Dairy Direct Murray Ooctober 2016

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PUBLICATION

MURRAY Issue 26, October 2016

Dairy in turmoil Coming into the industry Selling the cows

contents

Farmers trampled at the bottom of food the chain ��������������������������������������������������������� 4

Conditions improve for farmers

Forward planning a must ������������������������������������������ 5 Funds raised to support farmers ������������������������������ 6 Support package to be reviewed ������������������������������� 7 Directors decided �������������������������������������������������������� 7 The elixir of life ����������������������������������������������������������� 8 Three stand for election �������������������������������������������� 8 Production forecast to fall ��������������������������������������� 10

What a contrast we are experiencing to this time last year, with significant rainfall throughout winter leading into spring.

Good pastures are thing of the past ����������������������� 12 Bucking the trend ����������������������������������������������������� 14 Difficult choice made ����������������������������������������������� 16

a promising harvest, we should The conditions have led to ideal pasture-growing conditions, giving reduce this by a significant margin. us the opportunity to maximise Farm budgets — financial, water production of home-grown fodder. and feed — should be continually The challenge for us is to utilise this upgraded to reflect the changing extra feed, either by direct grazing nature of the conditions we face. or by conservation.

Murray Dairy is still offering Overcoming this challenge is the the Taking Stock program to all key to lowering our overall input farmers. This involves a one-oncosts. one consultation and support to If you look at the average dairy develop a plan of action. Please ring business, feed costs range from 40 the office if you wish to book in for to 70 per cent of total costs, so one of these. any savings here can make a huge The Murray Dairy Business Forum difference to your bottom line, will celebrate 20 years of Murray especially in a year like this when Dairy on October 20 at the we all are experiencing low milk Barooga Golf Club. prices.

The strong line-up of guest speakers This is our best opportunity to have been billed to highlight the manage the low milk price impact past, but also to focus on forging on our businesses. We must make a way ahead for dairying in the the most of it and farm smarter, not future.

Contact Murray Dairy for harder. more.

Cost of production per kilogram of milk solids is a very liberal term. It’s For now, remember to look after your family, your neighbour and easy to say but at times not so easy your friends. You are not alone. to calculate. The figure quoted as Seek support and seek advice. an average last season was $5.60/kg milk solids. But with the favourable –Rick Cross season, filling water storages and Murray Dairy chairman

Swapping from milk to meat ���������������������������������� 18 Pushed into change �������������������������������������������������� 20 Downsized but happier �������������������������������������������� 22 Better AI with Scandinavian technique ����������������� 24 Students join breakfast club ����������������������������������� 25 Farmers have their voices heard ���������������������������� 26 Master Breeders recognised ������������������������������������ 26 Industry diversity experienced ������������������������������� 27 Gaining grain relief ��������������������������������������������������� 28 Find your way in maize ������������������������������������������� 30 Holistic approach embraced ����������������������������������� 32 Rain helps grain and livestock outlook ����������������� 32 Shedding light on dairy careers ������������������������������ 34 Plenty of interest for camp �������������������������������������� 36 Have the info before you plant ������������������������������� 38 Top cow at Lockington ��������������������������������������������� 39 Farmers taste organic opportunity ������������������������ 40 Looking for opportunities in adversity ������������������ 42 Returns fall for dairy last year �������������������������������� 42 Dookie Dairy Report ������������������������������������������������� 44 Direct Dates October and November 2016 ������������ 46

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Editor Geoff Adams editor@countrynews.com.au Writers Geoff Adams, Emma Carinci, Sophie Baldwin, Rod Wood Graphic design Nathan Cook, Brendan Cain, Alysha Bathman, Bella Considine Cover: Farmers entering and exiting the industry reflect the current turmoil.

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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Doing Dairy

with SOPHIE BALDWIN

Farmers trampled at the bottom of food the chain Processors and supermarkets should accept the blame for the current dairy crisis.

Sometimes I am left shaking my head. I know I am not the smartest person in the world, nor do I have the answers to fix the problems in the dairy industry, but surely the Farmers Fund milk, launched by VFF and Coles, is not the answer the industry is looking for.

Coles is selling the Farmers Fund milk with 40¢ going toward a fund, which famers can then access via a grant application for up to $20 000.

Should farmers essentially have to beg for money?

Aren’t you all busy enough running your farms and trying to make a dollar? Who has time to fill in another grant application (and like most applications, I am sure it will not be simple)?

Add to that I am sure the applications will fill up very quickly.

Processors and greedy supermarkets should be shouldering a large part of the blame for the dairy crisis instead of trying to be part of the solution. After all, they only have pleasing their shareholders and making a huge profit at the core of every business decision they make. They don’t seem to mind who they trample on to make a dollar.

Surely a sustainable future should be something the industry is striving for, perhaps a floor in the price of milk is necessary or something along the lines of Farmer Power’s 50¢ levy which will guarantee an extra 10–12¢ a litre to the milk price. Why isn’t the VFF putting its support behind something like this?

Despite the tough times there are still people out there who believe in the industry, and I did a wonderful story on the Browns from Ballendella who have just bought their own farm. They are living their dream and couldn’t be happier.

While all the rain is still making things difficult for day-to-day management, at least things are looking a little more positive when it comes to the irrigation side of things, considering noone has even turned on their pump yet.

I heard of one farmer who recently cut a large amount of silage; this time last year he used 500 Ml of water to cut the same area. It’s wins like this that really help in such a tight year.

I have also written some sad stories as the aftermath of the milk price and claw-back impact the industry. The Johnston family from Deniliquin has sold its herd and is now looking at alternatives; while Karina and Brendan Glass, young Murray Goulburn suppliers who were having a crack and milking 500 cows, have also sold their herd.

People like the Glasses are the future of the industry; it is so sad to see things go wrong. I am starting to hear a few rumblings that the milk price might be on the way up, so hopefully this year will not be as bad as first budgeted.

I hope you are all continuing to look after yourselves and checking up regularly on family and friends. A chat, a cuppa or a beer can go a long way and it’s the simple little things that can make a difference in someone’s life. Happy spring!

dairy news

Forward planning a must Farming families are not adequately prepared for the future with succession planning failing to be undertaken by a large majority.

A new report, Australian Farming Families: “We have been using a rural finance counsellor to provide other opinions.

Succession and Inheritance, and a research Initially the financial counsellor helped us collaboration between business advisery mediate.” firm Chapman Eastway and Charles Sturt University has found lack of preparation The report found that succession planning is leaving farmers with limited options was challenged when more of the younger in retirement and when transferring the generation pursued different professional ownership and control of their farm business. directions and returned to the land a little later in life, which is something Mr Fletcher About 350 Australian farming families did. contributed to the report, with only 54 per cent possessing a formal succession plan.

Cohuna area dairy farmer Leigh Fletcher has been working on his parents’ farm with his young family and is in the early stages of It needs to be sustainable succession planning with his parents. to provide my kids with “We’re not sure how we are going to achieve it but we are in discussion about it,” Mr the opportunity.

Fletcher said.

Leigh Fletcher Being in the early stages of the dairy business and working to build equity, Mr Fletcher said planning was difficult because his risk Key factors addressed in the report included profile was vastly different to that of his inter-generational change in attitudes parents. towards family business ownership as well “My parents’ profile is low risk and mine is as implications of an ageing agricultural higher risk,” he said. workforce.

“It’s a challenge trying to meet those two While he acknowledged that dairy farming goals — we are trying to come out with some was not an enticing choice for many young good outcomes for myself and my parents.” people, Mr Fletcher hoped technological advancements which made the work much Mr Fletcher agreed with the report’s easier would help sustain the industry. recommendations that since succession planning was complex, farming families Mr Fletcher’s children were only young, should employ the assistance of professional however, he suspected a succession plan would be needed for his middle child Oscar. services.

“

”

The report identifies a number of tips for farming families when it comes to succession planning: Be proactive and start conversations early, involve all family members in discussions and planning, and have regular family meetings Run your business like a business, for example, house your business in a formal legal entity, with formal financial reporting and decision-making Write it down; draw up a family charter clarifying the terms of involvement for all parties and consider a legal partnership or operating agreement Assemble a strong team of advisers and seek advice in areas where there is a lack of expertise Adopt a mentality of stewardship to ensure your family views the business as something to be protected and maintained for future generations instead of something to be divided up.

“He shows a lot of interest — he’s always with me and playing with toy tractors in the backyard.

“Part of my focus will not only be on the next five years of my succession, but also having succession in mind for the younger generation and what it’s going to be like in 20 years’ time.

“It needs to be sustainable to provide my kids with the opportunity.”

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OCTOBER 2016

5

dairy news Funds raised to support farmers New milk brand available on shelves.

For every two-litre bottle of skim or full cream Farmers Fund milk sold, 40¢ will be directed to the VFF initiative Farmers’ Fund.

Farmers’ Fund is available to dairy farmers to apply for grants of up to $20 000 to be distributed for infrastructure, education or expert advice to help build a more viable business.

VFF president David Jochinke said the establishment of the Farmers Fund brand had strong potential to bridge the gap between primary producers and consumers.

“Many people have asked what they can do to help dairy farmers. If they are not already buying branded milk, they can now buy Farmers Fund milk, knowing that they are directly investing 40¢ straight into the

The VFF fund was established to make dairy Farmers’ Fund,” Mr Jochinke said. farmers more resilient so they would be able Farmers Fund milk hit the majority of Coles to better sustain themselves into the future, supermarkets across Victoria late last week. especially if the industry experienced another The milk is being produced by Murray shock such as the drastic milk price cuts Goulburn and Coles and is solely owned and earlier this year. managed by the VFF. “Part of the focus on this is about us being Mr Jochinke said the price of the new brand proactive in the industry and not waiting milk will be about $2.50 per two-litre bottle. for government to come in and intervene, or waiting for the companies to step up to the “It is an increase at the sale end to give that plate — we are trying to assist immediately,” extra 40¢, or 20¢ per litre, to the fund.”

Mr Jochinke said.

Farmers applying for a grant will need The fund was kick-started with a $1 million to choose where they will spend the donation from Coles. money based on three categories: personal development, building productivity and For more information and to find out how efficiency in the business and professional to apply for the grants, visit www.farmersfund.org.au advice.

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OCTOBER 2016

dairy news Support package to be reviewed Dairy processor Murray Goulburn is determined to find a better solution for suppliers.

Murray Goulburn will review its controversial Milk Supply Support Package following a statement issued to suppliers recently.

Chair Philip Tracy said the package was put in place to try to soften the adverse short-term impact on supplier cash flows.

The MSSP allowed Murray Goulburn to pay suppliers an average available Southern Region farm gate milk price for FY16 of $5.53 kg/milk solids rather than the final $4.80 kg/ milk solids.

“Since its introduction it has become very clear that the MSSP is not considered by suppliers to have addressed their most significant concerns and is potentially proving counterproductive from the perspective of their continued loyalty,” Mr Tracy said.

“This was not its intent and

the board is very mindful of continuing to do what it can to help address supplier concerns.

“The board and management are therefore actively reviewing all options with a view to providing a better solution to support suppliers in the longterm interests of suppliers and MG.” UDV president Adam Jenkins said the current system was unworkable and those staying with the co-op had been saddled with the debt of those who had left.

“It was too inequitable, if someone leaves the co-op then they don’t take the debt with them,” Mr Jenkins said.

Mr Tracy said it was a complex issue, but was receiving the board’s focused attention.

MG expects to announce changes by the end of October.

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Four Murray Goulburn positions have been filled across Western and Gippsland regions.

For goodness you can see, trust the locals with the know how.

Murray Goulburn recently held elections for director roles in its Western and Gippsland regions.

The ballot results were announced on August 30.

Of the Western region’s seven candidates, Craig Dwyer, Lisa Dwyer and Harper Kilpatrick filled the three available positions.

In the Gippsland region, the incoming director is Kelvin Jackson, who is replacing the late Max Jelbart.

The number of votes cast represented 58.19 per cent of

eligible votes in the Western region, while a similar number of votes cast (56.14 per cent) represented the eligible votes in the Gippsland region.

Mr Dwyer is a third generation dairy farmer, born and raised at Timboon; Ms Dwyer’s family has a 45-year partnership with Murray Goulburn; and Mr Kilpatrick is a dairy farmer and a chartered accountant.

Mr Jackson has 17 years’ experience as a member on various boards, including Dairy Australia’s.

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OCTOBER 2016

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animal health

Dr Jeff Cave, District Veterinary Officer, Agriculture Victoria

The elixir of life Colostrum gives newborns the best chance of healthy development.

It’s common knowledge that animals need to suckle soon after birth, but why is it important?

As animals are born without immunity to disease, a newborn relies on colostrum (the first milk) from its mother until its own immune system has developed. The calf can usually fend for itself by one to two months of age.

The health and survival of an animal is dependent upon how quickly and how much colostrum it drinks in its first few hours of life.

Colostrum contains concentrated essential proteins called immunoglobulins, which protect the animal against disease in its early life.

These immunoglobulins can be absorbed from the animal’s stomach directly into the bloodstream, but only during the first 24 hours.

If animals do not receive sufficient high-quality colostrum during the first 24 hours, they will be more susceptible to disease.

Pregnant animals can be vaccinated prior to giving birth to ensure that their colostrum is of high quality.

A difficult birth is the most common cause of insufficient colostrum intake, as it reduces the ability of the animal to suckle.

Early bonding between the young animal and its mother will maximise the chance of the animal receiving sufficient colostrum.

Supplements are less efficient at providing immunity, so producers may wish to have a stored supply of quality colostrum available.

This can be achieved by freezing high-quality

colostrum collected from the first milking.

An animal that has received insufficient colostrum from its mother may be fed stored colostrum using a nipple bottle or a stomach tube.

Finally, it should be remembered that colostrum may provide good immunity but it will not overcome the effects of an animal being born in a dirty environment.

For further advice please contact your local veterinarian or Agriculture Victoria veterinary or animal health officer, or in NSW your Local Land Services.

Three stand for election Three people will stand for election to the Dairy Australia board as non-executive directors at the annual general meeting in November.

There are three vacancies this year — one for a director with research and development skills, one for a director with milk producer skills and one for a director with finance and accounting skills.

Paul Wood, who has more than 30 years’ experience in agricultural R&D, is standing for election for the first time.

Professor Wood has been successful as both a research scientist and a R&D leader. He is internationally recognised for his research in veterinary immunology and tuberculosis and is the inventor on seven patents.

He has led increasingly larger R&D teams from CSIRO, CSL and Pfizer and has been responsible for bringing a number of innovative products to the market, receiving recognition for his work including the Clunies Ross medal.

He has also served on several boards with both R&D and commercial entities. He is currently the chair of the agriculture and foodtech committee for AusBiotech and is

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OCTOBER 2016

an adjunct professor at Monash University.

Jeff Odgers, from Ardmona in the Goulburn Valley, was first appointed to the Dairy Australia board in 2013. He has been nominated for re-election as a director to fill the vacancy for a director with milk producer skills.

“

I am delighted the selection committee has selected individuals who bring extensive experience in dairy and the wider business world.

Geoff Akers

”

Jan West, who was appointed to the Dairy Australia board in 2014, has been nominated to fill the vacancy for a director with finance and accounting skills.

Dairy Australia invited applications for the vacancies earlier this year. An industry selection committee conducted the formal process leading to the recommendation of the three candidates to the board.

The selected candidates align with the board skills matrix, which identifies the necessary skills and experience required for the board as a whole.

“As Australia’s dairy industry works through some challenging times ahead, it demands broad expertise and I am delighted the selection committee has selected individuals who bring extensive experience in dairy and the wider business world,” board selection committee chair Geoff Akers said.

All candidates will require more than 50 per cent of the votes cast at the annual general meeting to be elected.

Invitation

Murray Dairy Business Forum 2016 Celebrating 20 years of Murray Dairy Featuring a strong line-up of industry leaders, recognising our past achievements of developing dairy projects and research, while looking at the exciting prospects for the future.

Date:

Thursday, October 20.

Venue: Barooga Golf Club,Barooga.

RSVP:

To Murray Dairy

by Thursday, October 13.

Guest speakers include: » Alexandra Gartmann, Managing Director and CEO Rural Bank and Rural Finance, previously heading up the Birchip Cropping Group. » Kevin Sheedy, AFL Premiership Coach, experienced leader in managing change in football, culture and life. » Pip Job, RIRDC Rural Women’s Award

winner 2014, a passionate advocate for family farm businesses and rural communities. » Speakers also on latest research outcomes from Accelerating Change Project, DairyBio, Young Dairy Network and local farmer success stories.

Session/event times: » 7.15 pm Service Providers’ Breakfast (industry service providers only). » 9.30 am Business Forum — Registrations open. » 6.30 pm Celebration Dinner 20 years — Pre-dinner drinks commence.

For more information: Contact Murray Dairy on (03) 5833 5312 or admin@murraydairy.com.au

dairy news Production forecast to fall Dairy Australia is anticipating national milk production to drop between five and 10 per cent due to the low farm gate milk price and seasonal conditions.

Dairy Australia chairman Geoff Akers addressed the business and rural club, GV BRaIN, in Shepparton in August and outlined the current challenges facing the industry.

Major processors have announced farm gate prices of between $4.31 and $5/kg milk solids while Mr Akers pointed out the estimated average cost of production for a northern Victorian dairy farmer was about $5.53/kg.

He noted the last time prices were at this level was about 2008.

Murray Goulburn had given an indication of a finishing price at about $4.80/kg.

“Farmers are obviously under pressure at the moment,” Mr Akers said.

He listed the drivers of the poor prices as the exchange rate, supply and demand, world dairy prices and the Australian export product mix.

On the domestic front, the prices were influenced by product mix, factory throughput, prices paid by the largest buyers and co-operative dividend policies.

Mr Akers was not expecting price recovery

Dairy Australia chairman Geoff Akers.

until well into 2017, and the strength of the recovery would be influenced by the weather, inventory levels and the demand in Asia and other developing countries.

Looking at milk production figures, Mr Akers said Victoria was down nine per cent compared to last year, and northern Victoria was suffering the biggest decline in the state, with 14 per cent down.

In question time, businessman Peter Bicknell asked how Goulburn Valley people could best support dairy farmers, and Mr Akers replied: “Buy Australian branded dairy products”.

Responding to a question about the numbers of cattle being off-loaded at saleyards, Mr Akers said he hoped farmers would be culling older cattle and not selling off young or prime producers.

“I hope most people are making informed decisions,” he said.

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More than half of the industry had been affected by price reductions this year.

In terms of cost of production for an average Victorian dairy farm, Mr Akers said the average was about $5.36 kg/milk solids and northern Victoria last year was slightly higher at $5.53/kg.

He compared this to the opening milk prices ranging from $4.31/kg to about $5/kg, for most farmers.

Funded by farmer levies, Mr Akers said Dairy Australia had three priority areas: Profitable dairy farms, developing capable farm people, and being recognised as a trusted industry.

“It’s about our ability to farm, promoting and protecting our industry and our social licence to operate,” Mr Akers said there was a declining number of farms, a trend which had developed since the 1960s, as farms grew larger.

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Number of farms: 6128 Average farm size: 284 cows Average production: 6000 litres/cow Total Aust production: 9.6 billion litres.

Australia’s share of global dairy production: 2 per cent World ranking in export of dairy: fourth Major markets: Japan, China, South-East Asia, Middle East.

Largest Australian dairy region: Murray (Nth Victoria/Sth Riverina)

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Doug Edmeades says when it comes to legume-based pastures, “We have lost the way”.

Good pastures are thing of the past Scientist says farmers have forgotten what healthy pastures look like.

Speaking at the 57th annual Grassland Society of Southern Australia’s conference, an AgKnowledge representative had some strong comments regarding good-quality pastures.

New Zealand’s AgKnowledge managing director Doug Edmeades said when it came to legume-based pastures, “We have lost the way”.

“We’ve lost our experience and knowledge of how to grow good clover-based pastures,” he said.

There are various reasons why producers have lost their way, with one of these being the loss of fertiliser demonstration trials.

“Years ago we used to do a lot of fertiliser trials on pastures and farmers loved to look at them, so they knew what a good pasture 12

OCTOBER 2016

looked like. They had the mental image — but we haven’t done those trials in 30 years, so they’ve lost that image,” Dr Edmeades said.

He said enough was being spent on fertiliser, but getting the right balance was the issue.

“

We’ve lost our experience and knowledge of how to grow good clover-based pastures.

Doug Edmedes

”

“The ideal mix is 30–40 per cent clover and the balance being any productive grass.

Clover is the essential component in our low-cost pastoral system.”

Dr Edmeades also spoke strongly about how the voice of science should be asserted and that “pseudo-science” and ineffective fertilisers were undermining the confidence of farmers.

“Pseudo-science is confusing farmers,” he said.

Speaking to groups such as the Grassland Society was rewarding for Dr Edmeades.

“I find that often when I speak to farming groups, people come up and say they had forgotten about that. It’s very satisfying from a professional point of view.”

More than 220 people attended the society’s conference held in Hamilton, Victoria.

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Geoff and Yvettte Brown have recently purchased a dairy farm at Ballendella and despite the current downturn in the industry they are positive about their future.

Bucking the trend While many farmers are getting out, a couple from the city has embraced the farming lifestyle.

Geoff and Yvette Brown are defying the trend in the dairy industry and recently purchased their first dairy farm at Ballendella, and they couldn’t be happier.

For Mr Brown it’s a return to the industry he loves, while for Mrs Brown it’s a whole new world, but she’s not complaining.

The couple is milking 120 Jersey cows off 50 ha and has chosen to supply Murray Goulburn. The Browns are aware they are in for a roller-coaster ride but that isn’t going to deter them.

“Dairying is a business and we both come from a background running our own. We will just keep plodding away at it. We had 14

OCTOBER 2016

made our decision to go into dairying and the milk price crash happened but the current climate isn’t worrying us too much yet, we don’t want to set the world on fire,” Mr Brown said.

While things are tough at the moment the couple is hoping the milk price will finish higher than the forecast price, and with recent improvements in the world market there is a possibility the season might not be as bad as first thought.

The Browns chose to move to Echuca because they like the area, it is not too far from family and friends in Melbourne and is also a great dairying area.

The catalyst for the move came after a typical day in the city, spent stuck in traffic for hours.

“We both got home and decided neither of us wanted to do what we were doing anymore,” Mrs Brown said. (Mrs Brown was a teacher and Mr Brown was a handyman /renovator.)

“I said to Geoff, ‘what do you want to do?’ and he said, ‘I love cows’ — and now here we are.”

For Mr Brown it is a return to his roots. He comes from a dairy farming background in New Zealand. He had his own stud, Royal Green, and was surprised, proud and excited to find that some of the cows he has recently

purchased go back to the sire Royal Green Elmo (Taranak) — a bull he bred while in New Zealand.

Mr Brown loves the challenge of breeding a great cow, with production being a trait in which he is particularly interested. He understands grain and plenty of grass will be needed to achieve his production goals.

“I have imported two years’ supply of semen from Glenbrook Jerseys, which is one of the top producing herds in New Zealand, and I can’t wait to see what happens with the herd over the next four to five years.”

The farm is quite rundown and the Browns have spent their first five weeks ironing out problems and training the cows to get used to the double-up dairy.

The couple was lucky enough to sow the farm down to shaftal and rye before moving there, so spring is looking particularly good.

The recent 20 mm of rain has pushed irrigating back a few weeks and as soon as things dry out the couple will begin cutting silage.

The three different soil types on the farm will need to be addressed and Mr Brown has been taking advice from different people on what to grow in the future. He is pretty sure it will include some permanent pasture.

The couple has plans of setting up a farm stay in the future to provide city people with an education on farming life.

“There is a real gap and we need to educate the wider public that dairy farmers don’t hurt their animals and their welfare is their main priority. When we were coming up as tourists there was no farm stays anywhere and we both think there is a market for that,” Mrs Brown said.

The couple would also like to offer respite for sick children as a way to give back to the community.

The future herd.

The dairy has had an overhaul to enable the 120-cow dairy herd to fit in.

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Difficult choice made

Karina Glass and son Jack.

Rather than work for nothing, Invergordon farmers chose to sell their milking herd.

The August 15 milk cheque for Murray Goulburn suppliers Karina and Brendan Glass was zero, prompting them to make their toughest decision yet: to sell their entire milking herd.

The Invergordon couple had already downsized the former 500-cow herd to 175 after the co-op cut milk prices back in May, but a month of milking cows for nothing was the final straw.

“We had a staff member injure themselves and rather than do all the work ourselves we decided to milk once a day; we wanted to reduce our costs and we were hoping things could just tick along and pay for itself,” Mrs Glass said.

“By the time the cartage, the payback and our factory loan was taken out, our cheque was nothing so we decided it just wasn’t worth continuing.”

The cows went at the end of August.

“The day the cows went was pretty hard emotionally. We had spent years building up our herd and to see the last of them head off in a truck to someone else’s farm was a lot harder than I thought it was going to be; I

had to leave,” Mrs Glass said.

The couple chose to make the decision while there was still a choice. The Glasses were worried that if they kept on going they could possibly end up with a huge debt and no options.

“We are remaining positive because we could have gone through this year, ended up with a large debt, and spent the next five years trying to recover what we lost. At least this way we still have some options,” Mrs Glass said.

In the short term the Glasses are looking forward to spending more time with their young family and having Christmas without “Potentially we can sell them on the point of the tie of milking. calving, milk them for a while and then sell them, or get back in,” Mrs Glass said.

Mr Glass has a truck and will do some cartage work along with some baling, while She said Murray Goulburn’s recent supplier Mrs Glass is looking to establish her new letter that stated the co-op was reconsidering business, Kanga Training. Dubbed babyits options regarding the MSSP (financial wearing aerobics, Kanga Training is a claw-back) was too little too late. complete workout where mums ‘wear’ their “It will take a lot for them to gain the babies as they exercise. She runs classes three trust back from their suppliers. If we were days a week. supplying another milk company we would The couple has kept all the young stock and still be milking today and that is pretty hard has 150 heifers to calve next autumn. to take.”

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The Johnston family from Deniliquin has exited the dairy industry after Murray Goulburn’s announcement of a milk price drop and financial claw-back rendered their business unprofitable. Kathy and daughter Amy are pictured in the now disused dairy.

Swapping from milk to meat A Deniliquin couple has made the difficult decision to get out of dairying in favour of beef farming.

The dairy on Kathy and David Johnston’s family farm now sits idle.

The vat is empty and the working dogs are about to transition to a life of beef farming.

The former Murray Goulburn suppliers made the heartbreaking business decision to exit the industry after the company cut the milk price and demanded suppliers pay back money they had supposedly been overpaid.

While the decision was brought about largely by the Murray Goulburn announcement, the rising cost of irrigation water was also a significant contributing factor.

For the family it was all about the dollars and the fact that no matter how hard they worked, they couldn’t get the numbers to stack up.

“We had fought hard to get to this point (buying a farm) and we certainly weren’t going to lose everything we had worked so hard for,” Mrs Johnston said.

“We had already had to borrow $50 000 last summer to purchase water to get through and we had that in the back of our minds.

It was simply a business decision we had to make.”

The Johnstons had done their sums. For them to survive they needed a milk price of $4.75 to break even and they had decided that if the opening price was even one cent 18

OCTOBER 2016

under that, they would sell. At $4.31, there wasn’t even a choice.

The business stood to lose $70 000, without water purchases.“Winter was a hard slog with the wet season and we had 100 acres of feed we couldn’t even put the cows on because it was so wet,” Mrs Johnston said.

“When the price was announced, with the claw-back, it was a no-brainer and in a way I guess we had been preparing ourselves for it for a couple of months.”

That didn’t make letting go of the cows any easier.

“Many of our cows were pets and some of the best producers were the cows with the big swinging bags. That didn’t worry us but it was hard to find homes for some of them,” Mrs Johnston said.

While the business was largely a family operation, there were also a couple of employees who had to be let go.

“We had a young girl milking for us who we let go in February and we had another girl helping us with tractor work, plus the girls (four daughters) helping out and David and I,” Mrs Johnston said.

The dairy including new cup removers and vat now sits idle.

“By the end there was just (daughter) Amy, David and I.” When Country News visited in late August it had been six weeks since the family sold its beloved herd of cows.

The Johnstons had gotten their heads around the decision and were in the process of moving forward.

The first load of cattle for agistment had arrived and the couple was in the process of tracking down a couple of beef bulls.

They are planning on growing out beef cattle for the next couple of years and they are certainly looking forward to a good season with plenty of silage and hay.

“We started milking here on October 13, 2009. It was a special day and very exciting,” Mrs Johnston said.

“We had bought the farm and sourced our cows because at that time there was a lot of cheap cows for sale. We weren’t racist, we had a bit of everything, but we had good bloodlines and I loved the cows.

“We had a fantastic autumn that year and for the first couple of years things were really good.”

The couple was able to renovate the dairy from a 40 swing-over back to 24. In 2012 the Johnstons installed cup removers and

Former suppliers.

in 2014 they installed a new second-hand 11 000-litre vat. They were able to make improvements to their business as cash flow permitted, but they always had their eye on the bottom line and budgeted accordingly.

As the price of temporary water began to increase, their bottom line began to decrease.

“Water made it bloody difficult,” Mrs Johnston said.

“We have an irrigation channel that runs past the front of our farm, but the water is simply too expensive for us to use.

“We have a bore on the farm and the diesel pump ran all summer and that’s what helped us get through, but we couldn’t run the risk of running our business through a low milk price year and having to turn around and buy irrigation water too.”

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19

Lockington dairy farmer Paul Weller has swapped milk companies to Fonterra, ending a 52-year association with Murray Goulburn.

Pushed into change A Lockington farmer has swapped milk companies after the price squeeze became too much. meant we had to go and that’s how we have Murray Goulburn’s dismal opening milk to run our businesses now.” price was enough to prompt the Weller family to swap milk companies after The Weller family will milk 750 mostly supplying the processor since 1964. spring-calving cows this season, on two farms. This is down from 980 cows across Paul is the fourth generation of his family three farms. They have made changes to to farm at Lockington and he said in all their business to cope with the low milk their years this was the first time they had price which has included the retirement of seriously considered another company’s milk price, let alone changed to another company. one staff member, while two others have taken a reduction in pay.

“Originally we supplied the Rochester Butter “We had already made the decision to close Factory and then it went to MG and we stayed with them until now,” Mr Weller said. down one farm but these are the decisions “I did my budgets for the season at $4.50 and we have had to make. We are just going through selling cows now,” Mr Weller said. there was no room to move — at $4.31 we had no hope. We run a seasonal operation so “We have been growing our business all my life and this is the first time we have we don’t qualify for the Flat Milk Incentive or the $4.31, our farm would have been even consciously made the decision to shrink for reason other than drought. We will manage less than that. When I did the sums there all right and ride this downturn.” was quite a significant difference for our business.

Mr Weller said dairying was always an up-and-down industry. He can remember “I am disappointed we couldn’t go on farmers shooting cows in the 1970s, supplying MG but the price difference 20

OCTOBER 2016

blockading factories in the 1980s and then of course there have been droughts and the global financial crisis.

“It will recover again, it always does and I still believe there is a great future for the industry.”

Mr Weller also believes there is a place for directors who are farmers to sit on the boards of processing companies, but they must know what is going on.

“And if they don’t, they need to ask.”

Mr Weller said the recent wet conditions had ensured a good spring with plenty of soil moisture in the ground.

“This year has been like the good old days and should ensure there is plenty of water, hay and grain around come spring-time.”

Like most farmers he will be addressing the damage to pastures once it dries out as pugging has been a major issue, and oversowing will definitely be part of pasture management this season.

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Jackie Hibberson (pictured) and her husband Justin have been supplying ACM for the past six years.

Downsized but happier Supplying milk to ACM has turned out to be a wise decision for Jackie and Justin Hibberson.

The Katunga couple has been supplying the company for the past six years and has no plans to go elsewhere.

They purchased their own farm four years ago and a contracted milk price certainly helps when it comes to budgeting.

“With a contracted milk price it is much easier to budget, especially when you have a farm to finance,” Mrs Hibberson said.

“We can make our decisions with confidence, which we probably wouldn’t be able to do if we were supplying some of the other milk companies.

“I like the way ACM markets their milk.

They didn’t drop their milk price and there are no secrets or surprises.

“As a supplier we have security, which is what everyone in this industry wants these 22

OCTOBER 2016

days, and we will continue to stay with the company.”

Mrs Hibberson said she and her husband had a pretty good relationship with ACM, which has helped them out over the years with great support from their field officers.

The couple left the dairy industry for four years in 2003. During that time, Mr Hibberson developed some great networks which he calls on from time to time if he is looking for advice.

The Hibbersons used to milk 850 cows across five farms. When they moved to Katunga earlier this year, they cut numbers back to a 280 split-calving herd, achieved a better work-life balance and improved the lifestyle they enjoy with their daughters Kiarah, Gemmah, Emily and Jorja.

“Considering this season, it hasn’t been a bad idea,” Mrs Hibberson said.

“At the time we didn’t know if we were doing the right thing downsizing and cutting back numbers, but with the wet winter, lame cows and muddy conditions, we are glad we did.

“A lot of friends and family supply Murray Goulburn and it has been a hard winter for them. They are bitter and hurt.

“It has been a very tough time but they have been so resilient. I don’t know if I would have been the same if I was in the same position.”

The Hibbersons’ 80 ha dairy farm is supported by a 263 ha leased block where the heifers are run and hay and silage is cut.

This spring is shaping up to be pretty good with standing crops, shaftal and rye all growing well.

“The rain has been fantastic for pasture growth. We have a bore here and we buy a bit of irrigation water each season, but we couldn’t have asked for a better start,” Mrs Hibberson said.

Mrs Hibberson, who works at the WaaiaYalca South Primary School, said she was proud to be associated with a milk company that would be supplying milk for school children under the School Breakfast Clubs program.

“It is great that ACM can support schools and help local communities,” she said.

“The contract will help secure employment, which is always a great thing in rural communities, and it is also a great way to educate kids about careers in farming.

“Dairying certainly has its ups and downs but it is a great industry and I hope more kids can make a go of it in the future.”

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David Cooper on his farm with children Jacob, 6, and Olivia, 4.

Better AI with Scandinavian technique Testing shows which are cows better suited to AI or bull.

Achieving strong in-calf numbers through artificial insemination is not always guaranteed, however a trial project using Scandinavian reproduction advice might be the key to unlocking better results.

About 2500 cows, across 10 herds ranging from 110 to 500-head, have been involved in the project led by Viking Genetics in north-east Victoria.

Project co-ordinator and Vaxa Sverige reproduction consultant Magnus Johansson said the main goal of the trial was to use preAI testing to try to see if dairy farmers could get more cows in calf through AI as opposed to using a bull.

“We are trying to see if we can implement the Scandinavian routine and reproduction to traditional AI work in Australia,” Mr Johansson said.

The testing can identify problems in a cow that would normally be overseen, which would then help farmers decide whether or not to carry out AI. “We know all or most cows can get in calf, but want to know if they are less likely to respond to AI,” he said.

“We want to pick up problem cows and do something about it before we start joining.

“They could be problem cows with physical problems, like she is lacking in ovaries, those are the cows we would categorise as not suitable for AI and needing a bull.”

Running Creek dairy farmer David Cooper was part of the project and said it produced good results, with 200 out of his herd of 260 being suitable for AI. “All of their ovaries were checked and we found there was quite a few with cysts so we treated them,” Mr Cooper said.

“Then we found the ones that only (had) one ovary so they were a lot less likely to get in-calf as well.

“The cows that were not in calf after 10 weeks, if they were a problem cow with only one ovary, we would cull them.”

While the project was not yet complete when Dairy Direct spoke to Mr Cooper, he said Mr Johansson had found higher in-calf rates than the results achieved by Mr Cooper in previous years.

Mr Johansson said the technique was not designed to make farmers use AI more frequently; it was merely a way to help farmers make more informed decisions about using it.

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and then after that we categorise them based on their condition — if there is need for veterinarian treatment, that’s where we go next.

“We are following each and every individual throughout the AI season until they are pregnancy tested as in-calf or not in-calf,” Mr Johansson said.

“The goal is to provide the farmers with an extended knowledge of their herd and give an insight into the commonly occurring problems.

“We also want to pick up problem cows and do something about it before we start joining.”

Mr Johansson said the results could reveal “untapped potential” for farmers and save them considerable amounts of money.

“This is why we want to do this — the times being faced now in Australia are tough for farmers.

“In Scandinavia we have faced similar problems which have made farmers more aware of the money they can save on better fertility and reproduction units.”

The trial started in May and is set to end this month.

Students join breakfast club Thousands of young students across Victoria will be eating SPC baked beans and drinking northern Victorian and Riverina milk for breakfast as part of a Victorian Government-sponsored deal.

The government’s School Breakfast Clubs contribution to the health of the state and program, which has been running since would be good for the industry,” Mr Auld the start of the year, is operating at 500 said.

Victorian primary schools.

“It’s a good cause.”

Students will munch their way through more He pointed out the UHT treatment would than 80 tonnes of Australian baked beans make it easier for distribution. from SPC and drink about 400 000 litres Education Minister James Merlino visited of long-life milk supplied by Pactum Dairy the Pactum factory in Shepparton to make Group from its Shepparton factory. the announcement, with the agreement to Pactum is a joint enterprise between a farmer take effect from next year. consortium, ACM and Freedom Foods and Mr Merlino said the program was designed processes about 100 million litres annually, to address the alarming statistic that one in largely for export to Asia. seven Victorian children arrived at school on ACM managing director Michael Auld said an empty stomach, affecting their ability to the 400 000 litres of milk would come from the group’s 130 suppliers, largely in northern concentrate and learn.

Victoria and the southern Riverina.

“This is a great initiative, supporting children in need at schools right across Victoria “At that volume, it won’t have a major and supporting local jobs and local dairy impact on our operation, but we saw it as farmers,” he said. a worthwhile project that would make a

Michael Auld.

“This is obviously a challenging time for the dairy industry right across Victoria and everything we can do makes a difference.”

The government partners with Foodbank, Australia’s largest welfare goods agency, to deliver the $13.7 million breakfast program using its existing warehousing, storage and freight network.

“We are thrilled to be continuing the support of local Victorian-based farmers and food producers who are helping us build this incredible program,” Foodbank Victoria chief executive officer Dave McNamara said.

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Farmers have their voices heard A government symposium has offered a chance for all industry players to speak on the dairy crisis.

Australia’s dairy industry has committed to work towards fixing the ongoing crisis engulfing the sector following a Federal Government symposium in Melbourne.

The UDV praised the symposium as an ideal forum for farmers to have their voices heard in the same room as government, processor and retail representatives.

“Dairy farmers had an opportunity today to confront the processors and retailers responsible for the milk price cuts and low milk prices, and demand greater transparency from the farm gate across the whole supply chain,” UDV president Adam Jenkins said.

“It was a productive and frank discussion where we got to put our case forward regarding claw-back clauses, we got to say what needs to change, and we got an outcome that the whole supply chain can address.”

Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce chaired the meeting, announcing the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission would be given expanded powers in its inquiry into the dairy industry, with the consumer watchdog being handed the authority to obtain information from companies.

The inquiry, which is due to begin in

November, will look at sharing the risk along the supply chain, supply agreements and contracts, competition, bargaining and trading practices in the industry and the effect of world and retail prices on profitability.

“We’re extremely encouraged by Minister Joyce’s comments that dairy farmers deserve fair returns at the farm gate, as well as transparency in milk price arrangements and supply contracts,” Mr Jenkins said.

“It’s vital that we uncover all the inefficiencies and inequities our dairy farmers face, and we agree an in-depth and independent inquiry would achieve a thorough and fair result.”

Master Breeders recognised Two northern Victorian Holstein breeders have been recognised in the 2016 Master Breeders award at the Holstein Australia Annual Awards Night in Albury.

Arcadia dairy farmers Don and Norma Leslie and Leitchville’s Ken Allez were among the nine studs to take out the highly-coveted award.

The Master Breeder Award recognises the long-term achievement of herds that have bred at least 300 registered animals over a minimum of 20 years.

Don Leslie owns the Pooley Bridge stud however he said the award was one to be shared with the family.

“It is a real family effort because it’s not solely

me doing the work,” Mr Leslie said.

“I started it many years ago but it’s a team effort — I only turn up and help milk every day and look after dry cattle.”

Mr Leslie credited the breeding work to his son Keith.

“Keith is main cow man who makes it all happen … he makes all the breeding decisions.”

The family farm is self-sufficient with all fodder grown on a Cosgrove property, managed by Mr Leslie’s other son Dean.

His other son Brian is a well-known dairy cattle auctioneer.

The Pooley Bridge stud includes more than 700 cattle, with around 400 currently milking.

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Cohuna dairy farmer John Keely has returned from the first half of his trip overseas as part of his Nuffield Scholarship. Focusing on agriculture across the globe, Mr Keely found the trip to be interesting, informative and inspiring.

Industry diversity experienced Scholarship allows eye-opening study tour for Cohuna farmer.

Cohuna dairy farmer John Keely has recently returned from a Global Focus Program as part of his Nuffield Scholarship for 2016.

The tour saw Mr Keely take in agriculture sites across the globe, from organic vegetable growing to dairy farmers to turf farming to sheep and goat farms in Qatar.

It was an eye-opening experience.

“Each country was different and they all do things their way for a reason. We were exposed to so much and it was fantastic,” Mr Keely said.

“I would urge anyone who gets the opportunity to do a scholarship to take it, because you really do get to see a different world.”

“We were exposed to things you wouldn’t normally see because we got off the tourist route, and while it was busy — we were up and going every morning — it was also fantastic, a great experience.”

Mr Keely still has the second part of his trip to complete which will see him focus on worldwide effluent management.

Regarding the global dairy industry Mr Keely said he was surprised by the amount of co-ops he came across.

“The co-op structure seemed strong and was well supported from farmers, in particular in France — the majority sold their milk through there.

“In India the dairy industry is held back by its culture. Farms are small and agriculture is fairly low down in class, cows are sacred and just wander the streets like you wouldn’t believe.

“They still use oxen for ploughing, and crops are planted by hand.”

The cows in India are milked by women only and their milk is taken to a central site where it is weighed, cooled and collected.

Farmers receive a minimum of 37 rupee per litre, which is subsidised by the government.

Cows average 7–8 litres/day while buffalo average 3–4 litres/day.

He also visited dairy farms in Canada and the United States.

A trip to the University of Guelph’s brand new dairy research facility in Ontario, Canada was also a highlight.

“Agriculture is certainly valued in America,” he said.

“The facility is one of the top three in the world and it was incredible.”

Mr Keely also had an opportunity to speak with the acting chair of the US Department of Agriculture.

“He gave us a lot of time and a great overview of agriculture and what is out there.”

Mr Keely said he had never seen so much corn in his life, as was in the US. “I had heard about the corn but to see it is something else, it is everywhere. It is grown for silage, grain, wet grain and ethanol.

“The USA can produce milk fairly cheaply because of their access to cheap labour, but they are frightened by Donald Trump’s policy regarding immigrant labour; the agricultural sector would fall apart without that access.

“Everywhere we went no-one in agriculture seemed to be making large amounts of money. The Canadians’ margins are being squeezed as their quota price per litre has come down, and the depressed world market seems to be affecting everyone.”

Mr Keely said he was surprised by the quality of agricultural land in Turkey.

“There were lots of tomatoes and corn grown and I didn’t expect it to be as good as it was.

Turkey has some huge potential.”

OCTOBER 2016

27

Gaining grain relief A ‘soft’ grain price is good news for dairy farmers.

With all the troubles dairy farmers are facing after the drop in milk prices, the price of grain may provide some relief, according to Profarmer Australia.

Profarmer Australia chief analyst Hannah Janson, who was a guest speaker at the Setting Up Your Season event in Merrigum last month, provided an outlook for grain prices that is favourable to dairy farmers.

“The outlook for grain prices at the moment is rather soft with a large global and national crop coming on board,” Miss Janson said.

The global market, in particular, has a major effect on prices.

“Sixty to 70 per cent of Australia’s grain is exported and because of this the global market has a big influence on the grain price here in Australia,” Miss Janson said.

Miss Janson said despite this ‘soft’ price, farmers had options up their sleeves.

“There is plenty the farmer can do to control their price risk and to make sure they are buying it at the right prices and that they are managing the quality to ensure they are getting the right amount of energy out of their products.”

The current prices have reduced during the past 12 months, with figures showing ASW wheat coming down from $263 to $209, FED1 wheat lowered to $186 from $215 and F1 barley currently priced at $156 after being as high as $248 this time last year.

With these figures in mind, Miss Janson said the grain price wasn’t going to increase in large amounts any time soon.

“We’re not banking on any big increases in the next 12 months, “ she said.

“

The outlook for grain prices at the moment is rather soft with a large global and national crop coming on board.

Hannah Janson

”

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FutureDairy’s Yani Garci says a profitable maize crop is achieved by optimising yield and nutritive value.

Find your way in maize Management is key to the success of this high-input crop.

With lower milk prices and the possibility of limited irrigation water at their disposal, regular maize growers will be thinking hard about whether it suits this season as dairy farmers plan their summer crops.

FutureDairy’s Yani Garci said management had a big impact on the profitability of a high input crop such as maize.

“A profitable maize crop is achieved by optimising both yield and nutritive value.

Very high-yielding maize crops are not necessarily the most profitable as they tend to be higher in fibre and therefore have lower nutritional value,” Prof Garcia said.

Prof Garcia offered the following tips: • Do not apply the full amount of nitrogen fertiliser unless you can ensure water will not be limited. If water is likely to be limited, adjust nitrogen application.

For example, nitrogen application both pre-sowing and at V6 stage are highly recommended, but if you need to adjust, save the nitrogen for the V6 stage.

• Time water application for greatest response. If irrigation water is likely to be limited, resist the temptation to under-irrigate throughout the whole season. You’ll get a much better response to water by timing water applications to 30

OCTOBER 2016

the critical periods at crop establishment (up to about six-leaf stage) and the five to six-week period around tasselling.

• Match fertiliser rates to target yield. Aim to apply at least 80 per cent of nutrient requirements as fertiliser. Soil testing or tissue sampling is the best way to determine fertiliser rates. However, as a rule of thumb, high-yielding maize crops remove 10–12 kg nitrogen/tonne DM/ ha, 2–3 kg phosphorus/tonne DM/ha and 8–10 kg potassium/tonne DM/ha grown.

• Time nitrogen applications for greatest response. Ideally apply in four stages (if fertigation method is available): preplanting; planting; at 45 cm high (V6); and at tassel emergence (V12). If this is not possible, split nitrogen application into about half pre-sowing and half at V6. If a limited amount of nitrogen is available (eg. less than 120 kg N/ha) it is better to save it for around the V6 stage.

• Adjust plant density to nutrient and water availability. Sow for a plant density of about 80–85 000 plants/ha if irrigation and fertigation (or pre- and post-sowing application of nitrogen) are available. With full irrigation and fertilisation regimes we have found that higher plant density (100 000) results

in higher yield but overall silage quality drops due to excess fibre content.

For more information phone Prof Garcia on (02) 9351 1621 or email sergio.garcia@sydney. edu.au.

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Holistic approach embraced Pip Job guest speaker at business forum.

Environmental advocate and 2014 National Rural Woman of the Year, Pip Job, will be a guest speaker at next month’s Murray Dairy Business Forum.

Celebrating Murray Dairy’s first 20 years, the forum will be held at Barooga Golf Club on Pip Job. October 20.

Ms Job said overcoming social challenges went a long way to achieving real change for last three as chief executive officer — Ms Job farming families and the land. now works on her social auditing program in Helping farming families do the best for rural resilience with NSW DPI. their businesses, their communities and the Ms Job said good farmers were already land they work on has driven her throughout focused on improving natural cycles — from her professional life. water to carbon and biodiversity — and But it was while working in conservation for said her biggest contribution was raising the Little River Landcare Group in centralawareness about social strengths and weaknesses and putting a value on it. western NSW she realised that if farmers did not care for themselves first, they could not “As much as it’s important to do an annual properly care for anything else. budget, you should be auditing your social After 10 years with Landcare — including the capital as well. It’s about being holistic in

how we look at business.”

Other guest speakers at the forum include Rural Bank and Rural Finance managing director and chief executive officer Alexandra Gartmann, who previously headed up the Birchip Cropping Group; and AFL premiership coach Kevin Sheedy.

Other speakers will address the latest research outcomes from the Accelerating Change project and DairyBio, talk about the Young Dairy Network and introduce farmer success stories.

Rain helps grain and livestock outlook Significant rainfall has buoyed the outlook for Victoria’s grain and livestock producers, but hasn’t been enough to offset the challenges facing the dairy sector.

The latest Rabobank Rural Confidence illusion and realise this season is extremely yields,” he said.

Survey has found the state’s rural sentiment challenging,” he said.

“Fears of low water allocations this season failed to rally in the past quarter, despite very “Global markets have been low for some time have now been alleviated, with expectations good seasonal conditions, with dairy sector that allocations will be at 100 per cent and while we expect some recovery in the concerns keeping a lid on overall confidence earlier than previously forecast, which gives first half of next year, this will likely not flow levels. enormous comfort to those in the irrigation through until the following season.”

The quarterly survey — completed in sector.”

Mr McAlpin said while it would take some August — saw the net Rural Confidence Rain had also filled on-farm water storages time for an improvement to be seen in indicator for Victoria remain around and set graziers up for a fantastic spring, farm gate milk prices, cost pressures had neutral levels, with 29 per cent of the state’s Mr McAlpin said, with sentiment further thankfully eased, with fertiliser prices around farmers expecting the agricultural economy boosted by strong market prices for beef, decade lows and grain also at lower levels not to improve in the next 12 months (up lamb and wool. seen in recent years. marginally from 25 per cent), while 26 per The impact of improved seasonal conditions “The good start to the season will also reduce cent expect conditions to worsen (from 24 on Victorian farmer sentiment was the dairy sector’s reliance on buying in feed per cent). pronounced in the survey, with 66 per cent with expectation of increased levels of homeA total of 44 per cent were expecting of those expecting the agricultural economy grown feed,” he said. conditions in the agricultural economy to to improve in the next 12 months, citing the remain similar to the previous year.

With market prices also lacklustre in the season as cause for their optimism, up from grains sector, Mr McAlpin said pricing Rabobank’s Victoria manager Hamish 62 per cent. concerns for grain growers were eclipsed by McAlpin said while much-needed rainfall Milk price woes in the dairy sector saw the prospect of good yields. had “set up grain and livestock producers for commodity prices remain the dominant a great season after last year’s failed spring”, “After a poor season last year, this year’s wheat concern for farmers in the state, with 82 per it wasn’t enough to offset significant revenue crop is shaping up to be around 40 per cent cent of those expecting conditions to worsen, concerns in the dairy sector. citing prices as the reason for their subdued higher than last season, with farmers across “The state’s dairy farmers are under no outlook, up from 59 per cent. the state expecting average to above-average 32

OCTOBER 2016

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(From left) Dawn Batten, Shania Mirtschin, Oliver Taylor and (front) Paige Cleave take care of one of the calves at Shepparton High School.

Shedding light on dairy careers Students’ skills are being enhanced while they learn about the dairy industry.

“The program shows people who haven’t been in a practical sense. It gets students out of Shepparton High School students, among those from many other schools in the district, around cows how to care for them,” she said. the classroom and they are working better because of it,” she said. have participated in a dairy program which Paige said she got plenty out of it. has enhanced their teamwork and personal Ms Peachey has noticed that some of the “I have better team communication skills skills. students have come out of their shell. now,” she said.

Cows Create Careers is funded by Dairy “One of the students lives on a dairy farm Fellow student Shania Mirtschin also said Australia and is used as part of the and they have opened up a bit more since the program was a positive one. curriculum as a way for students to discover “What I got out of the Cows Create Careers this program commenced.” careers in the dairy industry. program was the different jobs that are in The program, which includes three weeks the dairy industry,” she said. that the students work with the cows, Shepparton High School’s Cows Create culminates with a presentation in November.

Careers co-ordinator Kate Peachey said it Shania also believed her personal skills had was a great program. improved because of the program.

“All the schools who participate come together to present their final works,” Ms “I have better teamwork skills,” she said.

“It’s a really worthwhile program,” she said.

Peachey said.

Ms Peachey can see the benefits of the Paige Cleave, who is one of about 33 For a video for this story, go to: program, now in its sixth year. students who participated in Cows Create Careers, agreed with Ms Peachey about the http://www.countrynews.com.au/2016– “The program allows us to take maths further and for the students to use maths program’s potential.

08/30/2829/careers-in-dairy-highlighted 34

OCTOBER 2016

Some of the students who participated in the program are (From left) Olivia Taylor, Kyle Farren, Jacqui Hall, Shania Mirtschin, Kate Peachey, (behind the wire) Dawn Batten, Jesse Ripper and Brooke McClusky.

Paige Cleave and Shania Mirtschin, both from the Shepparton area, gained plenty out of the dairy program.

Jacqui Hall feeds one of the calves that was at Shepparton High School as Daniel Garrard and Adam Blake watch on.

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Plenty of interest for camp Youth camp aims to foster passion for industry.

Young people from across the country have shown strong interest in the upcoming National All Breeds Dairy Youth Camp.

With places filling fast, event organiser and Goulburn Ovens Institute of TAFE’s National Centre for Dairy Education industry trainer Lucy Galt said the camp had a long history of supporting dairy enthusiasts and was shaping up to be the best yet.

“We are really excited about the positive response to the expression-of-interest campaign,” Ms Galt said.

During the five-day camp, participants will develop their confidence in handling dairy heifers and discuss breeding and new technology.

Each participant is given a heifer and throughout the week is taught how to care for the animal in the lead-up to competition day, including daily feeding, watering, washing and grooming, clipping and monitoring.

Participants also learn about judging and showing and take part in team activities and peer judging.

“We are really keen to see students from diverse backgrounds attend the camp. In the past we have had students from across

Australia and even New Zealand attend, all Camp at its new location of Tatura Park, with varying degrees of experience with dairy after previously being held at the Melbourne cattle,” Ms Galt said.

Showgrounds.

“This event is all about exposing participants The camp, to be held from Tuesday, January to the dairy industry, and hopefully fostering 3 to Saturday, January 7, 2017, also provides a passion for it.” strong preparation for International Dairy Week.

Ms Galt thanked the event’s major sponsors Dairy Beef Alliance, International Dairy “Our volunteer committee are doing an Week and Dairy Australia for their support awesome job and working hard to ensure the and significant contribution to the National camp is successful and has a bright future,” All Breeds Dairy Youth Camp.

Ms Galt said.

She said the camp’s organising committee For a copy of the sponsorship application, was now expanding its sponsorship drive and phone Lucy Galt on 0488 144 999. looking for more team sponsors.

To register your interest in attending the International Dairy Week’s sponsorship will camp, visit www.GOTAFE.vic.edu.au/ see the National All Breeds Dairy Youth youthcamp or phone Ms Galt.

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Have the info before you plant Murray Dairy has hosted a Successful Summer Cropping workshop in Echuca, focusing on growing corn and sorghum. here in Australia. It is something we are Murray Dairy’s Lisa Birrell says it is important farmers understand how much considering to fill a feed gap over autumn feed they can grow and where their feed gaps and early spring, and we are certainly are before committing to sowing a summer interested in exploring the benefits of crop of corn or sorghum. improved fertility that can come along with feeding it,” Mr Matthews said.

“Both crops are great to grow and have their place because they can fill a gap; as Focus Farmer Leigh Fletcher has grown with anything though, it is important to sorghum on his Cohuna dairy farm for the plan because growing either is a significant past few years. He likes to be able to put the investment and you can waste a lot of money cows in a green paddock when everything if it isn’t done right,” Mrs Birrell said. else is hot and dry; he believes it helps with his mental health during summer.

In a tight cash flow year like 2016–17, sorghum may be more appealing because “It was pretty average for us this summer it is about $1000/ha cheaper to grow than because of the growing season being too cool. corn.

We probably grew more over the two-week hot spell we had in March than we did for “Water price is still going to be a factor to the whole of February. Two years ago it was a determine what will be grown, and if hay hot summer and it grew really well though,” and grain are cheap farmers may choose to Mr Fletcher said. feed-lot their cows over summer and avoid growing a summer crop altogether,” she said. He is considering growing corn and sorghum this year.

Kelvin Matthews attended the workshop at Echuca because he is considering growing “I grew corn last year and it was pretty corn on his dairy farm near Pyramid Hill average. I have learnt from my mistakes and this season. will probably have another go at it again this year. I grew 35 ha and I probably bit off a bit “I have grown corn in New Zealand but not 38

OCTOBER 2016

more than I could chew for my first time.”

Advances in plant breeding technology, plant protection and management expertise have significantly increased the potential yield and stress tolerance for corn.

It offers farmers the prospect of good profit margin, providing it is managed correctly.

Understanding the requirements of the crop, correct and early planting, adequate fertiliser and irrigation applications all contribute to profitability.

Forage sorghum is relatively easy to establish.

Good germination occurs around soil temperatures of 16–20°C with the seed planted at a depth of 2–5 cm.

In dry regions wider row spacing can be beneficial as the subsoil moisture between the rows acts as a reserve to be tapped into as the roots develop.

As with both these summer crops, early paddock selection and preparation is highly advisable as well as talking closely with an agronomist. Weed and pest control should always be paramount because these can significantly affect yields.

Top cow at Lockington The Holstein that took out Cow of the Year at Holstein Australia’s annual awards has been living in northern Victoria for the past year.

Owned by Tasmanian breeder George Wagner, winning Holstein Rengaw Goldbullion Janea has been kept with a herd on a Lockington farm. After 45 years of dairy farming, Mr Wagner has retired from the industry and has spent the past few years sending his cattle to the property where his daughter and son-in-law sharefarm.

“She’s an exceptional cow and the way she is bred — she’s at the top end of the Australian breeding index list,” Mr Wagner said.

“The award was based on their influence on the dairy industry and the way they have contributed to the Holstein breed.”

The 14-year-old Holstein was the last of Mr Wagner’s herd that he sent up to the Lockington farm.

Mr Wagner’s son-in-law Jared Ireland had a feeling that Janea was a strong candidate.

“I only entered her in the competition because for that sort of competition you don’t enter many as not many cows get to

that optimal stage,” Mr Ireland said.

Janea’s strong genetics have been passed on to her progeny.

“In the last 12–18 months, she’s had grandsons graduate with success in the AI industry.

“Her female side has always done pretty well for us too.”

Industry judge Geoff Wood from World Wide Sires said Janea stood out for her

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She has calved nine times, but Mr Ireland said he would wait and see before deciding whether or not to get her in-calf again.

Janea has produced more than 105 000 litres of milk across eight lactations, including more than 12 000 litres in her best lactation to date.

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National Association for Sustainable Agriculture Australia’s operations manager Peter Hastie, Australian Consolidated Milk general manager Peter Jones and managing director Michael Auld.

Farmers taste organic opportunity Demand for organic milk outstrips Australian supply.

The demand for organic milk in Australia is booming, but with supply lacking the region’s dairy farmers are being encouraged to see a new opportunity.

Labelled the ‘mythbusters’ session, Australian Consolidated Milk hosted an organic dairy farming day in Shepparton in July which attracted more than 100 farmers.

ACM managing director Michael Auld said the company wanted farmers to understand the elements involved in transitioning from conventional to organic dairy farming.

“The perception farmers have is not the reality — some farmers are closer to organic than what they think, so we’re here to give them knowledge and if it’s suitable for them, we will give them a helping hand,” Mr Auld said.

Implementing organic methods did not have 40

OCTOBER 2016

was necessary and logical. to come at the cost of production, Mr Auld said, and ACM would offer organic milk The global organic industry was valued suppliers a premium to offset the costs of the about $91 billion, Mr Symons said. organic inputs.

“There is a strong future in organic milk and Once organic certification is achieved, ACM Bellamy’s are keen to get more of it,” he said. will offer suppliers a minimum of $8/kg Australia is behind the United States and milk solids.

Europe, each of which produces about Mr Auld said the entire transition process 1200 million litres of organic milk annually. would take three years however cattle only Nathalia biodynamic farmer of 30 years required organic fodder for the final six Mark Peterson spoke positively about his months of this period. experience of organic dairy farming.

He called the transition a “consumer-led change” with many existing customers asking “For high profit and sustainable farming, this is worth looking at,” Mr Peterson said. the processor to supply organic products.

Organic dairy farming becomes most Bellamy’s Organic’s organic dairy project challenging for Mr Peterson if mastitis and manager Bruce Symons said Australia other infection issues arise. imported 100 million litres of organic milk a year and produced less than 40 million litres, “(Without antibiotics) we do more work on therefore increasing domestic production prevention and are using natural remedies.”

Antibiotics can still be used to treat problems, however in order to remain organically certified the cattle must go through a sixmonth withholding period before being returned to the herd.

“Just ask the vet if there is anything else they can use; there are other solutions,” Mr Peterson said.

To demonstrate the profit gains potential, organic dairy farming specialist Kevin Beecroft used a case study which showed an increase from $88 000 in year one (conventional farming) to $115 000 in year three (pre-organic farming).

ACM general manager Peter Jones said the company currently had about 10 million litres of organic milk supplied from the Western District but was keen to build the supply pool in northern Victoria.

“We (ACM) want 50 million litres of organic milk by the end of the year,” Mr Jones said.

Farmers will be supported through the transition with administration costs and the National Association for Sustainable Agriculture Australia organic certification cost covered by ACM. ACM has plans to invest more in organic production assets such as a new factory for processing and will develop its own brand of organic milk.

Nathalia dairy farmer Mark Peterson says prevention of infection is essential in organic farming and many animal health issues can be avoided simply by getting the soil right.

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Looking for opportunities in adversity Resilient dairy farmers are showing true grit as they look for new opportunities to combat tough times.

Karrinjeet Singh-Mahil and Brian Schuler from Crossley in south-west Victoria are determined they won’t be beaten by the recent fall in milk price.

Instead, they are looking to capitalise on profarmer sentiment by activating a farm stay It’s a challenge and we’re business that will help them to combat lower prices and improve connections across the not going to give in. This country-city divide. so-called milk crisis The Legendairy farmers say they are determined to find opportunity in adversity. might push some of us “One of the positive things we can do is to to do things we’ve been diversify our income streams,” Ms SinghMahil said. talking about.

“It’s a challenge and we’re not going to give in.

Karrinjeet Singh-Mahil This so-called milk crisis might push some of us to do things we’ve been talking about.”

Ms Singh-Mahil and Mr Schuler built a Ms Singh-Mahil and Mr Schuler previously new house and moved back to the farm in operated a guest house in Warrnambool and 2010 but wanted to keep a connection to travelled about 20 km each day to the farm. their guests so added a separate farm stay Their guests would often follow them. with two units. Now they are finalising the “They’d want to see the farm,” Mr Schuler landscaping and hoping to revive their farm said. “We’d have people in the paddocks stay business. being licked by cows and loving it. One Sri “We were looking at how we could get Lankan family saw me helping a cow give through and we’ve got this facility ready to birth and then giving the calf mouth to nose go,” Ms Singh-Mahil said. resuscitation. They were surprised but they Mr Schuler likes to show guests the whole didn’t flinch.”

“

”

package and pass on some of the “old skills that are getting lost”.

“City people want to make the country connection but often don’t know how,” he said.

“We have a real belief that we need to build links between city and country,” Ms SinghMahil said.

“Most people in the city from older generations have a relative or can remember holidays on the farm, but the younger generation has moved away from that and we want to start rebuilding some of those links.”

Visitors can relax and enjoy the view and the serenity, or they can learn how to milk cows, feed calves and grow pastures.

Ms Singh-Mahil and Mr Schuler are also investigating options for cheese-making.

“We’ve got the milk, the land and the mindset, we just have to get out there and do it,” Mr Schuler said.

Returns fall for dairy last year Northern Victorian farmers recorded negative returns on assets for the last financial year, according to a new report released in September.

The report also found northern farmers recorded a negative return on equity for the year.

“The combination of below average rainfall, higher temperatures and a competitive temporary water market provided challenging operating conditions for northern Victoria farmers in 2015–16,” the report found.

“The drier conditions meant farmers had a greater reliance and exposure to the fodder and temporary water markets.

“For those farmers who purchased temporary water between years, the average price 42

OCTOBER 2016

increased from $120/ML to $236/ML, contributing to a 40 per cent increase in irrigation costs to $0.67/kg MS.” One bright spot on an otherwise dismal report, is the discovery that northern Victorian farmers are among the most efficient in the state, with higher production per hectare, cow and labour unit than farmers in the other regions.

An added concern for farm profitability in 2015–16 was the lower average milk price, falling from $6.09/kg MS in this region last year, to $5.46/kg MS this year.

The farms in the North experienced the

greatest spread in milk price of all the regions, which in part also led to the greatest variation seen in Return on assets between the regions The majority of farms in the North were characterised by a usable area between 120 and 263 hectares, milk production between 481 and 543 kg MS/cow and consumed between 43 and 57 per cent of their metabolisable energy from home grown feeds.The Dairy FarmMonitor Project has provided farm level data relating to profitability and production for ten years in Victoria.

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Dookie Dairy Report The year from July 2015 to June 2016 was the second full year since the robotic milking system was installed at Dookie. The milking herd size peaked at 156 cows in spring, a stocking rate of 3.6 cows/ha.

Milk production for the year averaged 9500 litres/cow, or 705 kg milk solids/cow.

Milk solids produced as a percentage of cow liveweight was 101 per cent. Average milking frequency achieved was 2.7 milkings/cow/ day.

Over this year the cows’ diet consisted of 2.8 tonne DM/cow grazed feed, 2.7 tonne

DM/cow fodder and 2.1 tonne DM/cow of concentrates.

Home-grown feed utilisation was 10.0 tonne DM/ha on the milking area. Home-grown feed was 0.92 tonne DM/ha per 100 mm of water used (rainfall plus irrigation). A major focus on the farm will be to increase pasture utilisation over the next year and reduce the

July 1, 2016

August 1, 2016

September 1, 2016

99

85

121

Kg Milk solids/cow/day

1.70

1.70

2.09

Kg Concentrate/cow/day

7.1

6.1

7.1 *

Kg Fodder/cow/day

8.6

8.8

9.0 **

Pasture (KgDM)/cow

1.1

3.2

5.1

Area in rotation

34.5

43.0

43.0

Average milkings/cow/day

2.5

2.4

2.5

Number of failures/day

1.0

1.0

1.5

Cow Numbers

Number of cows got/day

5

5

5

Litres/machine/day

737

645

1146

Rumination minutes/cow/day

379

458

390

• 12.5 MJ ME/kg DM, 22 per cent CP. • 9.0 MJ ME/kg DM, 12 per cent CP. 44

reliance on purchased feeds.

Another focus for the coming year will be to increase the reproductive performance of the herd. Rather than relying entirely on the automated heat detection, tail paint and kamars are being used to detect heat. A mopup bull has also been introduced after three to four weeks of artificial insemination.

OCTOBER 2016

GET IT RIGHT,

RIGHT FROM THE START. The first 3 months are so important to your calves’ future in the herd, so don’t compromise, use Veanavite No1 Calf Pellets. veanavite.com.au

Crude Protein

22%

Veanavite No1 Calf Pellets provide a high level of natural protein, energy, essential minerals and vitamins to support the requirements of your rapidly growing calves. Importantly, it also contains starches to promote the efficient development of a calf’s rumen allowing for a successful transition to pasture at weaning. Thriving calves are the future of your herd. So get it right, right from the start.

Direct Dates October and November 2016 October Develop Feed Plans for Livestock (day 2)

Friday, October 7 Yarroweyah Develop Feed Plans for Livestock (day 2)

Monday, October 10 Tangambalanga Murray Dairy Business Forum

Thursday, October 20 Barooga Develop Feed Plans for Livestock (day 1)

Tuesday, October 25 Corryong Develop Feed Plans for Livestock (day 2)

Wednesday, October 26 Corryong November Using DairyBase in Your Farm Business (day 2)

Tuesday, November 22 Tallangatta Murray Dairy

www.murraydairy.com.au Phone: 5833 5312 NCDE

www.ncdeaGOTAFE.vic.edu.au Phone: 1300 468 233 DEDJTR

www.depi.vic.gov.au Phone: 136 186 Murray Dairy

Tactics for Tight Times (upcoming program delivery): Taking Stock —Business Assessment Support Service Free 1:1 service — Now to June 2017.

Business Analysis Scenario Planning — Now to December.

Financial Literacy — Now to December.

The Tactics for Tight Times Program is supported by Dairy Australia through Murray Dairy as well as contribution from local service providers and farmers Event dates and venues will be advertised via Murray Dairy website, local media and the fortnightly eNews.

For information on the events above please contact Murray Dairy on: 5833 5312, admin@murraydairy.com.au or visit www.murraydairy.com.au

46

OCTOBER 2016

You are invited to Australia’s ...

International Dairy Week

15 to 19 January 2017, Tatura Park, Tatura, Victoria A good place to do business and a good place to socialise.

a u s t r a l i a

Proudly Supported By

Wanting to be involved?

Field Day Sites, Sponsorship & Promotional Packages, Seminar & Workshop opportunities are now available for dairy businesses wishing to exhibit at IDW 2017.

Contact Robyn Barber on 0418 656 082 or info@internationaldairyweek.com.au to discuss your involvement in Australia’s International Dairy Week.