JUNE 2021 ISSUE 128
WEST VIC REGION
New opportunities Beef, cropping, rearing milk vealers. You name it, Ken McSween is trying it. Page 6.
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DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA JUNE 2021
2 // WEST VIC REGION
Chair’s message
Well into our winter tasks WE ARE certainly in the midst of winter now, and
at home I am more than halfway through calving. As usual, there have been a few ups and downs, but generally speaking things have gone well. Having plenty of grass available for the fresh cows certainly lifts everyone’s mood. Most farmers are pretty busy doing the same or carrying out other important tasks in their businesses. At WestVic Dairy there is plenty keeping us going, even though as I write this we are about to enter another seven-day lockdown.
The most recent program we have rolled out is Our Farm Our Plan. This is a great course that will be offered extensively over the next 12 months and beyond. It’s one which we strongly encourage every farmer to look at participating in. There are plenty of dates on offer at multiple locations, it is also available online for those that prefer that option. This year the annual Dairy Ladies’ Luncheon will be held as two events, one in Colac and the second in Warrnambool.
Both will take place in August, with more details to follow soon. It will be well worth attending for some much-needed spoiling this year. As a board we are working through our Annual Operating Plan to ensure the courses and events we offer are truly what our farmers and other stakeholders need and want. If you require something that is not on offer, please let the office know and we can work through how we can assist you. I always like to remind everyone — it’s your levy at work, so let us know what we can do to
help, and look out for more courses, field days and other events coming up in your area. If you’re not currently involved in a Discussion Group — maybe give it a go. It is a great way to meet other farmers and learn in a relaxed, social setting. There are plenty around the south-west to join. I feel like we bunker down as farmers a bit over winter — but hopefully I see you out and about around the region sometime very soon. • Simone Renyard WestVic Dairy chair
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DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA JUNE 2021
WEST VIC REGION // 3
Supporting young farmers IN AN effort to help address the long-term
challenge of attracting, retaining and developing people in the dairy industry, 12 young dairy farmers from across Victoria and Tasmania took part in the very first Proud to be a Dairy Farmer program in May. The program, which was spearheaded by the Fonterra Australia Suppliers’ Council with support from Fonterra, mentors young farmers looking to expand their career in dairy. Running over three days, the group took part in a series of workshops led by a range of industry stalwarts, covering topics including different operating and financial structures, how to progress their career through to farm ownership, and the importance of looking after your mental health. They also headed off to Gippsland to visit a few farms and Fonterra’s Darnum site. Fonterra Australia Suppliers’ Council chair John Dalton said the dairy industry had evolved in recent years and farm businesses had become larger. “There are many opportunities for young people interested in dairy and who want to have a successful career,” he said. “We wanted to create a program that recognised and supported the next generation of dairy entrants and inspired them to build a successful career in dairy.” Dairy farmer Karli Pyke, who works on a farm in Naringal in south-west Victoria, took part in the program. Karli said it was a great opportunity to meet like-minded people and share their knowledge and experiences with each other. “It was amazing to see the different work environments and roles out there and how it differs from your own experience — I learnt a lot,” she said. “My career in agriculture began on my grandparents’ dairy farm, which at the time was being leased to their neighbour. In Year 9 I spent my summer carting bales and then proceeded to study my Certificate II in Agriculture throughout Year 10.” After completing VCE, she found a sixmonth gap year position rearing calves in Naringal. “This turned into eight years, a Certificate III/IV in Agriculture and my partner and I now residing on the property,” Karli said.
“One of my favourite things about farming is the diverse skill set I have been able to acquire and the variety of jobs I can be doing from season to season.” To round off the program, the young dairy farmers wined and dined with leading industry figures from Dairy Australia, UDV, Australian Dairy Farmers and Fonterra. Australian Dairy Farmers president Terry Richardson praised the participants’ desire to understand, learn and engage with others across the industry. “It’s a great demonstration of the industry giving back to the next generation of dairy farmers, this is what’s needed to help grow and support our industry to grow,” he said. The program was inspired by Fonterra’s Proud to be a Chef program, which has been running since 1996 and supports young apprentice chefs. Fonterra Australia managing director René Dedoncker said Fonterra was pleased to be able to support the Fonterra Australia Suppliers’ Council to get this up and running. “We’re incredibly proud to be part of a program that celebrates the young people in our industry, our future leaders, and the future of what is great about dairy,” he said.
Naringal dairy farmer Karli Pyke.
Proud to Be a Dairy Farmer participants visited several farms in Gippsland.
Colac farmer wins UDV job A COLAC dairy farmer has been elected as the
UDV’s next vice-president. Mark Billing was elected during the online UDV annual meeting on May 28, and replaces John Keely who has held the role since 2018. Mr Billing operates a dairy farm with his wife and four children, has been a UDV member for more than 35 years and recently served as the policy councillor for UDV Region 8. He is also a national councillor for Australian Dairy Farmers, a CFA group officer, life member of Colac Baseball Club, was a Fonterra chairman from 2012 to 2017, and WestVic Dairy director for three years. VFF chief executive Jane Lovell welcomed the appointment and acknowledged the strong calibre of candidates put before UDV voters.
“I would like to acknowledge Ian Morris for his interest in the role and to the many UDV members who voted and ensured this voice was heard,” Ms Lovell said. She also paid tribute to the outgoing Mr Keely. “John has contributed a huge amount while in the role of UDV vice-president over the past three years, and before that in his nine years on UDV policy council. “I would like to thank him for this and the positive impact he’s made on the Victorian dairy industry during this time.” Mr Billing is passionate about utilising UDV members to help position the dairy industry for the future. UDV’s new vice-president and Colac farmer Mark Billing
DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA JUNE 2021
4 // WEST VIC REGION
Make the most of good years RICK BAYNE
A COUPLE of good seasons in a row have given
Mark Crothers and Craig Fleming: “We’re all in it together.”
the Crothers family at Wangoom a chance to catch up on things around the farm. The centrepiece of their investment is a new dairy, and Mark Crothers said it was long overdue. “This is the first time since I’ve been home for 25 years that we’ve had two or three good years in a row,” he said. “The new dairy was a project we had been putting off for quite a while. The old dairy was falling to bits and the yard’s fences were patched up with gates. “It was looking pretty sad so we decided to start anew on a fresh site and we moved into the new dairy at the end of March.” Mark is part of a fourth-generation family business alongside sister Cathy Parsons and brother Andrew. Their father Peter has recently retired. They have two farms, with 600 cows on the larger home farm and 215 on the second farm — which was purchased in 1996 and has been run by sharefarmer Craig Fleming since 2001. The smaller farm had been settled by Mark’s great-grandfather in 1897. The second farm was purchased about the same time they built a new rotary dairy on the home farm, which was soon followed by a downturn in the industry. “That put us under the pump for a fair while so we haven’t been able to spend too much money here,” Mark said. The old 17-a-side swing-over dairy was there when the farm was purchased in 1996. At that stage, Mark had been working in Melbourne for 10 years but he was able to return as the enterprise was now large enough to sustain another family member. Changing to a rotary dairy on the large farm was a big move, but the workload never eased. “Income has basically remained the same,” Mark said. “The last few years have been all right but before that it was a bit of a struggle so you’ve got to milk more cows and do more yourself. “We’re still catching up on a lot of the jobs we’d been putting off for the last 20 years. This
year we’re starting to get on top of those jobs. “That’s been the problem with the industry; there hasn’t been enough money there to encourage the next generation to think of it as a viable option for the future.” Mark says optimism is the key to successful farming, and he’s looking on the bright side at the moment. “Climate change has probably been good for us, though I’d better not speak too soon,” he said. “The past few years the winters have been a bit milder which suits us and we’ve had two good summers in a row without being too hot.” Craig has a similar view and is enjoying the new dairy and the good season. “We’ve had a bit of green pick all year which has made it easier,” he said. “The cold and wet at the end of July and start of August is all we’ve had to put up with the last two years.” “You only have to look around to see how well it’s going,” Mark adds. “I’ve had years where we’ve had no grass.” Mark takes a philosophical look at things, enjoy the good years but being prepared for the bad. “The longer you hang around you realise that when things are really bad, they never stay bad forever, and when things are really good, don’t kid yourself that it’s going to stay that way forever.” The sharefarming system is well established and works well. “We all get along and understand each other,” Craig said. “We’re all in it together.” But that doesn’t mean everything is done the same way. Craig has a split calving system; Mark has single calving and they both have their own ways of farming. “I’ve just finished calving and then start again in the middle of July but Mark is just starting now (early May),” Craig said. “It’s good that we can compare different techniques,” Mark adds. “Some years we do better, some years Craig does better; it depends on how the season plays out.” The smaller farm raises about 50 calves each
t has been a long time coming, but the cows have adjusted nicely to the new dairy.
Mark Crothers and Craig Fleming: “We’re all in it together.”
Calves are raised for replacements with a focus on improving herd quality, not the overseas heifer market.
DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA JUNE 2021
WEST VIC REGION // 5 year to be used as herd replacements. This season is doing just fine. “I’ve never done so much silage in my life,” Craig said. “Normally at this time of year I’m looking at my last 100 rolls wondering how I’m going to make them last; this year it’s not an issue. You don’t get many years like this.” Both Mark and Craig are happy to try new things and discuss their techniques. “It doesn’t matter how you farm as long as it suits you and you get what you want at the end of the day,” Craig said. “Another farmer can do something completely different to me but that suits them.” Mark is open to trying new things. “Sometimes it’s better and sometimes it’s not so you go back to what you were doing,” he said. “We try different species in pasture renovations; usually one or two while going with what we know for the rest of it.” The smaller farm is 70 to 80 per cent Friesian with Jerseys making up the remainder. On the home farm it’s a 60–40 split, plus a few Ayrshires and crossbreeds. “Dad was a Jersey man but at the time Friesians were said to be the higher returning cows so we moved to them, but kept a few Jerseys,” Mark said. When they bought the second farm it was a Friesian herd but Craig found fat figures were lagging so he introduced Jerseys. It has levelled out now with the Jerseys’ higher fat content for an average of about 4.3 fat and 3.3 for protein. There is similar production on both farms. “I still haven’t made up my mind which is the better breed,” Mark said. “Both being dryland farms, you fall out of the top bracket but we do okay.” The new dairy is a 27-a-side swing-over herringbone. “We thought about a rotary but we had bought a second-hand herringbone plant pretty cheaply about six years ago so we went with
that,” Mark said. “Once the cows got settled in and used to it, which only took two or three days, they just love it,” Craig added. They have leased two out-paddocks over the past five years that have added to the options for cutting more hay and housing calves. With the new facilities, Mark and Craig are positive about the future. “You’ve got to be an optimist,” Mark said. “When things are tough, you’ve got to think things will get better.” Craig hopes the drought in northern Australia will convince processors that they need to properly pay dairy farmers. “Hopefully they realise they’ve been undercutting and they might keep this price as the bottom price.” Craig remains a realist, predicting the top seasons won’t be a permanent fixture. “They say it takes five years to get to the top, then you get two good years to get on top of things and then the arse falls out of it again and you try and get through it.” But in the meantime, things are good. “It’s as good as it’s ever been since I’ve been home,” Mark said.
The herd on the Crothers family’s second farm is 70-80 per cent Friesians with some Jerseys to boost the fat content.
The old dairy was run down and overdue for replacement. A few good seasons in succession made it possible.
DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA JUNE 2021
6 // WEST VIC REGION
Mixing it up keeps it fresh RICK BAYNE
DIVERSITY HAS always been part of Ken
McSween’s outlook on life. When he started his own dairy business at Glenormiston, Ken was still running a shop in Terang. After he closed the shop, he moved into part-time security work while balancing it with farm work. Today he’s diversifying into beef, cropping and rearing milk vealers as he transitions away from a straight milking herd. He’s making the move at a good time when the industry is on a high. Ken grew up on the family dairy farm and returned there after school — but not for long. “I didn’t like it,” he said. “I was young and it was what I had to do because it was the family farm, but it was boring and I thought it was the worst thing you could do.” Ken tried to find a job but he suffered from epilepsy from age 14 to 21, and struggled to get a position. So, he took matters into his own hands, leaving the farm to set up shop in town, with videos, records, electrical goods, white goods, T-shirts and gifts over time. It was hard to sustain a retail business in a small town, but he managed for about 20 years. “I wasn’t dealing in essentials and when there’s a downturn in the retail industry, people only buy essentials.” Ken and his wife Cindy realised it was time to plan a move out of retail and earmarked a 41-hectare block that had been used as a second family farm. “It was about three miles from the home farm and we’d move up here for three months of the year because it was nice and dry and you’d have plenty of feed during winter,” he said. “The home farm had totally different soil. It backs up to the creek whereas this is volcanic land.” Starting from scratch wasn’t easy. “It was expensive to buy decent cows, so we looked to get in as cheaply as possible and build it up from there,” Ken said. “We went for scrubbers — cows that other people didn’t want or didn’t need — and bred in good genetics that we wanted. That was the cheapest way to do it.” At the time, the BMCC was bad but within a few years he had those problems under control. It worked — the wall of Ken’s old dairy is covered in milk quality awards, with others yet to be attached. He wasn’t after Holsteins or Jerseys, preferring a crossbred that that wasn’t too big or too small to fit in with the land. They kept the shop for a few years while building up the dairy business. “The key was trying to maintain a viable income stream,” Ken said. “It was bloody hard; when you have a foot in two camps, you probably don’t dedicate enough time to both to do them properly, but we had to transition from one to the other. “We’d milk in the mornings and evenings and work in the shop during the day and feed out hay at night.” Always keen to keep up outside interests, Ken got his security licence while Cindy took over milking duties. While many have struggled during the pandemic, the past year has been a revelation for
Ken and Cindy, who has now found her niche working in child care. “When COVID hit I was flat-chat working at supermarkets,” Ken said. “It was really good because the cows had dried off and by the time that finished, the cows were starting to come back in again. “It was the best year I’ve ever had; it turned out to be a very lucrative year milking and doing security and that enabled us to sort out our finances. “It’s been a great year for dairy and things are just looking up. We’ve had a few windfalls as well; heifer exports have brought in good money.” The farm is on two titles. “We started with 70 to 80 cows and then got an extra out-paddock that allowed us to get a bit more out of this farm,” Ken said. “We were running it into the ground because we were overstocked.” Ken had been milking 90, but has cut back to 45 as he transitions to other interests. “People probably consider 90 cows as a hobby farm these days but I say it doesn’t matter what size the farm is, it depends on what the debt is. If your debt is controllable, you can make money.” His farming centres on pasture feed. “The difference in my farm is that I never feed in the bail. “They are basically pasture-fed and you’d struggle to find another farm like that. I only buy in some fodder, rolls of hay and the occasional vetch.” Ken’s first vetch purchase didn’t go so well. “I’m convinced vetch hay is a companion feed. Unless you’re feeding in the bail, you don’t get benefit out of feeding vetch straight. “When I first used it, production went down but when I bought a vetch-cereal-pasture mix that was a different story because it had other ingredients with it.” Although initially a reluctant farmer, Ken changed his tune on his farm. “When it was my cows, it was different. “You get to know cows differently; they are like people with their own personalities. “We had one who would be first in the yard and walk to the same spot every time and she would wait for the last cow to go before walking in.” Now he is phasing out of milking. “I want my weekends back; I want to enjoy other aspects of life. “The best part of being a dairy farmer is also one of the downsides — the lifestyle. It’s a great lifestyle but it is a tie.” He will rear milk vealers and hopes to change to Murray Greys and stay involved with the dairy industry by rearing bulls. He has sown flat land to lucerne to sell bales for horse feed, and he has more heifers to export. Ken has never been one to sit back and watch the world from afar. He became president of the Terang-Mortlake UDV branch, in limbo at the moment, to be an advocate for local farmers. “I always like to make a difference,” he said. “I was brought up that if you’re going to be involved with something, you might as well be wholly involved.” Whatever the future holds, Ken will retain his interest in dairy. “Dairy at the moment is very positive. There’s a lot of good policy stuff that’s starting to give farmers more influence. “Farmers are getting a bit more control rather than just being told what should happen. “We’ll always be price takers rather than price makers, but companies now have to keep farmers happy.”
Ken McSween has diversified and continues to look at new opportunities at his Glenormiston farm.
Ken’s business is based on pasture feeding, not feeding in the bail.
Ken McSween quickly turned around his BMCC issues and now regularly achieves top milk quality awards.
DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA JUNE 2021
WEST VIC REGION // 7
Controlling costs pays off RICK BAYNE
THE OLD saying about making hay while the sun
shines certainly applies to Jon Hooper’s farm at Panmure. Buoyed by good conditions and a decent price, Jon is not only making record amounts of hay, he has been investing in the future, making sure he’s doing the heavy lifting early in his dairying career. New dairy machines, feed mill, chiller and solar system are making the farm more efficient and saving on energy costs. Jon and his wife Kayla and their four young children have been on the farm for three years, and have leased it from his parents Michael and Geraldine for the past 18 months. The family farm at Nullawarre is run by Jon’s brother Nathan. Jon worked there for a while before his parents bought a second smaller farm at Garvoc. Jon and Kayla moved there about nine years ago but soon outgrew the site. They started with 200 cows at Garvoc but have since grown the herd to 500. They have also leased a neighbouring property, effectively doubling the 150-hectare home farm. The herd is about 80 per cent Friesian and 20 per cent Jersey crossbreds, but Jon is aiming to eliminate the crosses. “Since we’ve been here, I’m trying to go back to all Friesians to sell heifers for export,” he said. “It’s a little bit extra so we want to keep going. You might have to wait a few years for orders for crossbreds but the Friesians are in demand.” The farm is a mix of stony barriers and river flats around Mt Emu Creek. It’s good land; the stony country stays dry in the winter and the flats grow well past Christmas and Jon is confident he can grow the herd to a comfortable 550. This year he’s full of confidence. “It has been an unbelievable year; the best season since I’ve been milking cows. “We always try to grow as much grass as we can; this year it stayed green all year and once it started raining it’s growing even more.” Production is matching last year’s record of about 540 kg MS, with volumes continuing to increase with the influx of more Friesians. While building cow numbers, Jon reverted to split calving, though he has now returned to his usual autumn calvers, starting in March for 12 weeks. “I used split calving to build numbers, calving them down in September, but now that I’m getting good calves and good numbers, I’ve gone away from that,” he said. Last year he used sexed semen for the first time and has returned to the same system this year as he aims to breed enough Friesian heifers for replacements and to wean the crossbreds out. The in-calf rates were better than expected. “We got about 60 per cent when they say 50 per cent is usually pretty good,” Jon said.
“It was our first year so we weighed them all and made sure they were big enough and we did everything by the book, plus it was a really good season with plenty of grass around and good feed all the way through.” While building numbers, Jon has invested in his dairy, starting with a 40 kW solar system on the roof that has created significant energy savings, down 18 per cent on last year. The 50-unit rotary is nearly 20 years old and still going well, but Jon has made several recent upgrades to improve efficiency. New DMS machinery installed by Dave’s Dairy Service, who built the original dairy, will help to reduce the labour needed for milking. “I want to get back to having one in the dairy and the tension bars, teat-sprays and cup removers will allow that,” Jon said. “We have two full-time workers and this will give us extra time to get up to speed with everything else. It will probably save an hour-and-a-half each milking so someone can go off and feed out or do other jobs. “It’s good to take a bit of stress out of the busy time. For a couple of months when the cows are calving, two workers are probably not enough.” The new feed mill installed by 360 Dairy Solutions will create cost savings. “We were just feeding pellets and they’re a bit expensive so this will cut some costs. Instead of feeding 6 kg of pellets we are now feeding 3 kg of pellets and 3 kg of crushed barley, saving us $100 a tonne.” A new chiller for the milk vat was installed about six months ago with variable speed that cuts down energy costs. “It’s all come at once but I’m trying to get it to where I want it now and get the benefits from it for the next 15 or 20 years, rather than wait until things are worn out,” Jon said. “There’s no better time to be in the dairy industry. “Everything is good at the moment, so while you’re making money you should invest in things that will make your life easier and be more efficient.” The efficiencies help with Jon and Kayla’s family commitments with their children Stella, Evie, Pippa and Nellie aged from nine months to five years old. “I’m a diesel mechanic by trade but I came home to the farm because I wanted my kids to grow up the same way I did,” Jon said.
Jon Hooper is gradually removing Jersey crossbreds from his herd to boost his chances on the export market.
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