Colin Robert Thompson, a highly respected Cowra dairy farmer at Silvermere Holsteins, passed away peacefully on June 21 at Wagga Wagga Base Hospital, surrounded by his loving family.

He was 63 years of age at his time of passing.

Colin and his wife Erina ran an elite Total Mixed Ration (TMR) dairy farm in Cowra, where they milked around 300-350 cows in a free stall and averaged around 45L per cow per day

Eric Danzi, CEO of dairy industry group eastAUSmilk, shared his words on Colin's passing, saying, "Colin was widely regarded as being one of the top handful of dairy farmers in Australia and was a real gentleman with integrity and a desire to help others".

"Colin was a real leader in the industry and was passionate about dairy farming."

"He was obsessive about doing everything absolutely spot on and this obsession resulted in elite results that many other farmers watched and followed," Mr Danzi said.

Mr Danzi emphasised Colin's knowledge and expereince, saying that is would be "of great interest to dairy farmers in Queensland".

"I knew that dairy farmers in Queensland, especially TMR farmers, could learn a lot from Colin."

"As a result, in early 2020, I asked Colin to give presentations throughout Queensland about his farm and journey as a dairy farmer," he said.

Mr Danzi revealed that Colin's farming story had impressed a lot of farmers, and that he "really blew some away" with the possibilities others could achieve.

"It was clearly not realistic or practical for most farmers to copy everything Colin did," Mr Danzi said.

"Colin was not egotistical re his approach, but rather trying to help farmers find a few things of relevance to their farm to improve their operation."

"I know a number of farmers made changes as a result of Colin's grand tour, from small changes like putting in more water troughs near feed pads to spending a lot of money in new concrete silage pits," he said.

Mr Danzi noted Colin's 'obsession' with cowra having an abundance of clean water to drink at all times, saying that anytime he saw anything but clean water for cows he would ask Mr Danzi, "would you drink it?".

"I would always answer no, and he would say well neither will cows," Mr Danzi said.

"I got the message, Colin."

Thanking Colin for his lead in the dairy industry, Mr Danzi said, "thanks Colin for everything you did to lead the dairy industry and be a farmer that others followed with your farming practices".

"And to Erina and your family," Mr Danzi said.

"My thoughts are with you."