AUGUST 2021 ISSUE 130
WEST VIC REGION
Keeping it simple
A team approach, good processes and the appropriate infrastructure means this Nullawarre operation will have a long and sustainable future. Page 3.
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DAIRY
DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA AUGUST 2021
2 // WEST VIC REGION
Chair’s message Programs provide handy advice WE ARE coming to the end of winter now and
finally I am nearly out of the calf shed. I’ve reared more calves than ever this year and my body is telling me it’s time to slow up for a bit! It was really encouraging to see a strong opening milk price and good competition. With a good season to date it is creating a positive outlook for the remainder of the season. It’s such a great feeling when it all lines up and we get rewarded for our hard yards in our businesses. The new Our Farm, Our Plan program is designed to help you look more closely at your business and make some decisions in terms of farm/life balance. Local farmers Derek and Julia Gayle, and Phil and Nicole Lock featured in the national
campaign promoting the program, sharing how it has helped them develop a clearer vision of the future while taking action to make their goals a reality. I strongly encourage you to have a good look at this program as it might just surprise you what you could get out of it. Another opportunity to take your farming business to the next level is through involvement in our Focus Farm initiative. Focus Farmers have the opportunity to receive the support and guidance of a network of industry professionals, including advisors, service providers and other local farmers. It is a great way to gain valuable guidance and advice over a twoyear period in your business. There are periodic
opportunities to sign up as a Focus Farmer or support group member for a new Focus Farm, with one such opportunity available now, so I encourage you to get involved. We know how hard the labour situation is currently and my business has been affected too. We are looking at many initiatives and ideas to scope out solutions but it’s a complex one and it will take time. We alone cannot fix this situation but please know we are working hard to try and remedy it. We have plenty on offer for our farmers as the Board is just ticking off on the Annual Operating Plan for the region. If we don’t have a course that matches your needs please ring and we will talk through the options and assistance we can
arrange for you. As I regularly say — it’s your levy and we are here to offer the extension needs that are being asked for. With harvest season on the way, like many of you I will be busy on farm for a little while (mainly ferrying food and drinks to my husband on a tractor)! I look forward to seeing you out and about around the region and hope COVID-19 stays quiet so we can keep delivering our in-person programs. If not, we will have a range online and will always be on the end of the phone. Feel free to contact the office on 5557 1000 if there is anything we can assist you with. • Simone Renyard WestVic Dairy chair
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DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA AUGUST 2021
WEST VIC REGION // 3
Future-proofing the farm BY RICK BAYNE
AT 55, Shane Bushell is thinking about slowing
down and has the machinery and infrastructure in place to ensure his business is a sustainable success for the future. With a focus on no-nonsense simple farming, Mr Bushell and his team have a new disc mill, silos, sheds to protect the machinery and hay, two centre pivots and possibly another on the way, and a feed pad at their disposal. Mr Bushell and his wife Raina have been on their Nullawarre farm for 19 years, initially as sharefarmers with her parents Sid and Janice Couch before buying the farm about 10 years ago. They farm with their son Sam and long-term team members Justin Chalmers and his partner Kara, who also live on the farm. It’s very much a team approach, with everyone sharing in decision making. The home farm is 120 ha and the Bushells have another 80 ha block at Nirranda South and lease 50 ha at Mepunga, where they calve young stock before moving them to Nirranda South. All the home farm goes into milk for the Bega suppliers. Nearly a third is under two centre pivots, one brand new, the other added 12 months ago. The pivots have been an excellent investment. “We still use it even in good seasons,” Mr Bushell said. “They drought-proof the property and guarantee grass when you haven’t got rain.” The farm has two ponds; the first holds the solids, the second is connected to the irrigation pivots with a pumping system set to 8–10 per cent when in use. “When we irrigate, we don’t have to use as much urea and it empties our pond and keeps it all on the farm,” Mr Bushell said. The 40-unit rotary dairy was installed not long after the Bushells arrived, and it’s regularly serviced and well maintained. The farm was only milking 190 cows back then but it’s now running 330 to 340, pretty much full capacity. “I’m not interested in doing any more,” Mr Bushell said. “The stocking rate doesn’t need to be any higher; winter tells you how high it is.” While Mr Bushell admits he dreads winters, the feed pad has made life easier. “It’s pretty basic but they get vetch and our own hay and silage and it holds about 180,” he said. The feed pad was added about five years ago after a bad autumn break. “They walk out through the dairy and stay there as long as they want. It saves the paddocks. We only use it for about four months from May onwards and then shut it down and start feeding them in the paddock, but it has been very helpful in avoiding pugging.” The Holstein cows — chosen for their production and ease of rearing — are producing 2.3–2.4 kg/ MS at the moment on about eight kilos of grain
New sheds are protecting machinery and hay.
and access to the home-grown feed. Mr Bushell and the team drill seed every year, with emphasis on persistency. The new disc mill installed by 360 Dairy Solutions and three new silos will pay their own way in about 18 months’ time. The farm buys grain directly from a farm in northern Victoria and mixes wheat and barley in portions, along with a mineral pellet with a bit of canola in it. It’s a simple system with two feed heads dropping in for the cows. “We probably save $30 a tonne on our grain by buying it like that,” Mr Bushell said. Two new sheds built this year cover machinery and hay. The team does all the harvesting, drilling and other on-site jobs without calling on contractors. “That’s why we invest in good machinery; If you put it under cover, it will retain its value a bit better and the hay will be in better condition.” Mr Bushell’s “keep it simple” attitude has served him well over the years. “The stuff going into dairies is great but years ago you could fix things yourself, now it gets too complicated and it costs a lot when you have to get people out.” Two people are in the dairy for each milking. “It might be a bit old-fashioned, but two sets of eyes looking for mastitis are better than one. Justin puts the cups on and if there’s a cow with a sore foot, I’ll catch it,” Mr Bushell said. They start calving in late March and once they reach their replacement numbers, the later calving proportion of the herd is sold. “We’ve made a market out of selling cows,” Mr Bushell said. “If they’re too late, once we’ve got our numbers and the vat is flowing over, that’s it. The people who buy cows are happy with them and it’s another source of income.” This year, Mrs Bushell and Kara reared 220 Friesian calves, 120 for export. They use all sexed semen on the cows and added the heifers in recent years. A beef bull is put over any cow with bad traits, raising more sale opportunities. This year’s heifer exports will be a record. “It’s a nice income; that’s where your cream is,” Mr Bushell said. “Years ago, the cream used to be in the milk, but they’ve been scraping off the top. This year is looking a bit better but that’s where it should be. “Farmers have had to diversify. We’ve been lucky that market has been there; if it wasn’t there, there’d be fewer dairy farmers.” While this year is looking good, Mr Bushell admits farming is starting to take a toll and he worries about finding younger people willing to commit to seven days a week. He hopes either Sam or Justin, who has been “part of the family” for 15 years, will eventually take it on. “I’m slowing down — the body is telling me. You only get one crack at life and we want to have a look around while we’re still able to.”
Shane prefers Holsteins for their production and because they’re easy to rear.
The former herringbone dairy was retained to provide shelter as the cows enter the rotary.
The feed pad is basic but it is regularly cleared and serves a vital function during winter.
The new silos and disc mill are already paying their way.
DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA AUGUST 2021
4 // WEST VIC REGION
Reversing the trend BY RICK BAYNE
THERE ARE many recent examples of dairy
farmers converting to beef — but Aran Gleeson has reversed that trend. Aran’s mates told him he was mad when he made the switch on his Illowa farm just outside Warrnambool, but now he’s having the last laugh. “It has been a good move; we’re happy with how it’s going,” he says. “There’s always got to be one fella reversing the trend.” Aran was raised on a family dairy farm at Crossley. His uncles are dairy farmers as was his father Peter before he moved into an agricultural contracting business, which Aran later joined. Aran and Peter had been running beef on two blocks at Bushfield and Grasmere before getting an opportunity about seven years ago to lease a farm at Illowa and buy the herd of Hereford beef cattle. They continued with beef for about five years but when the owner was ready to sell the farm, they were ready to buy and make a big change. “We bought the farm about 18 months ago and decided to sell the beef and buy dairy cows,” Aran said. While many have gone the other way, Aran was confident of a strong future in dairy and was following a long-held passion. “I always liked it growing up on the farm and wanted to get back into dairy,” he said. “This was a good farm to do it.”
It’s also proving to be a good lifestyle choice for his family, with wife Taliah and children Kaiya, 6, Paisley, 3, and Jobe, 2. The farm covers 150 ha and milks an average 330–350 Holstein cows year-round, though they hope to gradually increase that number. Aran went for Holstein Friesian cows, again following his long-held preference, plus he had access to suitable herds. Other farmers told Aran to buy one herd but they finished up acquiring cows from multiple sources. “I think it’s a better move because you’ve got different herds and three different types of good cows,” Aran said. “If you have just one herd, you might not be happy with it over time. “We had some trouble at the start with mastitis but we’ve been able to overcome that.” The herd was put together from sales at Koroit, Cooriemungle and two at Camperdown. “We wanted Friesians for the country. Because it doesn’t get too wet, we could have a bigger framed cow and we can feed as much as we can into them to get the best possible production,” Aran said. “They suit the farm.” The farm backs on the ocean to the south and Princes Hwy to the north, not far from the dormant volcano of Tower Hill. There are no big rocks on the farm, just good red volcanic dirt. “On this red country you can’t really hold pastures so it gets over-sown with annuals. We look for maximum growth for as much homegrown feed as possible,” Aran said.
An on-farm trial run by Bade Ness Rural was enough to convince Aran to use Pinnacle, marketed by AGF Seeds. “We had about five different annuals in the trial and every time you’d go to put the cows in there, the Pinnacle plot was always thicker with more feed on it,” Aran said. They also own two out-paddocks for young stock and dry cows. Aran didn’t need a lot of research when reestablishing the dairy. Apart from his own experience and family knowledge, he had a ready-made source of information. “All my contracting work is with dairy farms so I had a good idea of how many cows we needed and how much milk solids we wanted to do and how much grain we needed to feed.” He hasn’t had a full season to judge the figures but aims for 550–600 kg/MS per cow on a mostly-home-grown feed supplemented by about 2–2.2 tonne of grain per cow. They installed a centre pivot last year and will look at another in the near future. The farm has access to about 300 Ml of water. Aiming to maintain a flat milk curve with as much in the vat as possible, Aran and Peter are doing three calvings a year in spring, late summer and late autumn/early winter. “It’s obviously a bit more work and more labour-intensive but it works well and I can still carry on the contracting business with the dairy farm,” Aran said. The 28-a-side swing-over dairy hadn’t been used for about 14 years but swung back into
The dairy hadn’t been used for 14 years but with a $40,000 investment it was quickly revived.
Along with calves three times a year, the farm is home to a few llamas and pigs.
action with very little hassle. New cups and bum rails and a bit of work on the motor in the vat to get the cooling right cost about $40,000, not bad considering how long it had been idle. They have no plans for a new dairy. Aran and Peter have changed processors and now deliver to Floridia Cheese in Melbourne. “I got on to them from a farm where we do the contracting; that’s where most of my information comes from,” Aran said. His biggest learning curve been in feeding. “I didn’t realise how much the cows can eat!” he said. He has also focused on ensuring a high incalf rate after bringing together different herds. Aran says keeping things simple and adopting a stress-free “she’ll be right” attitude is the key to his success. “We’re not doing strict budgeting at this stage, we’re just going with the flow. “The paddocks have plenty of grass and the cows have plenty of milk in them. We’re happy with the results so far and I enjoy seeing the cows come in the morning with a lot of milk. You know you’ve fed them right and they’re happy.” Aran is continuing the contracting business and keeping his farming system as simple as possible, while keeping in mind seasons and prices won’t always be this good. “We timed our start pretty well and it’s working, but I know not to stress when there’s a bad year; it all sorts itself out after a while.”
The farm backs on to the ocean. It’s a high rainfall area but a new centre pivot helps over summer.
Aran prefers big-bodied, big-production Holsteins that suit the red volcanic soil that doesn’t get too wet.
DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA AUGUST 2021
6 // WEST VIC REGION
Funds for south-west dairy communities SCHOOL LUNCHES for primary school stu-
dents across Colac and a zero-turn mower for Hawkesdale and District Development Action Committee are among 30 projects from across Victoria’s three main dairy regions funded through the Gardiner Dairy Foundation Community Grants Program. Now in its 19th year, the program is delivered by the Foundation for Rural & Regional Renewal (FRRR). The grants of up to $5000 help not-for-profit organisations in small Victorian dairy communities deliver projects to benefit local people and strengthen their ability to deal with local issues. Gardiner Dairy Foundation chief executive Clive Noble said the funding ensured Gardiner contributed to locally identified issues. “Through this partnership we are contributing to solutions unique to that community to create genuine long-term impact,” Dr Noble said. “We also see communities leverage these funds. “Often, that cash injection can be the catalyst that enables community groups to undertake projects of larger impact.” FRRR chief executive officer Natalie Egleton said the longstanding partnership with Gardiner Dairy Foundation had been successful in creating many exceptional projects within Victoria’s dairy communities. “Our long partnership with Gardiner Dairy Foundation has enabled us to support Victoria’s dairy communities with funding for projects that
tackle local challenges and meet the needs and priorities of each place,” Ms Egleton said. Projects funded across the south-west were: ■ Colac — improve Anam Cara House’s ability to service and support the community by upgrading technology at the centre; ■ Camperdown — encourage children’s learning and development through play by providing resources for Camperdown Toy Library; ■ Colac — improve the welfare and enhance educational outcomes for students in six primary schools across the Colac region by providing support for Colac Otway Residents Action Group’s School Lunches program; ■ Hawkesdale — grow volunteer vitality by providing a zero-turn mower for the regular lawn maintenance of community facilities at Hawkesdale and District Development Action Committee; ■ Kawarren — enhance community use of Kawarren Recreation Reserve by installing shade sails over the outdoor entertaining area; ■ Macarthur — improve volunteer vitality and support by installing a storage shed at Macarthur Recreation Reserve; ■ Terang — improve Terang & District Historical Society’s ability to support and service the community through the purchase of new computer equipment;
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2021 Gardiner Dairy Foundation Community Grant recipients at the presentation event in Melbourne. ■
Terang — Terang Art Show; artist in school program to improve access and engagement in education for children in Years 5 to 8 in the Terang area by providing access to Indigenous art lessons and local Indigenous elders; and
has increased significantly during the past 12 months but one quarter of respondents to the National Dairy Farm Survey in western Victoria remain negative. The Situation and Outlook report released by Dairy Australia found western Victorian farmers were considerably more confident in their own business thanks to favourable seasonal conditions, milk prices and ongoing demand. An increasing proportion of respondents have recorded an operating profit during the past three years, and 93 per cent are expecting to be
profitable this financial year. Consistent with 2020 results, 56 per cent of respondents’ herd sizes remained static during the past year and a similar proportion expect this will continue during the next three years. About 79 per cent were confident in their own business future, and 92 per cent invested on-farm between 2019 and 2021. Fewer than the national average expected to increase production in the future and a similar proportion were not planning to increase herd size.
A compilation of data on the average Western Victorian farmer. Source: Dairy Australia
Profitability and investment figures from Western Victoria. Source: Dairy Australia
CONFIDENCE IN the daily industry’s future
Forecast herd size Anticipated change in herd size 2023/24 vs. 2020/21 per cent 56
62
National
WestVic Dairy
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Warrnambool — improve local students’ access to educational opportunities relating to local Indigenous culture, language, and art by providing professional development of staff at Warrnambool College.
Confidence rising in the west
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7 Increase expected
No change expected
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* Subject to your acceptance from the Victorian Farm safety Scheme Anticipated changes in herd size for Western Victorian farmers. Source: Dairy Australia
DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA AUGUST 2021
WEST VIC REGION // 7
Taking a team approach pays off BY RICK BAYNE
A FARM complex covering 1600 ha and 2500
cows needs teamwork to run smoothly — and the Parkinson brothers at Kirkstall make sure that happens. During the past two years their herd has increased by 500 and more land has been added to the set-up. It’s a long way from the 200-cow enterprise started 40 years ago by David and Shirley Parkinson. Today, the five farms in the Kirkstall area are run by brothers Xavier, Vin, Adrian, James and Daniel, with David and Shirley overseeing. There are three dairies on separate farms and one heifer-rearing shed, and they effectively work without boundary fences and all brothers have equity in the business. Xavier recently hosted a WestVic Dairy Young Dairy Network (YDN) Getting Ahead in Dairy field day, with a focus on career pathways, developing staff and planning to achieve goals. The Parkinson family’s business has been built up over the years and now requires staff as well as family to run the operation. The Parkinson family’s expansion was needed when the five boys decided over time to return to the farm. Since 2005 there has been constant change and expansion. In 2005 David and Shirley were milking 900 cows on their home farm plus they
had a 283 ha run-off site. In 2007 they built a dairy on the run-off site and went from 900 to 1600 cows in two herds. This was a conversion from grazing to dairy and Xavier said it took about five years of heavy fertiliser applications to get Olsen P levels up to scratch. By 2014 all five boys had returned home and it was time for more purchases with another 400 ha dairy farm added in 2015, followed by a sheep farm conversion. Xavier, who is on the YDN leadership team, says the economies of scale have allowed one major calving period, especially with a calving shed that all farms can use. They start with heifers in late February and the cows a week later, and March, April and May are the big months when about 2000 cows calve, with a few stragglers going into June and July. “It allows the cows to calve and get settled and then catch the whole pasture season,” Xavier said. Having more cows means there is the need for more people. “We take a team approach and that works really well for us,” Xavier said. “We’ve got three teams of five people at each dairy and a constant presence on each farm. Whenever a stressful situation comes up, such as a platform breaking down, we have someone to call on.” As in any farm, not everything is a bed of roses. The Global Financial Crisis of 2008 meant
The Parkinson family now milks 2500 cows over its farming system.
A giant calf shed is shared by all farms.
many planned developments had to be put on hold, but with careful spending they didn’t need to borrow any further. There was further “battening down the hatches” in 2016 when their supplier Murray Goulburn cut prices. “This taught us a lesson; if you think you’re breaking even, you’re actually going backwards because your assets are constantly depreciating and at some point you will have to catch up,” Xavier said. They switched to UDC and enjoyed that relationship but recently took up an opportunity to supply Coles. Purchasing some cattle with one farm was also problematic as they had a bad strain of mastitis, Strep Ag, that was costly and stressful to overcome. Like many farms, the Parkinsons sometimes need to search for staff. They pay hourly rates based on age, experience and responsibility, and make sure everyone has their days off and holidays. “We all have to be here for calving and harvest in October-November but otherwise we’re flexible when they take leave,” Xavier said. “We look for people to be reliable, turn up on time and can be flexible and help out if someone else is sick.” They also offer access to South West TAFE and RIST courses so young staff members can get a formal qualification.
“Working for two years on a farm will look good on your resume,” Xavier said. “It beats avoiding work.” He admits a farming enterprise led by five brothers has long-term limitations for other staff. “You can hit a bit of a dead end with career pathways because of the five brothers, but over the years many staff have moved on into farm management or started their own farm businesses,” Xavier said. The farms previously used backpackers but lost that source of workers. Last year they rang all the local secondary schools for staff but never got a response. They don’t have the capacity to house workers on the farms and Xavier admits the split shifts can be challenging. “If you live a fair way away, that can be a problem,” he said. “During the day the place is a ghost town.” The brothers run the enterprise to their style of farming, but are happy to give staff experience in areas such as crop rotation. “Usually if someone approaches for a job, we try to make room for them,” Xavier said. He sees farm workers as an important part of the system. “Your role is important in delivering highquality food to our supermarket shelves and improving our country’s export trade.”
Xavier Parkinson recently hosted a WestVic Dairy Young Dairy Network Getting Ahead in Dairy field day, with a focus on career pathways, developing staff and planning to achieve goals.
DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA AUGUST 2021
8 // WEST VIC REGION
Hands-on with cow simulator THE ONLY cow simulator used for training
students in regional Victoria is helping agriculture students at South West TAFE to hone their skills before handling live animals. The $70,000 simulator and accessories are giving students experience in pulling a calf on a realistic and life-size cow before their first live procedure. South West TAFE agriculture teacher Rebecca Toleman said she was excited to be teaching students using this new technology. “We are fortunate to be the only trainers in regional Victoria offering this technology and our students are so lucky to be able to learn techniques on this state-of-the-art new training tool,” she said. Ms Toleman said the simulator would allow students to become proficient in their practical skills without the need to endanger or cause unnecessary discomfort to live animals. She said the simulator was sourced from Veterinary Simulator Industries in Canada and was one of only a few of its kind in Australia. “The simulators are designed in partnership between professional designers and fabricators and veterinary educators to create teaching tools that are realistic in appearance, are highly functional, durable and meet the needs of our teachers and students.” Other features of the new technology will allow students to experience managing the birthing
process including breech birth, haltering a cow, placing body ropes for casting a cow, identifying mastitis, obtaining milk samples, identifying the outline of various internal organs, AI training and pregnancy testing National Herd Development south-west sales representative and breeding adviser Dylan Jewell said it was beneficial for students to gain practical experience looking at and feeling what a cow’s organs were like before working on a live animal. “I would have loved something like this when I was training,” he said. “Technology has evolved so much and to have something like this in the south-west is unreal. This is a game-changer.” South West TAFE Land, Food and Fibre manager Paul Meredith said funding for the cow simulator was made available through the Regional and Specialist Training Fund program, which aimed to support training for specific skills in the regional and specialist areas with thin or highly specialised training markets. Mr Meredith said farming made up a large proportion of the region’s workforce and it was important to give future farmers the chance to learn using the latest training equipment. “This new training tool is a big boost to our agriculture programs and will give students a huge advantage in preparing them for their first live procedure,” he said.
South West TAFE agriculture teacher Rebecca Toleman with the cow simulator.
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