Farmers share $1.5m from innovation fund. Page 22 PROCESSORS PROFITS UP FOR VICTORIAN FACE INDUSTRIAL ACTION FARMERS PAGE 4
PAGE 5
NOVEMBER, 2023 ISSUE 157 // www.dairynewsaustralia.com.au
GOLD, GOLD, GOLD Kiewa Valley dairy farmers Ian and Alice Holloway have always prioritised cell count in their dairy herd. They were rewarded for their efforts when they were named in the top 100 dairy farms in Australia based on BMCC. Ian (right) is pictured with Jamie Kiley. PAGE 6
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DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA NOVEMBER 2023
NEWS // 3
Inflation continues to curb global demand BY ISABEL DANDO
SLOWING SUPPLY growth out of other major exporting regions has begun to shift the outlook within the global dairy market in recent weeks, as the impact of weaker commodity prices has flowed through to production responses. While this changed dynamic is supportive of dairy commodity prices, the strength of this rebound really will be determined by demand recovery within key import markets. Global demand for dairy remains constrained by inflation and low consumer confidence. This is especially the case across the more price sensitive markets in South-East Asia, where Australian dairy exports fell 22 per cent between 2022-23 and 2021-22. Despite expectations that the region’s post-pandemic economic recovery will continue at a faster pace than much of the developed world, persistent inflation continues to reduce domestic spending.
Retiring for good this time. PG.8
Persistent inflation is also a concern across Japan. Core inflation remains above the central bank’s long-term target of two per cent, which has been the case for more than 12 months now. While the current inflation rate of around three per cent has slowed from a peak of 4.2 per cent in January, inflation is currently at the highest level in a decade and this slower-than-expected move back to target levels is being driven by steady rises in food prices. The Chinese market is experiencing a different dynamic, with recovering demand offset by strong domestic milk production. China’s domestic milk market remains generally oversupplied, and output from dairy processors in August was higher in year-on-year terms, despite farm gate milk collections waning in recent months. Milk production in China has declined consecutively over the past three months, as farm gate milk prices have eased and farms continue to face high costs of production. Decreasing local production, whole milk powder (WMP) stockpiles falling for the first time in nine months, and the stronger presence
of Chinese buyers at recent GDT events are positive signs. However, there is some way to go for these to translate into a sustained impact on dairy commodity prices. The scale of the challenge is illustrated by dairy export volumes to China over the 2022-23 financial year, both globally and from Australia; falling nine per cent and 13 per cent respectively. Inflation and the general oversupply of product in China are likely to remain significant headwinds for our key markets through to the end of this year. Beyond that, weakening milk production forecasts of all seven major exporters hold potential for a rebalancing of the market, subject to the economic outlook and geopolitical disruptions of course. Moving forward, this is likely to support commodity prices against further price declines, with many analysts holding the view that the bottom of the current price cycle has passed. 2 Isabel Dando is a Dairy Australia industry analyst
Exports to key markets (MAT to May) 4,000,000
Young Aussies go to school. PG.10
3,500,000
Tonnes
3,000,000 2,500,000 2,000,000 1,500,000 A straight-up champion. PG.17
1,000,000 NEWS .....................................................3-25
500,000
ANIMAL HEALTH ................................. 26
0 Greater China
MACHINERY & PRODUCTS ...................................... 27-30
IS
2021
2022
I T T I M E TO
Southeast Asia
Japan
2023
Source: Dairy Australia, TDM
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DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA NOVEMBER 2023
4 // NEWS
Big boost to farm profits WITH AVERAGE milk price increases of
about 30 per cent, Victorian dairy farmers are enjoying better returns, but input costs were also on the increase in the past financial year. The annual Dairy Farm Monitor Project has reported its survey farms enjoyed the second highest profitability in 17 years. Average milk prices increased to $9.77/kg of milk solids, but variable costs, mainly for grain and fodder, impacted farm margins. Severe flooding and wet seasonal conditions in the spring, particularly in northern Victoria, influenced supply and demand of purchased feed. Higher labour use at higher rates was the greatest contributor to the highest overhead costs in 15 years. A partnership between Dairy Australia and Agriculture Victoria, the Dairy Farm Monitor Project collects and analyses financial and production data from dryland and irrigated dairy farms in south-western Victoria, Gippsland and northern Victoria. It tracks 80 dairy farm businesses, and participants represent a distribution of farm size, feeding systems and herd sizes. The project noted that all regions had seasonal challenges, most markedly in northern Victoria with severe flooding in October 2022 hampering fodder making, which in turn significantly increased fodder costs. At a statewide level, total nutrient application on the milking area decreased slightly in 2022-23, however the reduction was seen in nitrogen and potassium products. The cost of fertiliser application was still limiting fertiliser use, but floods and wet conditions had a greater impact on the ability to apply fertiliser in comparison to historical use levels. Ninety-six per cent of all participants recorded a profit.
On a statewide level, the average pasture harvested was the lowest observed on the milking area since 2011-12. Many participants were challenged with sourcing high-quality fodder and grain at elevated prices, dampening the profits received by businesses. Interest and lease costs increased due to higher interest rates on increased borrowings, funding land purchases and major capital improvements. Dairy Australia’s research and innovation general manager Greg Jarman said the Dairy Farm Monitor Project was a valuable source of independent physical and financial data around a wide range of on-farm practices, equipping farmers with essential insights to inform their decision making. There were about 2773 dairy farm businesses in Victoria that produced 5.14 billion litres or 63 per cent of Australia’s national milk production in 2022-23.
South-west Victoria
South-west Victorian participants received the highest average milk price in 17 years, leading to the second-highest gross farm income received. Challenging seasonal conditions were managed well, resulting in higher average homegrown feed production. Despite the higher input prices and inflationary pressures, profits were the second highest in 17 years.
Gippsland
Average EBIT was the second highest in 17 years in Gippsland, due to a substantial increase in average milk price. Climatic conditions were variable across the region, resulting in a large increase in costs, particularly purchased concentrates, silage and fertiliser. The Macalister Irrigation District enjoyed good growing conditions and irrigation water
Profitability Despite elevated costs across most areas of the business, the statewide average profit (earnings before interest and tax, EBIT per farm) was the second highest on record, accounting for inflation. This outcome reflects participants receiving the highest milk price recorded in 17 years. $3.50
Profit (EBIT $/kg MS)
BY GEOFF ADAMS
$3.00 $2.50 $2.00 $1.50
$2.87
$2.68
$3.24
$2.73
$1.00 $0.50 $0.00 Statewide
Northern South Gippsland West
Profit results from the 2022-23 Victorian Dairy Farm Monitor Project.
availability resulting in increased profits in the district. Total variable costs and total cash overhead costs in Gippsland were the highest in 17 years.
Northern Victoria
Higher income, supported by the record milk price, more than offset the increase in costs and northern Victoria recorded its highest profits (EBIT per kilogram of milk solids) in 17 years. Total costs increased in 2022-23 and were
the third highest in Dairy Farm Monitor history. The very wet spring 2022 conditions and flood impacts hampered fodder conservation and significantly increased feed costs. The average number of cows milked increased slightly, while there was a six per cent decrease in milk production per cow. Greater quantities of purchased concentrates were fed with lower quantities of homegrown feed. 2 The 2022-23 Dairy Farm Monitor report is available on the Agriculture Victoria website.
PRODUCTIVE AND PROFITABLE SEASON Murray Dairy regional manager Lachlan Barnes said the Dairy Farm Monitor Project showed the 2022-23 season was a “very productive and profitable season” for northern Victorian dairy farmers. “The farms analysed represent a good cross section of varying size, farming system and climate experienced across the northern
Victorian dairy area,” Mr Barnes said. He said the sample farms included many businesses significantly impacted by high input costs, rising interest rates and major flooding during the analysis period. “A record milk price and good irrigation prices for many meant they were not only buffered from the headline-grabbing
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challenges but were able to prosper. “This comes on top of a run of good seasons in the northern Victorian DFMP data set, allowing investment and consolidation to occur on-farm which could be critical given predictions of building climatic, market and cost pressures in the coming 12 months.” Northern Victorian dairy farmers can
learn more about the Dairy Farm Monitor Project, Situation & Outlook and attend the 2023 Milk Quality Awards, by registering via the following links: 2 Echuca on November 15: https://bit.ly/RNG-Echuca23 2 Shepparton on November 16: https://bit.ly/RNG-Shepp23
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DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA NOVEMBER 2023
NEWS // 5
Pay deal prevents strike A LOOMING strike at one of Victoria’s major
milk companies was averted after the processor struck a pay deal with the union. Fonterra Australia on Friday, October 27 confirmed it had reached an in-principle agreement with the United Workers Union, which represents 300 of the company’s dairy workers. Dairy employees at its Cobden, Stanhope and Darnum sites were slated to go on strike for six days from Saturday, October 28 calling for fair wages and improved working conditions amid rising living costs. Fonterra workers will now have an opportunity to vote on whether to accept the company's revised offer which includes a 12 per cent pay rise over three years, up from 10.5 per cent.
The deal also allows workers to access more leave options including increased sick leave, shift allowances and greater protections for those returning to work. The development follows a 48-hour strike of more than 1400 workers across four major dairy companies — Fonterra, Saputo, Peters and Lactalis — on October 18 and 19 to demand better pay and conditions. Saputo transport workers took separate industrial action on October 17. United Workers Union national secretary Tim Kennedy paid tribute to workers in regional areas who showed “great courage” in standing up to the large multinational dairy companies.
“The strike action has shown dairy workers are prepared to stand up and fight for their place in the dairy industry, and the importance of the dairy industry in their local communities,” he said. Fonterra's supply chain and operations director Rob Howell welcomed the breakthrough in negotiations following several months of protracted talks. “This offer is largely in line with what was previously on the table, following months of negotiations with the union,” Mr Howell said. “We reiterate that an agreement could have been reached without the union taking industrial action, which unfortunately reduced the pay packets of striking union members.”
The Fonterra breakthrough came after almost 900 dairy workers at Saputo won improvements to pay and conditions on October 24. Staff across eight sites secured increased pay offers ranging between 11 and 12.5 per cent and better conditions including paid emergency service leave. “They were fighting not just for themselves, but for secure jobs in regional communities where every dollar they spend goes back into those communities,” Mr Kennedy said. ɋ Any updates to this story after Dairy News Australia goes to print will be posted on our website at: www.dairynewsaustralia.com.au
SAPUTO WORKERS IN DRIVER’S SEAT By ANDY WILSON Milk truck drivers in Victoria have secured a deal with Saputo over pay and conditions after a two-day strike on October 17 and 18. A spokesman from the Transport Workers Union said Saputo executives had met with delegates of the strike to continue negotiations to secure a pay deal. “It was a very, very good deal which we are happy with,” the spokesperson said. “We expect our members to vote in agreement with the deal.” The United Workers Union met with Saputo delegates from eight sites on Tuesday who agreed to ‘significant’ improvements in both pay and conditions. Saputo director of operations Gerard Lourey said an agreement was being
considered for workers at four production sites and a logistics centre. “Saputo Dairy Australia is pleased to have reached an in-principle agreement with the United Workers’ Union for its valued workers,” Mr Lourey said. UWU national secretary Tim Kennedy said most dairy workers who took part in the two-day action now have a pay offer of five per cent for the next year, with two other companies, Peters and Lactalis, also negotiating with the UWU. The Lactalis offer is currently subject to negotiation and affects only 22 workers. Peters Ice Cream has offered a threeyear increase of five per cent in the first year, followed by 4.5 per cent in each of the following two years. That offer is under consideration by employees.
‘Five-five-five’ is the demand of dairy factory workers for three consecutive years of a five per cent wage increase.
“Total dairy worker pay offers, now ranging up to 14 per cent over three years at the Peters Ice Cream site give workers a real chance to at least start addressing the cost-of-living crisis,” Mr Kennedy said. “In the case of Saputo, the current threeyear offers in front of workers ranging between 11 per cent and 12.5 per cent are way up on previous company offers as low as 8.25 per cent. “That gets them closer to the current inflation rate and is double the pay rise of 2.5 percent dairy workers agreed to, to help their companies out during the pandemic.” Dairy workers across all Saputo sites are considering the offers. “As always it will be the workers at the sites under those agreements that will make the final call as to whether the new offer is voted up.”
Workers protest outside the Cobram Saputo factory on October 18.
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DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA NOVEMBER 2023
6 // NEWS
Celebrating our best milk DAIRY FARMERS across the country have
been recognised in Dairy Australia’s 2023 Milk Quality Awards. Since 2002, these awards have celebrated farmers who have produced the country’s best milk, based on Bulk Milk Cell Count (BMCC) data provided by processors each financial year. The 100 farmers with the lowest annual BMCCs are presented with a gold diamond plaque for their farm gate, while the other farms within the lowest five per cent of BMCCs receive a silver diamond. Dairy Australia’s national lead for animal health and fertility, Dr Zoe Vogels, said the awards were part of Dairy Australia’s
commitment to support decision making on-farm when it comes to maintaining the health of dairy herds and the quality of milk that is produced. “Achieving good milk quality is a win-win for farmers, processors, retailers and the community,” Dr Vogels said. “The whole dairy industry benefits from high quality milk. “Farmers see improved milk production from healthier udders, receive higher milk premiums and a have lower herd health treatment costs. Dairy processors see increased product yields and prolonged shelf life of their products.”
The Milk Quality Awards form part of a national mastitis control program, called Countdown — launched in 1998 — which aims to support dairy farmers in achieving cost-effective, best practice milking management and mastitis control. This initiative includes industry-agreed farm guidelines for mastitis control, technical notes and training for milk quality advisors as well as for farmers and their staff. Training is delivered through the Milking and Mastitis Management program, which covers the components to maintaining good milk quality — such as understanding the key risks for mastitis, cow behaviour and stock handling, milking routines, and machine maintenance
and cleaning protocols. The full list of 2023 Milk Quality Award gold winners is here: https://cdn-prod. dairyaustralia.com.au/-/media/project/ dairy-australia-sites/national-home/ additional-files/milk-quality-award--goldwinner-list--2023.pdf?rev=53454fb597ab4e75 b0ab3550240f6757 The full list of 2023 Milk Quality Award silver winners is here: https://cdn-prod. dairyaustralia.com.au/-/media/project/ dairy-australia-sites/national-home/ additional-files/milk-quality-award--silver-winner-list--2023.pdf?rev=2357b302af5340 0082b8d4df47d6682d
DOING SMALL THINGS WELL ALL ADDS UP By SOPHIE BALDWIN Kiewa Valley dairy farmers Ian and Alice Holloway have always prioritised cell count in the dairy herd. They were rewarded for their efforts when they were named in the top 100 dairy farms in Australia based on Bulk Milk Cell Count (BMCC). Milking more than 1000 registered Holstein cows on two separate farms in north-east Victoria, Ian says there is not one single thing that contributes to a low cell count, but rather a series of smaller things all done well. “Once you get your cell count down low it is far easier to keep it there,” he said. “Ours is currently sitting around 60,000 but we have spent much of the year around 40,000-50,000.” Ian said good hygiene in the dairy was one of the keys, which includes disinfecting hands and gloves, particularly when it comes to mastitis cows. “If a milker comes in contact with a cow with mastitis they must disinfect their gloves before they touch another quarter. If a mastitis cow gets on the platform during milking, we will always cut her out and milk her at the end to prevent any contamination.” Cups are sanitised and keeping the plant and milking area clean is a major priority. Ian has spent a lot of money on keeping the farm tracks in good condition to keep the cows away from mud, and any loafing areas like the feedpad are cleaned regularly. The feedpad is a basic concrete structure with a hot wire running over the top of the feed. It is cleaned with a scraper on the front of the tractor. The cows are mainly pasture-grazed and are fed a new strip of grass after each milking, which helps keep the herd away from
Jamie Kiley (left) and Ian Holloway. “Once you get your cell count down low it is far easier to keep it there,” Ian says.
any previously contaminated ground. Ian said one of the biggest game changers in the management of the herd has been the implementation of collars for the cows. “The main reason we got collars initially was because I had to step away from the dairy due to a couple of shoulder operations, but they have certainly surpassed my expectations particularly when it comes to herd health.” Ian said the collars quickly pick up any health changes especially when it comes to mastitis, but he still expects his staff to remain vigilant and visually monitor the cows. Both dairies herd test monthly and any cow with an elevated cell count is put on alert and checked daily. Keeping accurate records is important and Ian said Easy Dairy has been a great
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program to work with. “We keep records for everything and it is easy to check back on the cows’ history and any repeat problem cases are culled from the herd.” Relying on staff has meant the Holloways put a lot of emphasis on training procedures for any new staff. This is now mostly carried out by Jamie Kiley, who is responsible for the day-to-day running of the dairy and he makes every effort to ensure all staff are following the correct procedures. Dry cow treatment and teat seal are administered at dry-off time with a strong emphasis on hygiene and following recommended process. A tight autumn calving pattern is also adhered to which includes calving down a large number of heifers. The herd is calved during April and
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May and any cows not in calf are milked through and rejoined if their production is good enough. “We have more than enough stock and every year we sell 80 or so cows for dairy,” Ian said. “They are always good production, low cell count cows and it has proven to be a good income stream because we do have repeat buyers.” Ian said this season is looking pretty good despite 117mm of rain back in September which put the river flats under water. Production-wise the cows are milking the best they have in five years and they were able to hold their peak for about five months. Pasture quality is really good but silage yields are a bit down this season.
Dairy News Australia welcomes contributions from stakeholders in the dairy industry, and particularly from organisations wishing to advance the industry. Contributions and photos can be sent to: editor@dairynewsaustralia.com.au Letters to the editor on topical issues are also welcome. Letters should be concise and carry the name and town address of the author, as well as a contact phone number, not for publication.
DNA Full Page InDesign docs Q3 Q4 2023.indd 3
03/08/2023 09:07:06
DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA NOVEMBER 2023
8 // NEWS
Retiring for good this time BY JEANETTE SEVERS
ERROL AND Julie Gerber of Gerber Farms
Dairy are into retirement mode, having dispersed their Wivenhoe registered herd and leased their dairy farm at Clarendon, Queensland. The productive farm, in the Lockyer Valley, stretches from irrigated Lockyer Creek flats to higher country. Winter cereal and summer sorghum crops are grown on the creek flats for forage and harvest. Gerber Farms Dairy traditionally supplied milk to Sunshine Coast processor, Maleny Dairies. It is the second time Errol and Julie have retired from the dairy industry, but this is the last time. “We retired in 2014,” Errol said. “We were one of Queensland’s largest milk suppliers. “We wanted a rest, so we leased our irrigation and cultivation properties and sold most of our herd. “We retained some high quality pedigreed Holstein heifers which we grew out and agisted.” They used these heifers as the basis for rebuilding their milking herd when they returned to the dairy industry in 2016. Errol and Julie added some pedigreed Holstein heifers from South Australia, and bought registered Jersey heifers from Victoria and SA.
“We ended up with a herd of half Holstein and half Jersey cows,” Errol said. “They calve down across 10 months of the year. “Production figures are good. The herd averages 31 litres, with 4.3 per cent butter fat and 3.5 per cent protein.” Errol and Julie made the decision to retire from dairy farming last year when a long-term employee moved on and they struggled to find skilled workers. “In the last few years, we’ve had severe drought in 2018 and 2019, then the floods in March 2022,” Errol said. They lost the sorghum crop growing on the creek flat in those floods, but the herd and the bulk of their infrastructure came through unscathed. “We had a very stable workforce until 2022,” Errol said. “They had to move on, and we found it extremely difficult to find the staff with skills we needed for our operation. “We decided to cease dairying.” The couple took stock of their situation and decided, after 40 years of dairy farming, it was time to retire. “This time we’re retiring for good,” Errol said. Initially Errol and Julie sought expressions of interest to sell their herd and their dairy and cropping properties. They set a timeline, and when that concluded without sales, they initiated their second step, which was to find a lessee for their property and disperse their herd at auction. Both things occurred simultaneously.
Queensland dairy farmers Errol and Julie Gerber have sold their entire milking herd and retired from the industry.
“We knew the lessee, who was looking for somewhere to expand their own operation,” Errol said. “They’ve taken up a long-term lease agreement and they purchased a portion of the herd at the auction. They’re also buying our young stock. “It was somewhat of a daunting thing to sell the cows. These sales take a lot of work to happen. “Our daughter, Kirstin Turner, provided all the pedigree information to the agents. “Julie and I were very happy with how Dairy Livestock Services handled the advertising and sale on the day. “We’re very happy with the results we got.” The 309-head Holstein and Jersey milking herd was auctioned in a full dispersal sale on-property on September 19. Auctioneer was Brian Leslie, of Dairy Livestock Services. Holsteins were bred from Wivenhoe, Cowarol, Glenalbas, Manna Farm and Glenmax genetics. Jerseys were bred from Cairnbrae and Yandavale genetics. “There was a large selection of freshly calved cows in the dispersal sale,” Brian Leslie said. “The cattle were in tremendous form. The production figures showed the advantage of using good AI bulls.” The herd grossed $1,038,350, with an average of $3361. The 134 Holstein cows averaged $3687. The 144 Jersey cows averaged $3158. The five Brown Swiss cows averaged $3260. A mob of 22 crossbred dairy cows averaged $2770. The top-priced Jersey was a heifer that sold at $9000. “Buyers were from as far south as Foster in South Gippsland (Victoria), and north to the Atherton Tablelands (Queensland),” Brian said. “The sale’s top price of $9000 was paid by Ardylbar Holsteins and Jerseys, Cambooya, Queensland, for Wivenhoe Casino I Claire. “This exceptional milking two-year-old Jersey is a heifer out of two-time Great Southern On Farm Competition winner, Tasmanian-bred Merseybank Eltons Claire, EX93. She was by Casino. “The same buyers purchased the top selling Holstein, Wivenhoe Belmont Mel, at $6000. “She’s a tremendous three-year-old bred from Sandy Valley Belmont and Cowarol Rose families. “The second-highest selling Jersey was Yandavale Chromer Darcy, bred down from
A portion of the Gerber Farms Dairy herd was bought by the new lessee of the property.
International Dairy Week champion cow Yandavale Sambo Darcy, EX 93. “She was purchased by P. and S. Graham of Coraki, NSW, for $6100. “The Graham’s purchased several Holstein lots, including Wivenhoe High Octane Dawn, bred for the Cowarol and Carmar Dawns, and Wivenhoe Iceman Ponel. Both these Holsteins sold at $5250.” Wivenhoe Iceman Rosemas sold at $5600 to Tigerdee Farming of Gympie, Queensland. “Tigerdee Farming also bought Wivenhoe River Mel, a wonderful milking two-year-old, for $5000, and Wivenhoe Ardor Kay, also at $5000,” Brian said. “A. Taber, of Laidley, Queensland, paid $5000 for Wivenhoe Sergeant Kay. “D. and R. McGlead, of Foster in Victoria, selected 30 outstanding young Holstein cows to add to their herd, paying to a top of $5000 for Wivenhoe Pavarotti Amanda.” Brian said there were some very strong buyers in the Jersey section. “Our Way Farming P/L of Malanda, north Queensland, purchased Yandavale Choice Darcy at $5250,” he said. “The same purchaser selected many outstanding milking two-year-old commercial Jersey heifers, including a Jetfighter daughter at $4500 and another three by the same sire at $4300 each.” Four bulls rounded out the sale, averaging $3090. For Errol and Julie, their future is secure. The lessee took over the farm on October 1. October 8 was Errol’s and Julie’s 40th wedding anniversary and they are celebrating with a road trip. After which, they will return to the farm and move from their family home into another house on the property, set apart from the dairy farm.
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DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA NOVEMBER 2023
10 // NEWS
Back to school in Belgium BY SOPHIE BALDWIN
YOUNG AUSSIE dairy farmers Kieran
Coburn, Jess Eagles, Angus Fraser, Rebekah Love and Kyella McKenna were treated to the experience of a lifetime, recently attending the Young Breeders School in Battice, Belgium through Holstein Australia. An annual five-day international event involving hands-on and class-based sessions, the school is based on many aspects of showing cattle from showmanship and clipping through to marketing and herd management. It was established in 1999 with the aim to teach young breeders about cattle preparation and showmanship. Holstein Australia sent its first Australian team to the school back in 2019. For fourth generation dairy farmer Jess Eagles, the trip was an amazing experience — which culminated in her placing third in her showmanship class and placing 23 out of 140 participants overall. Angus Fraser placed 15th. “I came away from the trip feeling accomplished which is a really nice feeling,” Jess, from Moto in NSW, said. Not for the faint-hearted, the trip consisted of some pretty long days, late nights and a lot of hard work. “We weren’t given the luxury of picking our own animal — we were assigned a heifer and away we went, obviously if you didn’t have a handy heifer your job was a bit harder,” Jess said. Two days were spent competing in the ring. Jess said there were some different rules in the ring they had to operate under, which included once the last person entered, parading backwards around the ring. Leg placement was also a bit different.
The Aussie contingent to the Young Breeders School in Belgium comprised (from left) Angus Fraser, Jess Eagles, Kieran Coburn, Kyella McKenna, Rebekah Love and group leader Kelly Bleijendaal.
“I was pretty happy with the way I performed considering the different rules, some of which made more sense when you were looking for specific things — the competitors from Canada and England had a bit of a head start over us because they already knew the rules.” She said she also learnt a lot from the mentors who helped out at the school. “The quality of mentors were amazing and they came from around the world. “I would say to anyone who goes on this trip in the future to practice your clipping skills because the mentors know what they are looking for and they can be pretty harsh in their commentary.” While there were many lessons, Jess said meeting like-minded dairy people from around the world was simply a fantastic opportunity.
“There were bits and pieces to take away especially the different approaches to fitting and clipping.” The trip also included a look at the countryside and educational farm tour through the Netherlands. “Our first couple of days were spent touring where we saw a commercial stud and a cucumber farm which was quite interesting,” Jess said. “The dairy industry is shrinking over there but it is a tight knit community where everyone helps each other out, I guess that has something to do with being a small country as well.” This was Jess’ first trip overseas and the memory of the long plane trip is something she won’t forget in a hurry.
Jess Eagles in action at the Young Breeders School.
“We were squished in the plane on the way over and it seemed to take forever,” she laughed. Jess has grown up showing cows and even though her family stopped dairying commercially last year, they continue to breed a small herd of show cows — she will continue to be involved in the dairy industry outside her day job working with the local vet.
LEARNING FROM THE BEST By RICK BAYNE Warrnambool’s Kyella McKenna has seen how some of the world’s best dairy farmers work and she wants to emulate their success. Kyella, 22, was selected on the Australian team to take part in the European Young Breeders School program and says it exposed her to some of the most elite breeders and best farmers. “In Europe they are elite and their efficiencies are second to none,” she said. “Farmers in Europe don’t have government support and they don’t have a lot of land so they have to be at the top of their game. I think we could really learn from them in our systems.” Kyella was mostly based in Belgium for the two-week program and competed in Battice, but also toured farms in The Netherlands. She was selected based on her cattle showing skills and also as part of an industry investing in future leaders. For Kyella, the program was part of her ongoing commitment to learning from the best as she aims to forge a career in dairy. “My parents were relief milkers when I was growing up but I didn’t grow up on a dairy farm,” she said. She enrolled in an agriculture program at Emmanuel College in Warrnambool and started showing cows, which led to her first job at 14 milking cows for a local farmer.
“He gave me my first heifer was I was 16 and I still have a small group of Holsteins,” she said. “Because I haven’t grown up on a family dairy farm, I’ve been able to move around different farms and take the good parts from every different system. “That benefits me because I have all these great ideas coming from different people.” Kyella is studying agribusiness at Marcus Oldham in Geelong and will graduate in December. She also went to the United States as part of a uni trip. “It’s great to experience and compare other parts of the world and bring that knowledge back to develop my career,” she said. The Australian team to the European Young Breeders School was sponsored by Holstein Australia and Jersey Australia, and Kyella is also supported at university by a Dairy Australia farm manager’s scholarship. “I wouldn’t be able to do what I am without the support of the industry,” she said. “All the farmers give you time, they really care about the kids that come through and I want to give that back by becoming a leader in the dairy industry.” The European tour was a big step in her career advancement. “Going to Belgium helped me to make new relationships with some of the most amazing people in the industry and to compare how we do things. It will be really
Kyella McKenna wants to be a future leader in the industry. “Dairy is where my heart is and I think it always will be.”
good for my development.” She expects to take up an internship in Canada in 2024. “I want to continue to learn overseas and I would be working with some amazing studs which would be great for my passion for genetics.
“I want to be a future leader in the industry. Dairy is where my heart is and I think it always will be. “I’ve been given so many opportunities by farmers who have believed in me and invested in a kid that came from nowhere. It’s time to give back.”
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DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA NOVEMBER 2023
12 // NEWS
From Victoria to Vancouver the development and progress of the dairy sector. “I applied because the scholarship was empathetic of the primary producing background. A lot of scholarships only look at the stats and don’t see that we still need help,” Rachel said. Rachel is no stranger to farming, growing up on a 750-cow dairy farm. She’s worked on the farm ever since she was little, showing dairy cattle. “I’ve been to Dairy Week every year since 2014 except last year during COVID and when I did my exchange,” Rachel said. She has also worked on a large-scale dairy operation near Manchester in the UK. “I always knew I wanted to do something with livestock and animals. Doing a gap year reaffirmed my decision.” After completing her second year at university, Rachel studied a semester abroad at the University of British Columbia, Canada. “I definitely wouldn’t have been able to do my exchange without the scholarship.
RACHEL DICKSON didn’t think her life
would lead her from Terang in south-west Victoria to Vancouver in Canada. She’s currently studying a Bachelor of Science at Melbourne University, and completed one of her semesters abroad. “Coming to the end of my degree makes me think back. The last three years have been beyond anything I ever thought it could be,” Rachel said. Now in her final year, Rachel was one of the 2021 recipients of the Gardiner Foundation Jakob Malmo Scholarship. “I love how Gardiner supports the community and it’s nice to be a part of something like that.” The Gardiner Foundation Scholarship, valued at $10,000 per year for three years, is available for students embarking on their first university or TAFE course. This initiative reflects Gardiner’s commitment to nurturing the next generation of professionals who will play a pivotal role in
It allowed me to explore my study exchange to the fullest. “I didn’t have to worry about being able to pay rent or afford food because I couldn’t work while in Canada. Without these funds, I would not have had the experience I did, and I’m very grateful for it.” Prospective students who share a passion for the dairy industry’s success and wish to be part of the positive transformation in rural communities are strongly encouraged to apply for the Gardiner Foundation Scholarship. “The scholarship gives you the flexibility to not only move away from home, but to make sure you’re able to live the experience,” Rachel said. “Having the support to go and do something that was different like an exchange was amazing and I’m very grateful for the opportunity. “My goal of completing a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine following this degree
remains unchanged. “I plan to complete an internship next year within the animal health sector, to explore the industry outside of clinical veterinary practice.” To be eligible for the scholarship, candidates must exhibit a genuine dedication to pursuing a career that directly contributes to the enhancement of the dairy industry or the wellbeing of dairy communities. This represents a unique opportunity for students who are not only seeking academic excellence but are also keen on making a tangible difference in the lives of those living in rural areas. Applications are now open and close on Monday, November 20. 2 To apply and for more information, visit: www.gardinerfoundation.com.au/ts 2 Submit completed applications to: scholarships@gardinerfoundation.com.au
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Rachel Dickson’s Gardiner Foundation Scholarship helped her take part in an academic exchange to Canada.
DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA NOVEMBER 2023
NEWS // 13
Jenny Wilson farewelled AFTER EIGHT years, Murray Dairy has fare-
welled its chief executive officer and regional manager Jenny Wilson. During this time, Jenny has brought a comprehensive theoretical and practical knowledge that has contributed to Murray Dairy’s ongoing success. She has assisted the Murray Dairy team in building productive relationships across the industry and has become an exemplary leader. A key focus of Jenny’s leadership since 2015 has been collaboration and partnerships. As a result, Murray Dairy has leveraged significant external funding for strategic projects specifically designed to address the challenges and opportunities in the Murray region. This includes the delivery of major investments in the Murray region such as the Accelerating Change Project (refocused under Jenny’s leadership), the Murray Region’s Future Focus Strategy, Fodder for the Future, Workforce Attraction, Building Better Regions and New Generation Skills for the Dairy Industry projects. The latest investment, C4Milk Murray Region Cropping-Forages Investment, is a major partnership between Murray Dairy, the Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, Dairy Australia and the Gardiner Foundation. This is an example of local delivery and direction of investment directly as part of a National Feedbase Program. Jenny also led Murray Dairy and the broader industry through some extremely challenging times, including drought and dry conditions, wet conditions and flooding, fires, milk price crash, COVID-19 and ongoing water policy reform. During Jenny’s tenure, the Murray Dairy team has expanded. Her focus on people and development has seen many employees and farmers progress within their industry, and it’s her mentorship and guidance that has led to substantial contributions of many to the dairy, local community and the broader agricultural industry. Jenny has made many ongoing strong professional relationships and friendships, and we all look forward to working with her in new role as community development general manager at Gardiner Dairy Foundation. Outgoing Murray Dairy chair Andy Tyler said it has been a privilege to work with Jenny. “Jenny’s leadership and passion for dairy in this region will be hard to replace, and we wish her all the best as she takes up a new role at Gardiner Foundation,” he said. With the departure of Jenny, the Murray Dairy board and Dairy Australia have worked together on a new approach to the role. In the meantime, Amy Fay and Lachlan Barnes will step into respective roles of executive officer to the Murray Dairy Board and regional manager. This will allow time, stability and support for the Murray team and maintains corporate knowledge with the recently revamped Murray Dairy Board. Lachlan said he was sad to see Jenny go after working alongside her for so long. “However, I couldn’t be taking over the regional manager’s portion of the role under better circumstances,” he said. “Jenny has created a great culture and strong team. Under her leadership, Murray Dairy has built a strong reputation among local dairy farmers.”
Murray Dairy CEO and regional manager Jenny Wilson has left the organisation to join Gardiner Dairy Foundation.
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DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA NOVEMBER 2023
14 // NEWS
Build it and they will come A GROUP of eight NSW dairywomen have
achieved what few others have been able to. This mix of elder stateswomen worked alongside a young base of rising stars — together with several charismatic keynote speakers — holding130 participants in the palm of their hands for two days during the NSW Women in Dairy (WiD) & Bale Up Conference at Merimbula recently. With a packed program that didn’t sit on the fence when it came to farming challenges or the tough personal subjects, the Bale Up committee now has the attention of other states who want to mirror their success. Master of ceremonies June Tarlinton, who shared her own story, represented a generation who “soldiered on” and found relief in humour. Her message was balanced out by the next generation who have spoken up when things are challenging. Somewhere in between — at this year’s conference — they all met in solidarity, humour and empathy. “I was surprised and amazed how many young people attended,” June said. “And I believe it’s probably because we had a mixed and varied group of guest speakers. They were young, they were old, and they touched on some fascinating subjects that were not all entirely based on-farm.” One of those speakers was Mary Coustas,
one of Australia’s most loved actors, comedians and corporate speakers. In 1987 she became a member of the ground-breaking stage show Wogs out of Work, where her comic creation ‘Effie’ was born. Mary endured 23 rounds of IVF before welcoming her daughter, Jamie, into the world. Another was former city-born broadcast journalist Stephanie Trethewey, who fell in love with a farmer and moved to rural Tasmania in 2019. Her transition to country life was a baptism of fire, which inspired her to launch Motherland — Australia’s first online rural mother’s group program. The not-for-profit organisation is on a mission to eliminate the isolation so many rural mothers face. There was also relevant stories on-farm and within farm businesses that acknowledged the struggle, how each woman traversed their journeys, and how they came out the other end. “I think this conference was as much about the connection of women as it was about the connection of country women,” June said. “The strength of the industry is in diversity and that you’re welcome whether you’re a small fry or a big one. And the doors of the succession subject are starting to open, and it used to be so bloody difficult.” Thirty-year-old Brodie Game, the NSW WiD’s vice-president, operates Blackjack
The success of the recent NSW Women in Dairy (WiD) & Bale Up Conference revolved around (from left) WiD vice-president Brodie Game, WiD committee member Gemma Otton and WiD president Renae Connell. Photos: Cliff Shipton
Holsteins with her husband Kevin, in Bemboka, NSW, milking 330 cows year-round. She overcame her natural instincts to shy away from the limelight to get involved. “When we were planning for it down here, I was very nervous that people wouldn’t travel because it’s always been up north before this,” Brodie said. “But the younger people did travel, and I think that was in response to the speakers. “The vulnerability of a lot of speakers really resonated too. Every speaker delivered their presentations so strongly. “It was a combination of all the little things that you hope will work, but you’re never too sure beforehand. “It was a lot of fun and we went home on a fairly big high having made a lot of new friends. It was a turning point for us, I think.” Brodie says they are up for the challenge for next year. “Some of us already planning for next year, and to ride that wave and that high. “There is a lot of inspirational women out there and social media has made it easier to have access to their amazing stories, and we all have different networks and diverse connections.” Victorian farmer Jessica Gavenlock, from Cherrylock Cattle Co at Tallygaroopna, is wellknown for how busy she is.
The American-born mother of three took the time to travel to this year’s event. She heard about it through social media, and she decided to combine it with a break from the farm. “I went on my own, but I knew I would make friends or maybe know a few people there since we were women, and we all like working with cows,” Jessica said. She said she got what she wanted from the two days, despite it being a busy time of year to step away from their business. She’s since had some of her Victorian friends question her about her experience. She believes there is potential for more Victorians to come next year, and it raises the question about the movement’s potential future at a national level. The destination for next year’s event will be in the Sydney region, and the dates are yet to be released. Brodie said it was an easier decision to base this year’s event in Merimbula for one reason — because key committee members including Gemma Otton were on the ground. “That’s the hard part,” Brodie said. “Getting those people who have local knowledge about the good places to go. Gemma and I are both about 45 minutes out of Merimbula, so it gave us the chance to spend more time together. “We just all want this event to succeed.” Story supplied by Daviesway DASCO.
Victorian farmer Jess Gavenlock (right) didn’t let geography stop her from joining in with friends, Jessica Bell (left) and Jessica Pearce (centre) at the final dinner.
Kezie Apps won her second consecutive Rugby League World Cup in November 2022 — this time as captain of the Australian Jillaroosr. Kezie was raised on her family’s dairy farm in Bega on the NSW south coast, and she remains tightly connected to her roots as a NSW Dairy Ambassador. She was a popular and grounded speaker.
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DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA NOVEMBER 2023
NEWS // 17
Pisa a straight-up champion BY SOPHIE BALDWIN
THERE IS no doubt dairying and breeding quality cows is a generational passion for the Dee family from Macorna in northern Victoria. And over the decades there have been some pretty pivotal cows, including the recently crowned Holstein Cow of the Year, Clydevale Mr Sam Pisa EX91-3E 17* 1xEP 2xM 2xP LIFE2. The win is a first for the two-time master breeders and the family — Adrian, Col, Adam, Mark, Mandy and Hannah — couldn’t be more delighted. “We are pretty excited to win this prestigious award,” Adam said. “Pisa is a fifth generation Clydevale prefix — she goes that far back and has bred some amazing animals for us including a grandson in AI (TLG Crusier) and many daughters in the herd today.” Adam said there were some pretty well known cows among the 10 entries in the competition this year and after being a four-time finalist, it was Pisa’s turn to shine. “Pisa’s progeny numbers probably got her over the line along with her high production — she certainly ticks a lot of boxes,” he said. Over her lifetime, Pisa has produced more than 80,000 litres along with 6120kg of milk solids. Her top lactation was as a five-year-old where she produced a staggering 12,610 litres, 409kg protein and 489kg fat, with a PI 114. She has 346 descendants including three Excellent and 68 VG classified cows. “Pisa has always been a big framed cow and an aggressive feeder which transmitted across her type and production,” Adam said. “’We still have a couple of her frozen embryos in the tank which we will put into some recipient cows soon.” Now retired from dairy life, Pisa spends her days hanging out in the paddock with a group of favourite cows the family will never part with. “She has earnt her rest and we are more than happy to let her spend her days just lazing around,” Adam laughed. Holstein Cow of the Year judges Simon Tognola and Angela Tweddle described Pisa as a profitable cow that demonstrated a balanced performance across all aspects of breeding. “Pisa is the whole package. Most importantly, she’s not just a ‘once off’,” Mr Tognola said. “She is a cow that has given a lot back to the industry and is passing her traits to the next generation.” While the Dee family have had a lot of
The Dee family — Adrian, Col, Adam, Mark, Mandy and Hannah — are delighted Pisa won the Holstein Cow of the Year award.
breeding success over the years, the only major win that eludes them now is an International Dairy Week senior champion win. “We have won All Australian, Winter Fair and a Supreme Champion at the youth show at IDW years ago — we would love to one day get a senior champion cow win,” Adam said. Mark said winning this competition was a huge honour, and the family was grateful the industry had acknowledged the achievements of one of their all-time favourite cows. “We’ve always rated the cow of the year competition very highly and it’s pretty special to have one of our cows in that elite club,” he said. The Dee family are currently milking 450 cows, pushing up to 500 over summer. The herd is averaging around 40 litres. “We have around 1200 females on the farm and 50 steers and bulls,” Adam said. “We lease 390ha to help carry the heifers and this season is looking pretty promising with a good silage harvest and hopefully a lot of hay.”
Holstein Cow of the Year, Clydevale Mr Sam Pisa, is enjoying her retirement.
DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA NOVEMBER 2023
18 // NEWS
Genetics to boom after expo AUSTRALIAN JERSEY genetics are on the
cusp of a dramatic sales boom after a successful trade mission to the world’s largest dairy expo. Jersey Australia led a joint trade site at World Dairy Expo in Madison, Wisconsin, in the United States, that also included Genetics Australia and AgriGene. Jersey Australia general manager Glen Barrett said the increase in product recognition after the 2022 expo was impressive. “It was an extraordinarily positive outcome for what we are trying to achieve,” he said. “There was strong interest from farmers and resellers looking to stock products, which was really pleasing, and there were more people coming through the site and much greater interest from people wanting to know more about Australian product.” The interest came not just from North America but also from South America, Africa and Europe, and there was strong interest in heifers going into Sri Lanka and China. “There is recognition of what the Australian Jersey offers,” Mr Barrett said. “We see it as the best Jersey in the world and that is starting to resonate with other markets. People are impressed with the strength and efficiency of the Australian Jersey cow and her capacity to produce in all farming conditions.” The site was presented to show the quality of Australian cows in the paddock and Mr Barrett said the delegation plans to return next year to build on the momentum. “In my view, we’re right on the cusp of a dramatic sales increase,” he said.
At the Jersey Australia trade site at World Dairy Expo in the US were Jersey Australia general manager Glen Barrett, Dr Asad from HRM in Pakistan and Genetics Australia export manager Rob Derksen.
The delegation also got to see Australian genetics in action in the US market, including Bontino and ASKN daughters in the expo show, a Bontino daughter which came third in her class and an ASKN embryo sell in the Top of the World Jersey Sale at the expo, and an ASKN son is being sold in the US and Canada.
Genetics Australia and AgriGene will follow up strong inquiries. Agri-Gene general manager Chris McIlroy was pleased to see the daughters of one of Agri-Gene’s sires, Bontino, come third in her class. “That was great to see and in the senior
two-year-old in-milk class, there were three Bontino daughters in the one class, which was the result of the first bull we sent over there,” Mr McIlroy said. “It was really pleasing to see Australian-sired progeny competing in the ring and doing well and now we’re selling more on the back of Bontino’s success.” Mr McIlroy said interest in Australian Jerseys continued to grow. “The joint Jersey Australia booth is good because we can all push in the same direction to promote Australian Jerseys,” he said. “There’s good global interest for Australian Jerseys at the moment.” Genetics Australia export manager Rob Derksen said awareness of Australian product was very good in the US and international markets and the expo site was helping to grow that reputation. “I spoke to people from Costa Rica, Guatemala, Ecuador and other countries as well as from the US and Canada and the interest in very high,” Mr Derksen said. “There will definitely be more semen product going overseas. Australian genetics have a good reputation and the expo is the place to show that to the world.” Mr Derksen also met with representatives from global herd improvement leader URUS Group LP, including the GENEX co-operative which joined Genetics Australia in a joint venture this year. “We’re now following up opportunities in South Africa and South America,” he said.
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It’s time for south-west Victoria’s farmers to kick off the gumboots and Blundstones for a new event on their social calendar. WestVic Dairy is hosting its first Dairy Farmers’ Ball in Warrnambool on Saturday, November 25. The black-tie event aims to provide those working in agriculture with a fantastic night out — along with raising funds for charity. Max Bond, Cooriemungle dairy farmer and one of the Young Dairy Network leaders, said the group had been discussing the idea of hosting a gala ball for a while now. “The kind of event that gives us all the opportunity to get dressed up, get together, and have a great time — all whilst raising money for the Let’s Talk Foundation,” Max said. “We want to put on an evening that really elevates the dairy industry and agriculture more broadly. “We are inviting anyone connected to farming to join us for this exciting new event and help make it the success we know it will be.” Central to the evening will be the charity raffle. The prize is provided by Lely Australia, who is the event’s exclusive sponsor. Along with funding towards the night, Lely is providing the lucky raffle winner with a trip to the Netherlands, including return airfares to Amsterdam, a week of accommodation and a fantastic itinerary of farm visits and behind-the-scenes access at Lely Headquarters. WestVic dairy extension officer Matt Wood is coordinating the event. “We wanted to ensure we put on a high-quality night,” Matt said.
Kick off the work boots and put on the glad rags for the inaugural Dairy Farmers’ Ball.
We want to put on an evening that really elevates the dairy industry and agriculture more broadly. “So, we have secured a great venue at the Matlida Rooms, Warrnambool Racing Club, a top band in Good Faces 4 Radio, and an amazing prize from Lely. “Currently our early bird tickets are available for $75 per person, that includes cocktail food, a ticket for the raffle and a drink on arrival. Further raffle tickets can also be purchased online prior to the evening. “You don’t need to attend the ball to buy raffle tickets — though of course we would rather people get along and enjoy the night.” ɋ For more information or to buy tickets, call 5557 1000 or go to: https://www.eventbrite.com. au/e/2023-dairy-farmers-ball- tickets-707577682897
DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA NOVEMBER 2023
NEWS // 19
The experience of a lifetime BY SOPHIE BALDWIN
WHEN COHUNA dairy farmer Emmalea
Wishart was announced the winner of the 2023 Power of Women in Dairy scholarship she couldn’t have been more excited. The scholarship allowed Emmalea to tick off one of her major bucket list items — a trip to World Dairy Expo in Madison, Wisconsin in the United States, and it certainly didn’t disappoint. Fresh back home from the trip and straight into work pitting silage, Emmalea said it was an experience of a lifetime. “It was so amazing and I had such a great time meeting so many great people and attending the expo — it was just next level.’’ While she didn’t have too, Emmalea chose to work with the Maple Leigh Futures Holstein string and it was an experience she will never forget. “I worked alongside some really great people who have now become lifelong friends. I helped prepare the cows during the day just like what I would do at home.” Emmalea’s hard work and dedication to the cows didn’t go unnoticed — she was offered an internship by three different farms. “You head over to the US for the start of the show season and work for three months and finish up at the expo — at first I thought they were joking and when I realised they were serious, I was honoured to have been asked.”
She said the expo experience was different to the hustle and bustle of International Dairy Week. “There are no distractions away from the cows and the stadium is quiet and has background music. “Everybody whispers and it is such a quiet atmosphere and then they announce the supreme champion and the lights are zooming around and then she is there in the spotlight and it is just amazing.” Emmalea was away for three-and-a-half weeks and took the opportunity to see some working dairy farms, which included spending a bit of time at Budjon and Milksource. “It was a great chance to look at some different set ups and see some more awesome cows, although the quality of cows we have here in Australia do compare.” Emmalea said American cows are valued higher than Aussie cows and the price paid is just crazy. She also found some nice young cow families and she is hoping to import some embryos to develop at home (Rowlands Park Holstein). She fell in love with Ryan-Vu Unix Shasti and Milksource Tantalize-Red. “Seeing these great cows made me miss my own cows and also motivated me to focus on our breeding program at home. “I am determined to get stuck in and have a real go and personally I want to learn a bit more about cow families.”
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The trip wasn’t all just cows — Emmalea did take the opportunity to do a bit of sightseeing, which included a five-day stay in New York. Returning home Emmalea was also stoked to be asked to participate in International Dairy Week’s Around the Barn podcast, talking about her dairy expo experience. “I got to talk to Casey Treloar and Declan Patten and that was pretty awesome too.” Emmalea said she simply cannot thank the Power of Women in Dairy team enough for the opportunity, and she would urge any dairy woman to apply for the scholarship. “I was devastated when I missed out last year and I thought I would never get the opportunity again but here I am and I wouldn’t change a single thing. “It was such a great opportunity to see a different side of the world and I am just so grateful — it was absolutely amazing.” The Power of Women in Dairy scholarship is made possible by the support of Genetics Australia, Holstein Australia, Jefo and Murray Dairy. Emmalea is the third woman to participate in the scholarship.
Emmalea Wishart at World Dairy Expo in the US with one the cow families she fell in love with, Ryan-Vu Unix Shasti.
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DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA NOVEMBER 2023
20 // NEWS
Breeding dream comes true A WORK experience stint with Genetics
Australia when he was just 15 planted the seed for Liam Ryan’s dream of one day having a bull in the GA team. Twenty-five years later, that dream has become a reality with Numeralla A2P2 Illuminator being selected for the GA spring team. Liam predicts big things for the bull. “I’m really confident he will go anywhere and do a good job because he’s come out of a big herd that all walk to the back paddock, are good at getting in calf, and have the traits that are important — strength, capacity, feet and udders,” Liam said. “They’re going to hold up anywhere.” It has been a long-time coming, but Liam has always had his eye on the prize. “I remember doing work experience with Genetics Australia at Bacchus Marsh when I was 15,” he said. “The bulls were huge; the facility was amazing and I saw embryo transfer calves being born. I loved every minute of it. “Being young and biased, I thought my cows were the best cows and that one day I’d get a bull into the bull team.” That day has arrived and semen from Numeralla A2P2 Illuminator is now available. Numeralla A2P2 Illuminator has strong connections to GA’s breeding program as Liam’s farm at Grassmere in south-west Victoria continues to reap the benefits of a 60-year connection with GA and its predecessor, Victorian Artificial Breeding. “My dad, Basil, got involved with artificial insemination as soon as it was available and has been using Genetics Australia since the early 1960s,” Liam said. There are several GA bulls in his pedigree, including Caso used in the late 60s and Buta used in the late 80s. He is out of a Delta cow who was in the first group of heifers that Liam genomic tested in 2018. She was the number one heifer in that release and was ranked as high as the number three cow in Australia on BPI. The bull’s pedigree also includes Racer and Roumare.
Liam Ryan’s dream of having a bull in the Genetics Australia team has been realised. He is pictured (right) with his father, Basil Ryan.
Liam’s eye for a good cow identified Numeralla A2P2 Illuminator’s family’s potential way back in 1992 when he was just 10 years old. “At the time, 402 was my favourite cow,” he said. “In Dad’s breeding book, I’ve written the names of my favourite cows that I wanted to register and 402’s family was the first. She’s the great, great, great, great, great, great-granddam of this bull.” To satisfy his early obsession, his parents got Liam a porcelain model cow to look the same, complete with a 402 freeze-brand painted on it. The Ryan family has farmed in the Grassmere region since 1942 and Liam has been working the land since 2004, including a conversion of the current home farm in 2007.
In 2013, Liam took over the business, Numeralla Dairy Co, and the following year bought his uncle’s farm so the original farm is back together. He milks 650 to 700 cows on the main 404-hectare farm, supported by another 200 hectares for young stock and cropping. Liam has moved from 300-day to 420-day lactations, going away from split calving in February-March and July-August and instead using batch calving that moves back two months each year. “It gives the cows more days open between calving and joining,” he said. “It’s better for the cows and increases their opportunity to get in calf. It means the days open between calving and the mating start date for my last cow calved is the same as the early cows on a 300-day lactation.”
The change has meant a significantly better in-calf rate, a much lower replacement rate, more calves for the export market and greater genetic gain. “Previously in a 10-week joining we’d be looking around an 80 per cent in-calf rate. “I’ve extended the joining to 14 weeks and am targeting a 95 per cent in-calf rate. “On sexed semen, we’re getting better conception rates on the extended lactation than we were on conventional semen on a 300-day lactation.” This year is the first time they are calved together. “My expectation is that the cows will peak higher because they’re better rested and carrying better condition,” Liam said. “There will be a trade-off in the last hundred days of the lactation because they will drop off a bit but overall, it will balance pretty well.” The herd has previously averaged 9500 litres and 670kg/MS in 300-day lactation. Liam is targeting 850kg/MS under the new 420-day system. The farm was previously a mix of Friesians, Jerseys and crossbreds but is now all Friesian. Numeralla A2P2 Illuminator cover all bases. “I’m happy putting him in because I know what cattle he’s going to breed,” Liam said. “If I put a bull in that looks good on paper but doesn’t perform, people won’t want to use him or any of my bulls again. I’d be happy to use him in my own herd and that’s the big thing. “We breed for a strong commercial herd with a heap of rib, good feet and legs and they do a heap of production. “I had these good, big production cows and wanted to know who I should be targeting to breed from and that’s where the genomics came in.” The herd is in the top two per cent for Balanced Performance (BPI) in the country. “For a big herd, it’s going quite well.” Numeralla A2P2 Illuminator has a full brother that Liam is going to keep and use.
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EastAUSmilk is considering how best to assist farmers in managing the issues and opportunities around bobby calves and their unsaleability, having already raised this issue with the NSW, Queensland and Federal governments. “We recognise that properly addressing the issue will entail a multi-faceted approach,” eastAUSmilk government relations manager Mike Smith said. “EastAUSmilk is investigating a package of programs which would include training in the use of artificial insemination and sexed semen, incentives for dairy farmers to make the shift (some of the equipment can be quite expensive and sexed semen can be twice the cost of unsexed), and advocacy by government to dairy farmers of its uptake including defining the economic benefits,” he said. Research into the optimal dairy beef breeds, considering geographic location and herd genetics, will help to ensure the program’s longevity and success. Farmers considering adopting sexed semen into their herd management system would have access to relevant data enabling a move to a more valuable and saleable animal. Evaluation of alternative, more consistent markets, and how they could be
established, will also be key to the success of the program. “However, before embarking on a comprehensive program such as this, we must be sure we are working with facts,” Mr Smith said. “EastAUSmilk is looking to survey our members to collect a range of relevant information including the extent to which they produce bobby calves, use artificial insemination, and use sexed semen. “This data will also provide further evidence on the current roadblocks preventing the uptake of dairy beef, and the option of using artificial insemination and sexed semen. “EastAUSmilk is committed to providing leadership and innovative thinking to allow dairy farmers to take the lead in finding and managing sustainable solutions to this issue.”
DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA NOVEMBER 2023
NEWS // 21
Taming the circular economy BY DR LES SANDLES
CHANGE IS easy to talk about, but often dif-
ficult to implement as it requires more work and the outcome, while supposedly beneficial, is unknown, and we farmers despise the unknown! One change racing towards us is the replacement of farm chemicals, including fertilisers, with environmentally friendly alternatives. Without exception, these will likely be sourced from organic waste — and better if they are integrated into the farm’s circular economy. Often, vivid and/or powerful images help us get our head around change, and one that is fit for purpose here is the mythical dragon or serpent, Ouroboros, which bites or eats its own tail. The image symbolises the cycle of samsara in which it continually devours itself and is reborn from itself. This is a perfect representation of a circular economy and indeed, the emerging view on managing organic waste. Those who are heaping pressure on farmers to lift their game in respect of C-emissions, forget that their food comes from farms, and that a lovely orange, crunchy muesli, and even the wine they are gulping down as they castigate us, are all borne of the land! (In fact, we wouldn’t have any nasty agricultural contributions to the environment if people would just stop eating and drinking!) Those same critics waste a huge amount of
food. However, with more than 40 per cent of food produced in Australia being wasted, there are several opportunities to make further good from the bad. About one fifth of the food is lost (17 to 24 per cent) inside the farm gate; two to five per cent during handling and transport; seven to 15 per cent during processing, manufacturing, distribution, retail and storage; and a whopping 10 to 20 per cent is chucked out at home. Agriculture has much to gain by participating in the circular economy. As previously discussed, high yielding pastures munch enormous amounts of carbon as CO2 (and we have learned that the methane argument is a red herring), as much as two to three times as trees per unit of land. Equally, or perhaps even more importantly, the dairy industry is well entrenched in the circular economy. Anerobic digestors to produce biogas from organic waste, compost, and the use of waste from the human food and fibre industries as feed supplements (for example, canola meal, brewers grains, cottonseed, bakery and candy waste) are examples of the circular economy in action. The latter is often overlooked despite about five per cent of all food grown for human consumption being repurposed to animal nutrition as a waste product. Both anaerobic digestion and composting are useful, positive practices for dealing with organic waste, and yet so much more can be
gained with a simple change in process. In my mind, organic waste going to landfill is a crime, and organic waste going to compost is yesterday’s technology. If all organic waste, from the food (human), feed (animal) and fibre industries was used to its full capability, it could eliminate synthetic farm fertiliser needs, and improve food quality at the same time. The problem with composting — and to a lesser extent, biogas production — is that an enormous portion of the carbon contained in the organic material the processes begin with, is lost to the environment in the final analysis. The highly effective alternative for managing solid organic waste is a process called Groundswell. This is a patented process,
developed in Queensland, which converts organic waste into a potent soil fixer-upper retaining 100 per cent of the carbon and nitrogen of the feedstock material. Even more impressively is what happens when the resulting material is returned to the soil. I will explain the process over the next few editions, in the meantime, keep an eye out for one of our seminars where I explain all things regen. ɋ Dr Les Sandles is a renowned thought leader and provocateur in the dairy industry. Best known for his role in revolutionising nutritional and pasture management practices, Les has turned his attention to the ‘last frontier’ — transmogrifying the forage production system into a C-munching machine.
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DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA NOVEMBER 2023
22 // NEWS
Woolworths fund finds $1.5m f SEVENTEEN AUSTRALIAN dairy farmers
have received a share of almost $1.5 million to fund on-farm projects in the latest round of the Woolworths Dairy Innovation Fund. The latest grants mark a total of $5 million given to almost 60 dairy farmers from the Woolworths fund over the past three years, allowing family-run dairies to invest in technology, seasonal resilience and greater efficiency. It comes at a key juncture for the industry, as dairies prepare for dry conditions in the year ahead and availability of labour becomes a growing challenge. The most recent group of 17 grant recipients highlight the ways in which farmers are preparing for the upcoming season — from improving water management and energy efficiency, to automation — supported by grants of up to $100,000 each. Woolworths commercial director of dairy Jason McQuaid said out of necessity, Australian farmers were very wise about the investments they make during good seasons to see them through the tough ones. “We’re pleased to have helped almost 60 dairy farmers put those plans into action through our Dairy Innovation Fund,” he said. “We have met some incredible farmers through the fund, who are looking ahead and making smart investments now to benefit their dairy in the future. “While in previous years the fund has supported tech-based projects like cow collars and dairy automation, we’ve seen a real shift from farmers in the latest round to focus on climate resilience.
Kacey Walker will install an automated irrigation system on her Queensland property, thanks to the Woolworths Dairy Innovation Fund. Photo: Sandie Chandler Photography
“It’s exciting to hear from past grant recipients how quickly their investments have delivered measurable efficiency and cost savings, and we look forward to seeing how our recent grants will help these 17 dairies prosper.”
Making every drop count
Third-generation dairy farmer Kacey Walker has been awarded $80,000 from the fund to install an automated irrigation system with
Trish, Matt and Peter Mulheron in front of solar panels on their Victorian farm. They will spend their grant on a modular microgrid system. Photo: Paul Benjamin
energy efficient pumps. She runs Walker Farm Foods in Cambroon, on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, where she milks up to 150 cows. The new irrigation system will allow all irrigation taps across her dairy paddocks to be pre-programmed and operated via a wifi-controller, improving water management, saving time and reducing waste. At present, manual irrigation requires her
to adjust taps across her property every two hours, every day. “It’s so exciting to think about the impact automated irrigation will have on the business,” Kacey said. “We’re already experiencing some drought conditions and every drop of water counts, so to have the precision to control exactly where and when we’re using our precious water is so important.
‘KICK IN THE GUTS’ FOR DAIRY FARMERS Dairy farmers have been blindsided by the NSW Government’s drastic change to Coastal Harvestable Rights, casting doubt on the industry’s survival, says NSW Farmers. Last year the former state government increased Coastal Harvestable Rights so farmers could store 30 per cent of the rain that fell on their properties, providing hope for future productivity gains. But NSW Farmers Dairy Committee chair Phil Ryan said NSW Water Minister Rose Jackson had pulled the rug out from under farmers by quietly reverting the rules to 10 per cent, which he called “a kick in the guts”. “This has absolutely nothing to do with the drying conditions we’re seeing and everything to do with appeasing inner-city environmentalists who have no idea where their food comes from,” Mr Ryan said. “The dairy industry in NSW is already facing price pressure, a dry season ahead and cheap imports from New Zealand, and now the water minister is making it harder to be a dairy farmer. “Short-sighted decisions like this, made without asking farmers what the practical impacts might be, puts enormous pressure on coastal agriculture and erodes trust in government.” The ability to construct a dam on a property to capture harvestable rights was introduced under the NSW Farm Dams Policy in 1999, which changed the rules from an unlimited number of farm dams on a property to a 10 per cent take statewide. NSW Farmers said while that number
sounded good on paper, landholders in coastal catchments argued for larger harvestable rights due to higher rainfall patterns and vastly different topography to farms west of the Dividing Range, where the 10 per cent rights measurement originated. Mr Ryan said while NSW Farmers policy was to secure a 40 per cent take of rainfall under Coastal Harvestable Rights, the previous government’s position was progress to unwind the ‘one size fits all’ rules that governed the allocation and use of water resources. “We were looking forward to greater opportunities for agriculture in a sustainable and beneficial way,” Mr Ryan said. “It was an important step in righting the old wrongs on water, but with the return of water buybacks in the Murray-Darling Basin and now this change to Coastal Harvestable Rights, it seems we’ve got a government intent on ignoring the people who produce food for supermarket shelves. “This is arguably the worst possible time for this decision for farmers — it’s a real kick in the guts.”
DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA NOVEMBER 2023
NEWS // 23
m for innovative dairy farmers “I often think of farming as a balancing act of your time every day, and the amount of time that will be freed up by automation will mean I can do so much more — from everyday tasks, to working on projects to improve our sustainability, like on-farm composting.”
Keeping the power on
Peter Mulheron milks up to 240 cows in Swan Marsh, Victoria, and is boosting his farm’s energy resilience with solar power. He has received a $100,000 grant from the Woolworths Dairy Innovation Fund to purchase a modular microgrid system — a shipping container holding mountable solar panels, a battery and an inverter. The microgrid system is transportable, and will allow Peter to power his dairy with renewable energy, and generate revenue when surplus energy is delivered back into the grid. With rising energy costs, the system will deliver savings, while also creating greater security of electrical supply. Peter is currently trialling a miniature version of the system. “The beauty of a solar energy system is that not only will we be a more sustainable business and have lower power bills, but we’ll be more protected from power outages, which can be really costly to a dairy,” Peter said. “We’re seeing wild weather more often, and there are warnings Victoria could have rolling power outages this summer, so it’s really important that we have security of supply so we can keep milking, whatever happens.”
Transforming calf rearing
Emma and Nick Strong run a dairy in Jamberoo, on the NSW south coast, milking up to 500 cows. Thanks to a $100,000 grant from Woolworths, they’re set to build a new calf rearing shed with automated feeding technology that tailors output to each individual calf. The new shed will deliver enhanced animal welfare through improved airflow and temperature control, while also reducing the labour-intensity of rearing. “The new shed is going to transform rearing possibilities for us, with better efficiency and quality, which will also help us to continue expanding the business,” Emma said. “The automation will also make it viable for us to hold onto our bobby calves for longer, with the potential to sell to new markets like beef cattle rearing.” The Woolworths Dairy Innovation Fund was launched in November 2020, designed in consultation with peak industry groups Australian Dairy Farmers, Dairy Australia, National Farmers’ Federation, Premium Milk Ltd and the NSW Farmers’ Association Dairy Committee. It was created to support Australian dairy farmers in the Woolworths supply chain, including those supplying vendor brands. 2 To read more about the fund, visit: woolworths.com.au/dairyinnovationfund
WATER SECURITY A PRIORITY The Queensland Farmers’ Federation has welcomed the recent release of the new Queensland Water Strategy by the state government. The release of the strategy, which marked the start of National Water Week 2023, aims to outline how the Queensland Government will deliver a sustainable and more secure water system for the state. Queensland Farmers’ Federation CEO Jo Sheppard said water was a critical input for Queensland’s agriculture sector and essential not only for the future success of agricultural growth in Queensland but for rural communities as well. “It is absolutely critical that a well thought out plan is in place and appropriately resourced,” Ms Sheppard said. “Agriculture remains one of Queensland’s most important sectors and water is critical to our ability to continue producing some of the world’s best food, fibre and foliage of which our state is renowned for. “QFF and our peak body members have been advocating for many years on water-related issues and appreciated the opportunity to provide input and feedback into the Queensland Water Strategy.”
Delivering the Strategic Water Infrastructure Plan (SWIP), expanding water security, supply and contingency options in south-east Queensland, and implementing regional water supply projects, were just some of the inclusions in the strategy advocated for by QFF. Ms Sheppard said improving dam safety and water security against a challenging backdrop of weather variability, as well using climate science and modelling to understand the effects of changing climatic conditions on our water resources, were also important inclusions. “QFF, alongside our members, appreciated the consultation process that was undertaken which provided agriculture a seat at the table to advocate for the needs of farmers, irrigators, and regional communities more broadly,” she said. “QFF looks forward to seeing more detail in the coming months and working with industry and government on the implementation of the strategy.” 2 You can read the Queensland Water Strategy here: https:// www.rdmw.qld.gov.au/water/ consultations-initiatives/ qld-water-strategy
A new strategy aims to deliver a sustainable and more secure water system for Queensland. (AAP Image/Dan Peled)
Emma and Nick Strong will build a new calf rearing shed with automated feeding technology on their NSW farm. Photo: Nathan Devine
DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA NOVEMBER 2023
24 // NEWS
GSSA wants more dairy members
New GSSA chair Tim Prance.
THE GRASSLAND Society of Southern
y r e v e g Reachin mer in dairy farntry the cou
ISSUE: FEBRUARY & MARCH 2024
PASTURE IMPROVEMENTS Dairy Farmers across the country will be preparing their pastures through autumn. They will be looking to produce high yielding and quality pasture to assist in improving milk production and quality whilst minimise feed costs throughout the year. The February and March editions of Dairy News Australia will include an extensive Pasture Improvement Special Report to assist farmers in making the best decisions for their pastures. influence the dairy farmers buying of decisions nationwide. This is your opportunity to influence buying decisions dairy farmers nationwide.
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Australia’s new chair Tim Prance hopes to reactivate local branches and broaden the society’s membership to include more dairy farmers. Mr Prance, from Victor Harbor in South Australia, replaces Amy Rush in the role and says the society is in prime position to link farmers with research they can use in the paddock. His top priority is to revitalise local branches and broaden the society’s membership base. The society has branches in South Australia’s Limestone Coast and in Western Victoria, Central Highlands, Albury-Wodonga, Mid Goulburn and Gippsland. “After the pandemic, we want to get all branches up and running and holding events that provide valuable information to local farmers and agricultural consultants,” Mr Prance said. “I will be working with our new executive officer Bill Fuller to make sure they are reactivated.” While traditionally appealing to a membership base of graziers and sheep and beef farmers, Mr Prance wants to see more dairy farmers involved with the society. “All farmers can learn from each other,” he said. “Just like high rainfall sheep and beef farmers, dairy farmers are all trying to grow and utilise more grass than they already are and a high percentage of home-grown fodder is an important contributor to profitable dairies.” Mr Prance also hopes to collaborate with other like-minded groups working in the field and activate more on-farm research and demonstrations run by the Society. “We want to access funding to do more on-farm demos so we can generate our own information to feed to members,” he said. This is Mr Prance’s second term at the helm of the society. He has been a member since 1983, joined the board in August 2009, was president in 2011-12 and was honorary treasurer from 2016 to 2021. For the past 15 years, he has run T Prance Rural Consulting, specialising in consulting in pastures and grazing management and livestock production from pastures. While many things have changed, Mr Prance said in his 40 years as a GSSA member, the society had retained its important role in southern Australia’s agricultural world as a conduit for information exchange and a place to meet like-minded people. “It’s a very important link between research and the application of that research in the paddock and as an information conduit between farmers from different parts of southern Australia. “We need to make sure that information flows from region to region and also from where the work is being done, such as universities and private seed companies. “There’s still a lot of interesting stuff happening in agriculture.” 2 For more information, go to: www.grasslands.org.au/
DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA NOVEMBER 2023
NEWS // 25
Standing out from the herd BY COBY BOSCHMA
AFTER FOUR generations of farming in The
Netherlands, CowManager founder Gerard Griffioen decided farming had to be done easier. Gerard thought: “What if you could measure a cow’s health, fertility and even recognise heat stress and transition issues beforehand? Always keep a detailed eye on your herd, even when you aren’t physically present?” He changed the dairy business forever by inventing the first ever cow monitoring ear sensors in 2004. CowManager is built and continuously upgraded on years of knowledge, university research and worldwide on-farm tests. “Every day we gain experience among the cows in our own company. I regularly walk among the cows and discover what could be improved upon, what information is needed,” Gerard said. And because of his own farming background, he knows it’s best to not work for farmers, but with them. “We actively listen to our customers. We have customers (and local representatives) worldwide who actively think along about innovations and test them on-farm.” By now, thousands of farmers across the globe, including many in Australia, monitor their herds with CowManager’s ear sensors, which results in non-stop valuable cow data
and ongoing developments. The key to this success? Ear temperature. In developing a non-invasive system like the ear sensor, Gerard effectively combined innovative farming technology with so-called old farmer’s wisdom. Back in the day, whenever dairy farmers would doubt if a cow was feeling well, they would first feel her ears to check for a change in temperature. Cow’s ears are full of vital information which tells us how they’re actually doing. Whenever a cow gets an infection, the blood in the ears moves to vital organs. A crucial sign, which can
save you a lot of problems further down the road. CowManager ear sensors monitor cows’ rumination, eating, inactivity, activity, ear temperature and high active behaviour. The CowManager data graphs show you the ear temperature of the specific cow compared to the average of the total herd. Does a cow have an ear temperature 7°C lower than the herd average, and is there an alert of illness? You’re the first to know. Never miss a heat again, improve your in-calf rates and say goodbye to tail paint and Kamars. On top of that, CowManager cows live longer,
produce more milk, are in better shape and perform better. CowManager still is the only cow monitoring system out there to successfully measure ear temperature combined with other parameters. This combination results in more accurate and earlier alerts. It catches sick cows days before they even show clinical signs of being ill and lets you monitor recovery in detail. It never lets you miss a heat, and makes breeding a breeze, even with sexed semen. And it makes the transition period — when 75 per cent of all adult cow disease events find their origin — easy to monitor, recognising underperforming cows up to 50 days before calving, so you can avoid surprises after. With the MultiView function, which is available on every CowManager system, dairy farmers can easily share important data with veterinarians, staff, herd managers, AI specialists, nutritionists and researchers. This lets them monitor the herd’s performance as a team, completely changing the way business is done for the better. CowManager is the only system to give remote access to cow’s data and history dating all the way back to the install date. It gives you a complete overview of cow data in easy-to-read coloured graphs that allow you to analyse results and progress per cow or group or even season, so you can recognise patterns and opportunities together. From CowManager.
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DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA NOVEMBER 2023
26 // ANIMAL HEALTH
Test early for pregnancies BY DR ROBERT BONANNO
I AM often asked what is the one thing that I would recommend on any dairy farm to lift productivity, profitability and improve herd health. Well, while dairy farming is never so simple that just one thing alone will guarantee all those things, when pushed, I always advise that early pregnancy testing is a solid foundation to build a herd health program around. It is well known that how a cow is managed during the transition period from three weeks before calving to three weeks after calving is the critical time in a cow’s life cycle where you will set her up for either success or failure. But how can you manage with any precision this key time in a cow’s life if you don’t accurately know when she is due to calve? In November, spring calving cows are being mated and often pregnancy testing is not top of mind, but the earlier a cow can be confirmed pregnant (or not), the better the management options that are available to us. If you can confirm that a cow is pregnant to her AI date, then we can estimate her due date with far greater precision than if pregnancy tested later, when it can become very difficult to accurately determine her date of conception or future calving. Accurately knowing her future calving date will allow us to ensure that she is proactively managed for optimal lactation length, dry period length and ensure that she will be starting
transition feeding for her next lactation at the ideal time. Early pregnancy testing (from around 28 to 35 days) is possible using ultrasound, milk, or blood testing. Ultrasound has the advantage that the viability of the pregnancy can be assessed and cows carrying twins can often be identified. The milk or blood pregnancy test when performed early is an extremely useful test to determine which cows are not pregnant as a negative result is very accurate. Negative cows are then able to be quickly resubmitted for another mating. With blood and milk testing, determining a viable pregnancy is not possible — the test result may remain positive for days or weeks even after the fetus has been lost. Follow up testing is recommended. Early pregnancy testing should be performed in herds before the oldest pregnancies reach 14 to 16 weeks of gestation. The ability to estimate the due date and match that up with her joining date is most accurate when done before this stage. In many herds, I recommend two or more early pregnancy tests to really hone in on the accuracy. Non return based on collars or tags or using heat detection aids, while a useful indicator of possible pregnancy, should not be relied upon because ‘phantom’ cows, cystic cows and other things can result in significant inaccuracy. In normal conditions, early embryonic loss can occur in between five and 15 per cent of
Vet Robert Bonanno says early pregnancy testing is a solid foundation to build a herd health program around.
cows, so when practising early pregnancy testing, it is important to reconfirm pregnancy later so that any cows who have ‘slipped’ can be detected and either resubmitted or carried over and not dried off when empty. Early pregnancy testing really pays multiple dividends and because of this, it will return a
far greater financial return than the cost of an early or extra pregnancy test. For advice or to book your herd in for early pregnancy testing, call your local dairy vet. 2 Dr Robert (Rob) Bonanno is the regional veterinary lead for ProDairy in Gippsland and northern Victoria.
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With the recent weather conditions in some parts of Victoria, many dairy farmers may have cows on wet paddocks and could be moving them along muddy and damaged laneways. These conditions could increase the risk of mastitis. To assist in managing the risk of mastitis in these conditions, simple changes can be applied to manage this risk. Wash and dry all teats before cups go on: 2 Use a low-pressure, high-volume water supply combined with manual cleaning. Ensure milkers wear gloves. 2 Dry with paper towels. Strip cows every day to detect, treat and isolate clinical cases: 2 Make daily quarter stripping a routine. 2 Always wear gloves and avoid getting milk on your hands.
2 Check clinical cases at next milking. Cover all surfaces of all four teats with teat disinfectant: 2 Healthier skin is easier to keep clean. Try and keep teats clean for at least an hour after the cows leave the milking shed: 2 Keep the area immediately outside the dairy exit as clean as possible. 2 Have feed available when cows leave the shed. This could be on a feedpad. Ensure this area can be scrapped to reduce mud and manure build-up. Talk to your milk quality adviser, veterinarian or dairy factory field officer to adapt these steps to your farm situation. For more information on mastitis, go to the Dairy Australia website. 2 By Richard Smith, Agriculture Victoria, Tatura
PROACTIVE BIOSECURITY PLANS TO MITIGATE THE RISK OF NEW DISEASES ENTERING YOUR HERD. ProDairy can assist you with the development of a tailored plan:
• On-farm visit by a ProDairy veterinarian. • Review of the current biosecurity principles, the major risks and actions taken to reduce those risks.
• Development of a customised biosecurity plan. Visit prodairy.com.au for more information.
SCAN TO FIND OUT MORE.
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Agriculture Victoria has some tips on dealing with mastitis.
DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA NOVEMBER 2023
MACHINERY & PRODUCTS // 27
Award for mixer innovation A REGIONAL Australian agricultural machin-
ery company’s newly released feed mixer has won the coveted Greater Hume Council Award at the 2023 Henty Machinery Field Days. The award recognises the best new Australian designed and built agricultural machine and was judged by a panel of independent judges. The award was presented to FarmTech director Brad Modra for the Ausmix XL26 Fibrex 26-cube feed mixer. Ausmix has been producing feed mixers out of Wodonga for the past three years, with more than 60 mixers having been supplied across Australia. Judge Warren Scheetz said the machine had a robust design, which increased the efficiency of feed mixing time “and that all adds up when doing multiple feed mixes each day”. FarmTech northern Victorian and South Australian territory manager Liam Talbot said the chassis, bowl, augers and conveyor were designed and built in-house with the driveline being outsourced to a reputable Italian supplier. “As we manufacture these units in Australia, we have a warehouse stocked with parts ensuring any breakdowns or issues are fixed in a prompt manner,” Mr Talbot said. “The XL26 is expected to be the flagship model with full customisability to suit any farming operation.” With Australian farmers aways looking for ways to increase profitability and reduce feed costs, Ausmix has developed extra wide bowls
The FarmTech team (from left) Michael Giltrap, Liam Talbot, Brad Modra, Charlie Burder and Glenn Damm with the Greater Hume Council Award for Best Australian Designed and Manufactured Agricultural Machine.
to work in concert with the Fiber-X augers to break down big bales and mix them to a final Total Mixed Ration. Ausmix knives are heat-treated with tungsten carbide, allowing them to be thinner, lighter and tougher than ever before.
Ausmix tubs are designed to last in the harshest Australian conditions and are made with thick steel plates all around: 20mm on the floor and 10mm on the walls. The wall’s angled slope works to help funnel materials into the centre of the tub.
Together with the centripetal motion from augers, materials fall deeper into the mixer, ensuring maximum blade contact, significantly reducing time, fuel and effort. Ausmix XL series mixers come in both a standard wide body (2.5m) and extra-wide 2.65m body. The latter option gives the larger, denser bales more space, reducing any material being thrown out The mixers have a drive-train equipped with a heavy-duty gearbox with the ability to handle high torque loads, propelling the augers through big bales and mixing all fodder types with a consistent result. Key innovations include a front feeding conveyor belt which can either be steel slats or a rubber belt and side elevator options, all on a heavy-duty reinforced chassis. FarmTech director Brad Modra said the company was passionate about making farm machinery in Australia. “This award is a huge pat on the back for our hard-working team at FarmTech for the last three years spent on the Ausmix Feed Mixer project,” Mr Modra said. “I want to give a big shout out to Australian manufacturing and all these companies exhibiting at the field days — quality farm machinery is leading the way both in Australia and internationally. “Thank you to the farming community for showing faith and confidence in Australian made equipment. Without your support we wouldn’t be here today.”
DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA NOVEMBER 2023
28 // MACHINERY & PRODUCTS
Stay safe when feeding out THE PROBLEMS of cutting strings on large
square hale bays while feeding them into a mixer spawned an award-winning idea for Henty farmer Daniel Klemke. His design, called the Safe-Cut, won the TEKFARM Agritech Innovative Producer Award at the Henty Machinery Field Days in September. The 2023 Henty Machinery Field Days marked the resurgence of the Agri-Innovators Award in partnership with Farmers2Founders to showcase innovative solutions ready for adoption on farm. A cropping and wool grower, Mr Klemke invested in a feed mixer during the last drought to keep his Merino flock alive while using home-grown feed, including straw, barley and silage. He was concerned about the constant danger presented to the operator when climbing on the mixer to cut strings off bales. Mr Klemke was prompted to design and make the Safe-Cut with the assistance of former farm employee Nathan Holmes, a knife and string holder mounted on the forks of a loader, to increase worker safety and feed-out efficiency. “Originally we had to have the bale over the feed cart and operators climbed up to cut strings, which was dangerous,” he said. “Sometimes we even had to climb into the machine to get the strings out when they had fallen into the machine. I thought there must be an easier way.
“I had ideas of holding the strings on the loader, lifting the bale up and driving across the mixer while a knife cuts all the strings releasing the bale into the feeder yet retaining the strings on a string holder while the mixer backs away. “It meant no-one was climbing up in the machine. During the drought, we made a knife and mounted it on the loader. With the SafeCut, workers are not near any knives and don’t have to climb on any machines. “I have seen dairy and beef farmers struggle with cutting strings on bales on the side of mixers.” Mr Klemke is not interested in commercialising the product but would be happy to speak with any interested manufacturers. “I’m surprised no-one has designed something similar. If someone wants to run with it, that’s good,” he said. “This the first time I’ve ever won anything and was reluctant to enter, thinking it wasn’t worth it, but my wife encouraged me. “I was very surprised to receive this award — obviously other people can see the benefits of the safety features. “I would love to see a lot of mixers with this design and giving producers an option of a safer way of feeding out.”
Henty farmer Daniel Klemke received the TEKFARM Agritech Innovative Producer Award at the Henty Machinery Field Days.
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DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA NOVEMBER 2023
MACHINERY & PRODUCTS // 29
Robust and simple spreader WITH A move to animal manures as natural
soil conditioners, the increased demand for reliable manure spreaders was in the spotlight at the 2023 Henty Machinery Field Days. The E-Series Manure Spreader was launched to the Australian market at the field days by Canadian manufacturer JBS Equipment and Australian importer Atlas Ag. The E-Series features an upgraded long link floor chain, quick attach Vertimax beaters, steel idler sprockets, low friction hard-wearing plastic floor, hydraulic guillotine gate and a low-maintenance hydraulic gearbox. Optional upgrades include Hurricane beaters, scale and rate controller system, and flight protection system. Atlas Ag distribution manager Jeff Saunders said the 20-tonne, heavy-duty, powder-coated E-Series was designed for low maintenance. “The feedback has been excellent with customers wanting choice in the spreader market combined with reliability,” Mr Saunders said. “Many producers in Europe, North America and Australia are moving back to natural fertilisers such as manure as opposed to chemical fertilisers for rejuvenation of the soil. “We are seeing manure will have a much bigger role to play as a soil conditioner in Australia. “Contractors are telling us they cannot get enough manure so clearly the market is really going ahead, with the bigger feedlots and dairies realising the value of what they have sitting in piles, and they are turning that into a commodity.”
JBS Equipment sales and marketing director Brendan Barnier from Alberta, Canada; Jeff Saunders, Atlas Ag distribution manager; and Sarah Day, Atlas Ag marketing and communications coordinator with the E -Series Manure Spreader.
Mr Saunders said the E-Series Manure Spreaders were designed to top dress paddocks in the most efficient and reliable way possible.
“These units are working in conditions from -45 degrees Celsius to +45 degrees in North America, and they have to be reliable,” he said.
“Secondly, the beaters are interchangeable, so the same unit does several different jobs. “The beaters can be removed and used as forage flailers — there are forage gates which can be attached, resulting in a versatile machine. “These machines can handle from light materials such as gypsum and lime through to clay.” Mr Saunders said bearings had been replaced by neoprene blocks for less wearing parts and ease of maintenance. “A lot of dairies and feedlots have sand which ends up getting mixed up with the manure and is highly corrosive to machinery. The spreader has a neoprene floor to reduce wear.” A minimum of 130hp is required to pull the E-Series, which Mr Saunders said was quite low compared to the size of the machine. “The beauty of these machines is they are simplistic — there is not a lot that can go wrong.” The spreader on display at Henty was equipped with scales and dynamic rate control, ensuring the correct spreading speed according to the material weight. The angle of the beaters allows a natural fall pattern of material. The E-Series has a transport width of 3.5m. The wheels sit outside of the tub rather than underneath ensuring stability on slopes and increasing safety by lowering the centre of gravity. Flotation tyres are fitted to reduce soil compaction.
DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA NOVEMBER 2023
30 // MACHINERY & PRODUCTS
Invention’s one for the ages BY ANDY WILSON
A NEWLY designed mechanised trailer for feeding out hay and silage will give retired farmers the opportunity to still help with feeding livestock in the paddock. Haymate is the brainchild of South Australian entrepreneur Andrew Martin and won the Country News Australian Machine of the Year at October’s Elmore Field Days. The trailer has been designed to carry four large bales — either square or round — and then deliver the fodder via a side mechanism of rotating teeth while being towed through a paddock by a four-wheel drive vehicle. Mr Martin said one customer was able to halve the time he spent feeding out silage. “With silage, it’s usually a lot of work with a fork and stopping and starting the tractor or ute,” he said. “Haymate runs as a single-person operation and the only work for feeding out silage is to remove the string. The machine does the rest. “We are trying to really push the biggest thing, which is the benefits of making our lives easier and saving time which in turn saves money.” Although Mr Martin and his team of 12 staff needed to finely tune several prototypes, they already had four Haymates pre-sold to enthusiastic customers. “The secret is to listen to people’s feedback.
“You have to be constructive with what feedback you get.” The machine can be operated via a remote control inside the comfort of the towing vehicle. Mr Martin said the biggest saving is the trailer’s ability to be towed between properties and in a paddock by a ute or four-wheel drive. “So your tractor is still available for other jobs on the farm and not always tied up to the feeder. “We don’t have to climb in and out of a tractor because as we get older it gets harder and harder to do that. “We also don’t have to climb onto the machine itself so some of our better clients are the older generation who are buying them so they can keep working on their farms a little longer. “Which makes sense when we are all struggling for a labour resource. “And we find the younger generation are buying it for their fathers to use, so those in their 60s, 70s and 80s are using these with absolute ease. “There’s no way you’d be sending your father at 80 years old to climb onto the back of a ute to try to feed out some hay. “That’s where a line is drawn in the sand.” Andrew Martin with the Haymate, which won him the Country News Australian Machine of the Year at the Elmore Field Days.
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