The importance of innovation — and the associated challenges and risks — has been highlighted at a forum looking at future dairy farming trends.
Irish farm consultant Mike Brady, Head of Research and Development at Bulla Dairy Foods Mary Sharma and ST Genetics Business Development and Resources Manage, Paul Douglas hosted a ‘What is Innovation?’ panel session at the WestVic Dairy ‘From Idea to Innovation’ forum at Deakin University in Warrnambool on February 21.
Ms Sharma said businesses need to specialise but also look to diversify.
“You have to be constantly evolving your business,” she said.
“If you’re not, you’re going up a down escalator. You have to look outside for opportunities and continue to evolve and thrive while keeping your capability in mind.”
Ms Sharma said Bulla was in constant conversation around plant-based products and extending beyond its current categories.
“In manufacturing in Australia, we have a number of challenges, such as looking to diversify our business so we’re not just one particular sales channel.”
Ms Sharma said good innovation was a combination of the creator and a good implementer.
“You need crazy people with their ideas to get good innovation, but you also need the market at the other end,” she said.
“When you’re coming up with new ideas, you need diversity of thought and diversity of background.
“You have to have a lot of failures to be remembered for the successes. It’s all about productivity for the good ideas to come to the fore.”
Mr Douglas said sexed semen was an example of innovation that had paid off for the dairy industry.
“Sexed semen was slow at the start but there was persistence and that has bought the technology that works,” he said.
“It started from an idea, there was a commitment to the idea and along with that there have been so many benefits in achieving the desired sex of the animal.”
Mr Douglas said there was always a risk in innovation and risk assessment had to be part of any innovation journey.
“For example, sexed semen is amazing technology but its success means the volume of semen sold is considerably less, but what has happened through that initiative is that the beef component presents itself as another initiative.”
Mr Brady said a successful example of innovation in Ireland was an automatic shed floor cleaner for housed cows.
“Every farmer has one now,” he said.
“It’s important to know your capabilities and where you want to go and have an independent team around you.
“We need innovators and what they are doing might be the spark that takes the industry in a new direction.”