News

Inspired by a dairy career

GROWING UP around dairy farming has given Ashlee Hammond a strong foundation to build her working career in agriculture on. The trials and tribulations, opportunities and challenges of dairy farming have been a great grounding for her role at the...

Dairy News
News

Freedom Foods accelerates funding for Shepparton plant

Shepparton’s Freedom Foods plant is set to benefit from the company’s decision to accelerate the raising of capital. The $200 million that is set to be raised through the introduction of extra shares available to existing and new shareholders...

Dairy News
News

Dairy week was a happy hunting ground

THIS YEAR’S International Dairy Week is just a memory for many people, but for three northern Victorian dairy farmers it is one they won’t easily forget. Elmar Holsteins from Leitchville won the IDW Grand Champion title with Elmar Goldwyn...

Dairy News
News

Goodwill floods in after the fires

Maddens Bridge Road at Glenfyne near Cobden in south-west Victoria is usually a quiet, picturesque dirt track surrounded by native trees. However, a week after fire rushed through the area; the road is abuzz with activity around Tony Negrello’s...

Rick Bayne
News

Gippsland dairy on show

THE AUSTRALIAN Dairy Conference tour travelled through Gippsland in February, with 30 farmers and service providers from around Australia enjoying insights into the region’s production systems. The tour took in some of the most productive and...

Dairy News
News

Farmers urged to ask for help

Complete recovery from the St Patrick’s Day bushfires could take years but affected farmers have been encouraged to ask for a hand. The display of support shown immediately after the fire in the form of donated fodder, food and people power to...

Stephen Cooke
News

Power prices rising but solar panels still shine

Dairy farmers will see a return on any investment in renewable energy, according to Lindsay Anderson, who has four solar panel systems on his Athlone dairy farm. Lindsay has four five- kW solar panel systems feeding into the grid. He installed these...

Stephen Cooke
News

More A2 milk to flow

FONTERRA AND The a2 Milk Company (a2MC) are set to join forces, announcing plans to link Fonterra’s global milk pool and supply chain with a2MC’s brand strength to create more business opportunities. As part of the agreement, Fonterra will now...

Dairy News
News

Milk production increasing

NORTHERN VICTORIAN dairy farmers have recovered from a difficult start to last season, with milk production jumping eight per cent to the end of last year. Dairy Australia’s February Situation and Outlook report found that Australia-wide milk...

Dairy News
News

Gippsland dairy on show

THE AUSTRALIAN Dairy Conference tour travelled through Gippsland in February, with 30 farmers and service providers from around Australia enjoying insights into the region’s production systems. The tour took in some of the most productive and...

Dairy News
News

Farmers urged to ask for help

Complete recovery from the St Patrick’s Day bushfires could take years but affected farmers have been encouraged to ask for a hand. The display of support shown immediately after the fire in the form of donated fodder, food and people power to...

Stephen Cooke
News

Power prices rising but solar panels still shine

Dairy farmers will see a return on any investment in renewable energy, according to Lindsay Anderson, who has four solar panel systems on his Athlone dairy farm. Lindsay has four five- kW solar panel systems feeding into the grid. He installed these...

Stephen Cooke
News

More A2 milk to flow

FONTERRA AND The a2 Milk Company (a2MC) are set to join forces, announcing plans to link Fonterra’s global milk pool and supply chain with a2MC’s brand strength to create more business opportunities. As part of the agreement, Fonterra will now...

Dairy News

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Management

Management

Cows power their own milking machines

A newly installed methane digester will produce enough power to meet half the cost of running the dairy barn and robotic milkers on a Bungaree farm. The digester was being installed when Dairy News Australia visited in November and can process...

Stephen Cooke
Management

Doing the hard yards

NOBODY DAIRY farms for the accolades, least of all Dehne and Sarah Vinnicombe. But when they were crowned the 2017 Dairy Farmers of the Year, they couldn’t help but feel a little excited and overwhelmed. “Well, I guess it’s good recognition...

Dairy News
Management

Riding out tough times with low-input system

BRUCE AND Fiona Manintveld’s low-input farming system enables them to achieve a cost of production of $4/kg/MS, which is helping them achieve their business goals despite the past two tough seasons. The former GippsDairy Focus Farmers run...

Stephen Cooke
Management

Putting science into sowing

Dairy farmers selecting perennial rye-grass varieties for autumn sowing have been urged to back their decision with science by tapping into Dairy Australia’s Forage Value Index. The FVI enables farmers to choose cultivars that will deliver the...

Dairy News
Management

Focusing on herd and staff improvement

SHAREFARMER BRENTON Ziero wants to improve the efficiency of both his herd and his staff. Through his involvement with the GippsDairy Focus Farm program, he believes he is on track to do both. Mr Ziero has worked for owners Steve and Bec Ronalds for...

Stephen Cooke

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From The Experts

From the Experts

Bringing new pastures on line

GETTING YOUR grazing rotation right is critical to maximise your pasture production. A well-managed rotation will help not only to boost pasture intake per cow but enable a more effective use of supplements. Establishing a rotation with newly sown...

Dairy News
From the Experts

Genetics may ease heat stress

THE MODERN dairy cow is highly susceptible to the effects of heat and in the Australian climate, the effects of heat stress cause millions of dollars in lost production every year. Temperature and humidity that exceed certain thresholds lead to...

Dairy News
From the Experts

Five tips for growing better maize

FutureDairy’s Yani Garcia says management has a big impact on the profitability of a high input crop such as maize. “A profitable maize crop is achieved by optimising both yield and nutritive value,” Professor Garcia said. “Very high...

Dairy News
From the Experts

Improving feed base performance

Findings from a recent Gardiner Dairy Foundation feed base research survey of 153 Victorian dairy farmers found that most respondents felt ‘very’ or ‘reasonably’ confident about their ability to get the most out of their pastures. This...

Dairy News

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Markets

Markets

Can processor competition offset European pressure

Total Australian milk production for February was up 2.4 per cent, putting the 2017–2018 season 3.4 per cent ahead on a year-to-date basis. The growth continues to come from the southern, export oriented regions of South Australia, Victoria and...

Laurie Walker
Markets

How the dairy world has changed

Last month we aimed to give a helicopter view of global dairy trade, and the way it’s changed in recent years. We have been looking at the international dairy market for a long time, and what has struck us more recently is how much the levers that...

Jo Bills
Markets

Bigger picture of dairy trade

AS PART of our work, we have a unique ability to add up the dairy product that is traded around the world and look at the larger trends that will continue to influence returns for farmers. We recently did a round up of 2017 trade, which at first...

Jo Bills

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Machinery & Products

Machinery & Products

Isuzu SBR tipper keeps on truckin’

I don’t know much about trucks. Never have. In my orbit, they’re good for shifting tractors and machinery around. More generally, while trains are pretty awesome we don’t all live and work next to a railway siding, so it’s trucks that get it...

John Droppert
Machinery & Products

Allflex wins two World Expo awards

Allflex received two Dairy Herd Management Innovation Awards at the recent World Dairy Expo for its SenseTime cow monitoring system and the eSense Flex ear tag. The awards recognise the top 10 dairy industry innovations introduced over the previous...

Dairy News

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Animal Health

Animal Health

Livestock tolerating peat fires conditions

Livestock are resilient to smoke including carbon monoxide and ash fallout from fires, Victoria’s Chief Veterinary Officer Charles Milne has advised. The advice comes as peat fires continue to burn in the state’s south-west a week after they...

Dairy News
Animal Health

Renewed calls to end tail docking

RESEARCH SHOWING less than one-in-10 dairy farmers still dock cows’ tails has prompted renewed calls for farmers to eradicate the practice altogether. While the latest Dairy Australia Animal Husbandry Survey found 91 per cent of dairy farmers had...

Dairy News
Animal Health

Disease danger follows calving

ACETONEMIA (ALSO known as ketosis) is a disease of recently calved animals that is caused by an energy imbalance. This means the cow’s energy intake does not meet her energy requirements, resulting in the body breaking down tissue to obtain its...

Dairy News