A Jamberoo dairy farming family who turned a struggling farm into one of Australia's most productive operations has been named runner up in the NSW Carbon Cocky Awards.
The awards recognise the work farmers do on their land to increase soil carbon, and consequently improve their output.
Michael, Lyn and Nick Strong from Clover Hill Dairies are living proof that by looking after the soil and land, the land will look after them.
In 2000 they had 80 cattle, but deregulation of the industry and years of drought forced them to make hard decisions.
Lyn Strong says they expanded their operation, got help from Southern Rivers Catchment Management Authority and Landcare and set about better managing their property.
Now they milk 450 cows three times a day on 118 hectares of land, producing a staggering five million litres of milk.
"We have poured alot of blood sweat and tears and money into the landscape over the last five years, but the most exciting thing to see from that is that the landscape has rewarded us for that, " she said.
"Everything we do, we focus on making sure we have adequate pasture cover, to make sure we keep the nutrients on the pasture and not in the waterways, basically looking after the soil so people in future generations can do exactly what we are doing, producing more milk with less and less resources."
Ms Strong says managing effluent, pathways used by cows, and moving cows around to give grass time to recover are all sensible ways to improve soil and pasture productivity.
"Each day presents a new opportunity to build new soil, store more moisture and nurture plants," she said.
The Strongs were also joint Southern Rivers winners of the Carbon Cocky Award.