Dairy News Australia - December 2019 - With Gippsland Region

DECEMBER, 2019 ISSUE 110

GIPPSLAND REGION

Automated progress

Animal health and production gains on this Gippsland property that has adopted robots, see page 4

Once-a-day milking offers flexibility for this Orbost farm, see page 8

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DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA DECEMBER 2019

2 // GIPPSDAIRY CHAIR’S MESSAGE

GippsDairy Chair’s message

Industry driven by people IN OPENING the recent Dairy Australia annual

general meeting at Lardner Park, we showed a video featuring Stuart Griffin giving a guided tour of Gippsland’s dairy regions.

While watching it, it struck me that we can sometimes forget that, while it’s cows that produce our milk, it’s also the people who make this industry great.

As chair of GippsDairy, I’ve been fortunate enough to work with hundreds of people like Stu who give up their time for the betterment of their local dairy community and the wider industry. They are putting their hands up to be on extension committees. You’ll find them at discussion group meetings and on support groups at Focus Farms. They’re the people who

gave up their time to contribute to the Australian Dairy Plan consultative meetings earlier this year.

You might not hear about it, but they could be spending an hour or two to help a neighbour who’s doing it tough or at a working bee at their local sporting club.

During the AGM and the tour afterwards to the DairyFeedbase project at Ellinbank, I met many of these people who help make this industry what it is today.

It was a good initiative by Dairy Australia to bring their AGM to the regions where many Gippsland dairy farmers attended.

I’m a bit biased, but I reckon these green, rolling hills were a great place in which to

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showcase the dairy industry for those who came to the AGM from further afield. We do hear a lot of negativity about the dairy industry but there are plenty of farmers out there making a good life for themselves by milking cows.

So well done to Dairy Australia for making the AGM more accessible for farmers and celebrating one of the world’s premier dairy regions.

We’ve got a great story to tell, and it was a pleasure to have so many people come to Gippsland and see what we are achieving here.

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DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA DECEMBER 2019

GIPPSLAND REGION // 3

Reminders for January Pastures ■

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Monitor any crops that you have planted for pests and manage the crop for best feed utilisation by cows or young stock. In particular, keep sorghum and millet pregrazing height under control (vegetative growth stage; about. knee height). Timing of crop grazing should ensure the paddock can be planted back to pasture at the optimum time in addition to feeding cows well. Remember the biggest advantage of planting a crop is improving future productivity of the pasture.

Be careful of overgrazing summer pastures.

Maintain your 4–6 cm residual, consider stand-off paddocks, supplements and/ or crops to protect pastures from over grazing.

Confirm areas of the farm that would benefit from over sowing or renovation, plan the best approach and timing for success. This should back up what you saw in late spring with pasture performance, another look at the pastures should be planned for March as, in hot dry summers, pastures can thin out.

If hay has already been cut, watch for any signs of hay heating as a result of green or wet hay being baled. This can be checked regularly using a crow bar pushed into the bales.

Regularly monitor wrapped silage bales for the presence of holes and repair as soon

as possible with tape that has a matching colour to the bales to give it the best chance to stick to the bale.

Stock ■

Be on the lookout for the effects of mycotoxins such as facial eczema (looks similar to photosensitisation), affecting exposed areas of pale skin. If facial eczema is suspected contact a veterinary practitioner for advice on prevention or treatment. Information is available on the Dairy Australia website http:// www.dairyaustralia.com.au/Animalmanagement/Animal-health/FacialEczema-Monitoring.aspx ■

Production and Feeding ■

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Consider your feed budget, have you got enough feed to reach the autumn break?

Don’t forget your young stock in this budget.

If you are in the fodder market try to get a feed test. Know what you are buying and how that fits into the cow’s diet. Always best to aim for quality.

Feed cows to try to maintain as much profitable production as possible. This can be done by feeding a balanced diet of remaining pasture, silage, crop and grain in a practical way. In irrigation, be mindful of the changes in pasture quality over this

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period (higher NDF and lower protein and ME). Keep an eye on crude protein levels in the diet. Milkers need to be getting about 16–18 per cent CP in the total diet.

Feed tests and physical inspection on your own silage and hay are a great way of understanding what you are feeding to cows. You already have the feed and will feed it anyway but understanding the quality of the feed and its limitations may change your fodder making and feeding decisions in the future.

As summer progresses, manage heat stress for your dairy herd. See www. dairyaustralia.com.au and search for cool cows. Consider cow comfort, water and feed intake and potential reduced production when picking paddocks in the summer and even more so for hot days.

Recent evidence suggests pregnant dry cows can be severely negatively affected

by heat stress in the following lactation, as well as in-utero calves born to heat stressed cows. Consider shade and cooling options for pregnant autumn-calving dry cows also.

Business/Whole Farm ■

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Now is a good time to get another income estimation done based on the season so far and the predicted trend for the rest of the year.

Review your first half year management on the farm — use your annual budget to determine how much of the planned expenditure was spent and explore the areas of farm management that could be improved for a better system and business in the future.

Start thinking about projected tax implications and R&M opportunities now.

DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA DECEMBER 2019

4 // GIPPSLAND REGION

Darryl and Trudi Hammond and Geoff Hewson.

Robotic dairy brings entire family on board JEANETTE SEVERS

INSTALLING AN automatic milking (robotic)

system on their farm is good business for a multigeneration dairy family at Buln Buln.

The investment has proven efficient for workflow, as well as good value if the family

unexpectedly decides to quit the dairy industry, according to Darryl Hammond.

Darryl and Trudi Hammond, have installed the six-bay robotic dairy system since they took over the farm, Melaleuca Park, from her parents, Geoff and Helen Hewson.

The Holstein-Friesian herd, which grazes across 227 ha of steep, hilly country in West

Darryl and Fynn Hammond would prefer to be growing pasture and making silage, a more efficient use of their time than milking.

Gippsland, produces 2.5 million litres of milk. All of the milk is sold to Alba Cheese, at Tullamarine.

Mr Hammond said it was a choice between upgrading the dairy to a rotary platform or the robotic system, which was installed in March 2015.

He compared various rotary and robotic systems and found little variation in price; but

Fynn Hammond shifting rolls of silage.

was impressed by the technical support for the robotic dairy system.

“They teach you to avoid human error,” Mr Hammond said.

“Farming involves the whole family now. The kids can run the dairy, because it’s about technology rather than strength and physical ability.”

It cost $350 000 to install a purpose-built shed

DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA DECEMBER 2019

GIPPSLAND REGION // 5

Trudi Hammond checks the computer system.

Cows line up waiting for their turn in the automatic milking system.

“Before the cows are milked, the robot brushes the teats during the udder-cleaning phase, which encourages letdown. Each quarter (teat) is individually milked.” with cement floor, including the office to house the computer to manage the system.

When Darryl and Trudi took over the farm, the 20-a-side herringbone, with automatic cup removers, installed 17 years previously, was still being used.

They already had a quiet herd, so changing over to a robotic system was relatively seamless and straightforward, with minimal retraining involved for the cows.

The farm has an extensive laneway system, to facilitate easy cow movement across the farm.

That includes an underpass, because the farm is on either side of a main road.

“We did extensive research before we decided what we wanted to change over to,”

Mr Hammond said.

“We wanted a system that optimised cow health and happiness and worked with their natural biorhythms. Our cow health is so much better, with no lameness.

“We wanted to take the pressure off us and have a system where our (three teenage) children could work on the farm. We wanted to be able to expand the system, if any of them want to come on as the next generation.

“It also needed to be good value, in case we wanted to exit dairy — the robotic dairy units hold their re-sell value well.

“This system minimises the amount of time the cows are standing on concrete.”

There’s no pressure on cows in the laneways.

>>

DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA DECEMBER 2019

6 // GIPPSLAND REGION >> Which means better maintenance of the laneways as well as cow health.

“If they can see the dairy, they’ll move well,” Mrs Hammond said.

“Before the cows are milked, the robot brushes the teats during the udder-cleaning phase, which encourages letdown. Each quarter (teat) is individually milked.”

Mr Hammond ran the cows through the new system over four milking sessions, while still using the herringbone dairy. The following four milkings, the cows were held in the robotic dairy.

“Only one cow was unco-operative,” Mrs Hammond said.

“By the end of five days’ use, the cows preferred the robotic system,” Geoff Hewson said.

Efficiencies are installed in the dairy shed to facilitate and support the best cow movement.

Water troughs are available for the cows to access while they wait to be milked, but not post-milking, so the cows have to go back to the paddock.

Grain stations are installed in the milking shed so the cows walk past them after milking.

“If they only take five minutes to milk or if

“We wanted a system that optimised cow health and happiness and worked with their natural biorhythms. Our cow health is so much better, with no lameness.” they come back too early to milk, the system is calibrated to funnel them through the shed and they get ad lib access to grain,” Mrs Hammond said.

“The system is also calibrated to move them to a new laneway and paddock on their way out of the dairy.”

While the herd numbered 500 milkers going through the herringbone dairy, they have been able to drop to 420 cows without losing production.

“There’s been a 15 per cent increase in production and the computer shows the average cow is electing to be milked 2.8 times per day.

“Depending on the season and quality of the feed, milk solids has grown from 450 kg to 550 kg.

The somatic cell count is good.

“The cows didn’t drop fertility, either,” Mr Hammond said.

Each bay does a self-clean after each cow is milked.

“We also shut down each robot for a system clean, twice a day,” Mrs Hammond said.

A generator kicks in during power outages, common enough although the farm is on the peri-urban outskirts of Melbourne.

The generator ensures no loss of data in the integrated computer system; it also means the cows can continue to be milked with minimal waiting time.

“The robotic system frees up time to do other work,” Mr Hammond said.

“The farmer has to be very good at pasture management. We still go out and check water troughs and shift the fence tape.”

He feeds silage in the paddocks where the cows are. His preference is to grow pasture and crops rather than spend the bulk of the day milking cows.

Lilly Hammond moving the cows between paddocks.

Cow welfare is better since the automatic milking system was installed in 2015.

Exiting the robotic dairy bail after being milked.

Darryl Hammond can set the robotic dairy to self-clean or rely on the computer system calibration.

DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA DECEMBER 2019

GIPPSLAND REGION // 7

Good start, slow finish SPRING PROVIDED farmers in Gippsland

with ideal conditions, and farmers’ ability to capitalise and conserve feed, impacted their overall performance, according to the Dairy Farm Monitor report for 2018-2019.

With a dry, hot summer and no break until late autumn, farmers without feed inventory onhand, were exposed to fodder market.

Some farmers recorded very large silage/hay harvests, which proved essential in the following months. The Macalister Irrigation District received 100 per cent allocation without a spill event, thus farmers were hard pressed to cover all of summer.

SPECIAL RATE FOR YOUNG FARMERS Young dairy farmers around Australia have been invited to consider the Australian Dairy Conference as a key forum to enhance and advance their career.

For the first time the conference is offering a ‘Young Farmer’ registration for Australian dairy farmers under the age of 40 for $440 (early bird farmer registration rate is $770).

ADC president and Tasmanian dairy farmer Ben Geard said that ADC was aiming to make Australia’s premier dairy event more appealing to the next generation of dairy leaders by making attendance both more affordable and accessible.

“The number of young farmers at ADC has notably increased over the last couple of years and feedback from those attending has been that the event has been really valuable for their knowledge base and opening up new dairy connections,” Mr Geard said.

“ADC is a forum for farmers by farmers hence topics are specifically directed towards knowledge acquisition and advancement yet the greatest value is the people you meet from fellow farmers through to CEOs and global innovators.

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However attending can really broaden your horizons and as a result we are opening up opportunities to encourage them to attend,” he said.

“The dairy industry is under quite a bit of pressure at the moment and the more we can bring young farmers into the fold to connect, engage and network with industry leaders the brighter the future will be.”

“Our emerging farmers are an enterprising bunch so we think it’s important they form part of the conversation for the industry moving forward particularly at this point in time on the cusp of significant change.”

“My ADC journey started out as a young dairy farmer delegate and I never would have imagined it would take me to where it has today including the leadership opportunities and personal development as part of this journey.

I hope others can continue to benefit from the experience.”

Only 40 young farmer tickets at $440 (GST inclusive) are available subject to application by individual farmers.

DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA DECEMBER 2019

8 // GIPPSLAND REGION

Perfecting time for work and play JEANETTE SEVERS

MILKING ONCE-A-DAY meets production

targets, minimises risk and creates an enjoyable work-life balance for David and Narelle Macalister, of Orbost. It has also kept them in the dairy industry.

This is the fifth season of milking once-aday for the Macalisters. They have 160 mediumsized spring-calving Friesian-cross milkers, that run through a 20-a side herringbone dairy every morning. While the milking shift is longer now, ensuring the cows are milked out properly, it only occurs once a day.

David is full-time on the farm, Narelle is 0.5 and they call on three casual workers specifically for relief milking, fencing and machinery work.

“Once-a-day milking does make it easier to find casual labour,” Mr Macalister said.

“If you wanted, you could vary the time of milking to fit in with the availability of labour.

You could shift your milking to late morning or middle of the day.

“You can access a different labour market.

“Or you can use other resources that are available. For example, using solar power during the day to run the dairy during milking and washdown, rather than rely on electricity from the grid. That, again, is about using resources.

“We still milk in the early morning, because

it gives me the rest of the day to do other work on the farm; or spend time with the family.”

With three active teenagers in the family, there is a lot of sport; football and hockey in winter, cricket in summer and athletics at school.

All of these require travelling long distances for district and regional competition.

“We’re also near the beach and in summer we like to go there in the evening,” Mr Macalister said.

“If I was milking, I couldn’t get to the boys’ sport or take time off to go to the beach. If we hadn’t switched to once-a-day milking, we wouldn’t still be in the dairy industry.”

It’s more than the work-life balance. Mr Macalister has also seen improvements in fertility and production in the past five years.

Joining rates through AI have risen from 50 per cent to 70 per cent successful. The joining period is shorter, now only 2.5 weeks, without using any synchronisation. Empty rate has reduced from 20 per cent to seven per cent.

Volume per cow has stabilised, with an average 19 litres/cow produced in spring.

Each cow receives a daily ration of 1kg of grain and produces 1.6kg milk solids daily; or a yield of 350kgMS/cow across the year. There are less under-performing cows to replace each year.

“We were using Friesian bulls for reproductivity and mop up, so we don’t have to buy them either. We now mop up with Angus bulls with

David Macalister said the benefits of once-a-day milking has enabled him to stay in the dairy industry.

good EBVs, with the focus on rearing calves,” Mr Macalister said.

“We’re very mindful of where the industry is heading around animal welfare. We want to only use as much AI as we need to get replacements, then use Angus bulls to rear cross-bred calves.

“We don’t use as much AI, because we only need to use 100 straws to get 65 cows in calf, giving 30 to 35 replacements.

“So we can concentrate on getting all those

cows in AI that we want, over a shorter period of time. The reproductive saving is a big reason to move to once-a-day milking. Now you get better body condition on the cow.”

Those few cows in the seven per cent empty category are sold, with the focus being on keeping cows in the herd that have natural fertility.

Because the region has been in drought for more than two years, replacement heifers were held back from joining for an additional six

Annual harvest of 800 rolls of wrapped silage and 150 bales of hay is enough to see the herd through each year, along with a daily grain ration of 1kg/cow.

DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA DECEMBER 2019

GIPPSLAND REGION // 9 months; which means they will calve in autumn, but will be milked through to synchronise for calving with the main herd 18 months later.

“It does mean we’ll be milking through the winter, so we’ll need to get in some casual labour to cover us taking time off for a family holiday next year. But it was better to hold the heifers back and join them in better condition,” Mr Macalister said.

All heifers are joined to Angus bulls.

When the heifers come into the herd next year, they will lift herd numbers to milking 200 cows. It is the same herd number they were milking before commencing once-a-day, around the same time as the Murray Goulburn crisis developed followed by drought in the past few years.

That upheaval is measured against the couple purchasing additional land three years ago and taking on another, family-owned, farm. But the additional land has given them options for grazing and making fodder.

The home farm is 80ha of river flat and 60ha of hill country. Two turnout paddocks, total 30ha, are used to grow out heifers and harvest silage and hay.

For five months each year, 15ha of the turnout country, on river flat, is leased to a company growing sweetcorn seed. Recently they added 21ha of the family farm to that lease.

“It gives us more flexibility and takes the risk out of farming for us,” Mr Macalister said.

“On the home farm, where the soil is sandy, we’re heavily reliant on an autumn break.

“The other country is better ground than the

home farm. It’s on river frontage.

“The sweetcorn crop is irrigated regularly, so when they harvest it in late summer, the ground is often moist enough to sow an annual Italian rye grass bulked up with an oat crop, to harvest as silage in the spring. We don’t need to rely on an autumn break to help us grow feed on that country.”

He normally harvests 800 rolls of wrapped silage from that 36ha, which carries the herd through the year.

After 70mm of rain in early November this year, he not only has an extra grazing rotation on the home farm, but expects to harvest 150 rolls of hay later in the month.

“That’ll be enough hay to calve down the cows in late winter and spring. We shouldn’t have to buy fodder in the next year,” Mr Macalister said.

The home farm is largely kikuyu oversown with an annual. Silage is fed out in the paddock after milking. Sometimes a second bale is rolled out in the paddock late in the evening.

Overall, the couple will remain with once-aday milking. Initial production loss has recovered; and herd health has improved.

“There’s also cost savings over time. There’s less laneway maintenance, because the cows are only travelling to the dairy and back once a day.

There’s less fence maintenance.

“The obvious thing about once-a-day milking, is it’s an easier system on people and cows.

Cows hold a little bit more condition,” Mr Macalister said.

Fertility and reproduction, herd health and milk solid production have all improved substantially under once-a-day milking.

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10 // GIPPSLAND REGION

Efficiencies key to running two farms JEANETTE SEVERS

ASHLEY AND Lisa Mezenberg, from Deni-

son, operate two farms, milking 600 cows; a self-replacing, predominantly Friesian-cross herd, with infusions of Normande, Aussie Red and Brown Swiss. The herd produces 3.7 million litres annually.

The home farm has a 26-bay swing-over herringbone dairy, to milk 400 cows. The second farm uses a 15-double-up herringbone system to milk 200 cows. Both herds are twice-a-day milkers.

The twice-annual AI program covers four weeks, followed by mop-up bulls. Both herds are split-calving to take advantage of spring and autumn growth. The Mezenbergs raise heifers for their self-replacing herd and the export market.

In the middle of the Macalister Irrigation District, the farms cover about 364 irrigated hectares, with 170 ha used for grazing.

The remaining farm land is used to grow out young stock and produce fodder as silage and hay. About 500 rolls of grass hay and 600 to 700 tonne dry matter of chopped grass and maize silage is harvested each season and buried in a pit.

“Grazing is 2.5 leaf stage year-round, which also enables silage and round bales of hay to be harvested each season,” Mr Mezenberg said.

“We normally do a couple of chops.

“If a paddock is not performing, we oversow with permanent rye-grass pasture.

“We also sow 18 ha of maize for winter grazing, to offset higher hay prices. Last year we sowed an additional 8 ha of maize.”

Irrigation is assisted by two re-use dams, one on each farm. On the home farm, about 120 ha is irrigated with flood; a 7 Ml re-use dam enables irrigation water to be captured and recycled through a flood system.

On the second farm, the excess flow from

Ashley Mezenberg began making and spreading home-made compost on his pasture post-grazing, four years ago: “I’ve noticed our bulk feed is gradual-grown but consistent across the year. So we have more grass to graze year-round.”

“If a paddock is not performing, we oversow with permanent rye-grass pasture.” another 120 ha of flood irrigation is captured through drains and siphons and diverted into a 10 Ml capacity re-use dam, that enables the captured irrigation water to be recycled. Two bores also feed through a centre pivot that irrigates 40 ha and fixed sprinklers for 1ha.

The re-use dam reduces environmental damage in the MID system by minimising nutrient outflow — all fertiliser and nutrients stay on the farm.

While Mr Mezenberg’s focus is overall

Lisa Mezenberg is part of the milking team.

DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA DECEMBER 2019

GIPPSLAND REGION // 11

“Grazing is 2.5 leaf stage year-round, which also enables silage and round bales of hay to be harvested each season.”

management and growing pasture and fodder, Mrs Mezenberg is part of the milking team.

They also employ a manager on the home farm, with a full-time employee and two parttime workers; main responsibilities are milking the cows and herd health. A couple is employed to manage the second farm and milk the cows.

Four years ago, Mr Mezenberg began a system of building compost heaps.

He contracted someone to manage multiple heaps, but decided it would be more efficient to have a large compost heap and take over responsibility for it himself. This has had a significant impact on reducing fertiliser costs and improving production.

“We’ve been composting for about four years. We had a guy come in turning compost, there were lots of small heaps. So I decided to make my own big one,” Mr Mezenberg said.

Along the way he has designed and built a compost turner that hooks up to the tractor and is driven by the PTO of a 200 hp tractor.

It cost about $30 000 to $40 000 to build in materials and about six months of labour time, between farming work.

A 2000-litre capacity tub on top of the compost turner enables water and a liquid containing composting bugs to be sprayed onto the heap as it is turned.

“Any waste from the dairy farm, mouldy silage, feed pad effluent and mud, settling pond effluent, calf bedding, chook manure and sawdust when I can get it locally, a fallen tree and branches, it all goes into the compost heap,” Mr Mezenberg said.

“You have to keep turning the compost, keep it moist and between 40 to 60°C, to keep working but not create unhealthy pathogens.

“You need to check it every couple of days, turn it a couple of times a week.”

Sun and wind do not seem to have an effect on the temperature and quality of the heap, which measures 6 m wide by 2 m high and is The compost heap is 6m wide and 2m high and can be 100m in length, close to the dairy on the home farm.

“It gets up to 100 m length in the area and>> is taking 10-12 weeks to mature.

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DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA DECEMBER 2019

12 // GIPPSLAND REGION

“Any waste from the dairy farm, mouldy silage, feed pad effluent and mud, settling pond effluent, calf bedding, chook manure and sawdust when I can get it locally, a fallen tree and branches, it all goes into the compost heap.” >> 10 to 12 weeks to maturity,” Mr Mezenberg said.

“The more you turn it, can mean you can use it quicker.”

It is a matter of managing the work needed doing on the compost heap with other farm jobs.

Mr Mezenberg spreads the compost with a solids spreader.

“You can spread it behind the cows if you like, over the pasture after the grazing rotation,” he said.

“We also put it onto paddocks that need a bit of attention.”

He has noted improvement in the soil over the past four years.

“The biology in the soil starts working and gets the water holding capacity up,” Mr Mezenberg said.

“Since we started using it, we’ve noticed our bulk feed is gradual-grown but consistent across the year. So we have more grass to graze year-round.

“You seem to be able to water less because there is less leaching and runoff, and more

water-holding capacity in the soil.”

Previously, the annual fertiliser bill was $80 000. That is now reduced to half. The compost fertiliser can also be spread where and when it is needed, rather than waiting for a contractor to apply it.

“As a dairy farmer, we’re pretty time constrained, so making it onsite and having it available when you want to apply it, helps,” Mr Mezenberg said.

“It’s helping everything, the herd health, the soil health, we’re spraying less herbicides for red legged earth mite and other bugs. The soil is a lot healthier, which has got to be good.”

He was introduced to the process at information days in the Warragul area and has learned through trial and error and reading.

Creating, managing and using the compost heap, the couple have been able to meet their own ethical considerations about waste.

“I just want to grow more grass and reduce waste,” Mr Mezenberg said.

Ash Mezenberg harvests about 500 rolls of grass hay and 600-700 tonnes dry matter of chopped grass and maize silage each season, buried in a pit.

The 600 cows, run in two herds, produce 3.7 million litres annually.

Your GippsDairy Team

GippsDairy’s regional extension officers use their research, administrative, technical and practical skills to deliver on our vision; to look after the interests of dairy farmers in our region.

Contact details

Karen Romano

Karen Romano Regional Extension Officer

Regional Extension Officer

Phone: 03 5624 3900 E-mail: info@gippsdairy.com.au Registered Office: PO Box 1059, Warragul, Victoria 3820 Website: www.gippsdairy.com.au Facebook: Search for us on Facebook

Sarah Cornell Regional Extension Officer

Sarah has seen the dairy industry from multiple viewpoints, Karen has worked in various roles within the dairy industry giving her a great feel for the `people’ side of the dairy before returning to Gippsland in 2013 as a Regional Extension industry. Sarahs’ role as a regional extension Officer. Karen hashas a passion for the industry, and within a Karen worked indairy various roles the dairy industry before returning to Gippsland in 2013 as a officer has an emphasis on workforce development and farm safety. keen interest in extension and working first-hand with dairy Extension Officer. Karen has a passion for the dairy industry, a keen interest in extension Sheand also co-ordinates the Gippsland Young Dairy Network farmers toRegional improve decision making. which aims to develop farm knowledge and skills, provide and working first-hand with dairy farmers to improve decision making.

0417 524 916 karen@gippsdairy.com.au leadership opportunities and build networks.

0417 524 916 karen@gippsdairy.com.au Ashley Burgess Regional Extension Officer Ashley believes that GippsDairy can help dairy farmers utilise knowledge from other agricultural sectors. Ashley has previously worked in the beef, dairy and horticulture industries as an agronomist and hopes her technical knowledge can help improve dairy farm performance in Gippsland. She will be working in the Land, Water and Climate area, which she described as “a passion of mine”.

Ashley Burgess

Regional Extension Officer

Ashley believes that GippsDairy can help dairy farmers utilise

0438 925 278 ashley@gippsdairy.com.au

0437 400 316 sarah@gippsdairy.com.au

Libby Heard Regional Extension Officer Originally from a farm in the Riverina, Libby has been a Gippslander for almost a decade. With a background in animal health, business management and training, she enjoys working with farmers to understand their business and share ideas to make gradual improvements to their productivity. Libby, who will deliver GippsDairy’s Farm Business Management courses and facilitate the Women in Dairy project, every farm is different and we can knowledge frombelieves other agricultural sectors. always learn from other people.

Ashley has previously worked in the beef, dairy and horticulture industries as 187 an agronomist and hopes 0407 595 libby@gippsdairy.com.au her technical knowledge can help improve dairy farm performance in Gippsland. She will be working in Leah Maslen Donna Gibson theExtension Land, Water and Climate area, which she described as “a passion of mine”.

Regional Officer Leah’s passion is to develop the capacity of people within the industry through personal development activities.

0438career 925and 278 ashley@gippsdairy.com.au Leah promotes, identifies and supports career pathways in the dairy industry for dairy farmers, farm employees and industry service providers. She also engages with industry stakeholders (schools, employers, service providers, students) to increase participation in dairy industry education and training programs.

Leah Maslen

Regional Extension Officer

0448 681 373 leah@gippsdairy.com.au

Regional Extension Officer.

Donna Gibson has spent her life around dairy farms and built a bank of knowledge that she is always keen to share with the farming community. Donna has previous worked with the old DEPI as a technical officer in dairy soils and nutrient research, as a milk supply officer for milk processors and as an agronomic consultant. Having returned to GippsDairy, Donna’s role will be across all extension activities.

0447 277 288 donna@gippsdairy.com.au

Leah’s passion is to develop the capacity of people within the industry through career and personal development activities. Leah promotes, identifies and supports career pathways in the dairy industry for dairy farmers, farm employees and industry service providers. She also engages with industry