Jersey Australia president Geoff Akers presents the Master Breeder award to Simon Reid.

Photo by Fiona Hanks SIMON Reid has had to jump a few hurdles on his path to becoming a Jersey Australia Master Breeder.

Subscribe now for unlimited access to all our agricultural news across the nation or signup to continue reading EOFY SAVE 50% All articles from our website The digital version of This Week's Paper Our entire network Although he owned a farm for a few years, most of his dairy career has been as a share farmer, moving across several farms around Victoria.

While the moves have set things back, Simon has never taken his eye off the goal of having a good quality herd.

"Because we move around a bit with share farming, you get the cows to a certain point and then you move to the next farm and you have to build it back up," he said.

Therefore, the Master Breeder title he received at May's Jersey Australia AGM for his Jackiah Jerseys came as a bit of a surprise.

When Jersey Australia started doing Master Breeders, Simon set a goal of achieving the title by the time he retires, but he's qualified at just 52 with many years left to continue improving the herd.

"I was a bit shocked when they rang and told me about it," he said.

"I thought I might be 5 to 10 years away from achieving it but I'm pretty proud ...

that's one thing ticked off the bucket list." Simon's main goal is to own a farm with a good herd of cows - and he's pleased to be half-way there.

Now farming near Warragul in Victoria's Gippsland region, Simon was born in Melbourne but moved to Colac with his school teacher father John when he was five where they lived in a house on a dairy farm.

"All I've wanted to be since we moved was a farmer," he said.

When Simon was about eight, his father bought some land and ran beef cattle while still teaching.

In 1979, he sold the beef farm and bought a small dairy farm.

"He used to milk 30 cows before he went to work in the morning and come home and milk again," Simon recalled.

After school, Simon was encouraged to get a trade or go to university so he moved back to Melbourne and became a qualified pastry chef and nurse, but his heart was in the country.

"Even when I was in Melbourne, farming was always the dream," he said.

"I used to say if I won Tattslotto, I'd buy a farm." A move back to Colac to play footy with mates led to the start of his dairying....