Mr Bruem of ‘Buyuma’, Forbes, received the honour for a lifetime of contribution to the dairy industry.

Mr Bruem established his Cowra Road dairy 21 years ago and is still an active member of the dairy industry, despite passing on much of the business to his sons, Craig, Matthew and Andrew.

He is a former Executive Member of the University of Sydney’s Dairy Research Foundation, was chairman of the NSW Co-operative Dairy Research Centre for four years and was a Director and Deputy Chairman of the Dairy Farmers Co-operative, which was recently acquired by National Foods.

Mr Bruem said he has been a farmer “all his life”, building the family dairy business up to its current level, with a milking herd of some 600 pure-bred Holstein and Jersey cattle.

He said sustainability of the industry had always been his focus while serving on various boards and committees.

“When I was with Dairy Farmers [Co-operative], I was instrumental in trying to encourage farmers to take up benchmarking, or best practice, which is basically about producing larger volumes of good quality milk at a competitive price, or at the lowest cost possible,” Mr Bruem said.

“Farmers have always been innovative and that continues to be the case,” he said yesterday.

“All farmers are conscious of sustainability – we are only caretakers of the land really, and our family has always worked on the basis that whatever we do is done for those who will take the business over,” he said.

Apart from his own business, Mr Bruem has been instrumental in the Royal Agricultural Society, and helps coordinate the dairy cattle competitions each year at Sydney’s Royal Easter Show.

In 2004 he chaired the Australian Planning Committee in the lead up to the Royal Agricultural Society of the Commonwealth Conference, of which society he is an Honorary Fellow.

He is still a Councillor and Board Member of the Royal Agricultural Society of NSW.

Mr Bruem is currently Chairman of the Australian Year of the Farmer, to be held in 2012.

He said he had been notified that he would be invited to attend a ceremony at Government House in April or May this year.

“It will be a great honour,” he said of the presentation.

Full story in Tuesday's Advocate...