Dairy News Australia - December 2020 - With West Vic Region

DECEMBER 2020 ISSUE 122

WEST VIC REGION

FROM NOT ENOUGH TO TOO MUCH A move from northern Victoria has left Mark Flemming with a water problem of a different kind. Page 8.

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Chair’s message Exciting times ahead THE YEAR 2020 will be remembered around the word for one thing only.

Now looking to the new year it appears that we are over the worst of the pandemic here in Australia, and we can look forward with much optimism.

During the worst of the troubles this year, it was generally business as usual for most of us.

It was a time when our quite solitary work and our important role in providing nutritious, wholesome products to the public came to the fore.

As we look back over the past 12 months from a business point of view, we have generally enjoyed another year of kind seasons and a strong milk price — a great combination to experience, especially for two years in a row.

This has enabled us to strengthen our businesses after some tougher times a few years ago.

It has also brought back more positivity which can be seen in increased land prices throughout the region.

Those of us that have been around a while know that the good seasons will not last indefinitely, but we can certainly enjoy them whilst they’re here!

At WestVic Dairy we are also looking forward to the new year and the fresh start that can bring after a quite frustrating nine months or so, which saw little face to face extension and for the most part kept the team from getting out on-farm.

However, with restrictions now lifting many of our Discussion Groups have either managed

to meet again, albeit in a public place rather than on-farm, or are planning to soon.

Our staff are also setting dates for the rest of the year and into 2021.

All being well we will be able to offer our full range of extension this next year, with events such as Feeding Pastures for Profit and Focus Farm field days returning.

We are excited about what the new year brings — so look out for our programs and extension options and pleases make contact if there’s something particular you’d like to see.

The Focus Farm project we have been running at Shannon Notter’s Carlisle River property was completed recently.

For obvious reasons we were unable to hold a

final field day. We would like to thank Shannon and the Support Group for taking part in this valuable form of extension.

Advertising for a new farm to join the Focus Farm program has commenced, if you would like to know more please contact the team.

I hope you will all be able to take some time to catch up with friends and family over this festive season.

It really has been quite a year and has highlighted the things we sometimes take for granted, such as being able to gather with loved ones.

From everyone at WestVic Dairy I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Simone Renyard WestVic Dairy chair

Focus Farms Expressions of Interest WestVic Dairy is seeking expressions of interest from dairy farmers across our region to participate in the Focus Farm project.

Focus Farms operate over a two year period and are designed to improve farm business management practices.

Participants recieve advice from an experienced farm consultant of their choice, as well as a support group of local farmers and service providers. This helps to guide the on-farm decision making process.

If you would like further information, or an Expression of Interest form, please contact Laurie Hickey on 0439 833 484.

“Being involved in the Focus Farm project has been a great benefit to our business. We have enjoyed working with the Support Group and have embraced new ideas after discussing options with them. Importantly we are making more money as a result of this program.” – Karen Angus (current Focus Farmer)

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Kyella McKenna completed her VCE while working on dairy farms.

Dairy farm gap year on offer to school leavers SCHOOL LEAVERS are being offered an

opportunity to gain hands-on, paid farm work at local dairy farms in 2021.

Called the Dairy Gap Year Program and run by Dairy Australia, it matches interested people with 12 months’ paid work on Victorian dairy farms.

To be eligible students must have a driver’s licence and be prepared to enrol in a Certificate in Agriculture while undertaking their gap year.

Farms taking on school leavers were sourced by Dairy Australia for their strong HR policies and commitment to providing “positive dairy experiences”.

Kyella McKenna has been working on dairy farms since she was 15 years old, spending two years working part-time while completing her final schooling years before jumping into full-time work.

“I’d recommend working in the industry to all young people. It is hard work, but you have fun, work hard and best of all make money,” Miss McKenna said.

“I believe anyone can do what I have done.

I don’t have a farming background, but took an interest in it and I’m now doing something I love.”

Now 19, Ms McKenna said it was great to take part in the various aspects of working on a dairy farm, such as milking, working with the machinery and tractor work.

“I have been fortunate enough after finishing school to take the steps in following an agriculture career, which will lead me to a successful career in the dairy industry,” Miss McKenna said.

“The most enjoyable parts of working on-farm for me are working with animals day-to-day, the rearing of calves as well as animal health and nutrition.”

Dairy Australia is labelling the gap year a great experience, which can also help school leavers qualify for Youth Allowance (student) if their family’s income is prohibiting them from being eligible.

A person who earns at least $15,000 while working in agriculture may be considered independent and eligible for Youth Allowance or ABSTUDY. For more information, phone Murray Dairy’s Melva Tyson on 0439 667 425 or email melvat@ murraydairy.com.au

CONFIDENT IN DAIRY’S FUTURE A new face has joined the WestVic Dairy board in the form of Bessiebelle farmer Will McDonald.

Mr McDonald milks 500 HolsteinFriesian cows on 454 hectares with wife Melissa and in-laws John and Naomi Pye. The importance of extension services is a driving factor for Mr McDonald after capitalising on extension help in his early years.

“Extension services were incredibly valuable to me when I started,” Mr McDonald said.

“Using the available resources and attending various events helped me to increase my knowledge and develop the business to where it is today.”

Extension services act as the link between research developments and farmers, providing decision making tools, information and technical assistance.

WestVic Dairy chair Simone Renyard said she was looking forward to the year ahead.

“We are thrilled to have Will join us on the board,” Mrs Renyard said.

“He brings with him a huge passion, great enthusiasm and a drive to ensure our farmers get their extension needs met through the services we offer.”

Mr McDonald said he was “very confident” the dairy industry in south-west Victoria would thrive over the coming years.

“I want to assist WestVic Dairy to deliver relevant, valuable extension services to the region’s farmers to help achieve this,” he said.

At the same AGM where Mr McDonald was settled into his new chair, WestVic Dairy treasurer Rhonda Henry was reappointed for a second term and former associate director Brad Collins moved to a full director position.

Will McDonald is the newest board member for WestVic Dairy.

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Not slowing down yet RICK BAYNE

ONE OF the first women in south-west Victoria

to take over a farm.

And she’s still a trailblazer in 2020.

This year she’s bred the country’s number one Australian Red cow, has the fifth-ranked herd and has exported heifers for the first time.

Now 75 and battling a heart problem and restricted mobility thanks to two replacement hips and a replacement knee, Jan continues to defy the sceptics.

As she looks out her window at lush paddocks and heavily-treed hills, Jan feels at home on the farm.

“I’ve had people say I should retire into Timboon but I couldn’t stand it; I’d be bored out of my brain,” she said.

“I’d miss the views and the peace and quiet.

The good thing about farming is you don’t have people annoying you all the time, and if you don’t want to do something today you don’t have to; it will still be there tomorrow.”

Farming has always been in her blood, despite a few distractions.

Her parents Bob and Sylvia settled the farm in 1946, just after Jan was born. When she left school, she wanted to stay home on the farm but

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her parents said she had to do something else.

That something else became a 25-year career in nursing, which only ended after her father’s death in 1983. “Mum looked after the farm by herself and I came home from Geelong Hospital on the weekends, but it got too much for Mum so I came home for good in 1989.�

Jan had a knack for farming, not only for raising cows but for fixing machinery. “When Dad was alive, I’d come home and the baler would be sitting in front of the shed. I’d

“I’ve had people say I should retire into Timboon but I couldn’t stand it; I’d be bored out of my brain� ask why it was there and he’d say he was waiting for me to thread it for him. “I always had a knack for that but if anything gets too difficult, I get the experts in.�

When Jan returned, she inherited an Australian Dairy Shorthorn herd and a few problems. “Dad had been using the same bull over daughters. I did a farm management course at Glenormiston Agricultural College and did an AI course and decided to use something different to avoid in-breeding. “England, which was where the Dairy Shorthorns came from, was full of mad cow disease so I couldn’t import semen from there, and I read an article about Aussie Reds so thought I’d give them a try. “I didn’t want Jerseys because they’re too small and this place would be too wet and cold for them and I didn’t want Holsteins because they’re so big you have to grow twice as much to feed them and they make a mess of the paddocks.

The Aussie Reds are in between and perfect.�

Jan started using Viking Genetics’ Swedish Red, Danish Reds and German Angler and, despite a slow start, has never looked back. “When the first calves were born, the little heifer had the tiniest little udder, tiny teats, and I thought ‘what am I breeding here?’ but she turned out to be a fantastic cow. “The Aussie Reds take a year to mature but they’ve got good components, even though they have smaller litres.�

Jan recalls going to discussion groups in those early days and her all-male counterparts would brag about how much milk they were making, although Jan suspected they were stretching the truth a bit.

Jan couldn’t match their litres but she was happy with what she was producing and things have only improved.

The farm is now 165ha, about double when Jan returned in 1989. “When I came home, they were only producing 50 kg of butterfat per cow per year. Now they’re about 270. I keep a map of production but they’ve gone over the top.�

She now has 182 milkers and 27 two-yearolds that are being joined, and recently sold 15 to export. This year, with less cows, there are 52 heifer calves. “The AI technician has his tongue held the right way when he puts it in,� Jan jokes.

She stopped leasing a neighbouring property

last year and no longer has space for all her heifers. “It was the first time I’ve ever exported but I had too many and they kept getting out of every paddock I put them in.�

Jan is constantly improving the herd. In 2012 she won the Australian Red Dairy Breed top Australian Profit Ranking (APR) large herd and this year she has the top-ranked BPI cow, Blackwood Park 1416, with a BPI of 346.

Asked what makes her so good, Jan has a simple answer: “I don’t know�. “Everyone says you have a good herd; you must spend a lot of time picking your bulls. No, I just pick the top bulls and that’s what I go with. “It’s just luck. I always pick bulls in the top half a dozen; nothing with a BPI of less than 200, but I don’t go trying to get the top production. “All I’ve ever wanted are cows who are good milkers that produce enough for me to survive and improve things. “I’m not out to break records; these things come as a pleasant surprise because I’m not aiming for them. They don’t give you an extra money or anything but it’s nice to be recognised.�

At 75, Jan no longer milks but she has control of everything else, though she is planning to put at least part of her farm on the market. “I’ll sell the land on the other side of the road. If I can’t get anyone interested in this bit I’ll stay here and either milk 120 of the top cows or go into beef.�

Finding good staff has been difficult over the years — especially young men who don’t like to take direction from a woman — but Jan has good help at the moment with two female workers and a relief milker.

Jan takes advice from consultants on pastures and breeding but still likes to do things her way. “I’ve had a lot of fellas work here but they don’t respect your views, even though you’ve been doing it for years.�

She’s always looking for improvements. She replaced the dairy with a recycled 22-swingover in 2013 and says improving pastures and feeding cows as well as possible with homegrown feed arre the keys to success.

Whatever happens, Jan wants to stay on the land. “I’d be lost without it. “I can still potter around and do things on the motorbike. I’ve had two hips replaced and one knee and I have a bit of heart failure so I can’t walk very far but I can go anywhere on the motorbike.�

Jan Raleigh doesn’t farm for awards but she has won several over the years.

Blackwood Park 1416 is Jan’s first number one ranked cow.

Employee Madie Taylor has a strong connection with the cows and has proven to be an excellent worker.

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A new pond and irrigation system are among the recent improvements made by Ted and Sharon Kenna.

Investing for success RICK BAYNE

EDDIE KENNA reckons he’s a bit of a “tight

arse” when it comes to spending money on the farm, but his wife Sharon begs to differ.

“He likes new things,” Sharon says, while Eddie thinks his priority is reducing debt and making sure every dollar spent is a good investment.

A review of what they’ve done at their Sisters farm in recent years indicates there’s a bit of truth on both sides.

The farm has come ahead in leaps and bounds, and there are plenty of “new things” that have proven to be good investments.

In 2014, Eddie and Sharon purchased the farm from his parents Jimmy and Maureen, who still live on the property and help out when needed, especially during calving.

The 600-hectare Fernlea Park farm peaked at 840 milkers this year, up from about 640 in 2014.

Over the past six years, the Kennas have invested in a new block in 2017 that has been refenced and re-tracked, a 100-kilowatt solar panel system on the dairy, a new effluent pond and irrigation system, feedpad and a tilt crush, and heat detectors will be added before the end of the year.

They have also added some beef to the mix — although not at the expense of the dairy operation — and have continued rock clearing and pasture replacements.

“I’m a bit of a tight arse and don’t like spending money unless it’s going to get me a return,” Eddie admits.

“I always say we’re going to consolidate and pay down some debt, but then something pops up,” he adds, while Sharon says: “When you sit down and think about it, it’s a lot in six years, but we don’t tie a noose around our necks; we make sure we can do it within reason.”

The advances have been beneficial and the farm continues to enjoy good production boosted by a favourable season.

The solar panel system is already proving its worth and is on track to be paid off within 3.5 years.

“We had a 5-kilowatt system that did virtually nothing,” Eddie said.

“I’d been looking at it for five to 10 years but it got to the point where the solar incentives for the panels were at the sweet spot.”

“It’s probably shaved about 40 per cent off the power bill,” Sharon added.

“It’s especially good when we’re irrigating out of the big dam. The bills were massive in summer so that has helped.”

Incentives from production company Bega inspired the new effluent pond and irrigation system, which doesn’t cover a huge amount of the farm but has been helpful since 2015.

A new feedpad was installed with soil from the dam site, adding to feed options over winter.

The tilt crush has allowed staff to safely treat lameness and the rock crushing and removal has allowed significant safety and access improvements, along with opportunities for pasture renovation and replacement.

The new block has allowed the herd to expand.

“We thought we were pushing a bit too hard with young stock and needed a bit more land,” Eddie said.

“When you get a new piece of land you’ve got to drive it to pay it off.”

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The move to a three-way cross has eased health and fertility problems.

The 60-unit rotary was built 10 years ago and is coping with the bigger herd, although Eddie wonders if 70 might have been a better option.

Two workers are needed to cover each milking. The farm has two full-time and two casual employees, plus the Kennas’ four children pitch in to help and Jimmy and Maureen do most of the calf rearing.

The herd was 80 per cent Friesian and 20 per cent Jersey, but with fertility, health and lameness problems, so they went to a three-way cross of Jersey, Friesian and Aussie Red. “We crossed everything and added the Aussie Reds a couple of years later and it’s the best thing we’ve ever done,” Eddie said.

“They are producing around 530-550kg MS and

“It has given us a lot more flexibility and it’s safer; you can now ride motorbikes on it.”

The herd diet is about 60 per cent homegrown grass, supplemented by 1.8 tonne of grain per cow and usually some vetch and cereal hay.

“We got to a point a few years ago where we buying more than what we wanted because we’d gone up in cow numbers and the ratio was starting to get out a bit,” Eddie said.

“That’s where this new block helped balance it out.”

Spurred on by their children — Henry wants to be a beef farmer — they have used about 200 doses of beef semen this year and look set to continue.

“We’ve done a few budgets and it could work

The dairy was built in 2010 and is coping with the herd expansion.

A new tilt crush has made treating cows safer.

“We crossed everything and added the Aussie Reds a couple of years later and it’s the best thing we’ve ever done” their average weight is around 490-500 kilos so they’re doing over a kilo per bodyweight, which is where we wanted to get to.”

Eddie said doing the right thing with pastures and diet were the keys to the farm’s success.

He mostly uses perennials but has had some trouble getting them to persist, so has been moving to more persistent varieties like phalaris, fescues and cocksfoot.

“We’ve been clearing rocks since 2006; you more-or-less destroy the paddocks and then re-sow them.”

The rocks have been put into piles or recycled into many things such as garden ornaments and foundations for sheds.

“It’s allowed us to get machinery in to spray it and sow it,” Eddie said.

so we’re going to play around with it,” Sharon said.

However, it’s not a long-term plan to replace dairy; it’s just for diversification.

“The boys were keen and pushed it a bit,” Eddie said.

“There have been many hours of perusing AI books. The boys had a few and sold some privately and some went to market.

“Based on the current land we won’t be able to do too much, but we can get agistment and it won’t affect the dairy numbers.

“Dairy is still our main business.”

A new pond and irrigation system are among the recent improvements made

by Ted and Sharon Kenna.

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From not enough to too much water RICK BAYNE

MARK FLEMMING moved from Finley in

southern NSW to Cobrico in south-west Victoria to get away from a water problem.

Now he’s experiencing a totally new type of water problem, but he’s not complaining too much.

Late last year Mark, his wife Philippa and son Brenton moved from their well-established farm to escape from the Riverina’s irrigation water supply and cost issues.

“The last couple of years we had zero water allocation,” Mark said.

“Two years ago, we spent $300,000 to buy temporary water but that only got us a third of the water we needed to run a normal year.

“Historically, over the past 15 years we’d only returned an average of 51 per cent water allocation.”

Mark said water wasn’t a problem when they moved to the southern Riverina in 1993.

“When we went there in ’93, water was never an issue. Some years we could get more than 100 per cent of allocation, and it only cost about $20 per megalitre.

“Then government policy allowed water to be separated from land and non-farmers could own the water as an investment.

“Moreover, these investors do not contribute to the upkeep of the irrigation system, but sell their water for temporary transfer in a number of markets.

“The active farmers are forced to compete in these water markets, which has seen the price skyrocket to as high as $600 per megalitre.

“The people who are left have to pay more money for the upkeep of the system.”

Mark said Finley was traditionally a strong dairying area but it had become too hard because of water.

“In the end, financially we weren’t going to be able to keep going.

“It’s all gone pear-shaped since the MurrayDarling Basin Plan. The landscape has changed.

“The people who stay will probably get bigger and shift to barn systems of dairy farming. With the limitations on water, they’re going to have to spend more on crops that return the greatest amount of feed.”

The Flemmings moved to south-west Victoria last November, arriving during one of the best seasons in memory.

But more recently, water has again emerged as an issue.

“The biggest thing is managing the wet,” Mark said.

“Mt Emu Creek runs through a neighbour’s property and two-thirds of his farm was recently under water.

“A few neighbours had warned us about how wet it gets. I can look on my radar in the morning and it shows no rain but you walk outside and it’s actually raining.”

However, compared to what was happening up north, Mark is rapt with the move.

“They say it takes 12 months to adjust because there is a lot of stress involved in shifting, but production is really good.

“The shift affected them (the cows) a bit, but now they’ve calved again this spring in good condition and milking really well.”

With their former 450-hectare farm sold to sheep and cropping, the Flemmings started relocating their cows in B-doubles last November but had to make tough culling choices.

The new farm is 130ha, less than a third of the Finley property. The herd is being cut from 600 to about 280 and a 20-a-side herringbone has replaced a rotary.

The old farm had five permanent staff, supplemented by backpackers, but now they are running Cobrico with the three family members and a weekend milker.

“It’s already quite noticeable that we don’t have those input costs we used to have,” Mark said.

The Finley farm’s feeding system was based around a feedpad, with six months TMR and six months PMR.

The Flemmings hosted a summer crop field day at the old farm in Finley. Discussion centres on how to grow the most tonnes of fodder with limited water allocation. This was forage sorghum. They also grew corn and lucerne, then had to plan for how to get the annual pasture started in March.

“The aim is to milk about 280. We’ve got more than that at the moment, even though we sold a lot before we shifted, and some since.”

They have been using genomics to guide the reduction.

“We’re exporting the bottom end to China. If you’ve got too many, you can just focus on the best two-thirds and sell the others.”

Mark said the biggest challenge for the cows was shifting from a rotary dairy to a herringbone “but they’re used to that now”.

They’ve also have had to adjust to different weather and feed conditions.

“Summer was very mild compared to Finley,” Mark said.

“We used to get many days over 40 and some up to 46 or 47, but we only had about five over 40 last summer. It’s a very dry heat up there but down here it’s very humid, but they’ve adjusted.

“They’ve had a bit of a change in diet.

“Up there we had a feedpad and they were

fed out of a mixer wagon; through the summer it was 100 per cent TMR and through the other six months of the year we’d have partial grazing of annuals supplemented with the mixer wagon.

“Down here last season was very good so we had grass right through to January before we had to start feeding out silage.

“People tell me not to think this is normal, but then we had a good start to the autumn and had plenty of grass through the winter and now we hope we can have a good harvest this spring.”

The Flemmings run a mixed registered Holstein and Jersey herd but will move to 75 per cent Jersey in south-west Victoria, with Mark believing the smaller cow better suits the conditions.

While the cows have had to adjust, the humans have had to make a few modifications as well.

“We’re happy with the move; we’ve just got to get used to the winters. I’ve had to buy some wet weather gear,” Mark said.

Mark Flemming says Jerseys best suit the land in Cobrico.