Dairy News Australia - December 2020 - With Gippsland Region

DECEMBER, 2020 ISSUE 122

GIPPSLAND REGION

MIXING THINGS UP With two farms on the go this isn’t your usual dairy farm business model.

PAGE 10.

DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA DECEMBER 2020

2 // GIPPSLAND REGION

Chair’s message

Lessons learned from unusual year IT HAS been a busy year with plenty happening

over the past 12 months.

A solid milk price and good autumn rains meant many farmers were able to finish off the 2019-20 financial year with fodder in reserve and cash in the bank, giving us options moving forward.

COVID-19 has reinforced that all businesses, governments and households need to have well thought-out financial plans in place that identify key risks and how to deal with them.

The restrictions imposed by COVID-19 meant that GippsDairy was not able to run face-to-face group gatherings and extension activities and had to adapt to facilitate many online workshops and webinars.

Among the most popular online workshops offered this year has been Farm Business Fundamentals, a course that continues to build on 1150 litre capacity the financials skills required in running a modern business.

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COVID-19 has forced everyone to rethink Participants learn how to focus on what’s how we communicate and learn. important and identify the specific actions Our regional extension officers have been needed. Risks to the businesses are identified able to link together with extension officers and strategies to manage uncertainty are from across the country to design new content discussed. and ways of presenting.

GippsDairy will be running Our Farm The resulting webinars have meant farmers Our Plan workshops right across Gippsland have not had to worry about the distance and can and I encourage every farmer to think about log-in and receive timely and relevant informa- completing this course. tion about the specific topics of their interest.

More details and locations of courses will be Missing a webinar live is not a problem, as a advertised through the many media outlets in replay is usually available to watch afterwards. the coming months.

Another exciting service that was initiIf you have any questions or need advice, ated by Dairy Australia this year has been Our don’t hesitate to get in touch by emailing info@ Farm Our Plan, a holistic approach to farm gippsdairy.com.au or calling 5624 3900. business planning.

I wish everyone well for the festive The course is designed for all partners of season and hope for a more ‘life as normal’ the business to be actively involved. It pro- year in 2021!

All the best. vides a process that helps everyone to outline • values 890and litre capacity Grant Williams, their vision, define their clarify longGippsDairy chair term goals.

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GIPPSLAND REGION // 3

Kyella McKenna completed her VCE while working on dairy farms.

Dairy farm gap year on offer to school leavers SCHOOL LEAVERS are being offered an

opportunity to gain hands-on, paid farm work at local dairy farms in 2021.

Called the Dairy Gap Year Program and run by Dairy Australia, it matches interested people with 12 months’ paid work on Victorian dairy farms.

To be eligible students must have a driver’s licence and be prepared to enrol in a Certificate in Agriculture while undertaking their gap year.

Farms taking on school leavers were sourced

by Dairy Australia for their strong HR policies and commitment to providing “positive dairy experiences”.

Kyella McKenna has been working on dairy farms since she was 15 years old, spending two years working part-time while completing her final schooling years before jumping into fulltime work.

“I’d recommend working in the industry to all young people. It is hard work, but you have fun, work hard and best of all make money,” Miss McKenna said.

“I believe anyone can do what I have done.

I don’t have a farming background, but took an interest in it and I’m now doing something I love.”

Now 19, Ms McKenna said it was great to take part in the various aspects of working on a dairy farm, such as milking, working with the machinery and tractor work.

“I have been fortunate enough after finishing school to take the steps in following an agriculture career, which will lead me to a successful career in the dairy industry,” Miss McKenna said.

“The most enjoyable parts of working onfarm for me are working with animals day-today, the rearing of calves as well as animal health and nutrition.”

KEEPING PASE WITH EXPORTS Food & Fibre Gippsland Inc has been awarded a $200,000 government grant as part of the Package Assisting Small Exporters program aimed at small to medium producers to help in overcoming overseas export market access barriers.

The federal investment is driving export opportunities for farmers in Victoria’s Gippsland region by helping target new supply chains and marketing channels.

Federal Agriculture Minister David Littleproud said the project focused on sharing export market information and experiences, and the PASE program was an important component in developing foundations to help industry move towards its $100 billion in farm gate value by the 2030 target.

“The aim is for farmers in this major agricultural region of Australia to increase their participation through applying market knowledge, selecting suitable supply chains and understanding product sustainability,” Mr Littleproud said.

Federal Member for Gippsland Darren Chester said the Federal Government was helping to open access and reduce barriers to overseas markets and drive profits back through the farm gate to local producers and growers, as agriculture was one of the driving forces of Gippsland’s economy.

“Food & Fibre Gippsland’s great program will target the region’s diverse range of smaller agricultural exporting businesses which are renowned for their world-class, clean, green produce,”

Mr Chester said.

“This support for our small to medium exporters to establish or expand their customer base overseas will help their businesses to grow, which supports local jobs and helps to strengthen our regional economy — and that’s good news for all Gippslanders.”

The grant is one of 21 projects funded under the PASE program extension.

The program was established in 2014–15 to improve market access for small exporters in the dairy, fish, eggs, grain, plant, horticulture, meat and animal product industries.

Dairy Australia is labelling the gap year a great experience, which can also help school leavers qualify for Youth Allowance (student) if their family’s income is prohibiting them from being eligible.

A person who earns at least $15,000 while working in agriculture may be considered independent and eligible for Youth Allowance or ABSTUDY. For more information, phone Murray Dairy’s Melva Tyson on 0439 667 425 or email melvat@murraydairy.com.au

DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA DECEMBER 2020

4 // GIPPSLAND REGION

Once-a-day milking delivers JEANETTE SEVERS

DAIRY FARMING is a family affair for Mick

and Paula Hughes, who milk once a day at Inverloch, in South Gippsland.

Mick and Paula have been milking their 500 Friesian-cross cows once a day for the past three seasons, finding it suits their business system as well as their lifestyle. “We changed over to once-a-day milking mostly for health and workforce reasons,�

Mick said. “Paula has rheumatoid arthritis, so once-aday milking helps with the workload when she has a flare-up. “We were also challenged with employees who wouldn’t comply with workplace policies and procedures.�

Son, Robbie, completed a dairy traineeship, is studying further and works part-time on the farm. Paula is responsible for calf rearing, helped by daughter, Jorja, who is at school.

Mick takes on the bulk of farm work, and employs a part-time milker for three days a week, and contractors for AI joining and during harvest season.

Joining by AI starts in November for the seasonal-calving closed herd.

Friesian mop-up bulls normally follow the AI program for the cows; although this year they are using British White bulls with the idea of raising some beef-cross calves. Jersey bulls are put in with the rising two-year-old heifers. Calving starts on August 10. “We use a synchronised program for the milking herd,� Mick said. “For the first fortnight of November, our time is swallowed up — we AI for 14 days. We aim to get a 90 per cent submission rate in that 14 days. “Then the bulls are in.�

They use New Zealand Friesian semen. “I like black and white cows, strong,

stocky-looking animals with moderate frames and good udders,� Mick said. “On a trip to New Zealand about six years ago, I saw some NZ Friesians and thought they’d suit our country and production system.�

Grass the staple diet Mick’s farming philosophy is to measure productivity return against grass production. “I’m very focused on pasture,� he said. “It’s the cheapest source of feed on the farm, and what’s the point of having a dairy farm if you don’t harvest grass?�

Inverloch has an average annual rainfall of 900 mm, exceeded this year with a wet spring and heavy falls of rain in October, after a very wet April.

The reliably high rainfall means the dryland farm, spread over mostly flat land, can rely heavily on grazing for production, which is how the family manages it. “We struggle with high rainfall,� Mick said. “This year, I’ve stopped reading the rain gauge. Some of the paddocks are horrendous. “It’s not the wettest year I’ve seen, but we’ve been flooded at least six times with water over paddocks this year. “The ground got so wet it’s been waterlogged.

The neighbours are all saying the same thing.�

The farm has grey loam soils, over clay, with some low-lying spots that are slow to drain.

The milking platform is 150 hectares, plus a 120 ha leased run-off farm used to grow-out heifers and harvest surplus fodder.

They rely on harvesting 1200 to 1800 tonnes of pit silage each year, along with wrapped bales.

Normal harvest season is from the end of September to the end of November. But this year, a wet spring created a grass shortage in mid-October, with lots of pugging in the paddocks, and pushed the start of harvest season to late November.

In late November, 950 tonnes of pasture silage was harvested. With no chance of getting

After one round of synchronised AI, British White bulls have gone in with the cows, rather than the usual choice of Friesian bulls, in a bid to raise some beef-cross calves.

machinery onto the waterlogged paddocks early in spring, Mick hired a helicopter to apply fertiliser in August and October, as well as gypsum and, in July, spray broadleaf herbicide across the entire farm. “We used a helicopter to spray broadleaf weeds last year and it was effective. “I measured the cost of doing it again, and applying fertiliser and gypsum the same way

this year, and the cost measured against pasture response and timing of application made it worthwhile.�

Silage is traditionally a summer and early autumn fodder supplement. It’s harvested as genuine surplus. “When it gets too high for the cows, I measure growth rates of the grass. “I’ll come to a paddock and if I have four

Paula and Mick Hughes have been milking their 500-head herd once a day for more than three years, and finds it suits what they want to achieve.

Silage was harvested late this year, yielding only 950 tonnes. The herd is normally fed up to 1200 tonnes.

DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA DECEMBER 2020

GIPPSLAND REGION // 5

paddocks that need grazing today, I’ll skip over three of them and harvest them. I measure leaf for growth.”

Paddocks are topped up by direct drilling a perennial rye-grass. Mick is reluctant to renovate a paddock, because after cultivating, it often takes until the following spring to dry out. Instead, he relies on fertiliser for production returns.

“We renovated a paddock this year and we can’t put any livestock on it this year, nor machinery to harvest.

“We do soil tests on four monitor paddocks on the farm, to work out what the requirements are. Different rates of urea are applied all year round, following the cows.

“Our philosophy is we want as much grass growing and going into the cow, as cheaply as possible, going into the vat.”

Grain is used to put condition on the cows and manipulate their cycles, at an average annual rate of 500 kg/cow, up to 1.2 tonne/cow if the return on investment is worthwhile.

“If grain is cheap and our milk price to grain price ratio is favourable, we’ll feed it in increased rates if we can get a return on it in the vat,” Mick said.

Calving pad paid off Calving was managed this year by using the new calving pad, near the dairy.

“It’s the best investment we’ve made on the farm,” Mick said.

“Our farm is a wet farm traditionally, and it’s our second year using it.

“Cows were on the calving pad and we didn’t have to worry about them being in the mud and recovering calves in those conditions.”

He looked at a few calving pads before organising the construction of one to comfortably accommodate 300 cows; or the entire herd if it’s necessary to spell paddocks.

“We could do with rain now, because the surface 50 mm is crusting over and the plants can’t draw moisture up.

“Fortunately, at the moment the warmer weather is helping to dry up the waterlogged soils. Two weeks ago, we couldn’t handle any rain.

“This time of year, it’s wet for only a couple of days, not weeks on end.”

The farm is roughly 1.6 ha paddocks, allocated on a 24-hour period.

“That’s been the most challenging part of moving to once-a-day milking,” Mick said.

“At the moment I’m grazing the herd on 6ha, to match growth rates and the amount of feed the cows require.”

The calving pad, recently installed, has seen a lot of use this year during the wet winter and spring.

Mick Hughes keeps the system as simple and streamlined as possible.

2422982 260mm W x 186mm H

DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA DECEMBER 2020

6 // GIPPSLAND REGION

Finding the right fit

JEANETTE SEVERS

LIFESTYLE, ANIMAL health and business

decisions led a dairy farming couple at Lardner to swap from twice-a-day to once-a-day milking.

Rob and Jenni Marshall have tried various business models during their dairy career.

They have employed apprentices and farm workers, they have worked as sole operators and used relief milkers and contractors, and they utilise a farm business consultant. They have employed an agistment manager for the day-by-day responsibilities of raising heifers to point-of-calving.

A contractor comes in to harvest the silage, because harvesting always coincides with calving and joining.

The management program is focused on utilising assets, relying on a pasture-based system, and reducing inputs and costs.

Lardner is a historically reliable heavy rainfall district, with 1000 mm of annual average rainfall. In most seasons, the district is well set up for dryland dairy farming.

The 121 ha Marshall dairy farm is on rolling land, with natural springs in some paddocks and a creek running through the flat country (although not available for irrigation).

The herd is milked in a 20-a-side herringbone

dairy.

Calving begins in late July and, with a joining period that incorporates three weeks of artificial insemination followed by mop-up bulls, goes through into September.

Rob and Jenni quickly transitioned to oncea-day milking in August 2019. Rob said milk pro-

“We sold a portion (66) of the herd off as freshly-calved cows at the end of October.

“We will chopper out another 40 as the herd comes off their peak.

“We’re back to 60 ha with just the home farm.

We look to have 270 cows being milked at our peak numbers, back to about 230 pre-Christmas.”

“We like milking and farming, but we wanted to make things easier for Jenni and myself” duction was at least the same as twice-a-day milking, with a better lifestyle for the couple.

“We like milking and farming, but we wanted to make things easier for Jenni and myself,” he said.

“It takes the pressure off constantly having to be on the farm, and gives us a bit more time for ourselves at the end of the day.

“We were tied to the farm 24/7, and milking once a day gives us free time.”

He said morning milking took 20 per cent longer, to ensure the cow was properly milked out.

“Last year we milked an extra 30 cows and maintained the farm’s production the same as twice a day. This year, we would be level pegging with last year.

They joined 70 heifers this year, and next year expect to sell the later-calving and aboutto-calve cows and heifers.

“If we can pick up another agistment opportunity, we’ll calve them down and then cull the herd; otherwise we’ll have to sell them as pointof-calvers,” Rob said.

Herd health and raised cell count Transitioning the herd to once-a-day milking was relatively easy. The lease on the outblock expired, so the Marshalls were looking to reduce milking herd numbers to make room to raise self-replacement heifers on the farm.

“As the freshly-calved cows came into the herd, we started milking them OAD,” Rob said.

“We did talk to other OAD farmers in 2018,

and we were a bit dubious about some of their stories about cell count.”

Cell count rose in a few milkers, which he attributes to buying in a dozen cows in-milk.

“They probably had mastitis when they arrived, and I think that’s what affected the herd.”

Cell count rose to over the 250,000 mark.

“I suppose our biggest problem was not putting enough teat spray on, before the cows left the dairy,” Rob said.

“The field staff did some testing and identified it wasn’t environmental.

“Then they took the milking with us and identified I was a little slack with applying the teat spray to the front quarters. Once we realised it was operator error, we remedied that.”

The Marshalls also altered their three-strikes policy to ‘two-strikes and you’re out’. Subsequently, they haven’t had a mastitis problem in 2020.

“We were in a happy position where a lease expired and we were reducing our numbers anyway, so that enabled us to cull those cows that persisted with mastitis,” Rob said.

“Overall, cell count is better. We’re milking 272 at the moment and 10 are dried-out.

“Our herd health has been very good. It has to be the best I’ve ever had it — a combination of OAD and a very good autumn.”

DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA DECEMBER 2020

GIPPSLAND REGION // 7

Rob Marshall purchases 80 tonne of barley hay (pictured) and 80 tonne of vetch hay to support his herd’s feeding regime throughout the year.

Grazing for production In late spring and over summer, the focus is on giving the herd the maximum opportunity to graze. To support this, they have six paddocks of Chico variety chicory, in its second year of growth.

Rob moves the cows onto fresh pasture or a chicory crop in the late afternoon, to encourage the herd to graze as much grass as possible.

“I think it does make a difference,” he said.

“They settle down in the afternoon but if you move them they have another feed, and about two hours later they settle down for the night.”

Fodder production extended over last summer, for a total harvest pre- and post-Christmas of 150 rolls of silage from the home farm and 500 rolls from the agistment property.

They also harvested 85 rolls of hay off the farm, and bought-in their usual 80 tonne of barley hay, purchased for the calving period.

Another 80 tonne of vetch is on order.

Now totally reliant on the farm for grazing and harvest, rather than the agistment block, Rob has increased and been a bit more vigilant about fertiliser application.

“We can push a little bit harder across the farm. We can apply more fertiliser.

“We got more benefit from concentrating fertiliser application on the lease block, when we had it.

“On the farm, there were corners we didn’t really concentrate on before, but all of the farm now needs to produce grass efficiently and effectively.”

The herd had some initial mastitis and cell count problems, but herd health has been excellent for the past year.

Feed intake is about trying to balance the cows’ diet and increase performance and improve condition He contracts a fertiliser company to broadcast three days ahead and four days behind the cows.

“At a rate of 150 kg of pasture booster which

breaks down to giving us 80 kg urea.

“We’re probably playing around with more potassium and phosphorous than previously we would have used.”

He is working with an agronomist to help

measure performance — grass growth, grazing pressure and bounce back post-grazing. Most of the paddocks are 2.4 ha.

“At this time of the year, the herd is consuming 3.2 kg/cow/day pasture, with 3 kg of barley grain/cow/day at milking.”

Feed intake is about trying to balance the cows’ diet and increase performance and improve condition, particularly around the

joining period ( just completed).

“We AI joined 252 cows in 22 days, without synchronising or PG, all natural,” Rob said.

“On the back of an exceptionally good autumn, our cows were in excellent condition, and that was an excellent outcome for us.

“The grain prices this year have also been favourable to making money out of feeding more grain.”

DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA DECEMBER 2020

8 // GIPPSLAND REGION

Scores are in for Focus Farm MATT HARMS

THE HIGHLY successful Yannathan Focus

Farm, Redan Partners, has finished, and it is time to review the results of the two-year Focus Farm process.

A final open day will be held at some stage in a post-COVID Gippsland, when groups can once again gather face-to-face.

The goals of this Focus Farm were set in the middle of 2018, at the commencement of this round. A quick review of these goals, and what outcomes were achieved, are summarised below.

Production Goal: Lifting production profitably, to one kilogram of milk solids per kilogram liveweight.

Outcome: The herd is a medium-size, crossbred herd, averaging 475 kg liveweight and this was verified by cattle sales dockets.

Production in 2018–19 was 470 kg MS/cow (100 per cent of liveweight) and in 2019–20 was 503 kg MS/cow (106 per cent of liveweight) — an excellent result.

Pasture Goal: Minimising imported feed and lifting pasture consumed from 7 tonne DM/ha in 2017– 18 to 8 tonne DM/ha in 2018–19 and 9 tonne DM/ ha in 2019–20.

Outcome: In 2018–19, pasture consumed was 8.2 tonne DM/ha or 3.8 t DM/cow, and in 2019–20 the pasture consumption was 11.3 tonne DM/ha (with about 2 tonne DM/ha of this in a carryover stack of silage) or 4.1 tonne DM/cow.

These results were achieved with about 1.2 tonne DM/cow pellets fed. An excellent result.

Calving Goal: Stay as a single, seasonal calving herd with no induction.

Outcome: The herd continues as a single spring-calving herd, using no calving induction, and for two years in a row has achieved an empty rate of around 12.5 per cent.

Equity Goal: Grow the equity in the business for the partners involved and ensure Redan is a financially standalone entity.

Outcome: The partners have had cash flow issues from time to time, particularly in year one when heifer rearing costs were high and Evan, Dean and Bec had relatively low shares of total equity.

But as their animals became a bigger portion of the milking herd, equity grew and this has allowed Dean and Bec to take on a lease farm in their own right using their herd of cows grown through Redan.

Evan is now a majority partner in Redan.

Capital Goal: To investigate and assess capital investment options on their merits and make informed decisions for the business going forward.

Outcome: No capital investments of significance took place during their time as a Focus Farm.

It is fair to say that the results achieved over the two-year Focus Farm process have been fantastic, and 2019–20 was a ‘cracker’ of a year.

The milk price was strong and season excellent, although it should not be forgotten that winter and early spring 2019 were poor and extremely wet.

KEY PHYSICALS

But equally, the results in 2018–19 were strong with a very high grain price and tough seasonal conditions (extremely dry summer and no autumn).

What are the key learnings from the two years of performance above?

Good levels of profitable production underpin strong financial performance.

Cost control, even when milk prices are strong, will help to generate strong profitability.

Fancy feeding and unnecessary inputs do not drive profit. Sticking to the basics and doing them well does drive profit.

Pasture consumption helps drive profitability.

The big picture settings of this farm business (cow type, stocking rate, calving date, feed inputs) match this farm and help drive profit.

A single, seasonal calving herd with the right cow type and strong fertility is profitable, is sustainable and can be maintained in our region.

2018/19

2019/20

Milking area

174

174

Cow numbers at peak

376

395

Production total litres kgMS

2,182,222 litres 176,617kgMS

2,441,690 litres 198,566kgMS

Production per cow kgMS Per kg liveweight

470 100%

503 106%

Production per effective ha

1015kgMS

1141kgMS

Pasture Consumed tDM/ha tDM/cow

8.2 (no carryover fodder) 3.8

11.3 (2tDM/ha or 350tDM in stack) 4.1

Grain fed (tDM/cow)

1.15

1.19

Fodder purchased (tDM/cow)

0.14

0.25

Total labour (FTE) ows/FTE kgMS/FTE

2.9 130 61,189

3.3 120 59,340

KEY FINANCIALS

2018/19

2019/20

Milk price paid $/kgMS

$6.12

$6.95

Herd costs ($/kgMS)

$0.77

$0.90

Shed costs ($/kgMS)

$0.15

$0.10

Feed Costs ($/kgMS)

$2.80

$2.70

Cash overheads ($/kgMS) incl paid labour

$1.32

$1.40

Total labour cost (paid and imputed) $/kgMS $/cow

$1.28 $601

$1.27 $638

Farm Working Expenses ($.kgMS)

$5.04

$5.12

Non-cash overheads ($/kgMS)

$0.29

$0.24

Cash surplus (dividends to partners and retained cash reserves)*

$120,000

$309,504

EBIT total

$190,274

$606,945

$/kgMS

$1.08

$3.06

Return on total assets %

3.4

10.9

DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA DECEMBER 2020

GIPPSLAND REGION // 9

A group of ‘wise heads’ guiding a farm business with the goals of the farm business in mind can help to deliver strong results.

What was the change/growth in equity of the partners over the time of the Focus Farm?

Each of the partners contributed different levels of starting equity.

Noel and Ann Campbell contributed the bulk of the herd and day-to-day machinery. Dean and Bec Fincham-Turner and Evan Campbell contributed fewer cows and no machinery.

A decision was made early in the development of Redan Partners that Noel and Ann’s cow numbers would decrease over time as Dean, Bec and Evan’s numbers grew.

The minor partners would accumulate the young stock, which over time would replace Noel and Ann’s cows.

This meant the costs of the replacements

and financing of their cows would be funded by Dean, Bec and Evan initially from outside cash flow, as their initial equity percentage meant that returns from the Redan dairy business (dividends) were low.

In the early years, cash flow was tight but manageable, but the medium-term outlook was that equity growth (in cow numbers increasing) would result in a significant growth in net worth.

By the end of the Focus Farm project in July 2020, Dean and Bec had enough cows to start dairying in their own right on a lease farm nearby.

Evan had sufficient equity to buy additional cows to replace Dean and Bec, and he jumped from being the smallest equity partner at the start, to being the larger for the start of the 2020–21 season.

The attached table shows the model used at Redan, despite being complex, was a means of seeing young people being able to build equity

in a herd over a relatively short period of time, especially when coupled with strong operational performance of the farm business (as shown in the dividends column).

This was the original intent of the partnership, and it was successful.

Essentially, Dean and Bec increased their equity by $130,822 and Evan increased by $52,937, when costs, dividends, cull sales and change in stock numbers were all factored in.

While Noel and Ann’s equity share was declining, they still had an increase in equity of $233,679 over the two years. This was due to the strong operational performance (and therefore dividends) of the farm business. With lesser performance, the results may have been considerably different.

The model is complex, and it was said by quite a few of the support group members that it was too complex.

The structure was also complex for taxation

purposes and anyone embarking on such a model should seek strong financial and taxation advice prior to establishment.

There are other methods of achieving similar outcomes (unit trusts, sharefarm arrangements and the like), so seeking a model that works for all is always going to be best.

It has been a thought-provoking, challenging and highly successful Focus Farm.

Thanks must go to the support group members who donated their time and expertise to the program for the two years and without them, the Focus Farm would not be as successful nor enjoyable.

Thanks to Noel, Ann, Dean, Bec and Evan for throwing open the books and the doors for the Focus Farm program and the wider industry to pull apart.

Thanks to GippsDairy for funding the program and to all those who have followed this Focus Farm in print, at open days and elsewhere.

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TOORADIN

79-83 South Gippsland Highway 3980 VIC • (03) 5998 3216

LEONGATHA

82-84 Yarragon Road, 3953 VIC (03) 5662 4044

UNROLLA BALE FEEDERS

• Tough 12,000 lb roller chains • Covered drive shafts eliminate feed wrapping • Connect headstock from either end & feed out to either side • Less moving parts for less maintenance & longer service life • Snaplox auto-latching

WARRAGUL

180 Queen Street, 3820 VIC (03) 5662 3875

MAFFRA

678 Stratford Maffra Road, 3860 VIC 1800 4363 673

DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA DECEMBER 2020

10 // GIPPSLAND REGION

Not afraid to mix things up

Guy and Leanne Gallatly have a slightly different set-up to many dairy farmers — they lease the dairy farm they use for their business, and own their run-off block.

JEANETTE SEVERS

GUY AND Leanne Gallatly spread their dairy

farm operations across two properties in Maffra, one owned and one leased.

But, in their case, it’s not your usual mix. The leased property is the home farm, and they own the outblock they use for fodder harvest and to grow-out heifers.

As well as Guy and Leanne, their workforce includes one full-time milker, a casual worker (retired dairy farmer) for tractor work, and a casual milker.

With the 315-cow milking herd running through a 44-unit rotary dairy twice a day, it’s an intense business operation.

They recalibrated things in the past year by devolving themselves of two outlying farms and buying the new one closer to home.

“We really need to be down to 290–300 cows, because it is only 103 hectares, including 20 ha of laneways and billabongs,” Guy said.

“We’ve fenced off the billabongs and revegetated with trees and shrubs.”

The two farms — irrigated out of Glenmaggie Weir, a bore and reclaimed water from the nearby milk processing factory — are eligible to use 670 Ml, “but we often don’t use this water, so it’s an asset we can sell as temporary to other people”.

The reclaimed water is shared between three dairy farms that surround the factory, with the Gallatly farm receiving the right to use 175 Ml. “We need to have soil tests and the processor installed two test bores. We have to shandy the water with other irrigation water,” Guy said.

“We also catch town stormwater run-off from the east side of town, guttering into a drain and into the billabong system. The billabong system is entire and enables us to recycle their water.

“We can also transfer water to our other property.”

The washdown and trough water all comes from the bore.

The entire farming operation runs on a pasture-based system, with a centre pivot on the dairy platform, supported by lateral sprayer on the billabong country.

“We oversow 12 to 20 ha each season, with perennial or biannual rye-grass. That way we’re assured we’ve got good paddocks coming on all the time,” Guy said.

The 57 ha irrigated outblock was a functional dairy farm and is where the heifers grow out.

This farm is stocked with 80 rising two-year-old heifers, and 80 to 90 calves.

It’s also where they use flood irrigation to grow pasture that harvests into all the silage for the dairy farm — annually about 1000 rolls, harvested from August to February.

“This year, because of wet weather, we

couldn’t get machinery on and didn’t start harvesting until late September,” Guy said.

“We’ll finish in February with 1000 rolls. We usually start taking the rising two-year-old cattle off in July and this year we started a little bit later because of the wet conditions.”

Silage is fed from March through winter.

Agronomists help them determine feed

requirements, and when to use pasture booster and fertiliser to meet their targets for grazing and harvest.

“We try and feed our cattle as much grass as possible, because that’s the most profitable system here,” Guy said.

“We do feed grain, at 4 kg/cow/day, year-round.

“This season, the grass has been going mad

A billabong system across the farm, while it takes 20 ha out of production, has been fenced and revegetated by Guy and Leanne Gallatly, as a place to enjoy the ambience.

DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA DECEMBER 2020

GIPPSLAND REGION // 11

because of the rain and the weather conditions we’ve had, but it’s been hard to maintain quality.”

Lateral sprays across half the area of the home farm takes up a lot of time with maintenance and moving them.

“That’s one of the main reasons we have an extra milker in. When we’ve got half the farm under sprays, you grow good grass under them, but they are hard work,” Guy said.

“We grow the silage to feed the cows during autumn and winter. We’ve still got to feed them.

Most cows get into calf. It appears to be a profitable system for us.”

Everything receives Friesian semen by two AI joinings over six to eight weeks, followed by a Friesian mop-up bull.

“We used 150 sexed semen in the first round this year,” Leanne, who rears the heifer calves, said.

“We joined most of our heifers to sexed semen and now we’re waiting for the outcome.

“It was a lot more work than I expected it to be, but if we gain more heifers out of it, it’ll be worth the work.”

The change was clearly aimed at increased supply to the export heifer market and varying the farm’s income streams.

“I try to have my calving finished by the first week of October,” Leanne said.

This year they calved down 80 heifers, and it

was an opportunity to cull the herd for mastitis, temperament, age, missed calf, and all other usual reasons.

“I also bought some Jersey cows, to increase the components,” Leanne said.

“We’re joining Jersey to Jersey, Friesian to Friesian, and 10 Fleckviehs as a first-cross, also

as a way of increasing components. This is our third calving using Fleckvieh.

“Our decisions are based on what’s profitable for us and what we’re getting paid for.”

Production is maintained at 27 to 28 litres/ cow/day, including extended-lactation cows and autumn-calving cows.

Guy and Leanne Gallatly recently purchased 10 Jersey cows to help them lift their milk components ratio across the herd.

Pasture is oversown, to keep good grass ahead of the herd’s feeding needs.

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DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA DECEMBER 2020

12 // GIPPSLAND REGION

Rain and demand impact hay VICTORIAN DAIRY farmers are once again

feeding for profit, as some secure new-season vetch for as low as $190/tonne.

Despite the low prices, the reality could have been even lower if wild weather hadn’t damaged large volumes of crops.

Feed Central managing director Tim Ford said Australian hay makers avoided a major overproduction and oversupply issue in the 2020 harvest thanks to extensive weather damage and farmers opting out of hay.

“It is safe to say this issue has been averted, due to the weather and an informed and conscious decision by growers to make less hay,” Mr Ford said.

Many growers opted to take cereal crops through to grain this year instead of going the hay route.

Major consumers of hay and straw until recently, south-east Queensland farms have lessened their demand thanks to recent rains, particularly for FCA quality cereal hay.

NSW dairies are also enjoying a positive season and requiring little supplementation.

According to the latest National Hay Market Report by Feed Central, more tonnes per hectare have been produced this season but there has been a significant reduction of hectares cut.

Fodder production intended to be sold will be down on last year and the supply of better grade hay will also be down significantly.

“In response to the wet weather, there has been a swing towards production of silage, especially for own-farm use and for sale within the local area,” Mr Ford said.

He predicted demand would pick-up in autumn-winter 2021 as beef producers start to buy up lucerne.

“Buyers are eagerly awaiting a readjustment of the lucerne price prior to committing.”

There will also be opportunity for dryland lucerne and southern pasture hay due to solid rainfall in southern NSW and Victoria.

Victoria in particular has an opportunity to produce some reasonable quality hay.

“Due to the low volumes of quality cereal hay, we would strongly support this production,” Mr Ford said.

High quality feed will be the most in-demand product going into the autumn and winter selling season.

Hay down and waiting to be baled.

JEFO AUSTRALIA HAS ANNOUNCED A NEW TEAM MEMBER FOR THE GIPPSLAND REGION Andrea Henry has joined the Jefo Australia Team as Ruminant Territory Manager for Southern Victoria.

Jefo Australia managing director Wayne Bradshaw said Ms Henry is an “outstanding asset” for the team.

“She has a wealth of knowledge and history in the dairy industry in both Australia and NZ and I am honoured that she has joined our team,” he said.

“Andrea not only has Bachelor’s degree in Agriculture and Animal Science, but she also has the practical experience of running a dairy operation and being a classifier and understands the issues and concerns facing our dairy industry.

Jean Fontaine, president and founder of the Jefo Group, added: “Andrea is a fantastic asset to our team.”

Ms Henry has worked in Australian and New Zealand intensive industries for 15 years and has knowledge in all areas of monogastric production including genetics, nutrition, animal health and research, development and extension.

“I am really happy to join a company who is offering key products that provide a real return-on-investment to the farmers,” she said.

Ms Henry can be contacted on 0427 992 335 or at ahenry@jefo.com

BE ALERT TO WEED SEEDS SPREAD BY FEED Farmers are being alerted to be on the lookout for potentially nasty weeds that have come into Gippsland with grain and hay.

Agriculture Victoria Livestock Extension Officer John Bowman said that over the last three years there has been an enormous amount of grain and hay brought into Gippsland to supplement feed, during the drought and after the fires.

“The need to buy-in grain and hay in Central and East Gippsland due to the drought and fires has increased the risk of some nasty weeds being introduced to the region,” Mr Bowman said.

“Among the common weed seeds that could potentially be brought in with feed are Bathurst burr, thistles, wild turnip, marshmallow, stinging nettles and barley grass.

“Farmers need to be particularly vigilant about Patterson’s Curse, Heliotrope and Amsinckia. These three weeds are prolific seeding annuals and can have health

impacts on stock grazing large quantities of these weeds,” he said.

Patterson’s Curse, a broadleaf weed 30 to 60 cm high, forms a rosette then develops a main stem and branches and flowers in mid-spring with distinctive purple flowers. If eaten in large quantities by cattle, Patterson’s Curse can cause liver damage.

Amsinckia is an annual broadleaf plant growing to 50 cm and is listed as a declared noxious weed in Victoria. It has small yellow flowers on a long 10 cm curved flower head, producing large quantities of seed in early spring and has reportedly poisoned livestock.

It is very competitive in pastures and cereal crops.

This plant is suited to dry or sandy soils like those in northern Victoria, but has been known to grow in most Victorian soils.

Heliotrope, an annual broadleaf plant, grows prolifically in northern Victorian grazing and cropping areas, to a height

of 40 cm, has small white flowers in late spring. It can contain and accumulate elevated copper levels, which at high levels is toxic to stock.

Heliotrope can be transported in hay or grain and will germinate in the following winter or summer. It is often seen growing over summer on previous crop paddocks or where hay has been fed to previous season.

Mr Bowman said Patterson’s Curse, Amsinckia and Heliotrope are prolific seed producers and should be controlled with a suitable herbicide registered for their control, ideally in the first season to prevent establishment.

If you have livestock that become ill while grazing pastures containing weeds, contact your local veterinarian and isolate them away from the suspect paddock.

The risk of weeds spreading across the farm can be managed by feeding stock in a sacrifice paddock or stock containment area, limiting the germination of weed

seeds to a designated area “Regularly inspecting areas of the farm which have had hay or grain fed to stock and acting quickly to remove unusual or unknown isolated plants will help to control infestations. Widespread infestations will require further investigation to confirm the best control option,” Mr Bowman said.

For more information on biosecurity on your farm, weed identification or general pasture and livestock feeding advice, contact the Agriculture Victoria customer service centre on 136 186 or see Managing for and during drought on Agriculture Victoria’s website.

For advice on animal health issues please contact your local veterinarian or Agriculture Victoria veterinary or animal health officer.