The partnership was formed after the couple completed Dairy Australia’s Our Farm Our Plan program, which helped clarify business goals and proved instrumental in guiding decision-making. Rather than traditional share-farming or wage-based roles, Colleen and Garry entered a formal operations contract with Thexton Farms directors, aligning incentives across production, infrastructure investment and profitability, a structure that Colleen credits with demonstrable asset growth within the business.

Today the enterprise, known as Oakdale Farms, runs about 500 milking cows on 114 hectares with current production at 580 kg milk solids per hectare, and plans to push toward 600 kg/ms per hectare through improved feeding strategies and animal health management. Recent infrastructure upgrades, including a 44-unit rotary dairy with automatic cups plus silos and a ramp, have modernised operations and are part of a broader push to drive productive performance and long-term resilience.

Operational adjustments reflect a focus on genetic selection and reproductive efficiency, including shortening the AI joining period and tight management of animal health, alongside bespoke herd decisions such as mating heifers to Angus and Jersey sires while removing chronically mastitic cows. These production practices — combined with payroll for additional labour — illustrate how the partnership balances daily farm management with strategic growth objectives.