Ag Focus 2019

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PUBLICATION

ISSUE 11

2019

PICKING INNOVATION DAIRY PREMIUMS IN A DEPRESSED MARKET THE FARMER AND THE BROLGAS A CELEBRATION OF COMPANIONS

How engineering is changing the fruit harvest

Dairy dominates the region

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airy continues to be the biggest sector in the Shepparton region’s $1.87 billion agriculture industry, but tough conditions have seen a fall in the number of farms.

The region, which includes towns such as Tatura, Kyabram, Echuca, Rochester, Yarrawonga and Nathalia, currently represents about 11 per cent of total agricultural production in Victoria.

According to Australian Bureau of Statistics’ most recent figures, the total value of crops in the Shepparton region in 2017–18 was $918 million.

However, despite growing value in the region, data is pointing towards a decline in dairy, the region’s largest industry.

Australia Bureau of Statistics data shows that in 2016–17 there were 2219 farms in the Shepparton region with an estimated value of agricultural operations of $40 000 or more.

Of these farms 861 were dairy, a fall of 86 farms on 2015–16 figures.

The figures do not take into account farm closures in the past 18 months, which have been increasingly frequent as a result of high water and feed prices, and dry conditions.

Dairy farms in the Shepparton region account for 39 per cent of all farms in the Shepparton region, and 22 per cent of all dairy farms in Victoria.

According to the 2016–17 figures, the most important commodities in the Shepparton region based on the gross value of agricultural production were milk ($464 million), followed by cattle and calves ($218 million) and apples ($142 million).

Together these commodities contributed 53 per cent of the total value of agricultural production in the region.

The Shepparton region accounted for 95 per cent ($91 million) of the total value of Victoria’s pear production.

Story: Alana Christensen

Shepparton region

Nathalia Echuca Tongala Rochester

Numurkah Yarrawonga

Kyabram

Justin Crook

Tatura

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32 Cover photograph: The days of ladders, bags and tractors have come to an end at Ardmona’s Plunkett Orchards, with a new machine improving efficiency and safety.

Photo: Megan Fisher

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ENERGY

How’s this for a better way? .........................6

Solar power set to slash electricity bills ............................................31

Page: 14-15

Taking the heat out of milk production ...............................................9

Editor Geoff Adams

Lifestyle change leads to organic move ....................................................10

Editorial co-ordinator Rodney Woods

Strategy points to strong future ...............13

Writers Geoff Adams Rodney Woods Alana Christensen

HORTICULTURE

Photographers Megan Fisher Rodney Braithwaite

A fruit picking revolution ...............................14 Growers are netting the benefits ............16 CROPPING

Editorial designer Bella Considine

Finding the right recipe to feed canola..........................................................18

Sub-editors Sandy Lloyd Wendy Russell

Tempting mice tastebuds.............................21

Advertising Ashton Still Karen Chatterton Advertising support Rhiannon Nicholas Jordan Purtill Graphic artist Brendan Cain A publication of the McPherson Media Group weekly newspaper, Country News, which circulates in 16 newspapers across central and northern Victoria and the southern Riverina.

ENVIRONMENT Waste not, want not for composting business................................22 Hoping to bring back brolgas ....................24 MAN’S BEST FRIEND Best of man’s best friend ...............................26

ANIMAL HEALTH Waste product helps meet feed gap ...32 WATER Still making water-saving connections ..............................................................34 Get the most bang for your water buck.............................................36 EDUCATION Hands-on training improves workplace skills ......................................................36 REAL ESTATE At the pointy end of the dairy downturn.............................................38 TECHNOLOGY App makes record-keeping simple .......44 Upgrade boosts fertiliser output .............46

TRANSPORT Tractor movements made easier ............28 Fuelling the region’s farms ...........................30

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A BETTER WAY?

Thirty-five cows and 18 calves make up the How Now Dairy herd currently.

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How Now Dairy co-owner Cathy Palmer. Ms Palmer says fellow founder of the business Les Sandles is shocked at the improved health of the animals.

The two-litre full cream milk they sell in Melbourne.

There are no sellers in the Goulburn Valley.

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n alternative way of dairying, which cannot be found anywhere else in Australia, has made its way to the Goulburn Valley, with How Now Dairy operating with an exclusive female herd and keeping calves alongside their mothers for longer.

Co-founded by Cathy Palmer and Dr Les Sandles, How Now Dairy materialised after Ms Palmer wanted to produce dairy products in a “kinder” way.

“When I found out the truth about conventional dairying — that half a million calves a year are slaughtered at five days old − I could not reconcile that with myself and I just figured if I am this passionate about it there’s got to be more people like me who enjoy dairy products but feel there’s got to be a kinder way.”

Rather than the calves heading to an abattoir, they are raised by their mothers until they are four months old.

“We’d been talking about it for a couple of years after I found out the reality of dairy and Les just rang me one day and said, ‘I’ve bought some cows’,” Ms Palmer, from Congupna, said.

“In September 2016 our first calf was born, and we left them (mother and calf) alone for a couple of days and then Les carried the calf into the dairy with mum and milked mum and that was the start of How Now. “That’s the only cow we’ve taught the system to. She taught every other cow and they just naturally did it.

“It goes a long way to what I’ve always believed, that the animals are very smart and very organised.”

While the herd is now an all-female contingent, at the beginning, in 2016, this was not the case.

“We didn’t have the money when we started,” Ms Palmer said.

“We used beef bulls so then we have the boys and we’d grow them, and they would still go to meat from about three onwards.

“But now we are using sexed semen, so we only have females and the idea is that the girls will spend their time here, get weaned at an appropriate age, which is not two weeks − it’s more like four months, and then they grow up on the farm.

“Ideally I’m hoping there will be more How Now farms come on (board) to supply us with milk and I’d be able to provide them with cows.”

Ms Palmer said the benefits to the animals’ health from farming this way was obvious.

“It’s absolutely astounding,” she said.

“Les is a scientist so he looks at the scientific outcomes and he’s seen everything and doesn’t get shocked by much, and he has commented on how shocked he’s been to see the improved health of the herd, of the cows, and of the calves.

“So, people talk about the cost of giving all this milk away (the calves drinking milk). >>

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>> “Well it’s there’s to start with and (secondly) our calves don’t get sick. The most common thing we get with our calves is scour because they drink too much.

“We have to regulate that a bit, but our calves don’t get sick and their mums don’t tend to get sick.

“We save so much money on veterinary bills and because they’re happier I think that shows in the components in the milk.”

Despite it being an award-winning product, having been successful at the Delicious Produce Awards and Australian Food Awards, there is no supplier in the Shepparton area for How Now’s two-litre full cream milk.

“We have no stockists in Shepparton, sadly,” Ms Palmer said.

“There’s no-one that’s really shown any interest in stocking milk.

“There’s plenty of people here that want to buy it and they’d love to buy it from the farm gate, but we just can’t open that up right now.

“All of our milk is sold in the Melbourne suburban area.”

The business is currently equity crowd funding, or selling shares in the company, to raise money for an expanded dairy and an on-site processing plant, where it is hoped the product range will be added to.

There is plenty of room for expansion for the business with five cows milking at a time the capacity of the dairy.

Story: Rodney Woods Pictures: Megan Fisher

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Taking the heat out of milk production

Dr Paul Cheng was one of the scientists who investigated the impact of heat stress on milk production performances in summer.

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ith the hot climatic conditions in Australian summers, heat stress can have varied effects on the milk production of lactating dairy cows.

Scientists from the Faculty of Veterinary and Agriculture Sciences at University of Melbourne’s Dookie Campus investigated the impact of heat stress on milk production performances of cows at differing stages of lactation in summer.

“For dairy farmers, it is very important that their lactating cows are in the best production condition as possible to produce milk,” researcher Paul Cheng said.

“Lactating cows show the optimum milk production performance within the thermos-neutrality zone with an upper limit of temperature around 26°C,” the university’s Dr Brendan Cullen said.

“With high temperature conditions in summer, the heat dissipation ability and

Dr Paul Cheng says “we can see from the results of this study that heat stress showed a strong negative impact on cow milk production performance”.

milk production of lactating cows are reduced,” Dr Cullen said.

The study was conducted at the Dookie Campus’ robotic dairy farm and used 109 Holstein cows between February 1 and 18, 2017; consisting of a seven-day pre-heat stress period, during which the milk production records were used as a baseline data.

It was then followed by a four-day heat stress period and a seven-day recovery period.

Cows grazed pasture and were grouped into three calving groups — early stage of lactation (January 2017 calving), mid stage of lactation (August to September 2016 calving) and late stage of lactation (April to May 2016 calving).

Daily milk production was recorded by the robotic milking system.

By the end of the four-day heat

stress event, the late and mid lactation stage groups had decreased their milk production by 17 per cent and 15 per cent respectively compared to their baseline, and the milk production recovered to their baseline level about seven days after the heat stress event.

For the early lactation stage group, milk production increase rate dropped from 2.2 kg/day in baseline period to 0.17 kg/ day during heat stress event, and then only recovered to 0.79 kg/day after the heat stress event.

“We can see from the results of this study that heat stress showed a strong negative impact on cow milk production performance,” Dr Cheng said.

“Dairy cows in different lactation stage had responded to heat stress differently.

“For the mid and late lactation cows, reduced milk production recovered soon after heat stress period.

“However, the early lactation cows could not recover and lost their production potential, which could imply that the dairy industry should avoid calving in summer period, unless there is an efficient heat stress mitigation strategy in place on farm.”

Future study will be conducted with the robotic milking system to understand the impact of consecutive heat stress events on cows with different stages of lactation and diverse genetic backgrounds.

Pictures: Rodney Braithwaite

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Lifestyle change

LEADS TO ORGANIC MOVE

Mr Coulson recalled times when he’d come in from milking and wonder what he had got himself, and his family, into.

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combination of healthier cows, better soils and trying to remain sustainable in the dairy industry, made the decision to farm organically an easy one for the Coulsons of Tongala.

Mark Coulson, wife Mandy and their children moved back to the region three years ago to allow the children to experience life on the land, but it was Mrs Coulson’s job and the couple not being fans of chemicals that prompted them to head down the organic path.

“Why wife (Mandy) is an environmental program consultant and I really don’t like chemicals all that much either,” Mr Coulson said.

“I’m from the area originally, and being aware of the dairy industry, organic farming seemed to be a way forward when normal dairy farming seems to be going backwards.”

Despite only having farmed for three

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years, Mr Coulson said he had already seen the benefits of organic farming.

“We’ve only been dairy farming for a bit over three years and even in that time the cows seem to be healthier, they don’t get as sick, the soil seems to be better. It’s a combination of everything,” he said.

He explained the differences on his farm to others that were dairying conventionally.

“We don’t use herbicides, we don’t spray chemicals, we don’t treat our cows with antibiotics, we don’t use urea, we use compost on pasture to help it grow and give it a bit more structure,” Mr Coulson said.

“Composting is one of the best kept secrets in our entire industry.

“Besides the benefits of nitrogen and calcium and all the other goodies that come with compost, this year with water being priced what it is, one of the benefits of compost is it holds the moisture.

“So basically, your water goes 25 per cent further − give or take.”

Despite having meetings with other processors, Mr Coulson said ACM was the one that stood out.

“When we first came up here we did the rounds,” he said.

“I sat down with Murray Goulburn (now Saputo) and they had a program called the Next Generation program where they basically offered us $30 000 more because we were new blood coming into the industry that they wanted to encourage.

“But I sat down with ACM and I was that impressed with ACM on two counts.

“Number one was their business model.

What their business model is, is they’ll go out and get the market and then they look for the milk to supply the market.

“The other thing was we are only a small Jersey farm here. We have a 150 acre

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The dairy on the Tongala property. The Coulsons milk between 120 and 130 Jersey cows.

Cows are not given antibiotics when they are sick under the organic farming system.

Tongala’s Mark Coulson with his small herd of Jersey cattle.

(60.7 ha) dairy farm here and we milk anywhere between 120 and 130 cows and it made more sense to go with a smaller processor where we’re not just a number.”

Mr Coulson admitted it was not the best time to get into dairy when he did, but it was important to remember why his family made the move in the first place.

“I remember milking and then coming inside and sitting on the bed and putting my head in my hands, thinking, ‘what have I done?’” he said.

“I lived in Torquay, I used to look at the ocean every day and I’ve come into this.

What have I done?

“You just have to take a breath and remember the reason why you do things and for us we wanted our kids to have the experience of living in a country area, country town and experience country life.”

While both sides of his family started dairying in the 1920s, Mr Coulson said it was not for him immediately.

“My mum’s side, they started in dairying in Tongala in 1920. On my father’s side they started dairying out of Girgarre (at the same time).

“It (dairy farming) just didn’t interest me at the time.

“I worked in a farm supply store in Kyabram and ended up knowing the farmers there and then ended up moving down town, and we ended up getting a couple of retail businesses in Melbourne.”

Being an ACM supplier, Mr Coulson said it was pleasing to see the Girgarre factory up and running.

The factory was officially opened in April after milk first went through the pipelines in February.

Story: Rodney Woods Pictures: Megan Fisher

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Murray Dairy’s Future Focus — Dairy Industry Strategy Murray Region 2019 is a plan for the future of the dairy industry in the Murray region.

Murray Dairy Providing regional and seasonal information for the dairy industry in northern Victoria and southern NSW • Workshops, training and tools for the management of livestock, feed, natural resources, people and your farm business • Access to expertise to improve on-farm performance • Seasonal updates to assist with decision making • Networks and support for industry groups including Discussion Groups

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Murray Dairy and Dairy Australia are investing in programs that support farm businesses as they adjust to seasonal variability including: • Alternative fodders and cropping • Animal health and nutrition • Business structures and employment • Risk and strategic planning • Water portfolio management

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STRATEGY POINTS TO

STRONG FUTURE

The goals of each of the themes:

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Sustainable farm profit that in turn supports communities and regional economies.

ith dairy farmers struggling with seasonal conditions and high input costs, a plan for a strong future for the industry in has been created.

Murray Dairy’s Future Focus — Dairy Industry Strategy Murray Region 2019 report outlines what the industry must collectively focus on to achieve its goal of being a strong, confident, agile and forward-looking industry.

“More than 1300 dairy businesses in the Murray region produced 2064 million litres of milk last year, worth $916 million at the farm gate, an equivalent of 22 per cent of the national total,” the report says.

Across six themes — profit, systems, water, people, planning and promotion — the strategy provides objectives and mechanisms for different industry stakeholders and government to play a part in, not only improving the future of the dairy industry, but the communities of the Murray region as well.

“Each theme contains specific goals and strategies to guide collective action,” the report says.

Research from Dairy Australia, which is partly behind the report, found the industry in the Murray region employs 8700 people on-farm, in processing and within the broader service sector, contributing a further $730 million to the regional economy.

The report states dairy farmers are also facing increasing volatility in the operating environment, which, for many, is requiring adjustment to the way they do business.

“Challenges presented by water reform are compounded by climate variability, international market conditions, fluctuating milk prices, rising input costs and domestic industry shocks,” the report says.

A copy of the strategy is available at: murraydairy.com.au

1) Profit 2) Systems Farm systems that can respond proactively to a changing operating environment.

3) Water More efficient, cost-effective water use.

4) People Attract and retain high quality, highly skilled farmers, workers and service providers.

5) Planning Integrated planning to support investment and take advantage of emerging markets.

6) Promotion Change the conversation to tell a positive story of dairy’s value and importance.

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HORTICULTURE

A fruit picking REVOLUTION

Plunkett Orchards orchard manager Jason Shields is a big fan of the new technology the business is using to making picking quicker, easier and safer.

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HORTICULTURE

Only a seven per cent boost in efficiency is needed to cover the costs of the machine.

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he days of ladders, bags and tractors have come to an end at Ardmona’s Plunkett Orchards, with a new machine improving efficiency and safety.

First trialled at the orchard a couple of years ago, the business has this year made the decision to pick all its fruit using the machines.

A moving platform allows two canopy pickers and a handful of ground pickers to move along the rows, placing picked fruit on a conveyor belt with all apples going into a single bin.

For orchard manager Jason Shields, the machines are worth their weight in gold.

“It means no tractors, no trailers, no

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ladders, no bags. It’s a game-changer,” Mr Shields said.

“The OH&S benefits are huge … quality is up 15 to 20 per cent and productivity is up about 15 per cent.”

Although costing about $130 000 each, Mr Shields said the machines only cost the business $3 a bin on average, with only a seven per cent efficiency improvement needed to cover their costs.

“There’s a pad in between each apple so they can’t actually touch each other which means less bruising and damage,” he said.

And ultimately, it’s reaping not just OH&S rewards, but also labour hire.

“You don’t need that much training, you just set this at a pace and go,” Mr Shields said.

With the most strenuous aspects of the job now removed, he said there were far more options for who they could attract to the farm.

And with each picker able to make minimum bin limits due to the increased efficiency, Mr Shields said it ticked many boxes.

Given the orchard will pick 250 bins of Pink Lady apples a day when in full swing, he’s expecting the machines to help make the business more efficient and produce higher quality produce year-in year-out.

Story: Alana Christensen Pictures: Megan Fisher

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Growers are

The netting at Rutherford Orchards saved some of owner Clarke Rutherford’s trees when a hailstorm hit his property in 2012.

Picture: Ray Sizer

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he horticulture industry is pushing to get a netting program rolled out nationwide.

Apple and Pear Australia Ltd has proposed a 10-year grant program to cover costs of netting orchard trees across the nation, which costs about $60 000/ha.

“Focus on developing a national netting program has been accelerated recently by a number of factors including hail and bird damage in South Australia and NSW, flying fox infestations in Victoria, extreme heat in the Goulburn Valley, ongoing drought and water restrictions, plus potential opportunity to export mainland apples to China in the next few years,” APAL’s government relations and advocacy head Jeremy Griffith said.

Mr Griffith said the benefits of netting

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netting the benefits were worth the hefty cost.

“The ability for growers to help protect their orchards from extreme weather conditions and animal infestation cannot be underestimated,” he said.

“The impact of these conditions are devastating.”

The idea has been endorsed by Toolamba orchardist Clarke Rutherford, owner of Rutherford Orchards.

Mr Rutherford currently has 12 ha of netting installed and said a grant program would help take the sting out of the cost of installing the netting.

Although it’s cost him about $75 000/ha, he said the investment was well worth it.

“It’s like chalk and cheese the areas that are netted and those that aren’t,” he said.

After being on the property for four

years, he made the decision to make the investment after they were consistently hit with hail.

This summer it was the scorching temperatures he was hoping to protect his produce from.

“The structure will probably last 40 years and the netting would probably have a life of about 20 years.”

With 6000 bins of Pink Lady apples, 2000 bins of Gala apples and 500 bins of Granny Smiths produced from his orchard each year, Mr Rutherford said rolling the netting out further across his property would be something he’d consider in the future.

Fruit Growers Victoria grower services manager Michael Crisera said getting this program up and running was a must for

HORTICULTURE

Apple and Pear Australia Ltd is hoping to see a national netting program put in place. Picture: Megan Fisher

An aerial view of the netting used by Rutherford Orchards.

the industry.

“I think it is hugely important to futureproof produce and help growers reduce water use … netting will also reduce sunburn, protect the crop from hail and generally results in increased pack-outs,” Mr Crisera said.

He urged growers to lobby their local state and federal members of parliament to attempt to get the program across the line.

APAL’s proposal includes lobbying for accelerated depreciation for apple and pear netting, extending low interest loans via the Rural Investment Corporation and ensuring the Future Drought Fund is open to the horticulture industry.

Story: Alana Christensen and Rodney Woods

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CROPPING

Finding the to feed canola

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lthough multi-site trials run by the Riverine Plains group examining optimal nutrition for canola crops were challenged by dry conditions, one clear finding was revealed — growers can never over-value the importance of knowing crop nutrient removal rates, soil nutrient levels and paddock history.

Riverine Plains researcher Cassandra Schefe oversaw the Grains Research and Development Corporation-funded trials — Optimising crop nutrition in canola in the southern region of NSW — at Howlong and Yarrawonga in 2017 and at Howlong and Coreen in 2018.

The trials, managed by FAR Australia, were designed to establish optimal sulphur and nitrogen nutrition for canola and to learn more about the impact of sulphur applications on nitrogen responses.

However, the trials were hampered by a

The Howlong trial site in 2018.

dry finish in 2017 and overall dry conditions in 2018, which meant the Coreen trial was unable to be harvested.

“Although we can’t make any recommendations based on these trials, this work does reinforce that basic sulphur nutrition is needed to ensure that nitrogen supply to canola during the growing season is not limited,” Dr Schefe said.

“Rather than relying on standard application rates of sulphur with every canola crop, a focus on on-farm understanding of fluctuations in soil sulphur levels, based on previous applications and crop export, needs to be valued in the same way as deep soil nitrogen levels provide a measure of confidence in urea application rates.”

Sulphur deficiency in canola crops in southern NSW was identified in the late 1980s and, as a result, an application of 20 to 30 kg of sulphur/ha is recommended

when sowing canola.

As crop production has intensified and a wheat-canola rotation has become commonplace, growers have questioned whether such applications are needed for each canola crop.

“At the same time, growers have seen a variable response to sulphur,” Dr Schefe said.

“It has been established this is linked to background nutrition levels and if nitrogen supply is sub-optimal, plant uptake of sulphur can be inhibited.”

At each of the four trial sites, nitrogen (as urea) and sulphur (as sulphate of ammonia) were applied at different rates and combinations in commercial cropping situations.

Impacts were measured in tissue samples, dry matter, yield, oil, protein and gross margin.

Results from 2017

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At the Howlong site, yields ranged from 2.46 tonne/ha in the untreated crop to 3.04 tonne/ha for canola that received 20 kg sulphur/ha and 80 kg nitrogen/ha.

There were no significant differences in oil content and the highest biomass was recorded from 80 kg/ha of nitrogen and no sulphur.

At the Yarrawonga site, there was a greater difference in responses with 1.32 tonne/ha recorded in the untreated canola compared to 3.11 tonne/ha when 160 kg of nitrogen/ha and 20 kg of sulphur/ha was applied.

Yield was optimised at 20 kg of sulphur/ha, with yield penalties for higher and lower applications.

Oil content was adversely impacted by higher nitrogen applications, but protein levels benefited from it and there was no impact on oil or protein levels from varying sulphur applications.

Gross margin analysis on both sites put the highest yielding plots as the best financial performers.

The benefit:cost ratio of the application of 20 kg sulphur/ ha (when nitrogen was applied at 80 kg/ha) was $4.78:$1.

Results from 2018

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Yields at the Howlong site ranged from 0.77 to 1.23 tonne/ha.

The highest response came from 120 kg of nitrogen with 10 kg of sulphur/ha with the 120 kg nitrogen with 20 kg sulphur/ha only yielding slightly less.

Oil content decreased as nitrogen application increased, but protein increased in line with increased nitrogen applications.

The most economic treatment was 80 kg nitrogen/ha and zero sulphur, which resulted in a yield of 1.13 tonne/ha.

There were no results from the Coreen site due to insufficient rainfall.

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CROPPING

TEMPTING

mice tastebuds R

esearch is revealing new insights and understanding about mice in Australian broadacre cropping systems, especially in terms of their food preferences and aversion to bait.

The Grains Research and Development Corporation’s major mouse-related research, development and extension program has shown that mice prefer cereals over lentils, background food significantly affects consumption of bait and strategic use of bait is more effective than frequent use of bait.

As part of the suite of GRDC investments, CSIRO researchers have been undertaking bait substrate trials to determine what is driving a perceived reduction in efficacy of zinc phosphide bait and testing potential new bait substrates that might be more attractive to mice.

Researchers are testing the willingness of mice to transition from one food to another and then determining whether mice will continue to eat that alternative food source once zinc phosphide bait has been applied.

CSIRO researcher Steve Henry said one experiment involved mice being held on a background food type (barley/lentils/wheat) for two weeks and then offered the choice of an alternative grain type (malt barley/ durum wheat/lentils) for five nights.

“A clear key message from this work is that mice don’t like lentils,” Mr Henry said.

“Results from trials have shown that mice have a clear preference for cereals over lentils, which indicates lentils wouldn’t be a good bait substrate for zinc phosphide.”

The work being undertaken by CSIRO is outlined by Mr Henry in a new GRDC podcast at http://bit.ly/2WyolPA and video at http://bit.ly/305AayV and has been detailed to growers and advisers attending GRDC Grains Research Updates.

Mr Henry said an interesting outcome of this experiment was in relation to toxic bait aversion.

“Mice that ate a sub-lethal dose of toxin on the first night showed bait aversion — they stopped taking toxic grains on nights two

CSIRO researcher Steve Henry holds up a mouse. A study found mice have a clear preference for cereals over lentils.

Picture: GRDC and three,” he said.

“In all rodent populations, there will be some animals that are susceptible and some that are less susceptible to bait.

“If those less susceptible individuals consume zinc phosphide and don’t die, then we end up with almost instant bait aversion.”

The next phase of the research will examine the role of available alternative food on commercial zinc phosphide bait effectiveness.

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AGFOCUS 2019

21

ENVIRONMENT

WASTE NOT, WANT NOT

for composting business The compost piles attract birdlife to the Daldy Rd site.

22

AGFOCUS 2019

Western Composting Technology site operations manager Ken Martin says using compost means less water is needed and soil health improves.

ENVIRONMENT

Compost plant operators Ben Moor and Daniel Ellis pick out rubbish from the organic waste.

Compost in the in-vessel tunnel.

A

Shepparton composting business is doing its part for the environment by turning organic waste into compost, which is then used on farms.

Western Composting Technology site operations manager Ken Martin explained the process of making the compost.

“When organic material comes in we decontaminate it, so anything non-organic gets removed,” Mr Martin said.

“We put it into our in-vessel tunnel system, where we control the oxygen levels and the water levels and basically let Mother Nature do what she does naturally.

“We bring the temperature up quite high but that’s because we don’t want to be passing on any nasty weed seeds or bacteria or any of that sort of stuff, so we basically sterilise it and that’s pretty important in the process.”

The organic product comes from five

councils’ kerbside green bin rubbish collections, and is delivered to the Daldy Rd site, just north of Shepparton, where it is de-contaminated.

The de-contaminating process, which is done manually, is a major part of the business, with one plastic bag having the potential to ruin three cubic metres of compost.

“Our systems work really well here, and we know it works well because we produce a quality and consistent product at the end of it,” Mr Martin said.

“That (plastic bag damage) means I have to get someone to go into those three cubic metres and pull out all that plastic.

“So, you can see the importance of our procedures of de-contamination. Around 35 per cent of our time is spent decontaminating, which is a big chunk of our day.”

With this process making up most

of their days, record keeping and data collection is important for many reasons.

“Being able to trace the source (of the waste) is super important,” Mr Martin said.

“That allows us to be able to blend product together that will work well together.

“Record keeping and data are paramount for our industry. The data we collect, we provide to councils, so they can basically look at areas and see trends.

“If there’s an issue arising with high levels of contamination, then they can do an education program for that particular area or marketing.

“The information is quite important for all parties in these processes, not just the ratepayers, the council, the transport guy and the end producer. All of those people in that chain must be able to communicate very well with each other so that the process works.”

Mr Martin said there were many benefits to using compost on-farm, many of which he heard from his customers.

“Some of the major benefits and the feedback we get is about the water retention of the compost.

“People are probably watering as frequently as the normally would, but they are using less water each watering time so that’s really good positive feedback.

“Obviously the nutrient level in our end product our customers love. At the end of a growing season, there’s nutrients left in the soil for the next year’s crop.

“And they love its consistency. It’s pretty similar every year. Even though our feed stock changes, we’re making consistent stable product.”

Having been at the Daldy Rd site for more than 10 years, Mr Martin said the biggest change he had seen over that time was an increased level of education about organic waste.

“Definitely education has changed because people are more aware of what’s happening,” he said.

“It’s not just bringing the bin to the end of the kerb and leaving it and forgetting about it.

“Now people want to know where it’s going and how it’s being done. That’s probably the biggest change I’ve seen.

“The expectations of the community are really important. They don’t want to ruin their environment, and we agree.”

Western Composting Technology holds contracts with five councils — Greater Shepparton City Council, Benalla Rural City Council, Moira Shire Council, Strathbogie Shire Council and Surf Coast Shire Council — who deliver their organic waste to the site.

Story: Rodney Woods Pictures: Rodney Braithwaite

AGFOCUS 2019

23

ENVIRONMENT

Rod O’Kane is hoping to see the brolga back on his property.

Picture: Chris Tzaros

HOPING TO

brolgas

A

n environmental water wetlands group and a Burramine farmer have teamed up to turn a recycle dam into a wetland in the hope of attracting brolgas and other birdlife onto the property.

Rod O’Kane said before the millennium drought, brolgas had used the dam as a nesting place but the threat of foxes and the drought itself had turned them away.

“We had a large recycle dam here that we built into our irrigation system and initially we used to use the water.

“Prior to the drought in 2001 — around about 1998 — the brolgas came and utilised the dam as a breeding area and it all worked really good in a couple of wet years except for the foxes.

“The foxes used to snaffle the eggs and the chicks before they could fledge so we got a bit of help and built a fox-proof fence around the dam and the brolgas come back and to our great joy they nested and produced a chick and that chick fledged and flew off. It was the most successful operation.

“Then we struck the years of the drought from ̓ 01 to ̓ 10; the dam was dry.

“I tried and tried to get environmental

24

AGFOCUS 2019

Mr O’Kane said at first the dead trees were eyesores but they were now a benefit to the wetlands.

ENVIRONMENT

Thanks to the Murray Darling Wetlands Group, which provides water to the site, a variety of birdlife calls the wetlands home.

Burramine farmer Rod O’Kane says the wetlands are an asset to the property.

While there many bird species already on the property, the ultimate goal is to see the return of brolgas to the site.

water off the government and couldn’t seem to do any good and eventually Jeff Parry (who was working at the time at Goulburn Broken Catchment Management Authority) was doing some consulting work out here and he said, ‘I’ll put you onto a crowd that might be able

to help you’ and that turned out to be the Murray Darling Wetlands Group.”

Mr O’Kane was all praise for the wetlands group and was proud to have the wetlands on his property.

“They have been an enormous help.

Particularly with being able to put a

decent volume of water in the dam,” he said.

“I couldn’t afford to do it and they had the water there and they’ve also got excellent environmental expertise to help out.

“Whilst we talk about the brolgas, the brolgas are a lead bird but there are many, many other species of birds in there that are living on the dam.

“We think it’s quite an asset to our property to be able to utilise a recycle dam in such a manner.”

Murray Darling Wetlands Group environmental water manager Sarah Ning described the process in which Mr O’Kane’s property was chosen for a water allocation.

“The wetlands working group have a program called the Environmental Water Trust,” she said.

“Essentially it has been set up in the last couple of years as an opportunity for an organisation or individual to invest into environmental projects and donate water or cash.

“It’s through that, that we can deliver water to wetland sites.

“We got in contact with Goulburn Broken Catchment Management Authority and we presented them our project and what we were seeking, and it was after discussions with them that they suggested Rod O’Kane as a potential candidate to see if he would come on board.”

The wetlands group is set to deliver 140 Ml this calendar year in two 70 Ml instalments (one of which has already been delivered) but has had the same issues buying water as farmers across the district.

“We, like any other water user in the market, have the same allocations, permits and steps to obtain and deliver water,” Mrs Ning said.

“Considering the conditions, allocations have been substantially reduced and so the number of sites we can deliver to has been reduced.

“What we are doing complements what the Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder and Goulburn Broken Catchment Management Authority are doing already but we are focusing on private land sites and we see that as an important gap to work in.”

While the site is known for attracting brolgas, Mrs Ning said the site could also be suitable for the Australian bittern and the Australian painted snipe.

While these birds have not been seen as yet due to a lack of vegetation seedbank caused by the dam’s long-term dried out state, currently the site is still home to a wide range of birdlife including many duck species and the white-faced and white-necked heron.

Story and Pictures: Rodney Woods

AGFOCUS 2019

25

MAN’S BEST FRIEND

The best of

M

an’s Best Friend is one of Country News’ longest running and most popular features. Every week there is a new dog (or two, or three) with a new story to share.

Man’s Best Friend

1. E chuca West’s Slade Hall works as a livestock transporter and mustering contractor. Helping him in his daily duties are his two kelpies Boof and Spike. The two dogs are seen here in their dog boxes, which they love. Picture: Julie Mercer

1

2. M olka sheep farmer Ben Harrison and his dog Fly put the northern Victoria district on the map last year when Fly competed in the 2018 Cobber Working Dog Challenge.

Unfortunately, Fly finished last in the 12-dog competition, running 181.8 km at an average speed of 7.14 km/h. Picture: Rodney Woods 3. T atura’s Kevin Wilson has been trialling sheepdogs around the region since the early 2000s and his three dogs — Will, 2, Meg, 3, and Cobber, 6 — are good at it.

Mr Wilson says the border collies have a lot of natural ability, so the only thing he teaches them is obedience. He says younger border collies get in trouble as they overwork to try and please. Picture: Rodney Woods

2

4. A shleigh Gamble’s six-year-old English bull terrier Star might not be the greatest working dog on her family’s Bamawm Extension dairy farm, but she is certainly the most spoilt. She likes to sit up at the table for a piece of toast at breakfast. Picture: Sophie Baldwin

4

3

26 AGFOCUS 2019

MAN’S BEST FRIEND

5

5. The Murphy family has three dogs on its Winton beef cattle property. Dusty and Chip are kelpies, while Kitty is a Jack Russell terrier. Tim Murphy tells two stories about how Dusty has got in trouble, the second story causing Tim himself to be in a spot of bother.

“When Dusty was 10 weeks old (now two years old), we had to rush out of the house and left him unattended and he got into half a block of chocolate.

When we came home he was running around the house like a spring chicken, literally climbing up the walls. He left a good mess for us to clean up. (On another occasion) Dusty got me kicked out of a caravan park in Young. The owner said he could stay but not to be inside the cabin. I had him tied up next to my car on a longish lead and as I was coming back into the cabin from the barbecue Dusty followed me in — to the delight of the caravan park owner. She said I could stay, but Dusty couldn’t.” Picture: Rodney Woods 6. Laura Pankhurst’s dog Molly may not work the horses on Laura’s parents’ property at Tongala but loves to stare the horses down in true border collie fashion. Molly has many human traits and would rather the company of a person than other dogs or animals.

She also has a knack of balancing things on her nose — like Laura’s phone. Picture: Rodney Woods 7. Invergordon dairy farmers Mike and Jenni Enever have one terrific dog.

The only problem is she will only work for Mike and will only ride on one motorbike — the four-wheeler. Skip had a litter of nine pups not long before we visited her in October and, after some early hiccups working the cattle, Mike has never had to get the cows in again because Skip does it for him. Picture: Rodney Woods

6

7

8

8. When Mark Foletta gets up in the morning he’s greeted by his co-workers — kelpies K2 and Bear. The motherdaughter duo can often be found by his and brother-in-law Sean Buckley’s side on the Benalla mixed farm, trying to tuck into the lucerne hay or lazing about in the winter sun. “When K2 was younger she used to love jumping into random cars,” Mark says. “We had a worker that had the window open about six inches and she’d found her way in there. It was at the end of the day and he hopped in there to find something and just felt hot breath right on his face. I had a wedding here and she was sitting where the bride and groom were going to get married and she started to look a bit odd — we shooed her away and she threw up 10 m from where they were married. They’re pretty classy. They ate about three trays of meat that got left out overnight after the wedding, too.” Picture: Alana Christensen

AGFOCUS 2019

27

TRANSPORT

Tractor movements

F

armers will now be able to move tracked tractors on Victorian roads due to regulatory changes which have been dubbed a win by the VFF. The National Heavy Vehicle Regulator has updated the requirements for tracked tractors operating in Victoria, which allows them to travel on roads as long as they do so at a maximum speed of 30 km/h and, where practicable, avoid turning movements on road surfaces to minimise road damage.

VFF Grains Group president Ashley Fraser said the changes removed the need for unnecessary paperwork.

“It is critical for Victoria to have commonsense agricultural machinery regulations which remove the unnecessary red tape that hinders efficient grain production,” he said.

“We have been working with VicRoads and the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator to amend an outdated regulation that prohibited rubber-tracked tractors from moving on Victorian roads without a permit.

made easier

“The updated regulation means that grain farmers can now more easily move their tracked tractors efficiently between paddocks without needing to apply for a permit every time.”

Tracked tractors are an increasingly popular alternative to the traditional dual rubber tyre tractor as they minimise the impact on soils and crops.

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AGFOCUS 2019

“These changes bring Victorian requirements in line with other states, and significantly reduce the regulatory burden for farmers during key production times such as sowing and harvest,” Mr Fraser said.

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AGFOCUS 2019

29

TRANSPORT

THE REGION’S FARMS

W

Getting produce from farm to port is becoming increasingly expensive.

hen it comes to keeping a farming business running smoothly, there are few things more important than fuel.

For Numurkah-based fuel distributor KSG Allpryde it’s a full-time job, with the business delivering fuel to about 13 farms a day and up to 300 farms each month.

Transport operations manager Phill Taylor has racked up plenty of kilometres travelling to farms in recent years, with the business making deliveries across the region from Mansfield to Mathoura, and across northern Victoria.

“We do every sort of farm. Dairy farms and orchardists, crop farms and every sort in between,” he said.

“It’s a big part of any business. You think about hopping on a tractor, and pumps for irrigation, they all need fuel. It’s certainly

enough to keep us busy.”

Owned by Craig Pryde, the family business has been operating for 15 years and now employs 12 people, including Craig’s wife Bev and daughter Kathryn.

The business also services fuel stations and delivers chemicals as far north as Rockhampton and across to South Australia.

But servicing the local farming community keeps them increasingly busy, so much so that the business added one rigid truck for farm deliveries specifically.

“There’s always something different, it keeps it interesting,” Mr Taylor said.

“You meet a lot of locals, they all know you and you know them.

“It’s a good way to go about the day.”

Story: Alana Christensen

Freight costs impact farming profits

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AGFOCUS 2019

Freight costs continue to dampen Australia’s competitiveness on the international commodities market, with a new report showing that logistics are the largest single cost item in the production of many agricultural products.

AgriFutures Australia commissioned Deloitte Access Economics to investigate farm transport costs from paddock to port for a sector that sees roughly two-thirds of food and fibre exported.

AgriFutures Australia managing director John Harvey said freight costs were critical to maintaining Australia’s global competitiveness and would continue to impact agriculture’s export performance into the future.

“In Australia, freight costs are highest for grains at 27.5 per cent of gross income, and fruit and vegetables at 21 per cent,” Mr Harvey said.

“The report shows that Australia has comparatively higher freight costs for many of our key commodities compared to our international competitors and it’s hurting our bottom line.”

The research analysed the freight costs facing Australian farms when moving commodities from farm to processor, port and/or domestic market.

A beef case study looked at 44 head of cattle transported 193 km from a farm in Beverford, just outside Swan Hill, to a processor in Tongala, and from Tongala to Port of Melbourne by road in refrigerated containers.

According to the analysis, the farm-to-processor travel cost $21.23/head and processor-to-port travel cost $36.19/head.

The total cost of transporting the 44 head of cattle from farm to port was $2526 or $57.42/head.

The report estimates the total cost incurred by transporting milk from dairy farms to the processor is about $198 million a year, estimated across 2013–14 to 2015–16.

ENERGY

SOLAR POWER

SET TO SLASH

ELECTRICITY BILLS Matthew Rachele said the farm’s energy costs had been increasing steadily during the past five years, but it had reached the point where they needed to take action, so the business installed solar PV system across its two coldstorage sheds just outside Shepparton.

A

third-generation pear and stone fruit farming family is harvesting the sun to cut its energy use by one-third The Rachele family has been growing, packing and transporting pears, nectarines, plums and peaches to supermarket shelves from its 121 ha farming operation for more than 50 years.

Co-owner Matthew Rachele said the farm’s energy costs had been increasing steadily during the past five years, but it had reached the point where they needed to take action, so the business installed a solar PV system across its two coldstorage sheds just outside Shepparton.

“We pick our fruit and then we have to pull it down to zero degrees immediately,”

Mr Rachele said.

“This refrigeration takes a lot of energy, it’s the most energy-intensive part of our operations.

“The last couple of years in particular, our energy costs were out of control. We knew we needed to be more efficient. If we weren’t being efficient we were going backwards.”

The family was interested in exploring ways to reduce the increasing energy costs, but was wary that the farm’s ageing electrical switchboard could not support new infrastructure.

With the assistance of energy services business Verdia and funding via Westpac’s Energy Efficiency Program, two 100 kW solar PV systems were installed at Rachele Group’s Central Park Orchards and Mountain Valley Produce Centre in Silvan, about 80 km south of Yea. The 500 solar panels are connected to the local electricity network via the farm’s internal electrical network and will produce 263 072 kWh of renewable electricity in the first year — enough to power 45 typical homes.

The two systems will reduce on-site electricity use by about 30 per cent, saving the business more than $62 000 a year in electricity costs.

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AGFOCUS 2019

31

ANIMAL HEALTH

WASTE PRODUCT

helps meet feed gap

A

project led by two master’s degree students at University of Melbourne’s Dookie Campus has found replacing a portion of drought feed for sheep with industry waste products makes little difference to the animals’ behaviour and has the potential to improve their health while reducing their environmental footprint.

University lecturer Paul Cheng, who is overseeing the project led by Fan Zhang and Huichu Wu, explained the project’s objective.

Master’s degree student Huichu Wu with samples collected for the project.

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AGFOCUS 2019

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ANIMAL HEALTH

The three feed types fed to the sheep during the project.

Part of the project included collecting samples of urine to reduce the animals’ environmental footprint.

“Using industry waste products, such as grape waste product, is probably not a new idea to be honest − but how can we put this idea into Australia’s forage-based system? That’s new,” Dr Cheng said.

“Much of the literature (on using industry waste) is coming from Europe, coming from the USA, and they have indoor systems, where we have outdoor systems.

“How can you implement this good idea and gain optimal benefit out of these ideas is a question we need to look at, at a local level.

“The objective of the sheep project for us was to look at whether or not under drought conditions — like we are experiencing — can we utilise industry waste products to feed to the sheep.

“In this case we were looking at viticulture waste product, which is grape marc.

“There has been a reasonable amount of work done to look at the use of grape marc to feed sheep as part of the diet because it’s a cheap product.

“However, the angle that we tapped into this time is to really look at can we potentially utilise grape marc as an alternative feed to improve the health of the animal, to improve the efficiency of the animal and at the same time to reduce environmental pollution?”

Dr Cheng said the project had not come without its challenges but the outcomes they had found to date were encouraging.

“The first two weeks was adapting the animal to the grape marc,” he said.

“One of the major challenges from past experience was how to get an animal to fall in love with grape marc.

“You can imagine it is a foreign feed and the first time they are experiencing it, it doesn’t necessarily taste very good because it potentially contains residual alcohol and it’s also a fruit. The animals haven’t had much experience on fruits.”

The students substituted 20 per cent of the normal feed (beans, grains and hay) with grape marc and Dr Cheng said he was surprised with the results considering the industry norm for industry waste substitution was 10 to 15 per cent.

“They did not refuse as much as I expected or other people documented,” he said.

“That’s the first good thing, and the second thing is it did not substantially alter the animal behaviour.

“There was no major difference to the two groups. That’s a rough indicator of the animal adapting to what they eat.”

The project included doing tests to determine the health of the 40 sheep involved and the levels of nitrogen in the urine, which is a polluter to the environment.

Now the students will look at the data and sample analysis before focusing on the next step — improving the productivity of the animals — later in the year.

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AGFOCUS 2019

33

WATER

STILL MAKING

water-saving CONNECTIONS

T

An aerial view of Goulburn Weir.

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Michael 0458 241 242

Rob Lauren 0457 830 779 (03) 5833 0221

295 Benalla Road, Shepparton 34

AGFOCUS 2019

Land & Water

he Connections project is on track to be completed by October 2020 as water savings track towards 90 per cent of the 429 Gl target While the most recent audit, in June 2018, revealed water savings to be 333.7 Gl across the project’s life, current internal forecasts show water savings to be at 87 per cent (374.4 Gl) of that total with further works yet to be completed.

This year, a $200 million works package will be delivered by the Connections project with half of the upgrades planned for the winter shutdown period.

Project director Frank Fisseler explained the progress the project team had made recently.

“In recent months, as part of our Early Contractor Involvement program, we have been able to connect landowners to the modernised system sooner,” he said.

“In some cases, this means using a bypass pump or finding a short window of time between watering to shut off supply while we install a new pipe.

“Once connected to the system, we then finish off remaining works.

“For landowners, it means connection to the automated system sooner and all the benefits of a highly efficient system.

“For the project, it means meeting major milestones consistently.”

Mr Fisseler said the project was ensuring a sustainable future for productive agriculture in northern Victoria, with estimates suggesting water use efficiencies will increase by 70 to 85 per cent once stage two is compete.

“For farmers, the project is automating water delivery across the region,” Mr Fisseler said.

“Dethridge wheels and manual gate and channel systems are being replaced with automatic systems that allow irrigators to get water when and where it’s needed.

“This generates greater efficiency and flexibility on-farm with many reporting they use less water.

“This automated and modernised system that landowners can rely on, in turn generates confidence to grow the farm business and embrace innovative practises and markets.

“For environmental and urban water users, water savings bring opportunities and benefits through healthier waterways.”

To date, the project has installed 8025 modernised meters and decommissioned 1295 km of channels, assisting 6415 landowners across the Goulburn Murray Irrigation District.

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rowing feed, rather than buying it in, is a strategy farmers may need to look at to remain financially sustainable in the dairy industry, according to Shepparton Landmark real estate and water broker team members Michael Downie and Rob Bruns.

Mr Downie said farmers should be preparing for a similar or even worse season than the season just gone.

“If it stays dry, as is predicted by the bureau, I can see next season could be as bad or even worse water price wise than the one we’ve just seen unfortunately, which is not sustainable for farmers,” he said.

“It’s just a crying shame to see water this expensive.

“Farmers have had a pretty tough time.

Farm commodities including milk prices are finally starting to climb up, but I think it’s a bit too late for a lot of them due to water availability.

“They are finding the cost of growing the feed for the cows is too much mainly due to water costs, but hay costs are reflective of that as well and it’s not really that sustainable.

“It would be good to see water get back below $200 a megalitre but if that happened in this coming 12 months I would be surprised.”

Due to the current high cost of channel water a lot of farmers are looking for alternative water sources with huge demand for properties in the Katunga and

EDUCATION

HANDS-ON TRAINING IMPROVES WORKPLACE SKILLS Teresa Hicks, from Dederang, says studying at GOTAFE enhanced her farm management skills.

36

AGFOCUS 2019

Campaspe deep lead regions.

“I’ve seen the value of Katunga bore water rise from $650 per megalitre to $2160, with further demand and increase expected,” Mr Downie said.

“There has been an unprecedented demand for new deep lead bore applications with Goulburn-Murray Water, due to the fluctuations and uncertainty in the channel temporary allocation market.”

Mr Bruns said growing feed would be a way of reducing the damage that the coming season could cause.

“Grow as much spring feed as possible to carry through the season and grow the appropriate crops with minimal water use for maximum yield.

“A lot of farmers are now planting more cereal crops and turning it in to silage as it only needs one watering at the beginning of the season and probably one or two waterings at the end of the season, in spring, which in turn yields a pretty good tonnage per hectare.”

Mr Downie said tonnage per megalitre was more important.

“Instead of buying feed in, they need to grow as much of their own feed as possible and being able to do it the most cost effective per megalitre of water is what farmers have to look at,” he said.

“If they can’t grow enough feed, well maybe they will need to reduce their stock numbers a bit.”

Looking back, Mr Downie said a major reason for high water prices had been NSW general security water sitting at zero

T

he acquisition of farming equipment, made possible through the Regional Specialist Training Fund, has allowed Goulburn Ovens Institute of TAFE to train and educate students to support a growing agricultural industry GOTAFE chief executive officer Travis Heeney said the Aitchison seeder and Kanga digger allowed the students to learn the hands-on skills needed to be successful in the workplace.

“The seeder has already been put into action with crops currently being sown at the William Orr Campus in Shepparton,” he said.

“Several varieties of cereal crops and their performance will be evaluated and monitored by students.

“Equipment like this allows us to deliver training to students using the latest technologies and machinery available.

“This allows us to provide hands-on training and means our students are better equipped with the skills that industry is seeking when hiring employees, placing them in a greater position to have successful careers in the agricultural sector.”

GOTAFE alumni Teresa Hicks, who is a third-generation farmer from Dederang, said her studies enhanced her on-farm

Landmark staff Rob Bruns, Lauren McCabe and Michael Downie. Mr Downie and Mr Bruns spoke about the impact water prices had on farmers last year and what impacts they may have going forward. per cent allocation.

“Even though we’ve had some really nice rains in the last fortnight throughout the valley, it’s still not drought-breaking,” he said.

“It will be intriguing to see what happens over the winter and the spring and what happens in the catchment areas.

“One of the main things that caused these allocation prices to skyrocket has been no allocation in NSW general security systems and that has put a lot of demand on those people buying Victorian water, who would be normally buying NSW general security water.

“There’s just a total shortage of water throughout the whole system so let’s hope we have some really good winter and spring rains to fill the dams and help the farmers to get back to a sustainable price for their allocations.”

management skills.

“It has been fantastic. It really teaches you what you need to focus on to become more productive and to be more profitable.

“GOTAFE was a really positive experience in my life.

“Having that support, especially when making big decisions with new infrastructure, has changed the way I approach farm management.

“There is so much importance in keeping choices business-minded when evolving management practices.”

GOTAFE offers training in a number of agricultural streams including cropping, beef, dairy, pork production, sheep as well as study streams in Food Science and Technology, and Agri-business.

Many agriculture courses fall under the Victorian Government’s free TAFE courses initiative, which Mr Heeney said offered a pathway for students to continue their education and transition into meaningful jobs and removed the financial barrier for students wanting to undertake quality accredited TAFE training.

Rolling enrolments are now being taken. For more information, phone GOTAFE on 1300 468 233 or visit www.GOTAFE.vic.edu.au

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Visit gotafe.vic.edu.au enquiry@gotafe.vic.edu.au | 1300 GOTAFE (468 233)

RTO 3094

AGFOCUS 2019

37

REAL ESTATE

AT THE POINTY END OF THE

DAIRY DOWNTURN N

“

Dry conditions, combined with high water and feed costs, are seeing many dairy farmers sell their farms and get out of the industry.

RURAL PROPERTIES LARGE AND SMALL KNOWLEDGE – EXPERTISE – INTEGRITY RURAL REAL ESTATE SPECIALISTS Broadacre Cropping – Dairy Farms – Horticulture Lifestyle Farmlets – Sheep & Cattle Grazing – Horse Properties Contact us for off market property opportunities – buying & selling – confidentiality assured

With over 26 years combined of local experience, let us guide your investment into the future

Michael 0458 241 242

Rob Lauren 0457 830 779 (03) 5833 0221

295 Benalla Road, Shepparton 38

AGFOCUS 2019

Land & Water

othing works without water.”

That is the message from Gagliardi Scott Real Estate director Darren Scott, describing a rural landscape where he is seeing dairy farms regularly up for sale.

Mr Scott said a combination of the milk price clawback and drought was the reason many dairy farmers were getting out of the industry.

“Probably over the last four years since Murray Goulburn dropped their price right back and that went bad — everything’s been going haywire,” he said.

“So, everyone’s been going backwards. We’ve got a lot of negative equity in the industry at the moment.

“It’s been a shame that the milk price dropped to where it did and then we copped a drought.

“On top of that, water prices went up. All of a sudden, they went from haemorrhaging one year to catastrophe the next year.

“It’s been worse than in 2006 when we were really dry.”

Dairy farms have dwindled in recent years, with Australian Bureau of Statistics figures showing dairy farms around Shepparton have decreased from 947 in 2015–16 to 861 in 2016–17 and this figure continues to fall.

On the other hand, beef cattle farms increased from 226 to 328 and sheep farms increased from 155 to 183 across the same period.

Mr Scott said his advice for farmers was to sell their cows first before debt got too far out of hand.

“I’m half a psychologist at some tables because there’s wives breaking down at the kitchen table and wondering how we can put this jigsaw puzzle together.

“My suggestion is sell your cows. A lot of them have kept them because they just love their cows but my suggestion straight away is sell your cows so you’re not going backwards.”

Kevin Hicks Real Estate principal Kevin Hicks said recent rain had improved spirits.

“Six weeks ago it was absolute despair with fodder at its lowest and no early autumn break,” Mr Hicks said.

“Farmers were in fear of what they were going to do next.

“Recent rains have germinated crops but a follow-up rain is crucial for irrigation supply in catchment areas for this year’s season.”

With the dairy industry in flux, Mr Scott said many of the dairies sold were being used for other farming pursuits. But he said there could be light at the end of the tunnel.

“A lot of them are sold to corporates because the Katunga deep lead water out here is very prominent, and they were certainly buying not to keep on dairying.

“There’s probably been a couple of dairy farms in the last three months that I’ve sold, pretty good solid multi-million dollar dairy farms that have stayed dairying which is a good sign.

“I reckon the acre price dropped on farmland in the last three years, but I reckon it’s just starting to pick up a little bit now.”

Talking Real Estate with Kevin Hicks

A late break in the weather, with ideal Autumn rainfall, has provided huge relief and a positive response to rural enquiry.

Across the board, from the lifestyle buyer to broadacre cropping, enquiry has strengthened, with irrigation buyers mostly demanding a ground water availability or a long-term settlement to avoid the high prices of temporary water.

Today’s market is complex and Vendors and Buyers need specialised Agents to make things happen in this climate.

Kevin Hicks Real Estate has what it takes to provide this specialised service for all rural marketing including our Clearing Sale team.

The Clearing Sales Specialists It is extremely difficult to predict what buyers will pay for your items but with the right agents and adequate advertising you will be going a long way towards receiving top dollar.

Our team consists of over 150 years of combined knowledgeable and experienced staff in both Clearing and Rural sales and instant access to both regular and potential buyers through our unparalleled networks.

Let us take the headache out of sorting through your goods with our team who are proficient Licenced Valuers in farm machinery, workshop equipment, antiques and collectables and everything in between.

KHRE are unparalleled, servicing an average of 30-40 Clearing Sales per year: • 330 permanently registered buyers • Servicing the Goulburn and Murray Regions • Fully equipped mobile office with EFTPOS • Worksafe and VicRoads compliance • Mailing list of 2,000+ buyers nationwide

www.kevinhicksrealestate.com.au

228-232 Wyndham Street Shepparton (03) 5821 8388 1-3 Melville Street Numurkah (03) 5862 2611

Kevin Hicks’ Pr ELITE DAIRY ENTERPRISE 178.06 ha – 440 acres (approx) • 44 stand fully automated rotary dairy • 100% lasered and recycled flood irrigation layout • 6 bedroom home, 2 studies, 2 bathrooms & ensuite • 490 meg bore — 250 meg water waste licence Designed to be stress free for man & beast & providing a “cutting edge” highly efficient productive operation with a living standard you would expect.

A stand alone property for the professional dairy person.

Improvements: Extensive machinery shedding, 3 phase power, 2 calf sheds & separate paddocks, hard stand area with commodity bunkers, hay shed & deep straw compost loafing barn (350 cow capacity) PRICE ON APPLICATION Kevin Hicks 0428 271 270

584 Strathallan Rd, Bamawm

730 Baxters Rd & 548 Sleemans Rd, Picola

3 PRIME PARCELS OF LAND 90.02 ha – 222.44 acres (approx) 93.96 ha – 232.18 acres (approx) 14.16 ha – 35 acres (approx) Prime agricultural land ideally suited to cropping or beef cattle. Both parcels are adjoining.

The property was formally a fully operational dairy and 90.02ha has been mostly lasered with central laneways to large electric fenced paddocks.

There is also a large turkey nest dam with diesel motor and pump system.

The other 93.96ha is mainly underdeveloped and features 1 large open paddock. There are no large GMW charges as the irrigation to the property has been decommissioned.

Also selling on the day is 14.16ha, ideal for the horse or weekend retreat within minutes of the Murray River at 352 Thorpe Road, Yielima.

AUCTION Friday, June 21 at 12 Noon, at 730 Baxters Rd, Picola for all 3 properties Paul Durden 0409 563 671

“YALLUM VALE’’ OUTSTANDING IRRIGATION PROPERTY 421.87 ha – 1040 acres (approx) • 50-stand rotary dairy. Auto feed system, cup removers • Machinery shed, as-new calf shed with automated calf feed system • 1 home with 4 bedrooms & 1 home with 3 bedrooms on 2 separate titles • Centre pivot irrigator with diesel motor and pump “Yallum Vale” has a complementary soil type and topography to heavily stock and grow sustainable fodder for the current dairy operation, or for a feed lot for beef or sheep enterprise development.

Remarks: The sale of “Yallum Vale” provides the investor an opportunity to secure a well organised and managed dairy operation underpinned with secure water/irrigation connection, very good location just 10 minutes south east of Echuca.

1151 McKenzie Road, Echuca

PRICE ON APPLICATION Kevin Hicks 0428 271 270

Kevin Hicks 0428 271 270

Chris Drum 0400 213 223

Paul Durden 0409 563 671

Jason Hicks 0437 622 612

Malcolm Blake 0409 426 486

Anthony Hillman 0418 320 313

Andrew Pogue 0421 743 555

ime Properties 100 Morgans Mill Road, Bearii & 120A Kull Road, Katandra

EOI

ING CLOS

25TH

PM

@4 JULY

265 Zeerust Rd, Zeerust

“GREADS” SAND & GRAVEL QUARRIES – COMMERCIAL SCALE Lot 1 – 33.24 ha – 82 acres (approx) & Lot 2 – 40.5 ha – 100 acres (approx) These two commercial-scale quarries represent a significant opportunity for earthmoving contractors or civil works enterprises to secure quality properties for future growth.

To be offered in two lots, the quarries are being sold on account of Bill and Thelma Gread of Numurkah The properties are extremely complementary to the regional concrete manufacturing industry with sand-only deposits at Bearii and gravel-only at the Katandra Quarry.

Lot 1 at 100 Morgans Mill Rd, Bearii comprises one title with large volumes of clean sand deposits and an extraction quarry licence in place.

Lot 2 at 120A Kull Rd, Katandra is also on one title and is located on the west side of the Katandra hill.

The two quarries are about 40 km apart but are in excellent proximity to the vibrant and expanding Goulburn and Murray Valley areas of Echuca, Shepparton and Yarrawonga.

FOR SALE BY EXPRESSION OF INTEREST Kevin Hicks 0428 271 270 Chris Drum 0400 213 223 EXCEPTIONAL OPPORTUNITY 17 ha – 42 acres (approx) Resort-style living in this gorgeous five or six bedroom home comprising of 40 squares of living and in-ground pool.

The property comprises of 17 ha of quality land, well planned and set for flood irrigation. The property is designed to accommodate horses and cattle, offering excellent fencing and laneways.

Improvements include a 5-bay hay shed and 2 lock-up steel sheds (12 m x 8 m and 18 m x 8 m).

There is also a 5.5 kW solar power system, an all-weather sand arena, irrigated day yards and two stables.

The big-ticket item is the dog breeding kennel complex, comprising of a main kennel and breeding and whelping kennel which includes a D and P approval for up to 25 dogs.

This is a state-of-the-art complex with every luxury required for the elite breeder, or for use as a veterinary boarding kennel or quarantine centre.

PRICE $1,275,000 Kevin Hicks 0428 271 270

65 Prentice Rd, Shepparton East

“YMERS” HORTICULTURE/VEGETABLES/HORSES 12 ha – 29 acres (approx) A 12 ha parcel of fertile land in the well regarded Shepparton East area represents an outstanding opportunity for intensive agricultural pursuits such as vegetable production, horticulture or flower growing.

This property offers a substantial home with 4 bedrooms, separate living zone and renovated kitchen with meals area, set in established gardens with an in-ground pool and several entertaining spaces.

Excellent farm infrastructure includes two separate cool rooms, each with a 500 fruit-bin capacity, workshop and machinery shedding.

The farm is a blank canvas for prospective purchasers with productive soils and a quality sub-main irrigation supply still in place and ready to be reutilised after the original canning orchard was pulled out some years ago.

Ideally located, the property will be sold with 2.8 Ml water shares, electric motor and pump station connection and the buyer will have the option of purchasing permanent or temporary water at market value.

FOR SALE $750,000 Kevin Hicks 0428 271 270

www.kevinhicksrealestate.com.au

228-232 Wyndham Street Shepparton (03) 5821 8388 1-3 Melville Street Numurkah (03) 5862 2611

RURAL SALES

STILL STRONG IN A TOUGH MARKET When it comes to rural property in the Goulburn and Murray Valleys, the team at Gagliardi Scott Real Estate has the local knowledge and decades of experience to successfully market your land, from small lifestyle lots to large-scale corporate farms.

And despite the region experiencing challenging seasonal conditions director Darren Scott is upbeat about the future of agriculture in northern Victoria and offers advice to prospective sellers.

Q. Is there still demand for property in the Goulburn and Murray Valleys?

A. Since Murray Goulburn went bad a few years ago, land prices have been down, but on the back of some solid sales in recent months, I believe they’re on the way up.

Compared to other areas Northern Victoria represents very good value for money across all areas of the industry, from rural lifestyle properties to hay and grain farms, orchards and corporate dairy farms.

In demand are properties that have ground water, they consistently get 100 percent allocation, at a fraction of the price of wheel water, so those properties offer security for farmers and investors.

Q. How important is choosing an agent with local and industry knowledge?

A. Our rural team, Ed Flanagan, Geoff Jacobson, and myself have years of experience in the region, and the rural real estate space.

www.gagliardiscott.com.au

My family owned a dairy farm at Waaia, and I worked with Goulburn Murray Water for 15 years and in real estate for the past 17 years. I understand how many megalitres of water it takes to grow certain crops, I know about stocking rates and water policy.

It’s important that your agent has a good, solid understanding of the industry as a whole.

Q. What sale options are available to me when I sell my property and what’s the best marketing strategy?

A. Depending on the property, especially if it’s something a little bit different, we’ll discuss with the property owner and advise if the best way to sell is by private treaty, going to auction, for sale by tender or for sale by expression of interest.

At Gagliardi Scott we’ve embraced technology and use drone footage and social media extensively to showcase the best each property has to offer, and to project our listings Australia-wide and even overseas.

Q. How important is property presentation?

A. First impressions are very important when showing a property to a prospective buyer.

Spend a good month getting your property ready for inspections; you don’t have to spend any money, just some elbow grease to have a good general tidy up.

Top up potholes in the driveway, make sure the front entrance is neat, keep up the mowing and spraying around the house and sheds and if you’ve bought things at clearing sales over the years, stack it neatly behind a shed. That first impression counts.

182 High St, Shepparton | 0358 31 1800

FOR SALE EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST

APPROX. 1240 ACRES WAAIA DISTRICT Up for expressions of interest is this large aggregation of land consisting mainly of Waaia Loams & Waaia Sandy Loams all in one area. Suitable for any large corporate dairy or beef enterprise. Excellent soil types for any range of cropping. Corn, Lucerne, Wheat, Oats, Barley, Rye Grass.

Contact Darren Scott on 0419 001 708 for further particulars.

www.gagliardiscott.com.au

70 Melville St, Numurkah | 0358 31 1800

TECHNOLOGY

APP MAKES RECORDKEEPING

simple

A return to his family’s Avenel farm has seen Jock Lawrence create a new app aimed at simplifying farm records.

R

eturning home to his farming roots and Avenel family property, engineer turned entrepreneur Jock Lawrence is on a mission to simplify the livestock farm recording system.

Mr Lawrence said he and his dad were attempting to digitise their on-farm records but couldn’t find available software that fit their needs — it was either too clunky, over-complicated or angled towards intensive farming.

And so the idea to create a new app, Mobble, began.

According to Mr Lawrence the focus

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AGFOCUS 2019

was on creating something that could be simple and uncomplicated, and was able to be accessed by multiple users and incorporate multiple properties.

The ultimate aim was to replace the notebook that often ended up in the washing machine, Mr Lawrence said.

“Farmers know what they want. It is really important to me that Mobble is built on farmers’ feedback, listening directly to what they need and applying that in an easy-to-use solution,” he said.

“We understand that farmers need a practical solution that covers livestock

records, stocking rates, mob and paddock treatments, historic events, sales and a way to make compliance easy.”

After using the app for six months, Charlie Heal, a Merino stud farmer in north-central Victoria, said farmers were beginning to see the benefits of farm management software.

Following its quiet release in December, Mobble now has more than 60 farming businesses benefiting from the product and has accepted a place in ag-tech incubator SproutX’s 2019 Accelerator program.

TECHNOLOGY

UPGRADE BOOSTS

SLTEC Fertilizers director Jamie McMaster holds a selection of products the business sells.

A

n expansion by Tongala-based business SLTEC Fertilizers has improved efficiency and enabled the business to branch into more organically certified products for organic dairy producers.

The upgrades, which cost $2 million, mean mixing can be done three to four times faster, according to company director Jamie McMaster.

“Our original mixing tank processed, last year, about 16 000 metric tonnes of fertiliser but now with the new facility we’ve got another mixing reactor that’s the same capacity, but it mixes it three to four times the rate,” he said.

“So, it’s not doubled our capacity, it has accelerated it by a multiple of three or four and then we’ve got room to put additional mixing facilities in, so we can do more blends all at the same time.

“That’s the great thing about it.”

Not only will the business be able to produce more blends, Mr McMaster said they were looking to add to their organically certified fertiliser range.

With the help of HW Greenham & Sons abattoir at Tongala, SLTEC will explore

46

AGFOCUS 2019

ways to recycle waste streams into nitrogen-based organic fertilisers.

“The other thing we’re working really hard on is a range of organic products,” Mr McMaster said.

“We’ve already got one organically certified product called QuadSHOT but we’re looking to develop a product in partnership with a local abattoir to make an organically certified nitrogen product for the organic dairy industry.

“I’ve got a research scientist full-time on that and we’ve been doing some work over the last 12 months.

“We hope within 12 months, or maybe sooner, to have something commercially available.

“It’ll certainly be a big help to farmers around here wanting to get into organic dairy.”

Mr McMaster said the company’s new product would be economically competitive.

“The cost of organic certified nitrogen fertiliser at the moment is very expensive and we’re wanting to produce something that’s a volume-based product that’s a lot cheaper.

“Rather than them (farmers) buying 20 litres or 1000 litres they can take a B-double which is 30 000 litres and really have a commercially viable return for that nitrogen in terms of growing grass and protein or dry matter.”

While the company started in 2005 focusing on fertilisers for the horticulture industry, Mr McMaster said as farmers had become accustomed to using fluid fertilisers, they had moved into other industries.

“Horticulture is a part of the story, but we are into broadacre, cotton and corn,” he said.

“Corn is a growing market for us. We do fertilisers for winter pastures for dairy, legume crops and we do a lot of work with Kagome (tomatoes) at Echuca.

“It’s a varied business now. As farmers have got more experience with using fluid fertilisers, it’s really grown.”

SLTEC sells its fertilisers through companies including IK Caldwell, Advanced Ag, Elders, Landmark and Ruralco.

Story: Rodney Woods Pictures: Rodney Braithwaite

PROTECTING OUR HORTICULTURAL T INDUSTRY AGAINS FLY IT U R F D N A L S N E E U Q

Adrian Conti from ‘Conti Orchards’ Cobram is a Member of the Goulburn Murray Valley Regional Fruit Fly Governance Group and is only to happy to spread the ‘No Flies On Us’ message.

The protection of horticulture outputs underpins the project with the Goulburn Murray recognised as the largest producer of pears in the southern hemisphere and the Murray Valley the nation’s largest producer of stone fruit.

The Goulburn Murray Valley (GMV) Regional Fruit Fly Project recently completed its second year of operation and continues to achieve inroads in the control of Queensland Fruit Fly. The project is overseen by a Governance Group made up of grower, industry, community and government representatives and encompasses an area stretching 16,354 sq km, spanning the five local government areas of Greater Shepparton City Council, Campaspe, Moira, Berrigan and Strathbogie Shires.

The GMV Regional Fruit Fly Project aims to: 1. Strengthen fruit fly management through coordination and collaboration between industry, government and community.

2. Improve QFF management in commercial orchards and community areas.

3. Support and prioritise QFF research in the GMV region.

GMV Regional Fruit Fly Coordinator Ross Abberfield said the strategy for achieving these objectives is fruit fly Area Wide Management (AWM).

“This approach necessitates having an intimate knowledge of your particular region; the climate, fruit and vegetable production areas, urban communities, habitat and hosts,” he said.

• Identification of 271 ha of unmanaged orchards and working with landholders to remove these at no cost to the landholder; • Removal of 2,294 urban fruit trees at no cost to owners; • Identification of 9,765 feral QFF host plants and removal of 2,515 so far.

The project monitors between 350-400 Linfield traps in its regional trapping grid with data collated, analysed and interpreted by an independent researcher who then provides monthly updates, trends and forecasts which are disseminated to growers and the community.

An extensive community education campaign has been a critical aspect to the project and has assisted in achieving a cultural change in how we manage fruit fly in the region, according to Mr Abberfield.

“Our stakeholders have actively taken ownership, resulting in increased detection, increased sales of QFF control products, increased hygiene and a better understanding of best practice,” Mr Abberfield said.

For more information on what you can do to help in the management and control of QFF, contact the GMV Regional Fruit Fly Office on (03) 5871 9222 or emailing gmvfruitfly@moira.vic.gov.au.

“Our aim is to create awareness, education and engagement amongst all stakeholders, particularly the community, growers and government agencies.

Key achievements recorded by the project include: • Field Officers deployed across the region have targeted ‘hot spots’ and completed 1,269 field reports since the project’s inception.

www.gmv-qldfruitfly.com.au For more information on QFF control, collect an information pack from your Council’s Customer Service Centre.

Funded by the Victorian Government’s Managing Fruit Fly Regional Grants Program