Dairy News

100th Issue GIVEAWAY

This year marks nine years since the first Dairy News Australia was published. A lucky Dairy News Australia reader can win a $500 Melbourne accommodation package to celebrate our 100th issue. Readers can enter the competition before Friday, March...

Dairy News
News

Comment sought on water resource plan

A NEW northern Victoria water resource plan has been released for comment, finalising another piece of the puzzle towards implementing the Murray-Darling Basin Plan. The 1022-page document said there should be “no immediate changes” to how water...

Dairy News
Dairy

Dairy issues mirrored in US

The challenges facing the Goulburn Valley dairy industry were similar to those in California, a visiting academic said last week at a Murray Dairy presentation in Tatura.

Geoff Adams
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News

Temperatures up while rain tallies fall

NSW HAS recorded its warmest year on record as Victoria and the country as a whole sweltered through their third-warmest year on record. The Bureau of Meteorology’s annual climate statement for 2018 said Australia’s 2018 annual mean temperature...

Dairy News
Dairy

Encouraged to stay by ACM

A Kotupna organic dairy farmer nearly gave up dairying altogether after the milk price crash but a knock on the door from ACM changed all that.

Country News
Breaking News

No price rise for homebrand milk, says Coles

Coles has announced it will continue to sell $1 a litre milk, despite Woolworths yesterday announcing it would raise the price of its homebrand milk by 10 cents a litre. In a statement Coles said it does not want to disadvantage customers and will...

Alana Christensen
Dairy

Fonterra milk price steps up

Fonterra Australia has increased its farm gate milk price by seven cents per kilogram of milk solids (kgMS) for the 2018-19 season, bringing its average farm gate milk price to $6.05/kgMS.

Country News
Dairy

Call for a temporary milk levy

Australian supermarket chains, dairy processors and dairy farmer groups should introduce a temporary levy for the next 12 months, according to Nationals MP David Gillespie.

Country News
Dairy

Encouraged to stay by ACM

A Kotupna organic dairy farmer nearly gave up dairying altogether after the milk price crash but a knock on the door from ACM changed all that.

Country News
Breaking News

No price rise for homebrand milk, says Coles

Coles has announced it will continue to sell $1 a litre milk, despite Woolworths yesterday announcing it would raise the price of its homebrand milk by 10 cents a litre. In a statement Coles said it does not want to disadvantage customers and will...

Alana Christensen
Dairy

Fonterra milk price steps up

Fonterra Australia has increased its farm gate milk price by seven cents per kilogram of milk solids (kgMS) for the 2018-19 season, bringing its average farm gate milk price to $6.05/kgMS.

Country News
Dairy

Call for a temporary milk levy

Australian supermarket chains, dairy processors and dairy farmer groups should introduce a temporary levy for the next 12 months, according to Nationals MP David Gillespie.

Country News

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Management

Management

The time of our lives

GETTING THE timing right is a key to farming as Rachelle De Haas and her partner Mathew Donovan are finding out on a family farm near Heywood. Rachelle and Mathew are farming with her parents Renee and Judith De Haas, who have owned the property for...

Rick Bayne
Management

New generation farmers set for challenge

AT 35 Katrina McRae is taking on the biggest challenge of her life but it’s one she’s been planning for as long as she can remember. Alongside partner Kerry Cowland and their daughter Sophie, 9, Katrina is taking over management of her family...

Rick Bayne
Management

Growing for success

THE HOLLOWAY family farm at Mepunga has been built around growth, not only with an expanding parcel of land but with well-fed cows and booming production. “You’ve got to keep growing, the day you stop growing your business is the day you might...

Rick Bayne
Management

Boxes ticked for next generation of business

PAT AND Michelle Quinn have ticked all the big-ticket infrastructure items to take their 650-cow dairy herd into the future. The couple built a new rotary dairy in 2016, a feed pad in 2017, and this year they are about a third of the way through...

Dairy News
Management

Dairy advocate steps up to new role

COHUNA DAIRY farmer John Keely has taken on the role of interim vice president of the UDV. Mr Keely has a long history in advocacy after serving on the UDV policy council for the past 10 years, and he is excited about the possibilities his new role...

Dairy News
Management

Hoping for a more normal season this year

THE 2018–19 season in Gippsland may have had a touch of unpredictability about it, but small rainfall events and opportunistic plantings of millet and summer crops have allowed some farmers to keep grass out of the rotation and locked up for...

Dairy News

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From The Experts

From the Experts

Summer heat advice

PROVIDING LIVESTOCK with shade and water during extreme heat is ‘‘paramount’’ according to an owner of a northern Victorian veterinary practice. Keith Fletcher, of Rochester Veterinary Practice, provided some tips on the best way to handle...

Dairy News
From the Experts

March reminders

Hay and silage stocks Check your levels of hay and silage and do your sums on potential hay and silage use for the balance of the year. Allow for milking cows, dry cows and young stock. It’s often a challenge to feed the best feed you can and make...

Dairy News
From the Experts

New tech helps manage cows

A NEW cow ‘fit bit’ is making it easier to diagnose sick cows and influence management decisions around fertility and performance. Cow Manager uses a small ear tag to monitor and record cow activity, temperature, eating, rumination and resting...

Dairy News
From the Experts

Broad range of seminar topics

Eight seminars will be held at International Dairy Week, covering topics from improving efficiency to heat tolerance. Held at the Ballantyne Centre at Tatura Park, the seminars will run over three days with presenters from across the industry...

Dairy News

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Markets

Markets

Indonesia — a growing market opportunity for Australian exporters?

INDONESIA IS the fourth most populous country in the world and one of the fastest growing economies in southeast Asia. It is also a country of increasing importance and interest among South-East major dairy exporters. While some suggest Indonesi...

Sofia Omstedt
Markets

Don’t forget global markets

WITH MANY eyes focused on the current feed shortage in Australia and resultant surge in feed costs, global markets have taken something of a back seat. Apart from helpful depreciation of the Australian dollar, there hasn’t been much to jolt our...

John Droppert
Markets

That was the year that was

IT’S THAT time of the year when we look back — sometimes in anger — at the journey of the past 12 months. This time last year we had a different prime minister, the Federal Government was still opposing the Banking Royal Commission, the...

Jo Bills

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Machinery & Products

Machinery & Products

Technology and simple solutions hit the mark

TECHNOLOGY CONTINUES to answer the increasingly complex questions posed by agriculture today, but for Tim Slater, who has been around the industry his whole life, it’s the simple solutions, often devised with the least resources, that still...

Dairy News
Machinery & Products

I don’t need a compact tracked loader, do you?

With the new year well and truly upon us, the festivities and possible excess of the Christmas period are a fast-receding memory. So too, are the bold ambitions associated with new year’s resolutions. Paying down debt, simplifying the operation...

John Droppert
Machinery & Products

Drivers urged to be careful

LOOK OUT. Slow down. Take care. These are the three messages farmers are asking all motorists to observe when travelling country roads as part of the ‘Common Roads, Common Sense’ campaign. This new road safety initiative was developed by the...

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Animal Health

Animal Health

Managing the risk of mastitis in hot weather

TWO RECENT discussions were a reminder of how hot weather can significantly influence the risk of mastitis in dairy herds. The first was a farm which uses a mechanical teat scrubber as part of the pre-milking routine to clean teats prior to cups on...

Rod Dyson
Animal Health

Shining a spotlight on facial eczema

FACIAL ECZEMA (FE) can significantly affect dairy cattle productivity, health and welfare through animal deaths, reduced weight gain, reduced milk yield and reproductive performance. While FE is mainly seen in east Gippsland, it has also been...

Gemma Chuck
Animal Health

Fonterra to sell NZ livestock division

FONTERRA NEW Zealand has announced it will sell the Farm Source livestock division to Carrfields Livestock — an established livestock agency provider. Fonterra Farm Source stores director Richard Allen, said the decision to sell was made in the...

Dairy News