News

Sixth-generation farmers embrace change

FOR A dairy farming dynasty that stretches across six generations and 136 years, the Whites like to stay on the move. Current patriarch of Hillgrove Farm and Dilee Holsteins at Leongatha South in Gippsland is Les White, who is in partnership with...

Rick Bayne
News

Bega buys Koroit from Saputo

BEGA CHEESE has purchased Saputo’s Koroit factory for $250 million. Saputo will supply 300 million litres of milk each year until June 30, 2020, under the deal. The transaction is subject to Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC)...

Dairy News
Management

Parry plans to fast-track young herd

Rhiannon Parry hopes genomic testing will sling-shot her young herd into a brighter future. Rhiannon farms with her partner Cameron Schellekens and sons Blake and Luke near Wonthaggi in Victoria and says that genomic testing and herd testing are...

Rick Bayne
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News

Know you’re not alone

The drought in NSW and the associated hardship it creates for farmers and rural and regional communities is receiving widespread attention from media and politicians, including Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. The severe drought is relatively easy...

Stephen Cooke
Dairy

Lack of demand affects prices

A sale of a commercial Kyabram herd at Shepparton last week reflected softening prices for some dairy stock.

Country News
News

Think big picture on MDBA

A ROBUST and transparent test to determine the socio-economic impacts of removing an additional 450 gigalitres (GL) of irrigation water from the Murray-Darling Basin is critical if the impacts to local communities are to be fully understood...

Dairy News
News

Processors contribute to farmer disappointment

DAIRY FARMER Scott Sommerville has been involved in dairy for almost four decades and says he has never seen things so bad. “This really is the worst state I have ever seen the dairy industry in,” Mr Sommerville said. “It has been the hardest...

Sophie Baldwin
Dairy

Disease control is in your hands

The best defence against calf disease is to implement sound biosecurity measures and hygiene practices on the farm and around the calf shed.

Country News
Dairy

Lack of demand affects prices

A sale of a commercial Kyabram herd at Shepparton last week reflected softening prices for some dairy stock.

Country News
News

Think big picture on MDBA

A ROBUST and transparent test to determine the socio-economic impacts of removing an additional 450 gigalitres (GL) of irrigation water from the Murray-Darling Basin is critical if the impacts to local communities are to be fully understood...

Dairy News
News

Processors contribute to farmer disappointment

DAIRY FARMER Scott Sommerville has been involved in dairy for almost four decades and says he has never seen things so bad. “This really is the worst state I have ever seen the dairy industry in,” Mr Sommerville said. “It has been the hardest...

Sophie Baldwin
Dairy

Disease control is in your hands

The best defence against calf disease is to implement sound biosecurity measures and hygiene practices on the farm and around the calf shed.

Country News

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Management

Management

Subsurface drainage keeps farm on top

FARMING SUCCESS all starts underground for Cooriemungle’s Andy Powell. His farm, just 15 km inland from the iconic Port Campbell National Park, receives about 750 mm of rain every year but, with subsurface drainage covering 98 per cent of the...

Rick Bayne
Management

Gold plaque just reward for team approach

COORIEMUNGLE DAIRY farmer Andy Powell has been named in the Top 100 dairy suppliers nationally in the Dairy Australia 2018 Milk Quality Awards. The annual awards recognise farms which have achieved the best milk quality based on annual average bulk...

Dairy News
Management

September Reminders

Grain feeding When the grain price and milk price change, the opportunity to make milk from grain for a margin also changes. Grain prices vary depending on the type of grain fed, additives used and volume delivered; the price is currently between...

Dairy News
Management

Education goes outside the classroom

TESS BLAKE has just spent 12 weeks on work placement in the dairy industry as part of her final year of a Bachelor of Agricultural Science at Charles Sturt University in Wagga Wagga. Ms Blake’s placement was organised by Murray Dairy and was...

Dairy News
Management

Water loss causes change in thinking

USING WATER in the right place at the right time is the key to future success for a young Western Australian dairy farming family. From Benger, two hours south of Perth, Mick and Sophia Giumelli are transforming their farm to reduce costs and the...

Rick Bayne
Management

Teat-sealing heifers slashes mastitis rates

ROB AND Jan Mortlock have all but eliminated mastitis in their heifers after taking part in a teat- sealing trial. The Mortlocks, who milk 850 head at Yanakie in south Gippsland, teat-sealed 150 heifers last year and 118 this year and recorded one...

Stephen Cooke

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From The Experts

From the Experts

Cheese drip the new hip

We all know cheese is versatile. It’s one of the great food staples. It can also be a gourmet product and a marketer’s dream, used to sell everything from festivals, to wine and romantic getaways. But it wasn’t until recently that I found out...

Madeleine Brennan
From the Experts

Opinion: Farmers deserve mandatory code of practice

There’s an emerging issue occurring in the dairy industry between advocates of the industry’s current voluntary code of practice and a proposed mandatory code. The voluntary code of practice was adopted last July by the Australian Dairy Industry...

Stephen Cooke
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

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Markets

Markets

World wheat crop, fodder supplies declining

WE ARE now more than halfway through winter, and more than halfway through a year that has so far been unseasonably warm and dry. Rainfall for the year to date has been well below average in most of southern and eastern Australia and across the...

Sofia Omstedt
Markets

What’s the alternative?

THERE’S BEEN lots of discussion lately about alternative — or non-dairy — milks and whether they should be allowed to use the word “milk” at all. A lot people in the dairy sector are getting pretty excited about the US Food and Drug...

Jo Bills
Markets

Tide turns but more needed to lift confidence

THE NEW dairy season has just commenced, and there is already plenty to keep track of. We have seen some of the highest opening prices ever announced coincide with farmer confidence hitting a multi-year low, more farmers than ever changing processor...

John Droppert

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Machinery & Products

Machinery & Products

Wrangler makes hoof work easy

THE WRANGLER dairy crush, popular in New Zealand dairy sheds, is now available in Australia through De Wit Trading. “I had a farmer ask if I could import one in for him. I looked into it and thought this is brilliant and just what is needed...

Dairy News
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
Machinery & Products

Weigh and go without woe

THE HIGH cost of fertiliser makes it important to understand how well a spreader performs — in the quantity applied and the spread pattern. Quantity is taken care of by calibration, to compare set rates with actual weights, and spread pattern is...

Dairy News

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Animal Health

Animal Health

Every picture tells a story

AT OUR farm visits, we often take photos of key factors that we identify, and also the dairy shed layout — it helps us to quickly and easily recall the details later. But as the collection of images has got larger, finding a specific image has got...

Rod Dyson
Animal Health

Is off-label drug use off-limits?

The off-label use of veterinary medicines on dairy farms is surprisingly common. This article discusses the safe use of veterinary medicines and scenarios where these medicines are unintentionally used off-label. There are many definitions...

Gemma Chuck
Animal Health

Do you have the facts on mycoplasma?

MYCOPLASMA IN dairy herds is a topical issue. Much of the media coverage has related to farm biosecurity, management options and the decision to eradicate. This article discusses mycoplasma in relation to animal health: how does Mycoplasma cause...

Gemma Chuck