South Gippsland Dairy & Farming Expo 2023 attracts bumper crowd

The Lions Club of Strzelecki has hosted its 2023 South Gippsland Dairy & Farming Expo, with a bumper turnout and strong sponsor support to help raise money for the local community.

Lions Club of Strzelecki secretary Deanne Kennedy said Wednesday had an excellent crowd with a top-notch farmer panel on the industry and its future progression.

"Wednesday was a bumper day, it was one of the better days," she said.

"We've spoken to exhibitors who have done great business.

"We've been fortunate to have a lot of sponsoring this year so we hosted a breakfast and thanked them all.

"We have our Gumboot Gift Race, we have a male and female section and the prize pool is $2000 for each section, followed by a Lions race, so they put on their boots and have a friendly competition."

Craig Rollinson took out the top prize in the men's race, while Rob Allen was second and Martin Lamers came in third.

Sarah Lewis was the champion for the women's race, with Ashleigh Ives in second and Molly Ellis and Teresa Scott tied third.

She said they were rapt to welcome Karmai Community Kindergarten each year, with almost 100 students walking through the showgrounds' gates to learn more about farming.

"The kids hang out in the pavilion and paint little cows, get their face painted, make little cardboard cows and look at the big tractors and they absolutely love it," she said.

Club president Cliff Wallace said the exhibition was in its 24th year, and they had raised $640,000 across the annual dairy exhibitions to go towards the community.

"It started off as dairy, but there's less and less dairy farms so now we advertise the Dairy and Farming Expo, so there's something for everyone," he said.

Ms Kennedy said the Lions club members set an objective to have a "one-stop shop" for farmers, which aimed to be inclusive of each farming industry.

"A lot of volunteer hours go from the Lions club into running these events, everybody here making this happen is working for the community and it's a really special thing," she said.

"When we get two sunny days it's even better."