PAGE 2 - “SOUTH COAST FARMER”, February 28, 2012
How now Dowel
By Simone Short THE oldest organisation of its kind in Australia, the South Gippsland Jersey Breeders Club, is gearing up to celebrate its centenary in May this year. Over the past few weeks, Jersey stud farmers Colin and Jenny Dowel of Korumburra have been going back through countless boxes of documents, preparing a booklet on the history of the club; however when looking at 100 years of history of Jersey farms in South Gippsland, it’s hard to look past their own family. While they haven’t quite reached the big milestone themselves, the Dowel family are the oldest, continuous members of the club, and have been farming Jersey cattle for more than 80 years. Colin’s grandfather Henry Dowel first took over the Inverell Jersey Stud at Jumbunna in 1929, with around 30 or 40 cows milked by hand every day. “The kids used to ride their horses from the house to the shed and milk four or five cows each, before riding their horses to school in Moyarra; then they’d ride their horses back to the shed again after school and milk a few cows each,” Colin said. Farming has always been a family business; Colin and Jenny’s sons, Mark, Stuart
and Wesley are the fourth generation to grow up with dairying. Colin’s father Wal Dowel eventually took over the farm, but during a trip to New Zealand touring around farms he realised the steep slopes similar to those of his Jumbunna farm were better suited for beef farming, and moved Inverell down the road to Korumburra. In 1956, they moved to what Colin described as a “very run down” farm: 57 acres on Whitelaw Road. The family still has a video his mother Alys Dowel filmed on moving day; a truck packed high with all their belongings, footage of the original house and shed on the property, and progress of the clean-up, including the discovery of a wooden-wheeled car dumped in the dam. In fact, the property is filled with local history; one of the Dowels’ dams was the original Korumburra swimming pool, the diving board now absent from the grassy banks. The farm continuously grew over time, with Colin’s father purchasing another 74 acres in 1970, and other additions over the years have resulted in the farm reaching the 520 acres it is today, with around 365 cows. Although beginning full-time on the farm in 1968, you could say Colin has been working in dairying his whole life and has witnessed a number of major changes in the industry. Colin said when milking machines were
first introduced in the 1940s, his grandfather saw the importance in maintaining traditional methods. “In the winter time, he’d hang the machines up and make the kids milk,” he said. “Milking by hand was hard work and he didn’t want them to lose any of their skills in case something happened to the machines and they had to go back to the old ways.” During Colin’s time, the farm has had a number of milking sheds, all altering the way the daily milking is done. A four double up back out shed meant it only took two hours to milk around 100 cows, and in the 1970s, the construction of a 12 unit angle park step up shed increased their capability to 160 cows in the same time. Colin said in the late 1980s, they decided to cease washing cows before milking, which also cut down the time it took to get the job done. “That was a big change,” he said. “It was just common practice, to wash all the cows before you milked them, but then a couple of people stopped doing it and found it didn’t make any difference, so we all stopped.” In 1994, the Dowels upgraded to a 40 unit rotary dairy, enabling them to milk around 360 cows in an hour-and-a-half, and they continue to upgrade; the addition of automatic feeding and drafting, and electronic identification has
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Jersey cow? continued to make the process easier. From the days of a ‘run down farm’ to now, a number of other changes have been made around the farm; fences have changed from six barbed wire strands to a single electric one, and tracks have been installed inbetween all the paddocks. So why choose Jerseys? In the Dowel family’s 83 years of farming, they have never run any other breed of cattle. “I was born into it,” Colin laughed. “But we like Jerseys for their ease of calving; feed conversions efficiency; they’re environmentally sustainable and cause less pugging; and less wear and tear on the paddocks.” Having hand reared their cattle, the Dowels Jerseys are also well natured and curious creatures. While taking photos in the paddock, they did not hesitate in approaching the family just to see what all the commotion was about. In sorting through the archives of the club, the Dowels have come across a number of sale programs featuring advertising for the breed, and Colin said one ad in particular sums up their choice to run Jerseys plain and simple. “If you think, you will buy Jerseys,” he laughed. But the breed is becoming more and more popular and increasing in numbers across the region. After 45 years of full-time farming, Colin still milks morning and night, and when asked how much longer he has until retirement, he said he has no plans to give it up anytime soon. “We’ll wait and see,” he said. Mark has recently begun working alongside his father on the farm, and Colin said he would love to see the stud continue on in the family name. “While growing up, all the boys have been involved in the farm, but we don’t want to put pressure on any of them,” he said. “All of them have worked as apprentices at some stage and have skills to bring back if they choose to.”
History in Jerseys: Colin and Jenny Dowel, with sons Wesley, Mark and Stuart on their farm, Inverell Jersey Stud in Korumburra. The Dowel family has been involved in Jersey farming for more than 80 years.
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Jersey cow? continued to make the process easier. From the days of a ‘run down farm’ to now, a number of other changes have been made around the farm; fences have changed from six barbed wire strands to a single electric one, and tracks have been installed inbetween all the paddocks. So why choose Jerseys? In the Dowel family’s 83 years of farming, they have never run any other breed of cattle. “I was born into it,” Colin laughed. “But we like Jerseys for their ease of calving; feed conversions efficiency; they’re environmentally sustainable and cause less pugging; and less wear and tear on the paddocks.” Having hand reared their cattle, the Dowels Jerseys are also well natured and curious creatures. While taking photos in the paddock, they did not hesitate in approaching the family just to see what all the commotion was about. In sorting through the archives of the club, the Dowels have come across a number of sale programs featuring advertising for the breed, and Colin said one ad in particular sums up their choice to run Jerseys plain and simple. “If you think, you will buy Jerseys,” he laughed. But the breed is becoming more and more popular and increasing in numbers across the region. After 45 years of full-time farming, Colin still milks morning and night, and when asked how much longer he has until retirement, he said he has no plans to give it up anytime soon. “We’ll wait and see,” he said. Mark has recently begun working alongside his father on the farm, and Colin said he would love to see the stud continue on in the family name. “While growing up, all the boys have been involved in the farm, but we don’t want to put pressure on any of them,” he said. “All of them have worked as apprentices at some stage and have skills to bring back if they choose to.”
History in Jerseys: Colin and Jenny Dowel, with sons Wesley, Mark and Stuart on their farm, Inverell Jersey Stud in Korumburra. The Dowel family has been involved in Jersey farming for more than 80 years.
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Standing ground: an alpaca deters foxes from the flock.
Pleasing yield: Wiltipols can be crossed with wool breed ewes to achieve hybrid vigour.
Fertile By Brad Lester IN THE hilly country of Dollar, Colin Trudgen and Sally Ruljancich reckon they are on to a good thing. The couple breeds Wiltipol sheep – a cross between Wiltshire Horn and Poll Dorset sheep – and could not be happier with the results just three years in. “This type of sheep is more profitable than cows,” Colin said. “We chose them because they are fertile. They normally have twins and often triplets, and occasionally quads. “We were thinking about what we could do with 81 acres. We just wanted to get something that was as profitable as it could be.” The large framed breed tends to lamb easily; Colin has only had to pull three lambs in three years. Ewes are quite protective of lambs, standing over them when foxes sneak about, leading to a lamb loss rate of about 10 -15 per cent of lambs to foxes. To reduce the risk, Colin and Sally run an alpaca with the flock to deter foxes. As a meat variety of sheep, the wool falls off Wiltipols’ backs, saving the effort and expense of shearing, and the need to build a shearing shed. “That means you can start getting returns straight away and you get a decent flock going in a few years,” Colin said. “We started with 36 ewes a few years ago and have got 120 now, and we’re aiming for about 300.” Given the wool is worthless anyway, Colin does not mind. “It just rots back in to the ground which is good because it’s more organic
matter in the soil,” he said. Wiltipol rams can be used over wool breed ewes to produce fast growing fat lambs where hybrid vigour is achieved. With a stocking rate of about five per acre, Wiltipols are suitable for smaller land-holders as well as farmers with large properties, particularly on hill country where their small hooves have less impact on the ground than cattle. “In terms of cattle versus sheep in the hills, sheep do not cause so much erosion on the slopes whereas the cows tend to put the contours in. When you have sheep in the paddock for a certain while, the contours tend to flatten out,” Colin said. Wiltipols convert feed to meat efficiently, even in harsher environments such as around Broken Hill in New South Wales where feed is minimal. “They always go for the good stuff first and they eat down the poor grass then. It helps with the paddock rotation and we have good growth here anyway,” Colin said. Typical wet South Gippsland winters tend to lead to issues with footrot, however as the Wiltipols are less susceptible to this, alleviating the need to bathe their feet and for the chemicals associated with doing so. “You are looking at an animal that virtually needs no maintenance. You have to trim their toenails once a year but apart from that, there is no maintenance. They are quite docile to handle in the yards,” Colin said. Colin and Sally are selling breeding ewes for the first time this year, after selling out of rams quickly last year. Wethers are typically sold at six to 10-months-old at VLE Leongatha.
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Satisfying results: Wiltipols’ high fertility rate has reassured Colin Trudgen that he chose the right breed.
Wiltipols guarantee returns To be classified as Wiltipols, the sheep have to be about 98 per cent Wiltshire Horn blood. They were originally bred using a Poll Dorset and other breeds and crossed back over the Wiltshire to breed out the horns. “We try to cull out the ones that
are not up to scratch,” Colin said. “We plan to put a different ram over the Wiltipol ewes, maybe a Dorper ram, or another British meat breed.” The breed returns pleasing meat prices but typically lower prices for skins compared to wool sheep, however Colin believes their leather
Makes sense: Wiltipol sheep drop their wool, saving the time and expense associated with shearing.
is still of a high quality, given they are thick skinned to compensate for the lack of wool. “The meat is so good and attracts a good price from the butchers. The chops are so tasty and geez they make a good roast,” he said. Sally added: “It tastes succulent
and sweet because they have a nice covering of fat.” Raised on a hobby farm at Ballarat, Colin was exposed to sheep and cows, and gained further experience working as a rouseabout in shearing sheds during the school holidays. He now combines sheep breeding
with milking and teaching at Fish Creek Primary School, while Sally is a researcher at The University of Melbourne. Anyone wishing to find out more or enquire about sales, can phone Colin on 0414 912 137 or email colintrudgen@hotmail.com
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Small margins increase breeding By Simone Short THE beef industry in South Gippsland is changing, with more farmers choosing to breed cattle rather than buy.
Cattle demand to change: stock agent from Landmark in Leongatha, Terry Ginnane, believes farmers choosing to breed cattle rather than buy may cause over supply in the future, as the demand for cattle decreases.
Local stock agents have reported the high Australian dollar has been affecting sale prices, and causing farmers to receive increasingly smaller margins. James Kyle from Elders in Leongatha said there hasn’t been the margin in trading, especially in South Gippsland. “Predominantly South Gippsland is a trading area. In previous years, the money hasn’t been there to run a cow and a calf for a whole year, and then sell your calf and get $500 or $600 for it,” he said. “For what it costs to run that cow, there hasn’t been a margin in it for them, but now when we see that steer calves are making $750 to $800 straight off the cow when they’re only 320 or 330kg, well that’s a huge profit for the breeder.” James said the economic climate over the past few years has been ideal for
Interesting time for the cattle market: sellers and buyers scour the sale yards at Koonwarra. Margins not worth the work: James Kyle, a stock agent for Elders in Leongatha, said the margin for farmers buying cattle to fatten is too low, with many turning to breeding as a result.
breeding your own cattle, whereas there hasn’t been a good margin for farmers having to spend up to $800 on a steer calf, keep it for 18 months and then hope to get $1100 for it at sales. “In the last couple of years, especially locally, it’s been a big hit for the breeder and not so much for the trader,” he said. Terry Ginnane from Landmark in Leongatha said less and less people are buying cattle to fatten, and the fact more people are going into breeding and selling is bound to cause over supply in the future. “At the moment with the Australian dollar that high, it’s really affecting our sale price. That’s why a lot of people have swung over from buying cattle to breeding cattle because the margins have been too tight over the last few years and we’re not getting enough for the fat cattle when we sell them,” he said. “It’s starting to swing around; there’s going to be at some stage, if people move out of fattening cattle and go into breeding, there are going to be too many breeders for the amount of people buying.” With a fantastic season right across Australia in the past 12 to 18 months leaving farmers with plenty of feed, Terry said a lot of cattle have been “snapped up” because there’s been big demand for them. “Over the late spring and early summer, there were a lot of cattle brought back down into South Gippsland,” he said. “At the Western District sales early in the year, and that’s the biggest run of store calves for the whole year, I purchased over 2000 cattle in two weeks; that’s probably more than usual.” The chances of more good seasons to come are low however, and Terry said it will be interesting to see what happens when there’s less demand for the store cattle than in the current climate. “It will be interesting to see what happens when parts of Australia don’t have the same amount of feed, because it’s unusual for
them to have this amount; there will be seasons where they won’t be able to handle that number of cattle,” he said. “Eventually the supply of these calves, due to everyone going into breeding will get too high.” James suspects low margins are not the only reason farmers are choosing breeding over buying in the region. “If you’re running cows, it’s a lot more work than breeding and the average age of the farmer in South Gippsland is not getting any younger, and there are not that many young people in the industry on percentage basis,” he said. “You start to wonder what’s going to happen in the next five or six years as to where you’re business is going to come from, because some of the farmers don’t have family members that want to take it on.” James said buying a large property upfront in today’s market is also difficult. “Unless you’ve got a million dollars to go and buy 300 or 400 acres, and then you’ve actually got to be able to make a return off it, it’s very hard,” he said. “Now days you don’t see many young blokes going out and buying 500 or 600 acres and going into beef cattle because the margins just aren’t in it. By the time you pay interest and try and make a dollar, it’s just too hard.” James said while the only younger generation farmers coming into the beef business are ones on properties passed down through the generations, such as a family farm, some older dairy farmers are converting to beef, but it still isn’t a simple lifestyle. “Sometimes you see a lot of old dairy farms go into beef too, but they’ve got to realise they don’t have that income coming in every week,” he said. “They might only sell once a year and if you only make $200 or $300 a head, you’ve got to be turning over a fair few head to be actually making a dollar. It’s very hard from that point of view for them.”
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Carbon tax to lift costs By Jacob de Kunder THE Victorian Farmers Federation (VFF) has said it isn’t surprised by findings from the Australian Bureau of Agriculture Research and Science (ABARES) about the impact of carbon tax on agriculture. ABARES has found that the carbon tax will increase input costs for farmers and reduce farms’ production value. VFF president Andrew Broad said the research is further proof the carbon tax is going to hit farms, farmers and ultimately, their communities. “The carbon tax will impact farm profitability and reduce on-farm productivity investment,” Mr Broad said. “It will cost farmers directly through electricity use, it will increase processors’ costs and in 2014 it will increase transportation costs. “The research shows that dairy will be significantly affected. It’s estimated that on average, each dairy operation will have up to $4580 in increased costs in the second year of the carbon tax.”
The VFF has always said the carbon tax will hurt farms and not deliver on promises. “The carbon tax will increase electricity prices by 9.5 per cent and in 2014, fuel will increase by 5.1 per cent. Food production and processing are often large electricity and fuel users so this will affect all farmers,” Mr Broad said. “Farmers do not have the ability to pass on increases in input costs. In fact, the research acknowledges that some processors’ costs will even be passed back to the farmer. “Farmers operate on very tight margins and any additional costs are felt immediately.” Local farmers are in the same state of mind, said central councillor for the United Dairy Farmers of Victoria and Leongatha South dairy farmer, Max Jelbart. “Our biggest cost is going to be on our inputs,” he said. “We will cop the tax on all the electricity, fuel and freight in and out of the farms. This will especially affect farmers living in remote areas.” Trading in international markets is going to be tough for the industry once the carbon tax is in place. “There is also no compensation for dairy being a trade exposed industry as there is for many other similar industries,” Mr Jelbart said.
New product: Chris and Cameron Brown from Brown’s Stockfeeds in Leongatha have new compact bales available.
Convenient bales available at Brown’s THE team at Brown’s Stockfeeds in Leongatha now have compact bales available. The small 20kg bales are easy to handle and have the convenience of fitting in the car boot. Lucerne, clover and straw compact bales are available. “They come either per bale or by the
36 bale pallet which is wrapped for storage and convenience,” manager Chris Brown said. “We’re still selling the big bales as well but these just give people another option.” Browns do deliveries of all kinds of feeds, so call them today or drop in to their Leongatha office on Geary Road for some friendly service and advice.
Ripple effect: the carbon tax will increase transportation costs for the agricultural sector, according to the Victorian Farmers Federation. “Even though farms are exempt from a carbon tax until 2015 in regards to the gas produced on site, we’re going to get caught up in all our inputs. Farmers are the only people that buy on a retail market and sell on a wholesale market. “The government has been saying that agriculture is exempt but we’re not exempt.”
ABARES’ modelling showed that where 100 per cent of processors’ costs were passed back onto farmers, beef producers faced 4.7 times the costs compared to a scenario where no processor costs were passed back to the farmer. “The VFF has never supported this tax and we will urge the Federal Government to rethink this damaging policy,” Mr Broad said.
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Farmer Tim to reinvent By Isaac McCallum AS Darryl Kerrigan would say, Tim Cashin is an “ideas man”. The Leongatha South farmer has a knack of developing instruments to suit his day to day needs on the farm. His greatest invention so far has to be the pasture wheel – a diagram that helps him keep track of how long since his cattle have grazed in a certain paddock. With 240 cows and 40 paddocks across 400 acres, it can sometimes be tough keeping up with the rotations, so Tim decided to make life easier. “The idea is roughly based on the Pasture for Profit peg system, but it’s just a bit more visual,” he said. “Instead of everything just being on a line, you can see the days since the cows have been in the paddock around the outside of a wheel.” As each day ticks over, Tim gives his wheel a turn. “You’ll know where your paddocks are – you might be on a 24 day round, you’ll pull the pin out at 24 and put it on to today,” he said. “It is a pretty basic system, but it’s just a really easy way of keeping a visual record of where you’re at.”
Tim thought of the idea while talking to a vet. He discovered that in the vet’s native town in South Africa, a wheel system was used for treating cows before computers came along. “I thought it was a nice, simple way to keep track without having to go and boot up a computer. Not everyone likes using computers,” Tim said. And while he’s yet to put a patent on the wheel idea, he did flirt with a creative name. “Maybe it could be the Cash-In Wheel, so people know when to cash in,” he said with a laugh. Tim admits that he hasn’t reinvented the wheel (pardon the pun), but rather made the wheel more suitable for him. He has done the same with his feed bins. Rather than taking two out into the paddock separately he has joined them together, halving the amount of trips. “It’s just bits and pieces like that really, whatever makes the job easier,” he said. Tim says networking has been a huge part of his idea creation. He quite often networks in discussion groups, learning how to do things differently and trying them out at home.
“I spoke at a wet conditions day in October recently, and I spoke about things we have here like the concrete causeways that come off the cattle track,” Tim said. “Instead of a pipe, water runs over concrete, so you don’t need to worry about pipes getting blocked.” “It works really well and a few people reckon they might use that in the future. I’m not the only one with thoughts; plenty of people have ideas.” Tim has spent plenty of time on the farm, after five years as a field officer for Murray Goulburn in Koroit. He grew up on the family farm and attended Dookie College in Shepparton before landing the field officer gig. In 2006 he took over the farm from his brother, who was the third generation, with Cashins owning the land since 1948. He made the move with wife Grit, and children Jack (three) and Charlotte (four-and-a-half). “We decided to take over from my brother because it seemed like a good opportunity. We saw it as much as a business decision as anything,” Tim said. “We’ve had a couple of rough years. It’s basically the wet conditions. We’re a very wet farm so
See here, son: Jack gets a ride on dad Tim Cashin’s shoulders as they look over the cattle.
Greater efficiency: rotating cows is easier for Tim Cashin since he invented his pasture wheel.
Another simple idea: Tim Cashin has joined his feed bins together, meaning one trip to paddocks and back instead of two.
“SOUTH COAST FARMER”, February 28, 2012 - PAGE 9
has learnt the wheel
Enjoying the lifestyle: Tim Cashin on the farm with son Jack and daughter Charlotte. we’ve really struggled. “Previous to that, the dry years were really suited to this farm. We did really well.” But Tim remains positive about the outlook of the dairy industry. “You can’t do that much about it. You’ve just got to move forward with some ideas to minimise pasture damage and things like that,” he said.
“There are great opportunities in the dairy farm. I think a lot of older people talk it down a heap, but the industry has been fairly good to every one of them. “Although you’re cash poor as dairy farmers, you’re generally asset rich.” The Cashins are now waiting in anticipation for the announcement of next year’s milk price.
The Pasture Wheel: Tim Cashin and daughter Charlotte with Tim’s pasture wheel, an innovative idea that helps him keep track of pasture rotations.
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World chases Aussie cattle By Jacob de Kunder WITH over 50 years of cattle breeding experience, Rob Calder from Wandilla Holsteins Australia definitely knows what he’s doing when it comes to elite cattle. The Leongatha North stud and dairy farm has produced some highclass cattle over the years, as well as taking top price at this year’s International Dairy Week. Wandilla Goldwyn Amelie IV earned $28,000 when it went under the hammer at the Semex Spectacular Sale back in January and was the feather in the cap for the stud. Rob chooses to use Canadian and American bloodlines to breed with and has for over 40 years now. “They’re the bloodlines that dominate the breed around the world and all the progressive countries are using their bloodlines, even the Australian bred bulls are basically Canadian bred,” he said. “I’ve been over there a couple of time and seen the way they farm and it’s totally different to what we do. Everything is housed over there while everything over here is in the paddock. “The sort of cow that they’re breeding is what the world wants.” Rob imported live cattle from Canada 15 years ago and has now made roughly $15,000 from their progeny. The heifer Rob sold at International Dairy Week for $28,000 was an em-
bryo he bought from Canada and he also has four full sisters to her. “It’s an ongoing thing,” he said. “You just keep buying and breeding. There’s an old saying in this job: ‘You breed, you feed and then you weed’. “It’s a never ending circle, breeding. We’re planning what we’re doing four years ahead now.” According to Rob, the Australian Holstein exporting market has taken
off over the past few years. “There’s an enormous trade leaving Australia now. That’s basically come around because they’ve changed the name from Friesian to Holstein,” he said. “It was recognised because most of the progressive breeders in Australia have been using American and Canadian bloodlines and virtually breeding pure Holsteins, so we can offer bloodlines now that are similar to what’s
Above, Keen breeder: Rob Calder from Wandilla Holsteins has 50 years of cattle breeding experience.
Right, From the start: Rob Calder has bred and raised some excellent high-class cattle in the past.
available in America and Canada. “With Blue Tongue and Mad Cow Disease shutting down some markets overseas, buyers started looking elswhere. They have thought ‘Australia is selling the same product so we’ll go there’.” Rob said the Holstein trade has developed into an enormous trade now, with thousands of cattle leaving Australia to go overseas. “It’s basically come from just a
name change. It used to be Friesians, then became Holstein Friesian, then dropped the Friesian and now they are just called Holsteins,” he said. “Previously other countries said ‘Oh, we won’t buy from Australia because they only sell Friesians’, but now they are Holsteins, they buy them. “It’s the same article, but it’s amazing what a name can change.” Rob has sold cattle as far as Queensland, Western Australia, and Tasmania as well as overseas, including China and Saudi Arabia through agent sales. Displaying elite cattle is becoming more of a national and international event. “We were pretty successful at local shows for around 30 years or so when we were showing, but shows are folding up everywhere now. Leongatha’s gone now.” “We sort of established our name through the shows. We used to show at Melbourne and we used to do probably 15 shows a year, Bairnsdale right through to Berwick and the Melbourne show. We’ve stopped going to Melbourne once dairy week started.” International Dairy Week is the show for cattle in Australia now according to Rob. “That’s where all the international visitors come to from everywhere. Lots of agents are there from all over the world, from UK, Canada, Asia, Europe and the US,” he said. “If you want to come to Australia to see cattle you come to dairy week. It’s recognised world-wide and most of the successful studs in Australia show at dairy week.”
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Changing perceptions, blog by blog By Matt Dunn
Family farming: Marian McDonald with son Alex, 8 months. The youngster appears in many of Marian’s blogs and photos.
FOR Jack River dairy farmer Marian McDonald, cows and computers go together. The internet blogger is known in cyberspace as ‘Milk Maid Marian’ and shares with her readers an almost daily update of life on the farm. It’s a fascinating insight for many, especially those who have little idea about what it means to make a living from the land. Although there is potential to reach people from across the globe, not to mention tapping into a wealth of ideas, Marian said few other farmers were embracing social media. “What I really would like to do is encourage more farmers to have a go. It doesn’t have to be the whole blog thing. It could just be getting on Twitter now and again or commenting on other people’s blogs,” she said. “I think we need to go where the conversation is, and it’s online increasingly. But there really aren’t many dairy farmers doing it at the moment.” In fact, Marian says, the dairy farmers she knows on Twitter can be counted on one hand, although “there are so many people having discussions about us on Twitter”. “On one hand it’s scary and on the other hand it’s this incredible opportunity. The mainstream media is generally not interested in us unless we’ve got something to whinge about, like a jolly great drought,” she said. Marian believes there is a lack of understanding in the general community about the role of the dairy industry, not to mention a fair bit of misinformation getting around. “Even I find it a bit confusing sometimes when people ask how much we get paid for a litre of milk.
It varies from month to month and the volatility of the market from year to year is astounding,” she said. “People say, ‘Well, you’re jumping up and down about milk being $1 a litre, how much do you get?’ Without going into this incredibly detailed explanation about incentives, butter fat versus protein, payment plans...no wonder people get confused.” Marian rejects the idea she is offering a uniquely female perspective on farming, though her blog entries and photographs often feature her family: husband Wayne Johnson, young daughter Zoe and baby Alex. “I write about the impact farming has on the family. Because I take Alex and Zoe on the farm almost everywhere I go, of course they get a mention as well – with Zoe starring
in a lot of the photos,” Marian said. “But the last thing I want to be labelled as is a woman in agriculture. I don’t like the label, because as soon as you talk about women in agriculture you think about jams, patchwork quilts and crocheting. “This blog is a blog about the family farm and the family farms take in whole families. It’s not just about the person who is doing the milking; it’s about everyone else as well.” In recent weeks, Marian fronted an Australian Dairy Conference ‘social media workshop,’ talking to people in the industry about the benefits of blogging, tweeting and accessing Facebook. As she wrote in her blog prior to the workshop: “Farmers typically only appear in the media during drought, fire, flood, plague…or when a horrific
case of animal abuse is uncovered. It’s hardly surprising then, that we are considered whingers and, in turn, city folk (including policy-makers) have “no idea”. No longer. The rise of a new, grassroots media (Twitter, blogs and Facebook) means we can tell our own stories. And what has amazed me is just how many ordinary Australians want to hear them.” She wants people to know that “we are human beings, like everyone else”. “We’re not a faceless industry that wants to rip off consumers or beat animals. We’re people who love what we do and it’s the only reason we’re here. We’re not going to make a squillion being dairy farmers; we do it for the love of it,” she said. Perceptions may change slowly, but for Marian, it’s something she
is keen to achieve – one blog at a time. www.milkmaidmarian. com
PAGE 12 - “SOUTH COAST FARMER”, February 28, 2012
Far from the average farm By Deb Lucas WULGUNGGO Ngalu Learning Centre is not a typical farm. In fact, some may say it is not a farm at all. However when one thinks of farming, they think of nurturing the land and growing crops, and that is exactly what they do at Wulgunggo, a centre at Won Wron for young indigenous males seeking help returning to a law abiding life. The group is now expanding into native trees. In the next few months they will have up to 7000 native seedlings ready for planting by a Coast Care group. Wulgunggo Ngalu Learning Centre is situated at Won Wron on a former prison site. It was purpose built by Corrections Victoria to help young indigenous male currently serving work orders to reconnect with their indigenous roots and the broader community. In the three years it has been opened, the centre has received world acclaim for its programs and management of its participants. Manager Shaun Braybrook has employed highly skilled staff to engage the young men so they will have skills to help them integrate into their chosen communities when they leave the facility. One such program includes food production and tree growing. Shane Charles is in charge of the project that has seen participants build two hot houses and numerous raised garden beds. “We have around half an acre here to work with,” he said. “The program is in its infancy but we are excited about the potential of this project and the skills it will give the participants. Each Tuesday, TAFE trainers come to the centre, as the participants are currently undertaking a Certificate II in conservation and land management. Mr Charles hopes the current education program will be just the start of things to come. “We want to take to this project to a whole new level,” he said.
“Currently we are growing our own produce, our vegies and fruit, which is all part of our program to encourage healthy eating, healthy living ideals.” “Another component of the project includes the bush tucker program. We want to grow that and take it out to the primary schools and develop gardens with them.” Mr Charles is most excited about a new partnership the centre has formed with local Coast Care and Landcare projects.
“The new project involves the nurturing of 6 - 7000 native tree seedlings for a Coast Care beautification project,” he said “For this project, Coast Care has provided the seeds, we will plant them out in trays and then raise them in the hot houses. “When they are ready, they will be planted out into set projects by the Landcare and Coast Care groups. The first project is the Albert River beautification project.” Within the conservation and land manage-
ment course, one component taught boys about seed gathering and propagation. “They have already succeeded in producing some of the plants here in the garden and we hope that in the future they will be able to grow native trees using this method,” Mr Charles said. Participants have also been learning to grow vegetables and the boys have been busy harvesting the fruits of their labor. Pumpkins, tomatoes, silverbeet, beetroot, carrots, and parsnips are plentiful in the garden.
Planting out: Shane Charles, project manager at Wulgunggo Ngalu, will oversee the raising of up to 7000 native trees for a local Coast Care project.