Dairy News Australia - June 2019 - With West Vic Region

JUNE 2019 ISSUE 104

WEST VIC REGION

Yes, it’s walk-through!

90-year-old shed fits purpose at Grassmere see page 6

DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA JUNE 2019

2 // WEST VIC REGION

Keeping it simple and profitable RICK BAYNE

DENNIS ROSOLIN doesn’t aim to be the most

exciting farmer in the world or to break production records.

The Glenfyne farmer goes as far as describing his system as a bit boring, but as long as it’s profitable he doesn’t mind what it’s called.

Dennis and his wife Robyn and son Ashley farm on 467ha, although more than 10 per cent of that is lost to bush and creeks.

The farm has a three-year-old rotary dairy but it’s not a property that needs all the latest bells and whistles, everything is already finely-tuned to serve profitability.

Dennis is a straight-shooter when it comes to farming.

“We have no control over what we get paid, the only control we have are the inputs,” he said.

“It’s a boring system in that we don’t put in feed pads or stand-off pads or anything exciting but we don’t want to get 10 000 litres a cow, we just want to be profitable.

“You’ve got to do the basics right — grow young stock out well, keep your cows in good condition.

“It wouldn’t matter what business you run; if you do it well enough long enough, you’ll do all right out of it.”

True to form, the farm doesn’t set production records but it is profitable and the bank had no qualms about the Rosolins buying an adjoining farm last year.

Dennis and Robyn started sharefarming with Dennis’ parents in 1986, milking just 125 cows.

The farm expanded over time, including the addition of an outpaddock.

Last year they took a big step, selling the 90 ha outpaddock and buying 175 ha next door in three different lots that came on the market within two months.

“We’re all connected now,” Dennis said.

“We have an underpass and we can shift cows

Dennis and Ashley Rosolin in the three-year-old rotary dairy that has made their farming life much easier.

from any paddock on the farm to any other paddock. It’s so much easier; we’re not shifting young stock, not shifting as much hay.”

About two-thirds of their new land was used as a dairy farm, including a stand-alone dairy that has now been retired.

“We brought the outpaddock home and we can milk off some of it,” Dennis said.

“It’s just made life a lot easier.”

The Rosolins gave preference to their existing rotary dairy, built three years ago. In 1986 they started with a seven-a-side herringbone, later expanding to 20 and then 30, but as they went over 400 cows, it couldn’t keep up.

“When you went and got the cows in the morning and milked and then again at night, you were doing an eight-hour day with nothing else,” Dennis said.

“We’ve gone from 100 cows per labour unit to 300 cows per labour unit.

“If we were still in a conventional dairy and doing little square bales, we’d be milking 100 cows and wouldn’t have time to do anything else.”

The automatic cup removers and Easy Dairy cow management system have improved throughput but the dairy doesn’t herd test or take milk samples.

“We haven’t herd tested for a number of years; by the time you sell a few old cows, empty cows and a few you don’t like you’re already building a better herd,” Dennis said.

“The dairy has been a good investment and made our lives easier, though the factory doesn’t pay any more because you’ve got a new dairy.”

They are aiming to reach 450 cows this year after peaking at 435 last year.

“The stocking rate might be slightly low — we probably need to be milking 460 to 470 to be most profitable — but if we don’t get there, I’m not stressing and this year I think we’ll get to 450,” Dennis said.

“We don’t chase production; we chase profitability. Profitability is the bottom line — if it

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The family has supplied Bega for the past decade, but they don’t go looking for seasonal incentives.

DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA JUNE 2019

WEST VIC REGION // 3 means producing less but making more, why not?”

The herd was previously Friesian, but about 10 years ago they introduced Jersey cross-breds.

“When we were all Friesian, we found they were getting too big and there was a lot of pugging on our wet farm,” Robyn said.

“Like a lot of people, we went through a period of trouble getting them in-calf so we made the decision to move to cross-breds.”

Using LIC semen from a cross-bred bull out of New Zealand, the change has been a success.

“Our litres haven’t dropped but our protein and butter fat levels have gone right up,” Dennis said.

They are achieving about 5000 litres per cow, about 2.2 million litres in total this year, and 170 000 kg MS. “We’d be happy to maintain those figures and have less inputs for lower costs,” Dennis said.

“Our cost of production is just over $3 per kg MS, without labour.”

The Bega suppliers follow consultant Kevin Maher’s predominantly grass-fed system.

“Our calving pattern matches pasture growth,” Dennis said.

“We milked through twice in 30-odd years and I swore we’d never do it again. We calve them, join them, dry them off.”

The herd is dried off from early April to May 12. “We’re graziers at the moment!” Dennis said.

They will have about 270 calves in the three weeks after May 12.

“The past five years we’ve been able to have everything calved within 12 weeks, before we start joining,” Dennis said.

“We only join for 12 weeks and anything empty gets sold. The empty rate is about 8 to 9 per cent. We’d like it to be a bit lower but we haven’t synchronised, and we haven’t induced for about 20 years and don’t intend to. We just rear another dozen or so heifers and we’re happy enough with that.”

Their system works well for the land and the family.

“I know there are a lot of incentives to produce milk out of season, but we haven’t been tempted by them because I don’t think there’s much to be gained because of our farming system,” Dennis said.

“It would put more pressure on everybody if we went year-round; we stick to what we do and just try to fine tune it.”

They cut a lot of silage and hay, feeding 0.4 kg

The decision to introduce cross-breds has been a success, with the jersey influence improving their milk solids output.

per cow per day over spring and up to 1 kg over summer. They feed around 600 kg per cow of grain but the rest of the feed is home grown.

They used to carry over a lot of hay — 200 to 300 bales each year — but wound that down in recent years until they got a bad spring and had to buy hay.

This year they have 250 to 350 rolls under cover.

“As the old farmers would say, that’s money in the bank,” Dennis said.

It’s something today’s profitable farmers might say as well.

The three-year-old rotary dairy that has made their farming life much easier.

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DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA JUNE 2019

4 // WEST VIC REGION

Chair’s message Shaping our industry’s future WINTER HAS certainly arrived and I’m getting closer to the end of calving for another season.

I love seeing green grass everywhere and hope that means money in the bank for all of us!

The autumn has seen plenty happening that will help to shape our industry going forward.

Some of you managed to get along to the Australian Dairy Plan meetings, if you couldn’t be there in person, I hope you had your say online.

It is almost too easy to be negative about these things, but I get a real feel that the feedback will be listened to and that our industry is at a crossroads of serious change.

The board at WestVic has been working hard on the Annual Plan to make sure we can deliver what is needed and asked for by you — the farmer or service provider. We spend a lot of time listening and trying to match our programs and exten-

sion to the needs of the south west.

We also recognise the need for some social events as well as our bread and butter extension activities. Early this month saw our first Dairy NiteMoooves evening which was a great, relaxed, fun night. We hope that everyone who came along really enjoyed themselves.

The next social event on our calendar is the much-loved ladies’ luncheon which takes place on August 14.

The ladies’ luncheon is a great opportunity for all of the women involved in our great industry to get together and have a fantastic day of entertainment, shopping and lovely food. As you would expect we have a terrific line-up of guest speakers, with Gorgi Coghlan our keynote speaker this year.

As always WestVic continues to offer a range

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of extension activities covering a variety of topics — as well as being available to assist you with any queries you may have, and we are very happy to welcome Debbie Twiss to our closeknit team.

Debbie has been a qualified vet for many years and has just started in her new role as our animal health and performance extension officer.

It is a fantastic win for us and the region’s farmers to again have a qualified vet working in this position; the depth of technical knowledge that Debbie brings to the position is extremely valuable and we wish her all the best in her new role.

We are currently on the lookout for new farm businesses to take part in the flagship Focus Farm project. This is due to the conclusion of two of the previous programs late last year.

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I would personally like to thank Ben and Anna Kenna, and Brett and Bronwyn Davis for their participation. Their commitment to the industry and willingness to share their experiences with their peers has been a great learning opportunity for us all.

If you would like to know more about what is involved in taking part please contact the office, alternatively if you know of someone that you believe would make an interesting Focus Farmer please encourage them to apply.

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Old, small but back in action after nearly 100 years RICK BAYNE

PAT RYAN would love $10 for every time he’s been called crazy for renovating an old walkthrough dairy on his small farm at Grassmere. introducing the But as the dairy, complete with original bluestone pavers, nears its century, Pat is having the last laugh.

“It suits what we need,” he said.

“It was a pretty cheap option and for what we’re doing it’s fine. We’re making use of the land and creating an income stream.”

Pat and his children Majella and Matt share duties taking care of their 60 cows and 15 horses on 42ha.

Laying claim to be one of the oldest and Pat Ryan: “I wouldn’t mind $10 for every time I was told I was crazy.” smallest dairies still in use, it’s just over 12 m long and built in the 1920s. One bluestone paver sets the date at August 15, 1928.

The dairy has four stalls and eight machines, easy enough to get all the cows milked within two hours during peak production.

Majella, a medical scientist, and Matt, a lawyer, bought the farm in December 2012. Pat, who became a widower 11 years ago but came from a dairy background, moved in with them.

They didn’t intend to use it as a dairy but that changed in 2016 when they bred some heifer calves.

“We were going to sell on the export market but the market dried up,” Pat said.

“We had these heifers we couldn’t sell so we thought we’d milk them. The old dairy was here and didn’t need a lot of work to get it back into shape.”

They put in new headstalls, a new roof, new The 60-strong herd, mostly Jerseys, is as much as the farm and its old dairy can carry. machines and lined the inside, but the woodwork

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and bluestone floor and yard are original.

All the old milking gear — slide pulsators — had been removed.

As far as Pat is aware, the dairy hadn’t been used since 1972, but the building was solid and they thought it was worth renovating. They spent about $18 000 to $20 000 on the shed, plus machinery.

The equipment fitters were a bit puzzled.

“They doubted my sanity,” Pat said.

“I wouldn’t mind $10 for every time I was told I was crazy, and I’ve had a lot worse than that too.”

“One comment was ‘Are you for real?’ but I said it would work and it did.”

Pat, 71, was raised on a dairy farm and had been farming until a tractor accident forced him to other pursuits. He was keen to get involved again.

“I looked forward to it; I wouldn’t be doing it if I didn’t enjoy it. It gives me a reason to get out of bed in the morning and it pays its way.

“It’s not onerous on any of us. We’re lucky we have off-farm income so we’re not relying on it to survive.”

Majella and Matt live on the farm and help before and after work, but Pat is happy doing his share.

The mostly Jersey herd is ideal for the small farm and old dairy.

“Jerseys are best for their easier carrying capacity,” Pat said.

“They’re not as heavy so there’s less pugging and they’re easier to handle in the dairy. They’re all pets.”

Their lighter weight means less problems on the bluestone dairy floor, which they have no trouble negotiating.

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WEST VIC REGION // 7

The dairy is alongside a horse training area.

They started with 38 heifers and the next year bought another 11, and then last year got to 60.

“Sixty will be about all we can carry,” Pat said.

The cows are producing about 500 kg/MS, ranging 480 to 540, and are close to matching their body weight.

“Like everything else, it’s still a work in process but we’re happy with what they’re producing and it’s profitable enough,” Pat said.

They are milking off about 34 ha with the cows sharing the land with 15 horses, which are being bred for racing.

Pastures are still being developed.

“It’s an ongoing process,” Pat said.

“The whole place needs renovating. We do two summer crops of turnips and oats, a winter crop and then sow it down.”

The farm was originally part of a larger property owned by Jimmy Henderson, who had a major Ayrshire stud. The Ryans keep one Ayrshire as a token to that history.

The dairy is the smallest in the region “by a long shot” and probably one of the oldest still in use anywhere in Australia, but Pat sees no reason why it won’t make its century in 2028.

“We won’t be changing it, except maybe put in a third-line cleaner,” he said. “At the moment we cart in a bucket of water.

“We put a fair bit of thought into it; without the double-up machines it would be difficult but we’re doing what suits us.

“We’re not out to set the world on fire, just to get it to pay its way and keep improving year-onyear. We’re not setting the goals too high.

“It’s a small operation and we have to keep overheads down as far as we can and always remember it’s an old dairy.”

Original bluestone pavers remain in the dairy.

The old walk-through dairy is nearly 100 years old but it suits the farm’s needs.

A bluestone paver recently dug up to make way for a fence post shows the date of the dairy.

DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA JUNE 2019

8 // WEST VIC REGION

Debbie on deck at WestVic Dairy WESTVIC DAIRY has welcomed Debbie Twiss to the staff.

Debbie is the new extension officer for animal health and performance. She has been working in the position for one-day-a-week alongside her regular work as a vet at The Vet Group in Allansford, and now joins the WestVic Dairy team fulltime.

Debbie was born in Auckland, New Zealand.

She later moved to Palmerston North to study at Massey University and has lived in rural communities ever since.

“I wanted to become a vet but did a science degree in genetics and microbiology first, to get my grades up for vet school,” Debbie said.

Since graduating as a vet Debbie has always preferred working with dairy cattle. After practising in New Zealand for 16 years she moved

to Australia where she has worked as a vet for eight years.

So why dairy cattle in particular? Simple, she likes cows and farmers.

“They are real people, and real animals. No matter where you go, they are honest, straightforward and welcoming,” Debbie said.

As a child Debbie learned to milk cows on a family friend’s farm, and that’s how she came into contact with cattle and sheep.

She has always loved engaging with farmers.

“They are healthy people to engage with on a daily basis because of their positivity and resilience,” Debbie said.

“They’re the kind of people you want to talk to, and also a great source of knowledge – which was particularly useful to me as a new graduate all those years ago!”

Debbie Twiss.

Debbie said she looked forward to working at WestVic Dairy and in a different role within the industry.

“It is a new challenge and will help me in gaining a more holistic understanding of the dairy industry,” she said.

Debbie said horticulture was her best subject in high school. When she started her study

to become a vet, she turned down an apprenticeship in the tomato industry. She worked in a tomato glasshouse before being accepted into university.

Many people who know Debbie are also familiar with her dog K.T.!

“She rides everywhere with me and people know her for that,” Debbie said.

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DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA JUNE 2019

10 // WEST VIC REGION

Building for success OVER THE past three years, Orford share-

farmer Jos Boekhout has found that if you build it, they will come.

No, he hasn’t ventured into a baseball field among the crops a-la Field of Dreams, but he’s overseen the construction of a new rotary dairy, the addition of an adjoining farm and an almost doubling of the herd.

It’s been a challenging but thoroughly rewarding time.

“We’re very close to doubling what we did three years ago,” Jos said.

“Everything has taken shape nicely.”

With the former 32-swingover herringbone, the farm peaked at 460 cows on 210ha. There was a 325 ha supporting block, but it was a 15 km round trip to get there.

In late 2015 the absentee farm owners, Vincent and Julianna Lee, bought the beef property that separated the two parcels of land and merged all three into an 890 ha operation.

The focus was to make it self-sufficient, apart from up to two tonne of grain per cow.

“The extra land gave us that option and we could retain all young stock on the property,” Jos said.

The groundwork on the new 60-bail rotary dairy started November 2015 on a greenfield site.

“We learned from our experiences here and we visited several dairy farms around the district to come up with a plan that would work for us,” Jos said.

“We have a very good relationship with the farm owners and they said to us ‘Think of it as your dairy — you will be the ones milking in it so build what you want’. ” What Jos wanted was easy cow flow.

“We were pushing it with 460 on the herringbone and we wanted something that was going to flow,” he said.

“The big focus was to have as little labour as possible, making it essentially a one-person shed so the other staff can be off doing other jobs.”

The dairy is equipped with all relevant checks and balances, but that doesn’t mean farmer expertise is ignored.

“We have a computer program but I still find there’s nothing better than physically stripping the herd for mastitis every Monday morning,” Jos said.

“We sometimes pick up things, but it also confirms what we’re seeing on the computers.

Aaron Edge, Gerard McKenzie, Jos Boekhout and Lawrence Gilchrist can get a variety of jobs completed during milking thanks to the new technology.

“We’ve got nearly three years of information and it generates a health report every morning that shows any unusual trends so we can look at those cows to find reasons why they’re off a bit.”

The farm has gone from 460 to 800 cows with no outside purchases — it’s all been through breeding.

“We carried a lot of cows through that we normally wouldn’t but we were basically trying to build numbers,” Jos said.

The shed and yard were built for 800 cows.

“That was always the target; what we felt the property could cope with, while not having to buy outside feed, and so far, we’ve been able to achieve that.”

The numbers have grown from 460 to 600, 650, 730 and in 2019 will peak at the ideal 800.

“It’s been good because it has been a gentle

The three-year-old rotary dairy was built for 800 and is coping well with the demands.

progression,” Jos said.

The farm was achieving just over 500 kg/MS per cow before the changes. That dipped to about 470 in the changeover but has grown steadily back to 500 and the farm is hitting budget of 400 000 kg MS per year.

“Everyone said just get the first 12 months out of the way and then it’s smooth sailing,” Jos said.

“Breaking them into a rotary was an interesting period but it was worth it. If they know the platform you’ve won half the battle.”

This year he’s changing the calving system to allow a smoother introduction to the dairy platform.

With the new dairy in place, and expanded farm base, the rest of the farm had to catch up.

“We were working with new effluent and water systems had to be upgraded from two inch

Jos Boekhout tends to the yard after milking.

to three-inch pipes to the troughs, new tracks, new subdivisions; it was a huge project.”

Much of the focus was on the new land, formerly beef country.

“That was virgin dairy land and the other land was just a supporting block and it all of a sudden became one unit.”

Consultant Hugh Crockford provided farm mapping with new paddock subdivision sizes, with the focus on breaking up the virgin country through a cropping program.

“We were targeting 70 to 90 ha a year and we’ve done that,” Jos said.

They use a rape crop in spring and then sow back down to permanent pasture, mainly sticking to Matrix. This year they are trialling 150 alongside the reliable Matrix, plus annuals.

A new 1.2 km, eight-metre wide track is being

DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA JUNE 2019

WEST VIC REGION // 11 built to give access to the final 80 ha of the milking platform.

The farm has 42 ha under centre pivot irrigation, the same as when it was carrying just 460 cows. Plans are in the pipeline to add a second pivot, with bore tests calculating that the water can reach the new site.

New centralised calf sheds are also planned.

“You can’t do everything overnight; it’s a work in progress,” Jos said.

The farm has seasonal calving, starting with heifers in April and the rest of the herd joining a month later and calving continues until the end of August.

It is part of a correct weight program for heifers.

“We aim for a joining target weight of 330 kg and we’ve achieved that three years running and our number of replacements has gone up; we rear 200 heifer calves a year,” Jos said.

The opportunity to be involved in a development farm intrigued Jos, who moved from New Zealand in 2002.

He worked on the Lees Orford farm for six years before moving to Ballangeich to sharefarm with his parents, who had moved from New Zealand.

When the milk price dropped, the small 170cow farm couldn’t sustain two families so Jos and his partner Sarah Kelly and their four children moved back to Orford.

“I made the decision I wanted to be a career sharefarmer or manager, not an owner. We’re happy with that decision,” he said.

Jos with his children Dixie, Zane and Trinity, with their dalmatian Vin and Jack Russell Sniper. Missing are Sarah Kelly and daughter Destiny.

Focus Farms Expressions of Interest WestVic Dairy is seeking expressions of interest from dairy farmers across our region to participate in the Focus Farm project.

Focus Farms operate over a two year period and are designed to improve farm business management practices.

Participants recieve advice from an experienced farm consultant of their choice, as well as a support group of local farmers and service providers. This helps to guide the on-farm decision making process.

If you would like further information, or an Expression of Interest form, please contact Laurie Hickey on 0439 833 484.

"Having a constant line to other farmers and mentors through the program has been very helpful. We've been able to draw on their varied experiences."

Kenna's - Terang Focus Farm 2016-18

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1 From Nussio et al., 2002. Scientia Agricola, 59, 3: 421 | 2 The effect of ionophores on feed intake by feedlot cattle, 1995, Gary Vogel, Lilly Research Laboratories, Canyon Texas | 3 Stromberg et al 1982 Am J Vet Res. 43:583 | 4 Watkins et al, 1986 AgriPractice. 7:18-20