JUNE 2020 ISSUE 116
MURRAY REGION
Balancing act Finding the right balance is key for John Wright. Page 7
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DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA JUNE 2020
2 // MURRAY REGION
The way forward MURRAY DAIRY’S mission statement
“Enabling the dairy industry to have the capacity to adapt to change” has never been more important than it is now, as our organisation, like so many others, has had to navigate and adjust the way we deliver services and resources to our farming community. Through differing platforms, we have endeavoured to keep our farming community and associated organisations informed with regular updates, through our eNews produced each fortnight, webinars on offer and Zoom meetings with the various networks around the Murray Dairy region. I hope you are finding the information and resources useful in your daily operation and handling of issues that are being thrown your way while you navigate the COVID-19 situation. To that end there is an array of resources available to dairy businesses, such as the Dairy Business COVID-19 Stimulus Package webinar with Andrew Ellem (A.E Consultancy) who details the government support available to dairy farm businesses. The key message is “Don’t assess yourselves” — you may be surprised at what support is available, particularly if you are an employer; I do hope you took the opportunity to listen in. In addition, Dairy Australia is continuing to update the Dairy Australia COVID-19
Directory, providing useful resources to assist in navigating challenges on farm. These resources are being continually updated to reflect changes as they occur. If you are unable to find an answer to your question, direct your queries to c19@dairyaustralia.com.au On farm, many of us in the past month through the Murray Dairy region have had one of the best starts to autumn we can remember, resulting in good soil moisture levels in our cropping areas too. It’s nice to have the scenario of some crops going in a little later than normal as paddocks are too wet for the machinery — ‘better than dust’ I hear you say! These timely rainfalls have produced some great in-flows to our storages and, as I write, the availability outlooks have improved, and we have seen General Security irrigators finally get an allocation — the first in two years. The most encouraging aspect though is that the climate indicators are all heading in a positive direction, trending towards a wetter winter and spring. These conditions have certainly given our farmers much-needed relief from the pressure of water issues. The next challenge will be managing the wet conditions and again Murray Dairy has a large array of resources available to support you in your management of the wet.
Check out our fortnightly eNews and website for that information. A gentle reminder that as we come to the end of the financial year it’s time to get your accounts in order. It is a great time to assess your business performance using DairyBase www.dairyaustralia.com.au/dairybase. Plan the year ahead with various milk price, water price and herd size scenarios using the Murray Dairy Business Tool bit.ly/3chiV2B If you want to learn more about reviewing and planning business performance with a Dairy Australia Farm Business Workshop, call Lachlan Barnes on 0438 092 352. In closing, it is at times like this that boards and leaders in our industry need to be taking practical steps to ensure the future success of our dairy industry. Maybe the silver lining from COVID-19, after years of challenges in the dairy sector combined with growing consumer demand for provenance and sustainably produced food, is that this will create a new community interest in food security and give a level of societal support to leverage some much-needed changes and renewed interest in the value of fresh milk and how it is produced. As dairy farmers we are continually having to
Chair’s message
adapt and change, and as we see our way through yet another challenge, it is important to focus on how we move forward and seize the opportunities to assist us to do that. Stay well ’til next time. · Karen Moroney Murray Dairy chair
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DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA JUNE 2020
MURRAY REGION // 3
System under the microscope SOPHIE BALDWIN
EVERY NORTHERN Victorian farmer knows
the importance of irrigation and getting the best value out of every single drop of water — and Kyabram dairy farmer Andrew Murphy is no exception. With a milking platform of just 100 ha and a spring peak of 530 cows, the Murphy family, including parents Kevin and Jan, have invested heavily in additional land to support a cut-andcarry system. Management and fodder growth have changed from a grazing system to include growing about 161 ha of cereal crops annually, in particular corn which has been part of the rotation for the past five years. Corn is grown under pivot on an out-block purchased by Andrew; and, for the next three years, management, growth and irrigation will be put under the microscope as part of a Murray Dairy project — Smarter Irrigation for Profit 2. Mr Murphy said he was looking forward to the results. “We are looking to grow as much corn as we possibly can and get the most efficiency out of the water we have. To have a study done using our own data will be extremely helpful when it comes to looking at our future management,” Mr Murphy said. Under normal seasonal conditions about 30 ha of corn is harvested but this season due to high water prices the area was reduced to 16ha. “There is nothing like corn to produce bulk feed over a short period. This year we grew a 26 tonnes/ha crop in four months, and we will follow with an 8–10 tonnes/ha Wrangler wheat crop for young stock feed,” he said. Mr Murphy said corn was an expensive crop to sow at $500/ha so getting it right from the start was paramount. “We used 7.7 Ml/ha including pre-irrigation on a 167 mm rainfall season.” The crop was planted on November 15 and harvested on March 28; and, based on a temporary water price of $400, the corn cost $265/ tonne in the pit. Through a drought infrastructure grant, Mr Murphy purchased two soil moisture meters
Growing corn and backing it up with a cereal crop has become standard practice for Kyabram dairy farmer Andrew Murphy.
which have gone on to become a valuable asset and an important part of management. The combination of pivots along with moisture meters have given Mr Murphy confidence to grow corn even in an expensive water year, although there is a limit to the price he can pay and, like everyone else, he would much prefer a sustainable and realistic temporary water price. “My idea of timing of irrigation has been different to the meters and we have used more allocation this year, but our yield has improved from 19 tonnes/ha last year to 26 tonnes/ha.” Mr Murphy attributes the increased yield to accurate moisture data from the meters but also to a change in contractor. The one pass ‘strip till’ sowing including fertiliser has been a huge advantage, resulting in reduced weed burden
The Wrangler wheat crop is up and growing after the harvest of a 26t/ha corn crop.
and better yields. Mr Murphy said growing corn and cereal crops supported the cut-and-carry system well. This autumn they have sown 30 ha of vetch and 42 ha of Wrangler wheat, along with the 16 ha of corn last year. “Once you are set up for cut-and-carry it works really well. I think we now have a sustainable farming model moving forward and I am confident in our future.” The milking platform has 10 ha of perennial pasture which might be considered a waste of water by some, but Mr Murphy said it still had a place, especially if the season came in wet over winter. Mr Murphy said Smarter Irrigation for Profit 2 had real value for northern Victorian irrigators.
“A lot of pasture projects are based down south and the data collected from this one will be relevant to so many farmers, especially considering many have changed their management to grow cereals to suit availability of water,” he said. Murray Dairy site co-ordinator Lisa Menhenett said the research would reflect local needs. “In northern Victoria, many irrigation systems are moving to annual rye-grass, cereals and summer cropping for silage. The site in northern Victoria is looking specifically at a surfaceirrigated double cropping scenario with maize followed by a winter cereal. “We hope to address the lack of regional information on these scenarios,” Mrs Menhenett said.
Corn silage plays a huge role in the feeding of the dairy herd.
DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA JUNE 2020
4 // MURRAY REGION
Water allocation a ‘token gesture’ SOPHIE BALDWIN
DAIRYING CAN be a tough enough job without
throwing in the constant worry of irrigation, but for the past two years the Kydd family — Neville, Ruth and sons Daniel and Stephen — have been doing just that as they continue to farm with zero water allocation. The recent announcement of a three per cent general security allocation after the close of the irrigation season has done little to allay the Blighty dairy farmers’ fears. “At least we have had a good autumn startup from rainfall, in fact it’s been one of the best ones we have had in a long, long while,” Mr Kydd said. Mr Kydd believes the announcement was only made to appease irrigators and is nothing but a token gesture — and an insult. “As I see it, they are just playing with irrigators and they keep changing the rules. Under normal conditions we would have received an allocation by now, but they keep wasting water 2020 01 28 Dairy News February copy.pdf 1 24/01/2020 and system losses are so great they must take allocation from the productive pool — the whole
system is stuffed and the thinking behind it all is madness,” Mr Kydd said. Mr Kydd said if it didn’t rain it was nobody’s fault, but management must be more efficient and water must not be wasted, it was just too precious and expensive. And there needed to be transparency around water management. “We are chasing a dead horse worrying about who owns water. We need to focus on controlling waste and looking at things like the Lower Lakes and the cost of delivering water downstream — delivering a meg of water to South Australia at the end of the system is more costly than delivering a meg of water to upstream users, and there has been no accountability around that at all.” My Kydd said conserving as much fodder as possible had been a management decision that had served the family well over the years, but without an allocation they couldn’t grow the volumes of feed they needed or would like to conserve for their 1200-head dairy herd and young stock. 5:45:21 PM “We have been storing silage away for the last decade and we are two years into eating the three
years’ worth of silage we had. If you look at it overall, from a capital scenario, we are using our resources to maintain cash flow, which is a huge worry.” He also said the increased price of water pushed up the overall cost of silage making and made the idea of storing the product long-term far less attractive. “At the end of the day we can all go around blaming each other, but I don’t have time for that. We must be clever with the water resource and ensure the system continues to run and runs well.” He said the recent global pandemic was the perfect wake-up call to highlight the importance of irrigated agriculture and the importance of producing food. “I think COVID-19 has been a wake-up call and hopefully it might result in a perspective change of what is really important,” Mr Kydd said. “A lot of industry has shut down while farmers are still getting up every day and continuing to produce food.”
Blighty dairy farmer Neville Kydd says the three per cent allocation to NSW Murray irrigators after the official close of the season is nothing short of an insult.
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DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA JUNE 2020
MURRAY REGION // 5
Producing just as much — from a distance WHILE A clean factory and per-
sonal hygiene are nothing new for Stanhope’s Fonterra factory, it is the social distancing that has resulted in the biggest changes. Fonterra’s northern region operations manager Steven Taylor said 10 per cent of the workforce, who were mostly in administrative roles, were now working from home, while those on the factory floor were being spaced out 1.5 m apart and wearing face masks where necessary. Mr Taylor said the Stanhope business was still producing the same amount of product, but in a different mix to what would be the norm. “We cater for three product streams — retail, food service and ingredients,” he said. “There’s been a lot of change between food service and retail — obviously people aren’t eating out anymore, and more are
eating from home. “We are producing about the same, but in a different mix. For example, our shredded mozzarella is being bought through a retail pack rather than a food service pack. “While takeaway pizza is still available, they (consumers) might be making pizzas from home.” Despite many dairy farmers leaving the industry in northern Victoria because of high input costs, Mr Taylor said fresh milk supply was not an issue. “The Stanhope factory has recently had significant investment in its cheese lines and we are still producing up to 1.3 million litres a day, which equates to 140 tonne of cheese per day, because we can get milk from other areas,” he said. “We are lucky to be able to meet demand of all kinds of products across our three plants in Victoria.”
Fonterra’s northern region operations manager Steven Taylor says the Stanhope factory is producing the same amount of products, but in a different mix due to COVID-19.
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DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA JUNE 2020
6 // MURRAY REGION
Girgarre and Kyabram dairy businesses take home gold KYABRAM AND Girgarre dairy businesses
have cleaned up in this year’s Dairy Industry Association of Australia dairy product competition. Despite the official awards ceremony being pushed back to October due to coronavirus restrictions, award winners — including Girgarre’s ACM factory and Kyabram’s Camel Milk Co Australia — have been notified of their successes. ACM’s Girgarre plant won a gold medal for its skim milk powder and a silver for each of its salted butter, unsalted butter, whole milk powder and buttermilk powder products. ACM chief operating officer Jason Limbrick never imagined the Girgarre site could win five medals in its inaugural year and said it was a credit to all involved. “This is truly a fantastic result and is a true reflection of the quality and care which goes into all of our products,” he said. “The care starts with ACM’s dairy farmers who supply the excellent quality milk, and carries
right through to our production and processing staff who convert that milk into high quality butter and powder.” Camel Milk Co Australia owner and director Megan Williams said there was “a little bit of cheering going on” after realising they had won the gold medal in the non-bovine milk category, not just for Victoria but also for the country as a whole. “Initially we didn’t realise we had won two classes,” she said. “We knew we won in Victoria but we also won it nationally as well. “With so much going on in the world at the moment it’s good have some good news and a feel good story. “It’s really good to be judged up against the best milk producers in the country and not only be in the running but to take out gold is fabulous.” Judging for the competition was held between March 16 and 18 at Werribee.
Business Planning As we come to the end of the financial year and get accounts in order, it is a great time to assess your business’s performance by using Dairy base. Plan the year ahead with various milk price, water price and herd size scenarios using the Murray Dairy Business Tool. Get the advice and support you need by using a consultant of your choice for a Taking Stock consultation. Learn more about reviewing and planning business performance with a Dairy Australia Farm Business Workshop. For more information contact: Lachlan Barnes lachlanb@murraydairy.com.au 0438 092 352
ACM production manager Bruce Manson and quality co-ordinator Danielle Wilson are part of the team at Girgarre which produce the Dairy Industry Association of Australia gold medal-winning skim milk powder.
Camel Milk Co Australia owner and director Megan Williams celebrates the company’s wins on-farm with the camels.
DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA JUNE 2020
MURRAY REGION // 7
Achieving the right balance SOPHIE BALDWIN
DAIRYING CAN be a relentless and busy
occupation, yet dairy farmer John Wright has achieved a work/life balance on his Lockington farm which includes time away and at least one good holiday a year. Not a bad effort considering he does most of the work himself. The key to Mr Wright’s success has been milking a manageable number of cows which peak at 150 off 98ha. “This is a good manageable number for me. I have no complaints as I can get away and have a bit of a lifestyle as well,” Mr Wright said. The majority of the milking herd (70 per cent) calve in spring and the rest in autumn. Spring calving heifers are joined using sexed semen while the main herd is joined for a period of four to six weeks with conventional semen; herd bulls including Angus or Hereford are used to mop up any animals not in calf. The autumn calving herd is synchronized and joined to AI using conventional Normandy semen. “Normandy are a high yielding carcase animal known for cheese making. I have been dabbling in them for over a decade. They are a dual purpose slow maturing breed which make a good cross suitable for beef — any crossed heifers I join back to Normandy which I calve down at 2.5 years of age.” Mr Wright said joining his herd to beef reduced the need for selling bobby calves into the market. He runs a pasture-based system which includes lucerne, annuals, sorghum and a little bit of cereal. Brassicas have also worked their way into the rotation because they are a cheap feed source. Sown at 3 kg/ha at a cost of around $12 per kg, Mr Wright said in a year like this they provided a good early start to grazing.
“I am sowing them now and six weeks later I will have feed up to my knees,” he said. The cows do take a few days to adjust to eating brassicas initially, but Mr Wright only grazes them for one feed a day, usually with oaten hay — they get a high protein feed source at night. “I have learnt to watch out the next day because they can be a bit volatile in the dairy after eating brassicas,” he said with a laugh. Most of the farm is irrigated through a pipeand-riser system made possible in part by doing away with a wheel and closing a spur channel. Mr Wright has access to both spearpoint and wheel water. “All my irrigation works were done through cash flow because at the time it didn’t suit me to give up water, and I am very grateful for that now.” As with most people who live within the Lockington district, Mr Wright wears a few community hats including president of Lockington Landcare Group. Back in December the group took part in a project to establish populations of summeractive dung beetles across 16 farms in the local area. While Mr Wright already had dung beetles established on his property, he was interested in getting a summer population thriving; and, while it is only early days for the new colony, things are going well. “I have noticed the beetles are starting to move out into a bigger area and there are a lot more disturbed pats, so they are certainly out there working away.” Mr Wright said dung beetles were great little workers. “They take a ball of manure with them as they dig down into the soil which helps to lock nutrients including nitrogen into the root zone, increase fertility and aerate the soil,” he said. Predators include foxes and ibis who scratch
Achieving a work life balance has been key to management for Lockington dairy farmer John Wright
around the pats and try to dig up the beetles. “We also have to be careful of cattle drenches when we worm the cows, because they can damage populations.” Mr Wright said it was great farmers from the Tennyson, Echuca and Lockington areas had participated.
“If we can establish strong dung beetle populations in the area it will be a good thing for us all,” he said. Mr Wright said recent rains had been spot on and he couldn’t have asked for a better finish to the season as he busily sows pastures for the year ahead.
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DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA JUNE 2020
10 // MURRAY REGION
Virus won’t stop tanker drivers from collecting milk ROB FALCONER has worked at Fonterra
for 13 years and has continued to drive milk tankers throughout the coronavirus pandemic. “We’re an essential service, so no matter what, you have to pick up the milk and the job just has to be done,” the Kyabram resident said. “In the morning we completely sanitise the truck for the change of drivers; the gear stick, dash, handrails — everywhere we touch — and then head off on our run from farm to farm. “We sanitise around the area before and after we pump the milk out of the tanker, and we get rid of the gloves that we put in a waste bin at the end of the day.” Although it is repetitive, Mr Falconer knows it is what needs to be done and said it had now become second nature. “It’s become routine now and sanitising is a really important part of it; when we’re out on the field you come in to contact with so many different things.” At 67 years old, Mr Falconer is at a highrisk age if he were to contract COVID-19, but he said he felt secure thanks to the protocols put in place.
Mr Falconer said Fonterra tanker drivers pick up milk from all over northern Victoria and deliver the milk to the company’s factory in Stanhope. “When it (coronavirus) first arrived, we were a bit edgy about our role being all over Victoria, but that went away once the protocols came.” Mr Falconer said he rarely saw farmers on the properties he visited, as they were also doing their bit to keep everyone safe through social distancing. Dairy farmer Toni Pierce from Bamawm Extension said she bought cleaning products, including sanitiser, so that her workers could practice safe hygiene and wipe equipment down. “We haven’t found it too big of a challenge, we’re one of those businesses where cows still have to be milked and crops still need to be planted,” she said. “Our full-time worker used to come to my house for lunch but now they eat it in their ute. “The biggest thing for us is that it brought two of our children home.”
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MURRAY REGION // 11
Vala Holsteins hosts autumn sale TOOLAMBA’S VALA Holsteins held an on-
property auction on May 28, with cows selling for an average of $3 082. The two highest priced lots sold for $8000 to western Victoria’s Emu Banks Holsteins. Lot one, Vala Bandares Sheena, and lot 46, Vala Polar Ladyluck, were purchased via phone bidding. Vala Holsteins manager Angela Varcoe said she was happy with the outcome of the sale. “We had high BPI heifers, high TPI, sisters to leading AI bulls within the industry, really deep pedigree cows with some good production behind them,” she said. “It was nice to be able to see our genetics and traits making some good money. “It was a really nice day, to be able to see some friendly faces around, and nice to see there’s still some positivity in the industry — we’re very excited to see what the heifers can do for the buyers in future.” Dairy Livestock Services auctioneer Brian Leslie said the cattle spoke for themselves at the sale on Thursday, May 28.
“An enormous amount of money has been spent importing embryos from North America, primarily Canada, out of some of the highest profile cow families in the world,” Mr Leslie said. “The whole offering was bred down North America imported lines, and they’re relatively out-cross, with a lot of them bred for the poll gene — so they offer a fairly unique package.” Mr Leslie said there was strong bidding on AuctionsPlus for those who could not attend the sale, with about 50 registered bidders logged on, and even more viewers. “We had cattle go all over Victoria, and up as far as the Taree area of NSW, quite a lot in Gippsland, as well as western and northern Victoria.” Mrs Varcoe said it was difficult to navigate COVID-19, and that she did everything she could to reach as many people as possible through AuctionsPlus. “Our genetics can go a lot of places but not a lot of people can come here, so with those extra tools, we can broaden our market,” she said.
Guests attending the on-farm auction at Vala Holsteins on Thursday, May 28.
Seventy-three Holsteins were offered at the on-farm sale.
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DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA JUNE 2020
12 // MURRAY REGION
Country life calls during COVID-19 RODNEY WOODS
WHILE HIS day job has been put on hold
because of COVID-19, Collingwood AFL footballer Flynn Appleby has still been hard at work on his family’s Cohuna dairy farm. Flynn, who is the son of Graham and Megan, has been helping out on the farm in between training with his housemate in Melbourne
and fellow AFL footballer and Cohuna local Marty Hore. “Once they called the season off, I left the apartment in Melbourne where I live with Marty Hore (who plays for Melbourne) and I have been training with Marty, who lives five minutes up the road, also on a dairy farm,” he said. “I’ve also been helping on the farm and doing uni work online, so it has been quite busy, that’s
for sure.” Flynn said since he had returned to the family farm he had been doing the jobs “Mum and Dad don’t want to do” and enjoying the perks of farm life. “I’ve been doing a fair bit of milking and luckily we start a bit later at seven or 7.30 (am) and then start milking about five in the afternoon,” he said.
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J ULY
JU N E
M A E B U L L , G I L E S , S U P E R DA V E , E T H O S , P E M B E R T O N , R Y O B I P, M R M A G I C , M E X I C O L A , P I L B A R A , E N D G A M E TUESDAY 7TH JULY TUESDAY 14TH JULY
“It’s been enjoyable being able to spend that time with Dad as I haven’t been able to do it for a while. “Overall it’s been good to get out of the city. I’m enjoying the freedom and, considering the circumstance, it’s a pretty good outcome. “I’m pretty lucky to be out on the farm.” On a recent episode of the Collingwood Football Club’s Black and White Show, players were asked who they would hate to be isolated with. Flynn’s teammate Jordan Roughead’s response was: “I’m not going to respond to your question. . . I’m going to go with who I’d most want to be stuck with in isolation and I’m going to throw up Flynny Appleby, up in the farm at Cohuna, (he) would always have fresh milk and that’s a necessity at a time like this”.
“It’s been enjoyable being able to spend that time with Dad as I haven’t been able to do it for a while. Flynn said many of his teammates wished they could join him on the farm. “There are not many farmers at the club,” he said. “Many are Melbourne-based and many would be wanting to come up and get their hands dirty.” While in isolation, Flynn has been “catching up” with his coaches twice a week via online platform Zoom and the extra time has allowed Flynn to put a greater focus on his part-time podiatry studies as he hopes to get into the world of footwear development down the track. The Applebys are milking 120 cows on their 161.9 ha property, which they turned into an organic operation a couple of years ago.
TUESDAY 21ST JULY TUESDAY 28TH JULY
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Collingwood defender Flynn Appleby (right) got stuck with the leftover milking apron when he returned to his family’s Cohuna property.
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DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA JUNE 2020
14 // MURRAY REGION
Keelty report disappoints IN FEBRUARY, Katunga dairy farmer Bridget
Goulding extended an offer for Murray-Darling Basin Water Resources interim inspector-general Mick Keelty to tour her 130 ha Katunga property. Mrs Goulding was part of a group of irrigators who put forward a submission to Mr Keelty regarding a review of the Murray-Darling Basin Authority. She extended the offer after he announced he would like to tour a dairy farm. “He walked around our farm, listened to our issues and could see the impact poor water policy and the Murray-Darling Basin Plan is having on our business,” she said. However, while Mrs Goulding and her husband Tim were pleased Mr Keelty took the time to visit their property, she was hoping the review would have a more positive outcome. “He seemed to really take it all in; whereas there seemed to be a disconnect between the sentiments expressed in his foreword and the information contained within his report.”
Mrs Goulding has attended numerous MDBA meetings since 2016, including the recent socioeconomic meetings and she was hoping to see accountability and transparency within the basin authority, which would help build trust among the community. She said it also didn’t help that Mr Keelty started the report under one water minister and completed it under another. “This is another problem we encounter; people are moved around in their roles, and nobody stays in a role long enough to become knowledgeable or accountable.” As first-generation farmers, the Gouldings moved to Australia from New Zealand in the late 1990s to purchase their own farm and grow their dairy business. Like other farming businesses, their dairy business is very much dependent on access to affordable irrigation water. “Within a 25 km radius of Numurkah, 120 dairy farms have ceased supply. This is jobs and
Tim and Bridget Goulding
wealth lost from our community, and it is frightening,” she said. Mrs Goulding said she felt let down by advocacy groups including the VFF and NFF. She feels the voice of the dairy industry and agriculture in general, especially around water, is not being heard. “Australia might not run out of food, but there are some serious questions arising around staple shortfalls. They say we are scaremongering; but
how can that be when we are focusing on problems that are occurring at the farm gate — the very place where our food is produced?” Mrs Goulding is the secretary of the local UDV group and has been a UDV member for 23 years. “We have a really good group of farmers, including some young ones,” she said. “I just hope they can hang on for the future of the industry.”
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DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA JUNE 2020
MURRAY REGION // 15
Rich pastures caught up with cow-sheep Ritchie IN TODAY’S era of gender neutrality it seems
Ritchie the sheep was well ahead of the times. Born in the 1960s at Kaiwaka — a small rural town north of Auckland, New Zealand — Ritchie firmly believed he was a cow and lived his life oblivious to the fact that not only was he a male, he also had a fleece instead of an udder. Ritchie’s photo and story were originally published in New Zealand’s Herald daily newspaper in the 1960s and below is the original article — a nice little story that has absolutely nothing to do with coronavirus and should bring a smile to your face! For a period in the late ’60s motorists were
often astonished by the sight of the McClean cows being led along the highway by an extremely chubby Southdown Romney cross wether. This came about because the identity-confused jumbuck seemed to think without his involvement the daily parades to and from the cowshed simply wouldn’t take place. Bossily, Ritchie was always at the gate first so he could lead the way. Ritchie had been the pet lamb of people who lived for a time in what had been the original homestead on the property, and at the back of the house was the calf paddock, which was where Ritchie had been raised.
Ritchie the sheep who thought he was a cow, was an amusing sight on a New Zealand highway back in the 1960s.
Perhaps explaining why he no doubt believed he was just another calf, and later a cow. At one point his owners tried to put him out with the other sheep, but not only would he not go near them, he became so distressed he was returned to live with his bovine sisters. While the cows were being milked Ritchie would wait in the yard, always in the same spot he had selected for himself, and when milking
was finished, he would lead his charges back to their paddock. Being one sheep living in a cow paddock, Ritchie grew overly fat, his short daily walks insufficient exercise. Sheep are reared on short grass: so in the end the lush pasture required for milking cows resulted in Ritchie — no doubt happily — eating himself to death at the age of five.
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