April, Rick and Kaitlyn (back) and Tina and Emmalea Wishart at the Winter Fair.
It was definitely a family affair for the Wishart’s when they recently received their Master Breeder honour from Holstien Australia.
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The award is an amazing achievement for first generation farmers Rick and Tina who are ably supported by their capable girls Emmalea, Kaitlyn and April.
“It has been a long journey to get here,” Rick said.
“We started in the industry with virtually nothing when we transitioned my grandfather’s former sheep farm into a dairy farm.
“We trucked a second-hand 24 swing-over from Mt Gambier and started milking in 1997 with a cross-breed herd.”
It wasn’t until Rick gave up footy and decided to find a new hobby that breeding and a love for Holsteins began.
After attending an on-farm sale at Woodlawn in Finley, Rick bought his first young cow, Mandel Coconut, who was 87 points and had great production.
That purchase inspired the couple to get interested in breeding and they started to use better bulls and appendix some of the herd.
As they began to build up numbers, they outgrew the dairy farm at Macorna and purchased a second farm at Mead.
At the time, they were milking around 290 cows, which was taking over three hours in the old shed.
The new farm was 158 hectares, and more importantly, had a 44-unit rotary dairy.
The purchase also enabled them to increase the herd and continue their love of breeding.
“While Rick initiated the purchase of some good Holstein cows, we never intended to show them, at the start it was more about value adding to the business,” Tina said.
The girls started to show an interest in the cows they purchased, which evolved into showing at a few of the local shows.
Tina reckons the girls would have been three, five and seven when they started.
In 2026, the girls capably ran the Rowlands Park 2026 International Dairy Week string which consisted of five milkers and three heifers and resulted in honourable mention senior champion cow, senior leader with Rowlands Park Cadillac Mabel, honourable mention intermediate champion Rowlands Park Crushabull Showbelle and honourable mention senior champion with Rowlands Park Jagger Cinnamon.
Rick and Tina Wishart from Rowlands Park Holstein have received Master Breeder status from Holstein Australia.
Jagger Cinnamon was also reserve champion in the Victorian on-farm challenge in 2025.
The girls are proud their entire string did so well and were bred by their family.
Their success can be attributed to some strategic cow family purchases and consequent breeding decisions.
Rick said Woodland Doorman Cinnamon had bred very well for them and is the granddam of four-year-old honourable mention Jagger Cinnamon.
“We have gone on to sell three different animals from the Cinnamon family and they have gone to Tasmania, NSW and Colac.”
Kaitlyn said Doorman Cinnamon was a big, open, strong and powerful cow with many great traits.
“She is so well-balanced and such a great cow, it has been easy to breed from her,” Kaitlyn said.
The Mabel family has also proven to be strong after a purchase from Jack Bramley from Paravale.
“The Mable family have been with us from very early on,” Tina said.
From left: Windy Vale Master Tina (junior champion) Bryne Lea Octane Buttersnap (intermediate champion) and Rowlands Park Solomon Mabel (senior champion) Cohuna Show 2022.
Shottle Mable is 15 years old and still roams the farm, although she is now semi retired from milking.
She was the first champion cow the family had, after winning the title at the Kerang show.
“The honourable mention in the senior leader class in the youth show goes back to Shottle Mabel.”
The Wisharts have also established the Lotus family after purchasing Fleays Doorman Lotus.
“We have taken her daughters to the last two IDWs and they have done well too,” Rick said.
When it comes to breeding decisions, April has stepped up to help her Dad.
“Dad and I both have a say with the breeding, but if he is not around, the decision is left up to me to decide,” April said.
Everyone agrees April has a great eye and she knows the cows and their traits very well, often picking out the cows for the show team, including Crushabull Showbelle, who wasn’t even halter trained before IDW.
The family breeds for type, function and production.
“Like everyone, we want to have strong, functional cows with great feet and legs so they can live long lives,” Emmalea said.
“We keep an eye on the data, especially around fat and protein, and we will use a production bull accordingly if needed,” Rick said.
Byrne Lea Octane Buttersnap was the Sydney Royal champion in 2024 and Winter Fair champion last year and is also a firm family favourite, along with Rowlands Park Chief Balertwine out of Gorbro Atwood Balertwine, who was best udder and honourable mention at the Victorian Winter Fair.
Today herd numbers sit up around 470 and both Emmalea and April work on the family farm.
Emmalea is focused on the feed side of things and rearing the calves, while April is basically 2IC and manages the place when Rick and Tina aren’t around.
Kaitlyn might have flown the coop to Maffra, but she intends to come back to Cohuna one day.
A blast from the past.
“Us three girls work really well together, and it would be great to come back home one day, but it is also great we each have our own little interests — Em’s farm still has the dairy infrastructure, so there might be an opportunity for us to expand there one day,” Kaitlyn said.
Emmalea chips in, “we will just keep building the empire,” she laughed.
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