Tom Hopper - January // 2026 Mental Health Calendar

Tom Hooper is the Melbourne private-school boy who swapped city life for gumboots and never looked back.

Four years into dairy, Tom is transitioning into farm manager on a 200-cow farm in Yannathan. At the same time, he’s turning a bare 15-hectare block of old Australian bush into his own heifer-rearing set-up – yards, fences, pasture, the lot – all built from the ground upon a young bloke’s wage.

He’ll tell you straight: selling his first home-reared heifers had him in tears in the paddock (“it’s real”), and dropping $20k on infrastructure hurts when you’re starting out. But Tom just crunches the numbers, picks up the phone, backs himself and gets it done.

Life motto: “Send it and back yourself.”

In an industry that’s desperate to keep young people, Tom proves you don’t have to be born into a dairy to make it your home. You just have to be curious, prepared to work hard, and stubborn enough to keep showing up.

He’s already saving for his first share-farming gig. He's hoping it won't be long.

“Everyone else can believe in you, but if you don’t believe in yourself, you’re stuffed. Just send it and back yourself.” – Tom Hooper