with a dream to start her own dairy business – Lindsey left the Romans to broaden her knowledge and gain experience working with other dairy set-ups. Each experience added another layer of understanding and helped refine what best practice would look like for any farm she would have in the future.

“I took bits and pieces from here, there and everywhere,” she explains. “Then you mould it to what suits your farm.”

In late 2025, an opportunity arose to lease her own farm, with the financial backing of her parents. She’s since been steadily lifting the standard of the dairy – a 20-a-side swing-over – investing in improvements such as cup removers. Another significant upgrade was a generator purchased with the support of Saputo’s Milk Cooling Rebate, providing a critical safeguard for the business.

Today, Lindsey is milking twice a day, seven days a week and rearing 60 heifers. She has a particular soft spot for Jerseys due to their temperament and smaller, more manageable size, which is better suited to her older style dairy.

“You look at them and they melt your heart, with their beautiful faces and nature,” she says, “and once you've had Jersey milk, it’s hard to go back!”

Visitors to her dairy comment on how her herd are calm and quiet. She credits that to treating her cows almost like pets. “With a dairy cow, you’re with them in the morning and night. They're your priority and you pretty much work your life around the cows.”

Although it’s still early days in her dairy career, Lindsey has her sights firmly set on growing her herd and stud breeding. She’s already purchased a few registered stud animals and plans to build on that foundation, once things settle.

For now, she’s focused on milking, her first intensive period of calving and ensuring her cows continue to produce great milk for Saputo. Yet despite the workload, she’s unequivocal about why she does it.

Lindsey’s journey is one example of the important contribution farmers make across Australia’s dairy sector by balancing early mornings, farm management and community life while producing high‑quality milk.

World Milk Day is an opportunity to recognise these year-round efforts and celebrate the women (and men) behind every glass of milk. For Lindsey, the motivation remains simple.

“For me, it is the love and the passion for my cows.”

(Pictured: Lindsey's beautiful Jersey cows)