Mr Jordan, who farmed at Katandra West, held roles on the United Dairyfarmers of Victoria central council and was chair of the now defunct Herd Improvement Organisation of Victoria.
Former UDV president Max Fehring, of Cohuna, delivered Mr Jordan’s eulogy and said Kevin and wife Peggy were “innovators” in the dairy industry.
He said the Jordans were well known within the industry for their farming skills with Holsteins and then later for their leadership mostly during the 1970s to 1990s.
“Kevin’s ability to grow and manage grass, the key to successful dairy farming is legendary,” Mr Fehring told the service.
“He was one of the early pioneers of grazing rotation … this allowed dairy farmers to remain competitive in dairy production.”
Mr Fehring said Mr Jordan won the Commonwealth Bank and Royal Agricultural Society Farm Management award in 1978, with an associated field day held on-farm attracting 1100 people. The Jordans also won the State Rivers and Water Supply Commission irrigation farm competition after developing and experimenting with a system of automatic irrigation.
They were also honoured for having the best Victoria commercial dairy herd in 1993. Mr Fehring said that as representative for the UDV district council No.9, Mr Jordan’s strength at the central council policy table was to “express quite accurately the views (of who he represented) … along with (his) thoughts of the best way forward for the industry.” He said that as the Herd Improvement Organisation of Victoria chair, Mr Jordan also recognised the changed nature of the industry.. The Jordan’s bred some “wonderful” Holsteins included a bull called Caso “which at one time was one of the highest-rate production bulls in its class,” Mr Fehring said. “It was widely used by the dairy farmers with many of the cows today maintaining some linkage with Caso all those years ago.”
By:
Source: The Weekly Times
Link: https://www.weeklytimesnow.com.au/agribusiness/dairy/kevin-jordan-tributes-for-dairy-innovator/news-story/75e4ea9cb308ab786beb07133ead8a99