Dairy News Australia Gippsland Region June 2022

JUNE, 2022 ISSUE 140

GIPPSLAND REGION

SOIL HEALTH KEY TO PASTURE Denison’s Jon Ryan and Lauren Clyne have a strong focus on growing pasture — and the soil health that underpins that growth. Pages 4 – 5.

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DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA JUNE 2022

2 // GIPPSLAND REGION

Chair’s message

Be authentic about values GIPPSDAIRY RECENTLY hosted the GippsDairy Muster in Denison, at the farm of Jon Ryan and Lauren Clyne.

We were blessed with a lovely sunny day, and welcomed about 270 attendees to enjoy a day of innovation, connection and inspiration.

Planning for the muster began last year during COVID-19 lockdowns, and it took a brave, passionate and committed team to bring the day to life.

On behalf of the GippsDairy board, I would like to thank everyone who contributed to make the day a success — including the organising committee led by GippsDairy director Michelle Axford, the GippsDairy team, Jaydee events, our hosts Jon and Lauren, and our speakers and sponsors.

I often think that the best learning starts as you make your way home from the event, when you have time to ponder, and your mind starts to connect the dots. Rumination, you might call it!

Into the rumen goes not just the speakers and what they said, but the casual conversations and connections, your situation and lived experience, and usually for me, a wish that I’d taken more notes.

Out of my rumination for this column, I ended up with two key words: Authenticity and Values.

Authenticity can perhaps best be described as being real, and not pretending to be something or someone that you’re not.

It’s probably what delivered the greatest value to me across the day of the muster; the willingness of our speakers to share the good and the bad, the truth and reality — not just the shiny and superficial.

Values, because I believe these are the key to being authentic.

Have you thought about your personal values?

What about your business ones? Are they up on the wall and do you live them every day? Every person, and every business will have a different set of values. How then do we work together?

Why does this matter — shouldn’t we just get on and do the job?

It matters, because Nollaig Heffernan told us that we are competing with 88,000 vacant hospitality jobs in Australia. Lack of people isn’t just a dairy problem. Both employees and the self-employed (yes, that’s pretty much all of us) have more choices than ever about what we do for work.

I found that the easiest way to figure out my personal values, is to think about what makes me really angry, and also what makes me really motivated. Usually, these things happen because they touch on our deeply held values.

Pick three or four words, write them down, and see how they feel. It will take time, but when you’ve got them worked out, it will help you understand why you react the way you do, and where you find satisfaction in your job and your everyday life.

Business values are shared values that form the basis of how we work every day.

Certainly in our business, when things go wrong, we can almost always bring it back to one of those values falling down. We discuss our business values and the behaviours that go with them at the job interview stage, and recruit people who identify with our values.

Then there’s how we work together. Rachael Robertson gave us a clue at the muster as she shared learnings from her year in Antarctica — respect trumps harmony, every time.

Rather than seeking to have a team of people who are the same, and always at peace, we need to respect each other’s differences.

When we see this as an opportunity to utilise our different skills, values and motivations to best advantage, a diverse team can achieve great things.

Lauren Finger GippsDairy chair

Find and keep the best team IDENTIFYING BEST practices in the

dairy industry was the focus of Dairy Muster at Denison on May 5, where automatic dairy systems, carbon accounting, soil health, nitrogen use, staff recruitment and management, cow collars and genomic testing were on the discussion list.

Dairy Muster in Gippsland was hosted on a dairy farm at Denison, part of the Macalister Irrigation District, the largest irrigation district in southern Victoria. The MID covers 54,753 hectares, with 33,500 ha under irrigation, and about 90 per cent of that country is under pasture or fodder crops.

Guest speakers alternated with breakout stations where industry and dairy farmers presented topics and discussed their own management practices and adopted innovation.

Nollaig Heffernan and Rachael Robertson led discussion about leadership, team management and employee recruitment.

Becoming an employer of choice required recognising that dairy competed directly against other industries — and one farm competed against another — for staff recruitment and retention.

That included recruiting for specialist skills — agronomy, herd management, calf rearing — as well as generic farm labourers, said Nollaig Heffernan, who brought a background of psychology and change management to her presentation about dairy

farmers being market aware as employers of choice.

“You need to identify what you need in your farm business and what is your unique selling point that makes you a good employer,” she said.

Nollaig strongly recommended employing a second-in-charge role on dairy farms, then trusting that person to do their job.

“Dairy farmers have phenomenal observation skills and can transfer that skill set for managing cows and pasture and weather, to identifying staff and managing employees.

“But in agriculture, too often the farmer is head down working hard, and that can blind you to identifying your own and other people’s skill sets.

“Your best value investment may be employing or contracting someone to do a job, allowing you to focus on other work.”

She said it was also important to have systems and data in place to identify and substantiate acceptable standards of behaviour and employment in the workplace.

That included industry standards of animal welfare and milk quality, and other standards of workplace behaviour that encouraged and attracted employees.

An induction process that clearly defined roles was key to this; as was allowing employees to fail safely at a task, rather than setting them up to fail.

Continued page 3

Nollaig Heffernan discussed the dairy farmer as an employer of choice, competing in a tight market for labour.

DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA JUNE 2022

GIPPSLAND REGION // 3

From page 2

Nollaig used an example that compared a grunting farmer who expects employees to read his or her mind to one who provides a welcoming and inclusive workplace for employees and service providers and takes the time to explain what needs to be done.

“Identify how your employees benefit your farm, and how you want to reward those employees by investing in them rather than thinking of them as a cost to your business,” she said.

“A key to this mindset is valuing yourself.

Model to your employees how you value yourself and your time and commitment to the farm.

That includes taking time off.”

Nollaig stressed the importance of investing in people’s skills development — on-farm and off-farm — and showing you appreciate them, so they want to work for you.

“Being an employer of choice depends on how you treat employees and how you treat service providers.

“You can measure and connect actions and activities to how much difference it makes in your business over time.”

Nollaig also recommended having a system that is adaptable to high staff turnover, given Australia’s strong reputation for employing backpackers and other short-term visa holders in agriculture.

Antarctic Expedition team leader Rachael Robertson spoke about the importance of regular team meetings and establishing values in the workplace that everyone understood and agreed to.

Antarctic Expedition team leader Rachael Robertson spoke about the importance of respect in a team.

She spoke about how easy it was to make the mistake that everyone in the team will or should be friends.

“It’s much better to have respect for each other’s roles and responsibilities in the team, than to be friends,” Rachael said.

“Then in a crisis everyone knows what they’re doing.”

With 120 people housed together for most of a year in an isolated, inhospitable environment, common sense was a highly rated value.

Rachael said people applied for the Antarctic Expedition mostly for financial reasons or to escape relationships, and were from a range of nationalities, cultures, industries and ages.

YOUR LOCAL PARTNER IN GIPPSLAND

Embedding respectful behaviour into team culture was necessary and led to compassionate treatment and collaboration between people.

“The number one value we chose for our team was respect. Respect always trumps harmony,” Rachael said.

“If you only focus on harmony, bullying goes underground and leads to unsafe practices and unsafe mental health.

“With respect, team members can work together to deal with crises.”

The other key relationship behaviour was integrity. It meant people were encouraged to speak directly to each other when there was a disagreement or tension, because speaking to a third party was discouraged.

“People want to be valued; they notice and remember how you made them feel,” Rachael said.

Ridley have been your animal nutrition partner in Gippsland since 1987. Year-in and year-out, we've been on-farm with local dairy and beef farmers, from Pakenham to Orbost.

We're not just nutrition specialists - we're locals too. We understand farming in Gippsland and we're committed to helping you boost productivity and profitability, supported by a team of the best technical experts in the business. For the best nutrition for your animals, trust your farm to the team that's been supporting Gippsland farmers for over 30 years.

To get in touch with your local Ridley rep, give the Gippsland Team a call on 1300 531 833.

CAROLINE BROWN

TRISTAN FRANCIS

Caroline and her family also manage a dairy farm in South Gippsland, bringing an abundance of practical experience.

Tristan is also a keen coach and mentor with Wonthaggi Power in the Gippsland League.

LUKE WIEBENGA

CHLOE CAMPBELL

Luke's a keen horse rider, motorbike rider and shooter.

She and her family live locally, raising a collection of animals on a small acreage.

ANDRE NEL

ROGER HAZELL

This wealth of knowledge is supported by the practical know-how he's gained managing his own farm in northern Victoria.

He brings an international perspective and unique skills to the Gippsland team, with agricultural and veterinary industry experience across the UK, New Zealand and Australia.

Caroline brings extensive expertise in ruminant nutrition to the team, with over 16 years at Ridley on top of an Agricultural Science degree from Melbourne University.

Luke has a keen business sense and an active interest in increasing the efficiency and profitability of farms.

Andre has over 30 years' experience providing technical nutrition support to dairy, beef and sheep farmers, both locally and internationally.

RID23969

Sometimes Rachael found herself reminding crew members who were driven to risky behaviour that the medical crew consisted of one doctor supported by carpenters and an IT specialist.

Risky behaviour occurred because team members would identify there was a lack of policy framed around activities.

Tristan enjoys building strong working relationships with our Gippsland farmers focusing on improving nutrition and production.

Chloe has a varied vocational background including customer service and science based roles, with a keen interest in seeing best health outcomes on farm.

Roger grew up on a UK dairy and beef farm before completing a BSc (Hons) in Agriculture.

DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA JUNE 2022

4 // GIPPSLAND REGION

Soil health key to pasture JEANETTE SEVERS

JON RYAN and Lauren Clyne, of Denison in

The 44-stall rotary dairy has automatic drafting and automatic cup removers.

The health and ability of soil to open up is a focus of pasture management.

Urea and humate are mixed in milk vats in an old dairy shed, and spread on pasture as a foliar spray.

Dairy Muster attendees took advantage of the opportunity to look at another farm.

central Gippsland, milk 370 cows off 100 irrigated hectares, aiming to produce 500 kg/milk solids/cow on a grazing regime supported by fodder, maize and 1.2 tonnes/cow of grain.

They also have 101 ha of dryland turnout paddocks to grow out heifers for self-replacement and selling about 30 per cent of them into export markets.

The 101 ha includes 61 ha purchased earlier this year to better enable them to grow out young cattle, including steers.

“Market strength means we choose to join our larger Jerseys to Friesian semen to capture that export option,” Jon said.

“We have used sexed semen successfully over the heifers. We feel it’s a good opportunity we can use over time as we learn more about it.”

The herd of Friesian, Jersey and crossbred cows was split-calving, then transitioned to spring calving in the past two years.

“This year we had a failure in our joining — 36 per cent of the cows were empty — we carried them over and I’m joining cows now for an autumn calving,” Jon said. He’s carrying over 10 per cent of them.

“They’re older cows and with a higher cell count history. We’re still milking them but haven’t joined them.”

There are two additional full-time labour units for general farm work, animal management, milking and tractor work.

On both farms, Jon’s and Lauren’s focus is on growing pasture — and the soil health that underpins that growth.

Supporting that pasture growth is 800 megalitres of irrigation, mostly flood irrigation, with a pivot irrigating 20 ha of undulating country.

Shandied effluent is used to irrigate 50 ha of the farm.

On average, they irrigate 15 to 20 days out, and incorporate a re-use dam.

Pasture growth is accelerated using a ureahumate foliar spray, that Jon mixes using vats in a disused dairy on the farm. It is applied following the cows’ grazing, at a rate of one litre per hectare.

“Our focus is on soil health outcomes and always looking to improve pasture quality and producing grass for grazing,” he said.

“I’ve found if you fertilise with soluble urea you can do a lot of damage to your grass. Mixing soluble urea with humate gives it stability and avoids leaf burn.

“I put a bit of molasses in the mix as well; it’s another source of food for the plant if the Brix is indicating there needs to be more sugar available for the bacteria and fungi to react.

“When I’m spraying it’s also nice to smell the molasses in the mix.”

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GIPPSLAND REGION // 5

Jon supports the application of foliar sprays for efficient uptake of nutrients by measuring soil health, and adapting application to weather and pasture growth, and grazing rotation.

“We did soil tests in January, identifying where we’re short nutritionally,” he said.

“For example, we identified boron and molybdenum were low in the nutrients through our soil tests, so we combined it in the humate.”

They now do soil testing every couple of months; previously they relied on soil tests twice a year.

“We also do foliar testing every couple of months, just prior to grazing, so we know what’s being presented to the cows,” Jon said.

With the advent of winter weather and longer grazing rotations, foliar spraying has been increased almost double.

“We’ll focus on doing visual soil assessments, opening up the soil and supporting biological means to measure application,” Jon said.

“One day a week, we measure grass growth across the farm. We do a few test strips. We might spray 30 per cent more on a strip through a paddock, or we don’t spray a strip, so you can visually see if there is a difference to the effects of application.”

Moving away from intense application of granular fertiliser is part of Jon’s and Lauren’s philosophy of reducing waste and outputs on the farm.

They lay woodchips in laneways and calf pens and after six months replace them. The manure-laden woodchips are composted over the following six to nine months before being applied to paddocks.

“Soluble humate granules or biochar can be mixed into the compost, if soil tests identify we need something more,” Jon said.

“The amount of worm castings in the soil tells me there’s a lot of things we’re doing which are going right.

When I put out those compost materials, the worms are working.”

The couple is also passionate about environmental stewardship — on the farm, in the wider catchment and downstream in rivers and lakes.

“We also need to maintain our biodiversity,” Jon said.

“We’re going to revegetate a biocorridor that links 40 ponds, which will slow and spread floodwater over a greater area and lay sediment down on our paddocks, improve the ecological health of our rivers and the catchment, and reduce damage to fences, trees and riverbanks.

“We all have a responsibility for managing our environment.”

Lauren Clyne and Jon Ryan hosted the Dairy Muster in Gippsland on their farm at Denison, and discussed some of their motivations as dairy farmers.

The 370-head herd comprises Friesian, Jersey and crossbred cows.

Jon Ryan will leave a strip of pasture bare of foliar spray, or double or triple the volume, to visually measure the outcome.

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DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA JUNE 2022

6 // GIPPSLAND REGION

Farm thrives with happy staff RECOGNISING WORKING on a dairy farm is

Shiona Berry recognises respect is a big part of managing employees on the farm.

Joel Jennings and Gary Chisolm are general farm workers employed by Caleb and Shiona Berry. Rosters are set one week in advance for everyone involved in the farm business.

When the high-producing herd grew from 400 to 800 cows, Shiona and Caleb Berry realised they had to employ people and went about developing systems to help them.

Shannon Myers has worked for Caleb and Shiona Berry for nine years, predominantly working with tractors, including to deliver silage to the feedpad.

about shift work, makes it easier to accommodate your own and employees’ family and community life when rostering roles and responsibilities.

That’s the message from Shiona Berry, who runs Glen Alvie Dairies with husband, Caleb, at Glen Alvie in West Gippsland.

They milk 750 to 800 high-producing cows in a split-calving herd off 250 hectares, with an additional 60 ha of shelter belts and calf raising area, a 162 ha out-block and 399 ha of leased country.

Pastures are perennial rye-grass and clover, and they grow maize. Both pasture and maize are harvested and chopped for pit silage. Pasture is also harvested as hay in round bales. Silage is fed on the feedpad.

Summer pastures are over-sown with chicory for strip grazing.

The only bought-in feed is grain, fed in the bail.

The couple employs six workers across milking, cow jockey, maintenance, tractor and calf rearing duties, and their daughter, Ella, as a relief milker.

One of the workers is also second-in-charge to Caleb and Shiona, helping with roster allocation and stepping in with responsibility when the couple isn’t available.

The roster is split, so workers begin in the early hours of the morning, bringing cows into the 50-unit rotary, and finish at lunchtime. The

second shift begins at 9 am and finishes at 5 pm after afternoon milking.

Shiona said having two shifts rather than expecting people to work in split shifts meant if overtime is needed, their employees are willing to stay for an extra hour. But more importantly it is about looking after their family life.

“The key to our rosters is family life for everyone,” she said.

“People are home having dinner with their families, and available for after school and community activities, like sport.”

Shiona and Caleb are strong on values in the workplace that reflect home life. It pays off, with some employees on staff for nearly a decade.

“Our values include having a family life apart from work, and getting the job done at work — whether it’s milking, cleaning the shed and staff room, feeding the cows. It’s respecting ourselves and everyone else,” she said.

“Dairy is shift work, so respect means recognising that.”

Caleb and Shiona studied agriculture at Dookie College, majoring in dairy. They became sharefarmers with a family farm, before purchasing their first farm. They have since studied business management and business governance courses.

In 2006, Caleb and Shiona started employing apprentices.

Since growing from milking 400 to 800 cows, in about 2008, they began employing workers

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DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA JUNE 2022

GIPPSLAND REGION // 7

for specific roles. Now they have a diverse workforce, that includes Australian and Filipino workers.

They also focus on minimising risk in the workplace.

Asset investment includes many laneways throughout the farm, side-by-side vehicles instead of motorbikes, a dedicated calf shed and calf raising paddocks, electric fencing for strip grazing, and a farm plan with all paddocks numbered.

They use a calf trailer, a ‘calfeteria’, and are onto using their second milk trailer to transport milk from the dairy to the calf shed.

The 50-unit rotary includes automatic cups off, automatic drafting, rubber matting on the floor, and machinery is automated as much as possible, using GPS coordinates to reduce risk.

“Our motto is, if you’re uncomfortable, don’t do it,” Shiona said.

“We have enough jobs that need to be done every day, that no-one needs to do a job they’re not comfortable with.”

It’s an attitude that especially applies to driving tractors or side-by-sides in their steep country.

“Caleb will teach people to drive in the hills, but if someone isn’t comfortable doing it, we don’t make them drive tractors in our paddocks,” Shiona said.

“It’s too dangerous for people to do jobs they’re uncomfortable doing.”

Every new employee goes through a formal induction process, then works alongside another team member for a fortnight.

“On the first day, I go through the induction process with them, we drive around the farm with a map, and I show them where everything is,” she said.

“One of the workers will do an induction for milking, and the same with the cow jockey role.

“Then the new employee will double up for a fortnight or a few weeks, to build their familiarity with our processes. They buddy up with different team members.

“The buddy is responsible for saying when the new employee is competent in their role.”

There is a weekly team meeting, where issues are raised and everyone is encouraged to input their ideas for resolution. It’s also an opportunity to remind everyone of basic safety and do briefings about, for example, fertiliser application or calving season.

Shiona sets the roster every week, and each employee receives their own roster and the name of the person they’re working with, for example, in the dairy shed, so if that person is late, they can phone them directly rather than Caleb or Shiona.

The team uses two online apps. Tanda is used to manage rosters, timesheets and leave applications. A WhatsApp group enables the entire team to communicate daily.

Twice daily, the milkers post a photo of the temperature and vat quantity on the WhatsApp noticeboard. The cleaning roster for the staff room and facilities is on the WhatsApp noticeboard. Team members can post information about cows, gates and equipment that needs maintenance, among other information.

There are also specific team meetings precalving, to discuss processes and procedures.

Employees appreciate the recognition that dairy is a shift work industry. Shannon Myers has been employed by Shiona and Caleb Berry for nine years as a tractor driver and is a relief milker on the day shift.

Caleb and Shiona Berry purchased side-bysides to reduce risk for themselves and their farm employees. Joel Jennings and Gary Chisolm use one of the side-by-sides for carrying fencing equipment.

In a meeting at the end of every week, Caleb, Shiona and their second-in-command, Ben, plan the following week’s chores and roster team members against jobs.

However, there are specific roles for some employees.

Stephen Fitzgerald is employed for maintenance and tractor work. Jimmy Palermo is in charge of the milking shed. Shannon Myers is responsible for collecting silage and distributing it on the feedpad, as well as tractor work.

The remaining workers alternate between milking, cow jockey, calf raising and general farm duties.

Caleb and Shiona also encourage skills development, and help their employees identify courses to up-skill — calf rearing, animal husbandry, AI, Cups On Cups Off — and encourage them to attend discussion groups.

Caleb and Shiona have also hosted VCAL students on their farm.

Shiona and Caleb Berry have brought experience, learning from mistakes, routine and technology into managing their large team of employees.

“I think a lot of our team management skills is about making mistakes in the past, learning from them and evaluating what we could do better,” Shiona said.

“We realise we’ve invested in building an asset, but Caleb and I can’t run this on our own, so we have to respect the people who work for us.”

DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA JUNE 2022

8 // GIPPSLAND REGION

Keen bidding at Riviera sale JEANETTE SEVERS

A 98 per cent herd dispersal at Koonwarra

in May saw a Jersey heifer sell at the top price of $9500, with her sister selling at $7250, in a strongly contested sale with more than 100 registered bidders.

Scott and Tahnee Wilson, Riviera Farms, Nyora, have been sharefarming in South Gippsland, but May 16 saw the dispersal sale of their herd of Holstein, Jersey and crossbred cows and heifers, for a sale average of $2400.

Dairy Livestock Services managed the sale at Koonwarra Livestock Selling Centre with a live online simulcast managed by Elite Livestock Auctions. Elders’ Michael Robertson was the auctioneer in the ring.

There were registered Jerseys of Jugiong breeding on offer, along with two heifers from direct daughters of EX 94 Bushlea Nathan Belle.

There were also a number of registered Holstein cows among the 100 autumn and freshly calved cows, and winter and spring-calving cows and heifers on offer.

The sale began with straws of semen selling for up to $175 each.

The livestock component opened strongly with four-year-old autumn-calved Holstein cows selling in pairs, with the second pen lifting to

$3100 for Lot 4, replicated for Lot 6 in the third pen. Springers also pulled in prices up to $3100.

Holstein cows sold to $3500, for an average of $2660. The higher producing cows achieved the highest prices.

Registered Holstein cows sold to $3200. Holstein heifers sold to $2750, for an average of $2440.

Registered Jersey cows, autumn-calved, sold to $2600, with spring-calvers going out the gate at consistently higher prices, up to $4000.

The Jugiong, Attaview, Wanstead and Emu Banks studs were looking for additions for their herds, and all bid successfully on Jersey cows and heifers.

There was also spirited bidding from online registered buyers, and local support from Gippsland dairy farmers was strong.

Jersey cows sold to $4000, for an average of $2315.

Crossbred cows sold to $2500, for an average of $1900.

Standout heifers were two rising-two-yearold spring-calving Belle heifers, embryo transfer daughters to EX94 Bushlea Nathan Belle and sired by Galaxies Celebrity.

Lot 146 sold to $7250 and Lot 147 sold at $9500, both purchased by Bryan and Jo Dickson, of Emu Banks Holsteins and Jersey Stud near Terang.

The heifers’ selling prices brought the average sale value up to $4650 for Jersey heifers.

Scott and Tahnee Wilson (with two-year-old Marley Wilson) in front of their Belle daughter Jersey heifers, after their successful dispersal sale at Koonwarra in May.

Bryan Dickson told Dairy News Australia that the purchase of the heifers was part of a re-establishment of he and Jo’s herd, as they look to increase the Jersey component to 40–50 cows, and reduce the number of Holsteins they milk.

“We’re getting back into Jerseys, and looking to add Belles into our herd. These two heifers score really well and if they work out I can breed from them,” Bryan said.

“We’re reducing our herd size from 1000 to about 700 milkers and bringing a lot of heifers in from our out-block this year.”

The overall average for the Riviera Farms dispersal sale was $2400, for a 98 per cent clearance.

Cattle went to dairy farms across Gippsland, south-west and northern Victoria, and into NSW.

Brett Williams and Madeleine Williams, with one-month-old Henry, of Poowong North, bought five Holstein cows.

Lot 147, Riviera Celebrity Belle ET, born 26/7/2020, from dam Bushlea Nathan Belle 2, sired by Galaxies Celebrity, sold for the top price of $9500. This heifer and her sister, both PTIC, were bought by Bryan and Jo Dickson, of Emu Banks Holstein and Jersey Stud near Terang, and will form a nucleus of Jersey cows for their herd.

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