Dairy direct gippsland april 2016 (low res)

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Country News PUBLICATION

GIPPSLAND Issue 9, April 2016

Family transitions: Sentiment and reality » page 24

Managing in a dry landscape » page 16 Warning on mystery calf disease » page 30

Reviewing perennial pastures » page 32

contents Rural Rumenations

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News

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Dairy shows spirit of co-operation 8

Labour issues perennial After a long search, GippsDairy has appointed Leah Maslen as its new dairy workforce co-ordinator.

I’d like to publicly welcome Leah aboard and wish her all the best in her new role – one which the GippsDairy Board considers a key part of further strengthening and developing the region’s dairy industry.

For as long I can remember, labour has been an issue for dairy farmers in Gippsland.

Finding and retaining employees has never been an easy task, but in today’s environment it is more important than ever.

The average farm size is growing, meaning that managing a dairy business requires greater input from employees. For most of us, it’s quite simply getting too hard to do it all by yourself.

Even for smaller farms, regulations surrounding remuneration and conditions have become far more complicated in recent years. As anyone who has employees knows, there’s a lot more to hiring a worker than signing a pay cheque at

the end of the week.

What it all means is that farmers need to add yet another string to their bow – this time as human resources managers. Most businesses with the turnover of the average farm in Gippsland would have a HR manager on the books, but that’s not a realistic option for familyrun dairy farms.

It is these growing demands to fulfil HR requirements that saw GippsDairy develop the dairy workforce co-ordinator role in 2012.

With the assistance of Dairy Australia, we’ve continued to refine the role, developing new initiatives like the ESKi employee information packs and the Employment Made Easy job-matching website.

Just as importantly, having Leah on board means dairy farmers can make a phone call and talk to someone who understands their issues and can assist them in working out a solution.

I once said to another dairy farmer that he was lucky with his employees — he seemed to hire ‘solid types’ who did a good job, took

responsibility and stayed working on the farm for years on end.

He told me in no uncertain terms that luck had nothing to do with it. He said he worked hard to make sure he looked after his employees and ticked every box required by law.

For this farmer, it was all about finding the right person for the job and then doing his best to make sure they wanted to stay on his farm.

It’s a lesson we could all learn. Just as we expect our employees to do their jobs properly, we also have to take responsibility for our own jobs as employers.

The first step towards becoming a better employer might be making a call to Leah or getting online and looking at the resources available on sites such as www. thepeopleindairy.org.au We all have a job to do in making the dairy industry a better place to farm and work; let’s make sure we do that job right.

— Graeme Nicoll GippsDairy chairman

Private-label focus

9

Dry times likely

9

Talking is the right tactic

10

Weather and dollar impact Aussie farmers 12 Long connection to the land

13

Matches made online

15

Planning to succeed

16

Take action to maximise pasture growth

18

2016 Australian Dairy Conference 20 Wise spending is the key

22

Get them while they’re young

23

Keeping it in the family

24

Farming Aussie style

25

Leah’s on the job for dairy

27

Moving forward with change

28

Mystery illness may kill calves

30

Pasture: to re-sow or not

32

Grass is greener in Yarragon

34

Surviving global dairy challenges 36 All waste is not created equal

38

Navigating the maze of farm data 39

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Reminders for April and May April reminders

Cover: Nick and Toby Leppin.

Story page 24

Editor Geoff Adams editor@countrynews.com.au Writers Danny Buttler and Geoff Adams Graphic designers Teresa Crifo, Brendan Cain, Alysha Bathman and Bella Considine Advertising James MacGibbon james.macgibbon@ countrynews.com.au Published by Country News PO Box 204, Shepparton, Victoria 3632 (03) 5831 2312 www.countrynews.com.au Printed by Edge Print

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APRIL 2016

Pastures/forages: • If you have not yet applied fertiliser, apply according to your plan for the year. If it has rained and pasture is growing, if you would like faster pasture growth, consider the use of nitrogen with your fertiliser.

• Plan to grow a wedge of pasture on support areas of the farm to feed dry cows and young stock well. This can be done using strategic fertiliser and nitrogen applications timed well with the autumn break when it comes.

• April is the time to start growing a wedge of pasture for early spring calving cows and a plan should be made to do so. Cows that calved in autumn need to be fed pasture in a controlled way to balance today’s cash flow and create this wedge of pasture for spring calving cows.

Establishing and managing new pastures: • Plant new pasture where it’s needed. Consider timing, based on the weather, soil type and farming system. Early planted pasture is very productive provided it does not get too dry or hot once is has emerged; late planted pasture can result in very slow pasture development and paddocks that are prone to pugging in the following winter and spring.

• Control broadleaf weeds in new and old pastures once the weeds are about 3cm to 5cm in diameter and most plants have emerged.

• Do the ‘pluck test’ to check newly sown pastures are ready for grazing. Avoid overgrazing new plants; leave at least 4cm to 6cm residual.

Cows: • Review your spring joining using pregnancy test results and change plans for the following joining based on the review if needed.

• Prepare to dry-off spring calving cows (depending on calving date). The process of drying cows off well may impact the incidence of mastitis in the following lactation.

• Prepare a plan for dry cow feeding and transition cow feeding along with your preferred calving areas on the farm to minimise labour and to maximise cow comfort. A feed budget for these cows that estimates cost of purchased feed, fertiliser and nitrogen would be useful when checked against your planned financial budget for the farm.

Heifers: • Feed calves well with healthy weaning weights in mind using milk, fresh water, some fibre and calf pellets.

• Feed quality supplements to dairy heifers.

Advice from the InCalf project suggests that heavier, well-grown heifers get in calf easier, produce more milk in their lifetime, compete better with mature cows and survive longer in the milking herd.

May reminders

Feed planning: • If purchased feeds are required for cows and or

young stock consider all the options for feeding.

• Make sure you investigate the potential complications of feeding some of the less common feeds such as feed storage, actual physical feeding difficulties, animal health issues, and feed cost and quality.

• Look at the cost of the feed on a dry matter basis and consider how well it feeds a balanced diet to your cows and young stock.

Establishing a wedge of pasture after the autumn break: • Balance your grazing rotation with seasonal conditions and your calving pattern. If you dryoff all or most cows and destock the farm for a period in winter, you may be able adopt a more aggressive grazing strategy now. If you milk cows through winter make sure to plan for the feed demand from pasture in winter.

• Plan your grazing rotation without areas of renovated or oversown pasture as these areas may take some time to become available if rainfall comes late in autumn.

• Have a plan for wet soil conditions should they occur, stand-off paddocks and suitable feed sources may be required this winter.

• Use nitrogen fertiliser to boost pasture growth if required. For more information see http:// fertsmart.dairyingfortomorrow.com.au/ dairy-soils-and-fertiliser-manual/chapter-12nitrogen-and-nitrogen-fertilisers/ Establishing and managing new pastures: • Check new pastures for pests such as red legged earth mite and lucerne flea; if found, they will need to be controlled as soon as possible to reduce damage to the seedlings.

• Do the ‘pluck test’ to check newly sown pastures are ready for grazing; the plants need to be wellanchored in the ground so they will not pull out. Sometimes just waiting until a wet soil has dried out is enough for the plants to stay in the ground during grazing.

• When grazing newly sown pasture for the first time, if possible use a large mob of animals that are lightweight (young stock) for short periods of time to lightly graze new pastures to a 4cm to 6cm residual.

Stock: • Drying off for spring calving herds should be designed to protect cow condition and offers the opportunity to prevent mastitis using dry cow treatments.

• Ensure dry cows have enough feed; dry cows require between 70 and 90mj/cow/day and 13 to 14 per cent crude protein when dry. Check the quality of the feed they are being offered if pasture is limited.

• For calving cows, attention to detail is important in the close-up dry cow herd (transition cow herd) as issues caused by feeding now can result in less production after calving.

Energy, protein and fibre requirements need to be considered carefully to ensure cows calve strongly.

Rural Rumenations with KATIE MACAULAY

Columnist Katie MacAulay lives in South Gippsland, and has been married to a dairy farmer long enough to appreciate the smell of good silage. She loves chooks, enjoys stacking hay bales with the tractor and wonders why the lawn grows twice as quickly as the grass in the paddocks.

Ulterior motive for dairy clean-up It was time. I refused to let Hubby put it off any longer. Our dairy office had become a storage unit. We needed to clean up before we received a phone call from one of those hoarding shows on TV. Although keen to start throwing things out, I forced myself to wait for Hubby since we have different definitions of junk. Just because the dot matrix printer was obsolete, didn’t mean that the equally dusty rubber object next to it wasn’t some expensive part that he’d actually use soon.

I’d nearly lost my voice from nagging when Hubby surprised me with, “How about tomorrow?” and wrote, “Tidy dairy” on his calendar.

The next morning after Hubby had fed the silage, we headed for the dairy. Our skip bin had recently been emptied so there could be no excuses about holding onto junk because “the bin was already full”.

I wasn’t expecting much progress the first time around but Hubby surprised me as he

efficiently tackled the mountains of stuff.

Out. Out. Out. The discard pile was increasing faster than I could carry it to the bin. Out went the dot matrix printer, much to my delight.

As we sorted through piles of cracked rubberware, I uncovered three newish, identical objects.

“Diaphragms for a diaphragm pump. From the old dairy,” Hubby explained.

“You mean, the dairy that was pulled down over a decade ago?”

Hubby had the decency to look sheepish before he whisked the offending rubberware away to the safety of his ute.

After I finished rolling my eyes, I went for a walk around the dairy to see what else we could throw out. There was a room on the other side of the dairy that I hadn’t been in for years.

I opened the door cautiously and found the vacuum pump. But as my eyes adjusted to the gloom, I spotted an old toilet bowl and

Point. Click. Grow.

something else lying on the floor.

I went back to Hubby.

“Would you believe I actually found a kitchen sink?”

“But how did you climb onto the office roof?”

“Huh?” Hubby’s reply rendered me momentarily speechless (no mean feat).

“There are two sinks on top of the office roof.”

Eventually I found my voice.

“WHAT?! Why? “ Hubby expertly changed the subject.

“Wow. Look at all this space. I’m glad we did this today …”

I nodded happily. Now I could walk in and out of the office without tripping over. There was even room to park Tinkerbell’s pram when I brought her over to the dairy. “… because I’m off to a clearing sale tomorrow.”

Suddenly my pride in our newly spacious office was replaced by a sinking feeling …

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dairy news

No change to milk price Commodity prices are still falling but co-op plans to maintain price for the time being.

Murray Goulburn Co-operative is forecasts in financial Year 2016. intending to maintain its southern milk “This underperformance is expected to price of $5.60/kg milk solids, unless dairy be partially offset by the growth in the prices deteriorate further. dairy foods segment resulting from the In its half-year profit announcement, the acceleration of production mix shift co-operative’s managing director Gary and the expected strong performance Helou pointed out that dairy commodity of domestic and international ready-toprices were continuing to fall. consume dairy foods product sales,” Mr “While MG and market commentators Helou said. expect a recovery in dairy commodity prices, this is taking longer than expected Murray Goulburn announced a net profit after tax, for the first half of the year, of due to the ongoing oversupply in global $10 million, compared to $15 million for dairy commodity markets,” Mr Helou the same period last year. said.

Overall revenue was up by about three “The weakness in dairy commodity per cent to $1.38 billion, with the biggest prices is now expected to result in the improvement in dairy foods which grew ingredients and nutritionals segment materially underperforming against the by 27 per cent to $694 million.

Mr Helou said the first half of the year saw the continued decline in Chinese imports of commodity dairy ingredients and the ongoing Russian embargo on dairy imports.

“This has been compounded by increased European milk supply, resulting in a period of significant over-supply in global dairy commodity markets, driving commodity prices towards record lows.”

He announced Murray Goulburn was launching a new infant formula product called Devondale Natra Start, which will be 100 per cent controlled by Murray Goulburn from farm gate to shelf.

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UDV manager Vin Delahunty and Hallston’s Jeanne Dekker spoke at the Dry Times event at Inverloch.

GippsDairy’s Karen Romano (centre) catches up with Raoul and Julie Pridham from Yanakie.

Inverloch dairy farmer Mick Hughes talks water with GippsDairy director Edwin Vandenberg.

GippsDairy chairman Graeme Nicholl leads off the discussion at the Inverloch Dry Times event.

Dairy shows spirit of co-operation Dairy farmers have gathered to discuss the ongoing challenge of dry conditions in the Inverloch area.

“You can buy hay in, but you can’t buy “We had farmers literally putting this pipe water in.” together over the summer months and they did it all in good spirits,” she said.

The Nicholls farm received its first flow from a pipeline that involves four pumps “We also had South Gippsland Water, and more than 14 km of high-grade 90 mm Southern Rural Water, Bass Coast and diameter poly pipe.

South Gippsland shires as well as DEDJTR The first GippsDairy Tactics for Dry Times and GippsDairy helping the farmers to Getting the water from the disused meeting in mid-December resulted in four access a water supply that has made a huge Inverloch water basin cost farmers more dairy farm businesses accessing an unused difference to them. water storage to pipe supplies onto their farms. than $140 000 before the pumps were even turned on.

“GippsDairy and Dairy Australia fund these The Inverloch Cluster was a collaborative Dry Times events across the region using On top of that, more than 900 hours of effort between various stakeholders that labour was required to lay and join the pipe. dairy service levy funds, and we couldn’t have meant farmers like Inverloch’s Jamie seen money better spent than the Inverloch But for Mr Nicholls and other farmers, the Nicholls experienced some relief from the meeting and what has been achieved from it.” outcome of that December meeting — and dry conditions.

The latest meeting was also supported by “We all went to that meeting and none of us a lot of subsequent hard work — has allowed them to keep their heads above the Look Over the Farm Gate program had any solutions,” Mr Nicholls said. water. which is funded by the VFF, Royal “On our farm it’s bone dry. No grass, no Flying Doctor Service, Country Women’s GippsDairy projects and events cowater. We’ve been there 29 years and it’s Association, Country Fire Authority, ordinator Karen Romano said the first never been like this before.”

National Centre for Farmer Health and Inverloch Dry Times meeting has resulted “We’ve ended up with very little water GippsDairy to support the social and in an unprecedented level of co-operation before, but that’s been in April/May — not emotional wellbeing of the community in and goodwill between farmers and various rural areas during a tough season.

October. stakeholders.

More than 40 people spent an evening at the Inverloch Community Hub recently, working out ways to tackle the water shortage and how to bounce back once decent rainfall returns to the district.

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APRIL 2016

Making the hard work pay Enthusiastic farmers looking to improve these things.” their business model are invited to attend Mr Colbert, who has done the course the Churn Milk Into Money workshop. twice, said Churn Milk Into Money The two-day event will be held in required a willingness to participate to Traralgon again this year, with highly maximise the benefits. respected farm consultant John Mulvany “It all comes back to how many questions leading the sessions. you ask to get the right answers back.

Churn Milk Into Money will be held You need to ask questions and push for on April 27 and 28 at the Century Inn, answers so you can learn from it.”

Traralgon.

GippsDairy regional manager Allan Former participant Will Colbert said the Cameron said feedback from Churn Milk workshop had changed the way he looked Into Money participants had shown the at budgeting and planning. workshop hits its mark.

The young Ripplebrook farmer, who milks “The message we’ve been getting back over 172 cows on a 100 ha sharefarm, said he a number of years now is that Churn Milk enjoyed the realistic approach to analysing Into Money provides participants with farm figures. key tools for furthering their dairy careers,” Mr Cameron said.

“It can be an eye-opener when the figures paint a picture that it is not all rosy, put it “The chance to spend a couple of days that way,” Mr Colbert said. with John Mulvany talking about how to progress you career is not an opportunity “My interest was that I’m running a to be missed.” business and you can always do better.

Proposed topics include: “I’m not a big budgeter and not a person to do a big cash flow either, so I probably do • Making money in dairying. these courses to push myself to do more of • Managing money — cash, tax, GST

business structure.

• Career options — employee, sharefarming, leasing or ownership.

• Balancing financial and physical risk.

• Increasing operational profit and asset growth.

• Planning to end up where you want to.

• Succession planning.

• Informed decision making.

• Staying healthy on the farm.

A highlight will be the first day dinner, with farmers at different stages of their dairy careers sharing the stories of how they got to where they are now.

The workshop will run from 10.30 am to 5 pm (with dinner to follow) on April 27 and 8.30 am to 2 pm on April 28.

GippsDairy is subsidising the cost, meaning participants will only pay $95, including meals, accommodation and learning materials.

Places are limited to 20 people, so RSVP by April 18 to GippsDairy at executiveassistant@gippsdairy.com.au or call 5624 3900.

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UDV manager Vin Delahunty and Hallston’s Jeanne Dekker spoke at the Dry Times event at Inverloch.

Host farmers Lyn and Les Hornby with farm employee Jess Stace at the Outtrim Dry Times event.

Jake Frecklington from Alltech and Kongwak’s Len McRae catch up at the Outtrim Dry Times event.

Talking is the right tactic After a positive response to previous Dry Times events, a series of shorter and sharper sessions have been held on host farms across the region.

The Tactics for Dry Times Shed Days were rolled out across Gippsland in recent weeks, offering farmers information and strategies on how to recover as we approach the cooler month approach.

Designed for small casual groups, the information days offered the opportunity to discuss what decisions needed to be made to deal with the ongoing tough conditions.

Plans for autumn in relation to water, bought-in feed and pasture management were also discussed.

Trudy and Damian Murphy hosted the Dumbalk North Tactics for Dry Times Shed Day while GippsDairy’s Karen Romano facilitated along with John Gallienne.

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APRIL 2016

attending.

GippsDairy projects and events co-ordinator Karen Romano said the response to the Shed “Some people are going to multiple events to Days program had confirmed that farmers find out information. wanted this type of assistance.

“What’s also been rewarding in this program “The Tactics for Dry Times program is a great has been the support from service providers, example of how farmers’ levies are being and it’s really acted as a training ground for invested and returned back to them in the them. From that perspective it’s been a great form of information and assistance,” she said. success and had a wider impact.”

“The project, which has been rolled out by Shed Days have been held at Riverslea, GippsDairy and Dairy Australia, has been Stratford, Hedley, Toora, Inverloch, Middle highly successful, not only for numbers Tarwin, Outtrim, Dumbalk North and attending, but for the type of people Ripplebrook.

Dumbalk’s George and Annie Gilham with Marie and Gerard Murphy at the Dry Times event.

Host farmer Rod Cope with Murray Goulburn’s Gerard Murphy at the Middle Tarwin Shed Day.

Johan and Erwin Reesink have a cuppa before the Shed Day session starts.

Leongatha’s Ilene Page with host farmer Lyndell Cope.

Chanel and Joe Bowden from Won Wron took young Max out to his first field day at the Macalister Demonstration Farm.

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Weather and dollar impact Aussie farmers Falling global dairy prices and dry conditions will create a challenging climate for dairy farmers this year, according to a report.

Dairy Australia’s Dairy Situation and Outlook February 2016 report has revealed that challenging seasonal conditions, high input costs and the global market will continue to tighten margins for dairy farmers and lead to a reduction in national milk production.

The international market remains a “pretty depressing place to do business,” Dairy Australia analyst John Droppert said.

“This trough in dairy commodity prices has gone on for longer than most people expected,” Mr Droppert said.

Low milk prices had affected the global market most significantly, Mr Droppert said.

While production in the Northern Hemisphere has increased, particularly in Europe, global demand has been on a slowing trend and forced international commodity prices lower, according to the report.

Nonetheless, the Australian market remained in a stable position with a stable domestic market and more favourable exchange rate, Mr Droppert said.

“We have a stable population and it’s small enough that we can seize those export opportunities but it’s big enough that it provides that stable base when we need it.”

Mr Droppert said the expectation for the 2015–16 season of Australian milk 12

APRIL 2016

production was about a one to two per cent drop.

“We’re likely to see international prices stay constrained at least through 2016, probably some relief on the input side of things … but we’re expecting a fairly subdued outlook in terms of milk prices.”

The dry conditions continue to challenge dairyfarmers with the lack of rain leading to a drop in pasture production. “(Farmers) have been dipping into their feed reserves without a really high price to support that sort of activity.”

The report said elevated prices for grain and hay, combined with lower milk prices, had reduced the incentive for farmers to draw on alternative feed sources to maintain or grow production.

“Milk production has really slowed down during spring as dry conditions started to bite. With milder conditions this could recover through autumn but we’re not expecting to see the full recovery this season.”

In some cases, farmers have responded to the challenges by culling more cows from the herd, leading to less production, Mr Droppert said; however, according to the report, high beef values have also been a factor that encouraged culling.

“If the economics don’t stack up, a lot of farmers will make drastic decisions.’’

Long connection to the land

Brendan Cunningham in his dairy.

Cows and the land drives farmer’s labour of love.

Brendan Cunningham walks in the footsteps of his ancestors as he moves about his Nar Nar Goon farm.

The farmer still works the same West Gippsland property that his greatgrandfather Thomas was eking a living from in the early part of the 20th century.

In the 100-plus years that have passed since the Cunningham clan first moved to Nar Nar Goon, the original farm grew in size before almost being lost to the family.

When his father decided to leave the land

in favour of politics, Mr Cunningham managed to keep hold of a section of the farm, before gradually purchasing and leasing back the rest of the Cunningham land.

It’s an achievement that brings him no small amount of satisfaction as he looks over his 343 ha that supports between 400 and 500 cows.

“I enjoy having that link with the past,” he said.

“They were potato growers and dairy

farmers but I gave the potatoes away when I took it over, just because I really like the cows.”

Spend a few minutes watching Mr Cunningham interact with the herd and it’s clear the feeling is mutual.

The animals and their owner have an easy connection that is built on year after year spent in each other’s company.

For Mr Cunningham, life on the farm is a labour of love. >> Continued on page 14 APRIL 2016

13

>> Continued from page 13

“

“I’ve always really loved rearing calves and that side of it. I used to get up and help Dad feed the calves and milk the cows I used to sit around before I went to school, so it all started the kitchen table back then.

“We look after them pretty well. When you while all the biglike the cows, they know it. You look after wigs of industry were them and they look after you. That’s the way I like to do it.” discussing what was While animal husbandry is a passion, going on...

Mr Cunningham is also keen to see the industry innovate its way to a stronger Brendan Cunningham future.

On his own farm, the 53-year-old has been running an automatic cow identification and feeding system in the rotary dairy for in the UDV during a particularly difficult more than 15 years and has also been a period for the industry. keen participant in Landcare programs Later, he became a Federal MP and party that encourage replanting of native room Whip in the Hawke Government. vegetation.

During that time, Mr Cunningham senior While they are all practical initiatives, was on the Rural Policy Formulation looking at the bigger picture of both the Committee that oversaw the Kerin plan farm and the industry is something that for deregulation of the dairy industry in has been ingrained in Mr Cunningham the mid-1980s. since childhood.

In the 1970s, his father Barry was involved “I used to sit around the kitchen table

APRIL 2016

“

14

while all the big-wigs of industry were discussing what was going on. It gave me a real insight into how things were done,” Mr Cunningham said.

“I took the farm over from Dad when he went into Federal Parliament and he was also secretary of the UDV for a while in the 1970s.”

From the tough early times of farming the swamp lands of Nar Nar Goon to the heady heights of decision making in the nation’s capital, the Cunningham name has been linked with dairying for more than a century.

For Mr Cunningham, the chance to work the same land as his forefathers is something he appreciates right down to his bones.

Australia’s Legendairy farmers, of which Mr Cunningham is one, are committed to ensuring a sustainable future for current and future generations; visit www. sustainabledairyoz.com.au for more information.

To read more Legendairy stories, head to www.legendairy.com.au

Matches made online New app makes bull selection easier.

Social media app Tinder allows users to swipe left or right to create matches with other people.

It’s like the dating application Tinder — but for the dairy industry.

A new application (or app) called the Good Bulls App has been released for iOS and Android, which could allow farmers to find bulls more easily to match their breeding priorities.

Tinder is a dating app that was released a couple of years ago, in which the compatibility of matches between people is

based on appearance. You swipe left if you don’t like the appearance of the profile you see, and right if you do.

The Good Bulls App is similar, and allows the user to draw from an expansive database of local and international dairy bulls, according to Dairy Australia. However, farmers can filter the searches to find the right bull for their breeding objectives and, like Tinder, can swipe left or right between

The Good Bulls App allows users to customise their search.

animals until they find the right one.

It also allows bulls to be sorted on Australia’s three breeding indices: balanced performance index, health weighted index and type weighted index.

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The wet weather wasn’t ideal for a field day, but no-one was complaining about the welcome rain.

Planning to succeed GippsDairy’s Karen Romano catches up with Mirboo North farmer Wayne Roberts, and Peter and Tommy Marshman from Mardan.

Couple’s long-term plan gets farm through the tough times.

Focus Farmers Bruce Manintveld much grass as possible,” Mr Manintveld and Fiona Baker have a simple said. philosophy — grow as much grass as they “Urea has been kept going all the way can and minimise imported feed costs. through despite it being very dry. A lot of It’s a theory that has served them well, even people were saying it wasn’t growing, but it in a period as tough as the past 12 months. still was.”

The Mirboo North couple milks 300 cows Speaking at their second Focus Farm field on 148 ha and has persevered with a home- day, Mr Manintveld said he was willing to grown feed strategy, even when other sacrifice herd condition during the drier farmers have given up on their paddocks months in the hope that he could put it for the summer. back on when the autumn break arrived.

“Basically, we’ve been trying to maintain as With rain whipping across the paddocks 16

APRIL 2016

during the field day, the signs were promising that the dry spell could be about to break.

Working on a kilo of live-weight currently giving $2 worth of milk, Mr Manintveld said putting the condition back on using autumn grass was an easy decision.

“If I can put that back on when they are dry or in very late lactation using grass at roughly 40 to 60 cents, then I figure I’m ahead,” he said.

Ms Baker said the couple had not been

Neighbouring farmer Brian Moore at the Focus Farm field day with Hico’s Tim King.

Focus Farmer Fiona Baker takes her new working dog Mozzie on his first field day outing.

“

I weigh everything up, whether it’s personal or lifestyle, and we don’t compromise the lifestyle we have.

“

overly stressed during the spring and summer, relying on their fodder reserves and good cow condition to get them through to the autumn.

“We’ve had the odd shower of rain which has given us a bit of a flush and we were lucky the cows were in good condition to start with, so we used some of that condition to reduce the feed costs,” she said.

“We’ve coped okay because we had that carry-over feed from last year, which made it a lot less stressful, as did having the cows in good condition to start with. That made things a lot easier.”

Focus Farm facilitator Jeff Urie has been impressed with the couple’s ability to adjust to the seasonal conditions while sticking with a long-term farming strategy.

“I think they are an excellent example of sticking to a plan,” Mr Urie said.

“They said ‘we have this limited fodder, we know our system, we know our ratios of price of feed to milk price (and) feeding grain is cheaper than fodder’.

Shane Doherty from Irwin Stockfeeds and Drouin farm manager Stuart Seabrook at the Mirboo North Focus Farm.

Aaron Thomas

“So they have stuck to their basic principles and stuck to their plan and worked within it. So far, so good.”

On current projections, the couple will be down $60 000 on what was budgeted — a great result considering rainfall is almost 60 per cent lower than average since July last year.

“All things considered they have come through pretty well,” Mr Urie said.

“They’ve still got around 80 per cent of

their fodder reserve , which is less than what they wanted, but by holding off and only starting feeding when they dropped to 50 per cent peak, they still have fodder now that will get them right through the autumn.”

GippsDairy projects and events coordinator Karen Romano said the latest round of Focus Farms, which is jointly funded by GippsDairy and Dairy Australia using dairy service levy funds, had been more popular than ever.

“You just have to look around today and see 40 people standing in the cold and rain to know that there is a real appetite for the knowledge that is shared through the Focus Farm program,” she said.

“Bruce and Fiona have a great story to tell as younger farmers who have benefited from the Focus Farm experience, but who have their own farming philosophies that they are happy to share with the rest of the dairy community.’’

APRIL 2016

17

Take action to maximise pasture growth Autumn is the time to assess pasture health after a dry, hot summer.

Dry conditions affected most of Australia’s dairy regions over summer and, with the arrival of autumn, what can farmers do to maximise their pasture growth and business profitability?

Dairy Australia’s Feedbase and animal nutrition program manager Richard Romano shared some expert tips in a recent podcast.

First, farmers should carefully assess their paddocks to determine pasture health. Quick action needs to be taken if pasture has thinned-out.

“A rule of thumb is there should be less than a hand-span width between healthy, active plants, and if there is more than a hand-span between you need to take action to renovate those pastures,” Mr Romano said.

Special care needs to be taken with sacrifice areas if used over the dry summer to ease the pressure on the rest of the pastures.

“Sacrifice areas are most often chosen because they were already a priority for renovating, so take a close look and determine what your program is going to be to sow soon to reap the full benefit of those nutrients,” Mr Romano said.

“Concentrated urine and dung mean sacrifice areas can be high in potassium, so be careful not to use those areas for cows that are springers or calving down.”

From a business and profit perspective, leaving a thinned-out pasture costs farmers more in lost income than the investment needed to renovate. ”If we think about losing 25 per cent of pasture in a thinned-out paddock, where we might have been producing 8 tonnes of pasture, that’s 2 tonnes lost, and buying in 2 tonnes of feed, the costs soon add up,” Mr Romano said.

“Far better to utilise your funds to renovate

and create healthy and productive pasture through autumn and into next spring.”

There is more information on the Dairy Australia website but also talk to your local pasture agronomist who can help with local tips on what to do to reinvigorate your pastures.

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2016 Australian Dairy Conference The 2016 Australian Dairy Conference was held in Shepparton in February, and kicked-off with some evening pre-conference drinks at Queen’s Gardens.

Charles Hope from Rabobank, Maree Searle from Novco Co-operative Ltd and Peter Evans from Rabobank.

Tongala dairy farmer Andrew Tyler, Adrian Kirk from ADF Milking and Anders Christenson from European Dairy Farmers.

Roger Matthews and Todd Charteris from Rabobank, Tom Acocks and Ian Halliday from Dairy Australia and Heather Stacy from Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation.

Hamish McAlpin from Rabobank and Duncan Crawford from Tatura Milk Industries.

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Alexandra Iljadica from Youth Food Movement, Ruth Kydd from Kydd Family Company and Leigh Shearman from Norco, NSW.

Liza Fahey from Dairy Australia, Warrnambool Cheese supplier Michael Hawker, Maddie Campbell from Heywood and Ashlee Hammond from the UDV.

Alastair Hilli and Vin Delahunty from the UDV and Mark and Sam Billing from Craiglands Partnership.

UDV president Adam Jenkins and Simone Tolliffe and Shona McPherson from Australian Dairy Farmers.

Murray Goulburn chairman Philip Tracy, Philippa Flemming from Philmar Dairy Company in Tocumwal and Scott Price from Rabobank.

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Simon Bennett from Tasmania and Azem Jeka from CW Pacific.

To find out more, contact your local Rabobank branch on 1300 30 30 33 or visit www.rabobank.com.au

Wise spending is the key Bega Cheese boss says business investment must start with people.

Day one of the 2016 Australian Dairy Conference started on a philosophical note as Bega Cheese’s executive chairman Barry Irvin encouraged farmers to take stock of the beauty of northern Victoria and consider the opportunities presented by Victoria’s foodbowl as he always has.

Mr Irvin emphasised how spending money and investing correctly was the best way to develop a business into the future.

“The place where that investment must start is with people,” Mr Irvin said.

Provenance was the key to companies differentiating themselves, he said, and dairy companies needed to optimise their value adding opportunities by thinking outside the square.

“In 2000 we had just begun to emerge out of regulation, we had just begun to realise we needed to value-add. We spent a lot of time the next decade in growing and building.”

Mr Irvin highlighted some of Bega’s successes, using the recent example of its partnership with Blackmores.

“That’s how we get along the value chain.

Health and wellbeing is a growing sector.”

Mr Irvin said expanding into a new area did not mean dismissing Bega’s original product.

“Just because I’m moving (the company) from food to health, it doesn’t mean I won’t stay in food —but I want to move into the really high-value market.”

Using the Blackmores example, Mr Irvin Barry Irvin also encouraged the group to invest in its external relationships, especially working together with competitors.

“Share your dreams, make sure people all about creating value. understand what you’re trying to do, even “It’s about the value you create in the people your competitors — they’ll generally try and that will return to you enormously. help you get there.”

“We’ve been able to grow through investment, Mr Irvin focused on Bega’s investment in through courage, through having an evolving the bio-nutrients platform as one of the key but strong strategy.” ways the company had added value to its He reiterated that change did not mean products. forgetting about a business’ history, but He believes the bio-nutrient platform will ultimately it helped a business — and its drive evolution and growth for the company. people — to evolve and introduced more “We’re looking to invest beyond dairy — it’s technical skill into the industry.

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Alexandra Iljadica talked about the Youth Food Movement at the Australian Dairy Conference.

Get them while they’re young Group is expanding food skills and knowledge in young people.

Youth Food Movement founding director In her experience with YFM, Ms Iljadica Alexandra Iljadica is changing the way young said young people were more open to change. people think about food.

“Yes we’re opinionated but we’ll listen At the Australian Dairy Conference, Ms to someone else, when we want to be Iljadica said the Youth Food Movement was challenged. aimed at building the skills, knowledge and experience that young people, between the “I don’t know if you’ve ever had to change ages of 18 and 35, have around food. behaviours in your life, it’s damn hard.”

The Youth Food Movement operates in She said YFM attempted to form behaviours Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Tasmania that would stick for the rest of people’s lives. to build a healthy and secure food future for “I’m only one person and I can only do so all Australians. much. But if we talk to each other we can have a support group.”

Ms Iljadica said Generation Y tended to waste a lot of food — when they go out, they Ms Iljadica said as part of YFM, an event over-order; when they’re at home, they make called Meet the Maker was a great way to too much or just change their minds and talk about agriculture in Australia. It was an throw out food. event that invited food producers to share their stories and provide background on the “We have this incredible level of hope that industries. things can be different, and we want others She said the event connected people with to be a part of that, too,” she said.

others who are just like each other.

“If we don’t go, and we don’t ask questions — we’ll never know.

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Keeping it in

the family

Transition of the fam between generations is not without its challenges.

Like many dairy families, the Leppins are facing the difficult decisions that come with generational transition.

Toby, who has worked on their Bena farm for 37 years, is looking forward to a reduced role. Son Nick, who has returned to the farm after doing a trade apprenticeship in the La Trobe Valley, is ready to step up and run the farm by himself.

Making that transition work has required professional guidance and willingness between Toby, his wife Lyn, and Nick to make things work.

The usual tensions of father-son dynamics are at play, but dig a little deeper and there seems to be a respect between Toby and Nick and a desire to make the transition as beneficial as possible for all parties involved.

Nick is currently in a partnership with his parents, but that is expected to change this year when a sharefarming arrangement comes into place.

24

APRIL 2016

When that happens, Toby can step back from being a decision maker around the farm and let Nick take the reins.

“You have to give people responsibility for their own destiny,” Toby said.

“There’s things he still has to learn, but I don’t plan just to disappear.

“If I think I see things that I think are going awry I’ll step in — I’m not going to sit there and watch it all go pear-shaped.

“But he’s got enough skills now that if I went away for a month or more nothing bad is going to happen.”

The family has engaged consultants and financial advisers in ensuring the process is as smooth as possible, while Toby is currently doing a unit in succession planning in his advanced diploma studies.

While Toby said he was pleased that Nick would become the third generation to run the Bena farm, he could not help but agree with his son’s assessment that “he doesn’t

have a sentimental bone in his body”.

“I’m pretty financially driven,” Toby said.

“I’m more concerned with how my retirement is going to go and that I will be rewarded for having worked hard for 37 years.

“Having said that, the option of staying here and working for the rest of my life is more appealing than selling up. That’s healthier and better than just selling up and moving into town.”

For Nick, coming home to work with his father has had its ups and downs, but he said the problems with working with family members were outweighed by the benefits.

“Working with family can be a double-edged sword. Sometimes it’s the greatest thing because you have that flexibility but you also don’t leave anything behind when you have an argument,” he said.

“Saying that, it probably runs more smoothly here than we actually give it credit for.’’

Nick and Toby Leppin with their Aussie Red herd.

Farming Aussie style Dairy farmers don’t go looking for a pat on the back, but it’s still nice to get one occasionally.

Nick Leppin is ready to step up his responsibilities on the farm.

The Leppin family of Bena has been recognised for the quality of its dairy operation, being named Weekly Times Dairy Farmers of the Year.

Still a little unsure of who nominated them or why, Toby and Lyn and son Nick are nonetheless honoured to have been awarded the title.

“It was nice to get the award,” Nick said.

“I think it stemmed from having pretty good per-hectare production last year.

“Not so much per cow, even though per cow they’re up there, but per hectare, we are right up there.

“We stock heavily and have pretty good pasture consumption and when it rains heavily we grow a lot of grass.”

The family farm runs about 400 Australian Reds on 420 ha, with a milking area of 140 ha. Last year they produced 1564 kg of milk solids per hectare on the milking area.

It’s an operation based on making the most of everything they have — whether that’s getting maximum milk solids from the herd or growing as much grass as their land can manage.

Their herd of stocky Aussie Reds

stand out in a region where black and white cows dominate and the rest are made up of Jerseys.

Toby’s father Fred, a former architect who left the city to run a hardware store in Poowong before buying the present farm in the late 1970s, wanted to create a herd that could produce good milk solids and maintain its genetic diversity.

The end result is today’s impressive mob of Aussies.

“He (Fred) had the foresight to know that one day you were going to get paid for the components and not for litres,” Nick said.

“So he started looking around for a breed that was more efficient with more solids.”

The Leppins like the easy-going nature of the breed and their innate ability to look after their own condition.

“They’re really robust and look after themselves,” Toby said.

“If you don’t feed them in the springtime, unlike a Friesian they won’t just start milking off their back.

“They will get to a certain weight or condition store and they will just stop and say, ‘That’s it. If you want me to get in calf in six weeks’ time, I’m not giving you anything off my back’.”

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Leah’s on the job for dairy GippsDairy’s new dairy workforce co-ordinator Leah Maslen knows first-hand how valuable her job can be. give us a call, have a chat and we can steer During almost 20 years as a Westbury dairy farmer, Leah Maslen sometimes struggled them in the right direction.”

Leah Maslen to navigate her way through the farm With labour becoming an ever-increasing employment maze. issue for the dairy industry, Ms Maslen through all the stages of farm management In hindsight, having a specialist dairy believes that farmers who are aware of their and ownership, so Leah will add a depth of workforce co-ordinator would have made her responsibilities and obligations as employers knowledge to this role that I’m sure will be farm employment processes far less timewill reap the benefits in the longer term. reflected in what she achieves.” consuming and stressful.

“It’s about doing the right thing by yourself “It would have been a godsend, really,” she said. and by employees and being seen as someone Mr Cameron believes the dairy workplace co-ordinator role is crucial to the that people want to work for — that you are “You are often strapped for time in your development of the industry in Gippsland. seen as an employer of choice,” she said. business and it’s hard to put aside that space “We all recognise that labour has been to look for all the relevant information.

GippsDairy regional manager Allan Cameron something of an Achilles heel for the said having someone with Ms Maslen’s breadth “You are usually only employing one or two industry over many years and is something of experience in the dairy workforce copeople, but there is so much information that GippsDairy is committed to improving,” ordinator role was great news for Gippsland. you need to find to ensure that you’re he said. meeting all the requirements.”

He said her off-farm work in social welfare“Finding and keeping quality employees is Ms Maslen believes that her dairy experience, based programs and in delivering farmer vital for farmers who are looking to expand health initiatives like the Pit Stop men’s including sharefarming, leasing and hiring their businesses, run them more efficiently preventative health program had given Ms employees for a 400-cow farm, will help and develop a better work/life balance.

Maslen a broad perspective of the industry her assist farmers in developing up-to-date and the people who worked in it.

“Having someone of Leah’s background in this employment practices. role is a huge win for the industry and I would “It’s getting the message out there that there’s “You only need to talk to Leah for five encourage anyone with questions about farm minutes to understand that she not only great information and tools available to get employment to get in touch with her.” understands the dairy industry, but has a things started,” she said. genuine passion for it,” he said.

Ms Maslen can be contacted at GippsDairy “It’s about letting farmers know that they on 56243900. have a single point of contact where they can “She and her husband Gary have been

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Moving forward with change Murray Goulburn says it is meeting the challenges of a volatile dairy industry.

Dairy companies are constantly challenged as the industry changes and businesses should seek ways to capture the maximum value of opportunities to manage any volatility created by these changes.

That was the view of Murray Goulburn chairman Philip Tracy at the 2016 Australian Dairy Conference when he addressed the company’s strategic shift towards readyto-consume dairy foods and value-added dairy products.

Mr Tracy outlined Murray Goulburn’s vision to build a “first choice dairy foods company” for farmers, consumers and customers and said he believed there were opportunities everywhere in dairy and that change was inevitable.

“We have to be quite innovative to capture that challenge and that value,” Mr Tracy said.

He said the challenge for Murray Goulburn was to extract maximum value from opportunities, which for Murray Goulburn come from South-East Asia, China, India and Indonesia.

“One of the advantages (in Australia), is the quality and safety of our food (production).”

In order to capture that value and benefit from Australia’s

provenance, Murray Goulburn needed to focus on value adding right across the supply chain, Mr Tracy said.

“We need to focus on innovating and differentiating to meet the specifics of our customer that we are trying to appeal to — whether they are domestic or international.”

Mr Tracy emphasised how the bulk commodity market was an important way of securing incremental gains on farm gate returns, and Murray Goulburn needed to insulate itself from challenges of volatility in this market, which prompted the transition to higher value consumer goods.

“We needed to invest to move along the pathway of where we saw significant value.

“Not only did (the investment) improve Murray Goulburn’s balance sheet, it improved the balance sheet of farmers through giving them recognised value for their shares.”

The company has made significant investments into cheese, nutritional powders and dairy beverages.

Mr Tracy emphasised the importance of remaining flexible and efficient in a changing market.

“In order to extract full value for the farmers, we must be at the world’s best.”

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Financial literacy for dairy women THERE’S often a gender imbalance when it comes to balancing the books on dairy farms.

With the task of managing the accounts so often falling to women, GippsDairy is once again running its popular Financial Literacy for Dairy Farmers program.

The concept behind the financial literacy program is to create a supportive and learning environment in which women who manage the books on dairy farms can network and improve their skills.

GippsDairy director Lauren Finger knows as well as anyone that taking on the farm accounts can be a daunting task.

Lauren, who has no formal training in accounting or book-keeping, said the program had greatly improved her skills and confidence in keeping track of finances on her Yannathan dairy farm.

“I probably knew a fair bit through being selftaught and attending a couple of tax officer seminars, but one of the beautiful things about the course was networking with other women in the same situation and also filling in the gaps in my knowledge,” she said.

Lauren said the atmosphere of the 2012 financial literacy program that she completed had encouraged confidence among participants.

“It creates a very open environment and a

A previous Financial Literacy Program being run by Tahlia Sinnott. network of support with women who are all in the same situation,” she said.

“It’s that network and supporting environment where people feel like they can open up.”

With the 2016 round of courses on the way, Lauren encouraged other women who feel they could improve their financial literacy to not only sign-on, but to ensure that they get the most out of the program.

“One of the biggest things I got out of it was to make it work for me,” she said.

“Take along your chart of accounts to ensure you’re getting the information out of your accounts that you need to manage your business.

“Just grab the opportunity. We are lucky in

this industry that these opportunities are provided.”

The initial five-day program will be held over five weeks, with a further four one-day sessions to be held on later dates.

The first five days of the South Gippsland program will be held on consecutive Tuesdays from May 3 to May 31, while the first five days of the West Gippsland course will be held on consecutive Wednesdays from May 4 to June 1. Each session will run from 9.45 am to 3 pm.

Venues will be announced at a later date.

To reserve your place please contact GippsDairy on 5624 3900 or executiveassistant@gippsdairy.com.au

Churn Milk Into Money

Feeding Pastures for Profit

GippsDairy, Dairy Australia and the Young Dairy Network present Churn Milk Into Money — a workshop designed to provide development opportunities for enthusiastic dairy people.

Feeding Pastures for Profit (FPFP) develops dairy farmer’s skills and decision making in growing and optimising pasture consumption.

Topics include: • Making money in dairying • Managing money; cash, tax, GST business structure • Balancing financial and physical risk • Increasing operational profit and asset growth • Career options: employee, share-farming, leasing or ownership • Planning to end up where you want to • Succession planning • Informed decision making • Staying healthy on the farm Churn Milk Into Money will be held at Traralgon on April 27–28.

The program, which will be delivered by John Mulvany, costs only $75 per person as it is funded by GippsDairy.

All meals and accommodation are included with places limited to 20 people To reserve your place please contact GippsDairy 5624 3900 or executiveassistant@gippsdairy.com.au

This programs covers: • Allocating the right amount to the herd each day • How should I balance home-grown pasture with supplements • Profitable use of pastures and crops in a rotation • Using the Rotation Right tool This is a 12-month program, consisting of two theory days, five on-farm group days and a one-on-one support day with the facilitator.

Register at GippsDairy: 5624 3900 executiveassistant@gippsdairy.com.au For more contact GippsDairy on 5624 3900 | executiveassistant@ gippsdairy.com.au | gippsdairy.com.au Locations: • Macalister Irrigation District April 14 and 21 with Tom Farran (Farmanco) • Labertouche/Jindivick April 11 and 18 with Janet Sloan (Rural Consulting Group) Cost: $250 — for participants with no higher qualification than a Diploma $350 — participants with an Adv. Diploma or greater.

For more information please call GippsDairy on (03) 5624 3900 or visit www.gippsdairy.com.au

Mystery illness may kill calves Authorities are investigating nine properties where the disease has struck.

A common symptom has been ulcers in the mouths of the calves.

Victoria’s dairy calves are being hit by a mystery illness which authorities have not yet been able to identify.

State animal health staff are looking into nine properties across Victoria’s three main dairy areas, which have reported the illness over the past two years.

Death has occurred in one in 10 cases and affected calves have proven resistant to treatments, including antibiotics.

In most cases the calves have suffered from ulcers in the mouth and throat.

Chief veterinary officer Charles Milne said serious emergency diseases, including foot and mouth disease, had been ruled out.

Other symptoms include weight loss, diarrhoea and death. Ulcers in the mouth and throat region are frequently observed with inflammation of the gut in weaned calves, up to eight months old.

“Almost all of the affected calves are dairy breeds with mortality rates up to 10 per cent,” Dr Milne said.

“Affected animals lose weight and scour. They do not improve with worm or coccidiosis treatments and are only occasionally improved with antibiotics.

“In seven of the herds closely investigated to date, some affected calves displayed small mouth and/or nasal ulcers.

“On post-mortem, severe acute ulceration in the oesophagus with secondary bacterial infection are the most prominent features.

Inflammation of the gut is seen in some affected calves.

“We want farmers who think their calves may be affected to discuss the situation with their vet.”

While the discovery might be bad news, Dr Milne said it indicated that surveillance systems were working.

He said laboratory staff were now working to

determine what the cause was.

The reason it was discovered in dairy cattle may be simply because dairy calves were more closely monitored than beef herds, he said.

They may submit samples to the laboratory for testing and there may be government subsidies available to assist with the costs of investigation.

Dr Milne suggested any farmers who were suspicious about any illness could check inside the mouths of the calves for ulceration, although some of the ulcers may only be detected in a post-mortem.

Farmers should notify their vet if they have suspicions about illness or deaths, or may contact DEDJTR directly.

There will be no cost to farmers for this follow-up investigation and testing.

PastureMasta This Autumn Bring Your Pasture To Life!

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Superior Pasture Quality & Palatability Rapid Recover After Grazing Boosts Soil Biological Activity Improves Soil Moisture Retention

PastureMasta is available from all good rural stores in 20, 200, and 1000 litre sizes

Craig Turner Mob: 0407 535303 E: craigturner@seasol.com.au www.seasol.com.au 30

APRIL 2016

Save time and labour Upgrade your dairy with the experts at Mark Angel Engineering with over 36 years of experience Pneumatic Entry and Exit Gates for Herringbone Dairies These newly designed gates have been refined for two years.

The heavy duty, one-piece gate is made to last with a 50 mm pneumatic ram and 20 mm shaft.

With the increase in herd sizes these gates can be mounted higher in the bale for clearance of large cows and milking operators.

Entry and exit gates can be operated through a solenoid control box with a red cord for exit and a blue cord for entry right through the full length of the pit.

Other options are a hand lever for gate controls.

If you have existing entry and exit pendulum gates they can be upgraded with our air-ram kits. This includes a heavy duty 50 mm pneumatic ram with a 20 mm shaft. Either a solenoid control box with a cord or hand lever operation an air compressor is required.

These kits can be supplied and installed. >> Brad and Michelle Seabrook Dairy, Rochester Entry Gate

New

Automatic Feed Systems for Herringbone and Rotary Dairies HERRINGBONE

These feeds systems are fully automatic with 65 mm PVC pipe supply filling 225 mm PVC hoppers.

Discharge is a 50 mm PVC which runs through the bottom of the hoppers. Push-button controls with timers for complete control in the bale. Direct geared motors drive this system. There are no belts or bearings making it maintenance free.

ROTARY FEED HEADS

We have Rotary feed heads in stock with either 65 mm PVC or 100 mm galvanized auger delivery pipes. The main control box with timer and sensor for bale activation, transformer box for clutch are all supplied and requires hard-wiring by your electrician.

Roger Towers Dairy, Beech Forest

Mark Angel

ENGINEERING BARMAH ENGINEERING Murray Street, Barmah, Vic. 3639 M: 0427 843 137 E: m.angel5@bigpond.com

MARK ANGEL ENGINEERING 28 Wilson Street, Colac, Vic. 3250 Ph: 5231 4014 M: 0427 843 137 E: m.angel5@bigpond.com

Pasture: to re-sow or not With an extended dry summer, some perennial pastures may be looking a little worse for wear.

With autumn rains possibly just around the corner, now is a good time to consider the condition of perennial pastures.

In areas that have had some summer rain, assessments can be done now as some green pick on the perennial grass plants should be able to be seen, indicating they are still alive.

In areas yet to have rain, wait until a week after rain to begin the assessment.

So, how do you assess whether a pasture needs to be re-sown or whether it has the potential to thicken up and tiller out when the break comes? Assessing the composition of the perennial pasture for the proportion of perennial grasses is probably the best method.

If desirable perennial grass species are above 70 per cent, then the pasture is still productive. If the desirable perennial grass species are below 50 per cent, re-seeding will increase yields, feed value on offer to stock and the response that pasture will have to applications of nitrogen.

Choosing not to re-seed, once perennial grass levels have decreased to these levels, increases the risk of weed invasion from

broadleaf weeds and annual grasses such as barley grass, silver grass and winter grass.

All these are lower in feed value and will result in lower than expected animal performance.

When assessing perennial pastures early in the season before the break has arrived, a significant amount of bare ground may be encountered. If this bare ground is 30 per cent, or lower, this will not impact significantly on pasture production across the year.

Clover will germinate and fill some of the bare ground areas, but weed control may be needed to control capeweed growth early in the season (generally about six weeks after the break).

There’s a variety of methods of assessing the composition of a pasture: Prograze stick method, transect method, motorbike method, quadrant method and Blundstone boot method.

They all follow similar principles of observing what is growing (if anything) at the assessment point.

Details and record sheets can be found on

the More Beef from Pastures website at: http://mbfp.mla.com.au/Pasturegrowth/ Tool-27-Field-based-pasture-measurements Re-sowing does not always mean a total renovation of the pasture.

If there is still a reasonable amount of desirable species present, but it needs to be thickened up, direct drilling into the existing pasture is generally the best method.

Just be sure to graze out the pasture hard first and spray out any broadleaf weeds prior to drilling, to minimise competition for the new emerging pasture.

And finally, it is a good idea to apply a small amount of phosphorus-based fertiliser to ensure the new emerging pasture can readily access phosphorus from the soil.

Phosphorus is important for healthy, strong root formation and giving the pasture a good kick-start to life. Rates of 10–20 kg/ha of phosphorus will be adequate (114–227 kg super/ha).

The phosphorus can either be drilled in with the seed (best response) or broadcast at the time of sowing.

— Fiona Baker, DEDJTR Ellinbank

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You always want to do your best for them. They’re like family.

She says we’re Cool. That means we’ll be like family. snorkling on the Barrier Reef this Christmas.

The MaxCare range of milk replacers has been created to deliver maximum growth, nutrition and health support for calves like Kim and Khloé in the all-important first few weeks.

Choose from Essential, Premium and Ultimate for different levels of performance depending on the particular needs of your animals. Available now. To learn more visit our website or call 0439 773 145. maxumanimal.com.au

Come and see us at Farmworld on the BrownWigg stand: Site C10 and 11!

Frank with daughter Claire on the Yarragon trial farm.

Grass is greener in Yarragon Seed business is growing with purchase of farmland.

Watching the grass grow will be more than exciting at Frank Templeton’s new farm.

Mr Templeton, who owns Graham’s Seeds with his wife Marianne, has recently purchased a run-down dairy farm to use as a testing ground for feed varieties.

It’s a bold experiment by the former Nar Nar Goon dairy farmer, who is determined to make the farm a working laboratory for seed varieties, while still making a dollar from milking cows.

“It’s a commercial decision to buy it, so we 34

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had to buy the right property to do the job,” he said.

“About 18 months ago I tried to get into DEPI at Ellinbank to do a trial, but there was no way it was going to happen.

“Then I was lucky enough that a little dairy farm came onto the market a couple of kilometres up the road. We decided to buy that and we’ve hired agronomists for the research side of it.”

With a manager ensconced in the house, the 75 ha property just out of Yarragon

is already on its way to becoming a fully functional dairy farm.

But it’s the grass rather than the milk that will be the main attraction on this farm.

Mr Templeton plans to subdivide the property down to 1.5 ha lots, where he will carefully evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of different pasture varieties under the pressure of a 210-strong crossbreed herd.

“This year it will be all annuals, and in the summer they will be all out and there will

be different types of summer crops,” he said.

“They will all be measured and surveyed — the whole thing. Then it will go into different perennials which will all be measured and recorded all the way through.”

Like other seed companies, Graham’s Seeds has been trialling varieties on private farms in exchange for free or discount seed.

The problem with that system is the lack of scientific rigour from the farmers involved.

“It’s very hard to manage, measure and record accurately,” Mr Templeton said.

“If something falls over or goes to head too early, or it’s supposed to be a perennial that’s gone in three years, then we ask, why?

“If the endophyte varieties stay there because they have fought off black beetle or mealy bug — then that is the way we’ll be heading.”

Having run his own farm for more than 16 years after growing up on the family dairy property, Mr Templeton became convinced that the seed game had just as bright a future as milking cows.

He has always believed that Gippsland dairy farming will be a pasture-based industry — and he’s been proved right season after season.

Frank Templeton knows the seed game inside out.

“I had no problem buying the business, because I could always see that it was going to be an industry where grass is related to milk price,” he said.

“The more grass you could grow the better off you are. You see people go of onto different tangents but they always seem to come back to it.”

The business, which was started by Harry Graham in Kooweerup in the mid-1960s, was bought by Mr Templeton in the early 2000s and moved to Yarragon four years ago.

In that time, he has seen impressive developments in pasture varieties, giving farmers more bang for their buck than they have ever had.

“Fifteen years ago you would see every farmer running around on a tractor topping their paddocks to try and keep the quality longer into the season,” he said.

“You don’t see that today. All those new varieties just do it naturally. It’s in the breeding.”

With pasture such a key part to Gippsland dairying, the Yarragon businessman believes putting too much commercial power into the hands of too few companies is an unhealthy trend.

“There’s very few privately owned seed “Initially it’s a great idea, because you give companies and that is a bit of a pity for the them a couple of bags of seed for a paddock, dairy farmers,” he said. but when they get busy they can take their “We are totally independent. We buy off any eye off the ball a little bit and you miss the company. We source all our seed ourselves. measurement because they put the cows in That is our strength. the day before or something like that.”

“The worst thing that happens in the seed Mr Templeton, who travels to New industry is that seed is seen as a commodity Zealand almost every year to check out to be sold every autumn by every rural outlet, new pasture varieties, said the ability to and they don’t know what they are selling. accurately test under Gippsland conditions It’s more than a commodity — it’s your next was expected to improve the growth five or seven years of production. outcomes for Gippsland farmers.

“Some get sold product and they don’t know “The best way to test is to put them under what it is. It needs to be a partnership for the pressure all the time,” he said. whole season.’’

APRIL 2016

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• Bay outlets (aluminium or rubber flap) • Pipe and pipe ends • Headwalls • Drop boxes • Channel Checks • Water troughs • Built for long life with a variety of reinforcing methods • Delivery to site and directly onto final location wherever possible

For details phone (03) 5888 3051 milcast@murrayirrigation.com.au Murray Hut Drive, Finley

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APRIL 2016

Surviving global dairy challenges Fonterra is turning market problems into production opportunities.

Dealing in international business can be a complicated venture but for the world’s biggest dairy exporter Fonterra, these challenges need to be seen as opportunities.

Fonterra Australia’s commercial director Abhy Maharaj talked about the challenges with commodity prices and how global events can affect export value at the 2016 Australian Dairy Conference.

He also emphasised how Europe was emerging as a strong competitor in the dairy export sector.

“There has been a significant increase out of Europe in terms of milk volume additional into the global market,” Mr Maharaj said.

He discussed China being a significant growth market for Australia and New Zealand.

Fonterra sells to around 140 countries with about 20 per cent of product going to China, 20 per cent to South-East Asia, 20 per cent to middle-east Africa, 20 per cent to Latin America and the rest to other parts of the world.

Mr Maharaj said milk prices, like other commodities, had crashed and while China had always been a strong market, its economy had softened.

Fortunately, China had returned

as a major player, he said.

“We are seeing Chinese buyers back at the 50 per cent mark.”

Like Bega Cheese’s Barry Irvin and Murray Goulburn’s Philip Tracy, Mr Maharaj highlighted the importance of investment and expanding into other areas, such as the food service business and more boutique products.

“We supply McDonald’s, Subway, Pizza Hut and KFC — according to our estimates, 50 per cent of our cheese is currently used on pizzas in China.

“Food service used to be boutique for us and it’s now closing in on a $2 billion business.

“We need to keep growing both so we can extract the high value of our boutique categories, we reinvest and keep growing that, then we create boutique into bulk food service.

“If we don’t invest in our business, ultimately, from a farmer perspective, that’s a risk for you because we’re not growing with you.”

Mr Maharaj concluded by answering the question of whether it was better to invest in boutique or bulk saying they were complementary and the dairy sector needed to grow both products to add value.

“We see ‘bulk’ as the bread and butter but ‘boutique’ is the cream on top.’’

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All waste is not created equal

A dairy farm sludge trap.

New tool calculates the nutrients contained in dairy effluent and sludge.

Dairy Australia has released a new calculator out how much to put on,” Mr Birchall said. that aims to help farmers make better use “The question is critical if it is pond sludge of the nutrients contained in dairy effluent that is being spread, as the contractor’s cost and sludge — and save money in the process. is partly dependent on the application rate, and more importantly, the distance to the The ‘Nutrients from Effluent and Sludge paddock that you’ve chosen for re-use.

Calculator’ assists dairy farmers to determine a suitable application rate for “The temptation to apply heavy rates of effluent as well as the value of the nitrogen, sludge in paddocks close to the pond is phosphorus and potassium that is applied understandable but if you can match the during re-use. amount of nutrient available to what the soil or crop needs and then substitute for Users can also calculate a value for their purchased fertiliser, de-sludging becomes a effluent or sludge based on equivalent cost-effective part of the fertility program fertiliser prices. rather than just another cost.”

Dairy Australia land, water and carbon Kerang-based agronomist Matt Page has consultant Scott Birchall said farmers were been using the calculator while preparing often told to sample their effluent and to then get a lab to analyse the amount of N, P Fert$mart nutrient management plans for his clients. and K it contains.

“The calculator was developed to answer the “Knowing how much nutrient is in the effluent or sludge is an important part of usual question that followed about working

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fertiliser planning. The calculator helps me to target the areas of the farm that need the nutrients and also understand when too much effluent on a paddock may be detrimental,” Mr Page said.

Early autumn is typically a time of maintenance around effluent ponds in southern dairy regions.

Drawing down the effluent storage pond to its minimum level going into the autumn break and also removing sludge that has accumulated in the primary pond are key maintenance requirements to support a functional effluent pond system.

The ‘Nutrients from Effluent and Sludge Calculator’ is available for free download from Dairy Australia’s Dairying for Tomorrow website at www.dairyingfortomorrow.com.au

calendar of events Please contact GippsDairy for updates. Phone: 5624 3900.

Email: executiveassistant@gippsdairy.com.au Feeding pastures for profit

Cups on-Cups off

Labertouche and MID April 11 and 14 GippsDairy/NCDE

Maffra April 18 and 19 Leongatha May 3 and 10 Warragul May 6 and 13 NCDE

Farm World field days

Lardner Park April 7 to 10.

Churn Milk into Money (Profit drivers of dairying)

Looking over the farm gate (Social and emotional wellbeing workshop)

Traralgon April 27 and 28 GippsDairy

Warragul April 11 Leongatha April 12 UDV/GippsDairy

Financial Literacy Program

South Gippsland May 3, 10, 17, 24, 31 West Gippsland May 4, 11, 18, 25 and June 1.

GippsDairy

Tactics for Dry Times shed day Hedley

April 13 GippsDairy

Contact NCDE, Tony Seymour, 0429 000 301

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