User Profile

Don’t ignore the warning signs

John Vogels was sitting in the tractor doing the annual harvest last spring when he realised something was seriously wrong. “Every hour I’d need to stop to urinate and I’d get off the tractor and just go dribble-dribble,” he...

Rick Bayne

25 Aug 2020

Dairy News

From the farm to parliament

John Vogels owes a lot to dairy farming, Apex and being an interpreter for his father. John was just seven when he arrived from Holland in 1953 with his family and has gone on to a long career not only as a farmer but as an industry and community...

Rick Bayne

24 Aug 2020

Dairy News

Building on dairy’s strengths

Twelve months after taking on a new farming challenge at Naroghid, Jim and Felicity Sloane are starting to see the benefits of their hard work and vision. The couple and their two children Eamon, 10, and Audrey, 5, moved onto the 232 ha farm...

Rick Bayne

24 Aug 2020

Management

Efficiencies and innovations

MEPUNGA FARMER Colin admits he’s not a stats man, but he knows the value of being efficient. From introducing irrigation to a third of his farm 15 years ago to recent updates to his dairy, Colin always has an eye for a good investment. That...

Rick Bayne

26 Aug 2019

Management

Looking for a reason to smile

HAPPY COWS mean happy farmers and young Western District farmer Rachael McGrath is doing her best to keep smiling. At 25, Rachael is taking over management of her family farm which has endured years of adversity and setbacks. With a good 2019...

Rick Bayne

12 Jul 2019

Management

Old, small but back in action after nearly 100 years

PAT RYAN would love $10 for every time he’s been called crazy for renovating an old walk-through dairy on his small farm at Grassmere. But as the dairy, complete with original bluestone pavers, nears its century, Pat is having the last laugh...

Rick Bayne

14 Jun 2019

News

Proactive comeback

When Wayne and Bonnie Johnstone surveyed their burnt paddocks after last year’s St Patrick’s Day fires, it didn’t take long for revival mode to kick in. On the Sunday morning after the blaze which destroyed 75 per cent of their land near...

Rick Bayne

19 Apr 2019

Management

Consulting for success

Josh and Lilli Philp like to know where they’re heading with their farm near Garvoc. They rely heavily on their experience with the farm and the industry but they also call in the experts to make sure they’re moving in the right direction...

Rick Bayne

19 Apr 2019

Management

Sowing the seeds for dairy success

Growing up on a dairy farm and later spending 10 years as a pasture agronomist sowed the seeds for Daniel Meade to become a farmer, and a Nuffield Scholarship helped those seeds to germinate. Daniel and his wife Michaela and their three young...

Rick Bayne

19 Apr 2019

News

Long term fire safety sought

SOUTH-WEST VICTORIAN dairy farmers fighting for compensation after the St Patrick’s Day fires say their campaign goes beyond a financial payout — they want to make sure it never happens again. Nearly 12 months after bushfires burnt 40 000 ha in...

Rick Bayne

24 Feb 2019

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

18 Feb 2019

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

18 Feb 2019

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

18 Feb 2019

Management

Lifelong love of showing

DAVID SPOKES has been showing cattle since he was 14, but competing at International Dairy Week is always the pinnacle. “I’ll be going to dairy week’ til the day I drop dead,” the 57-year-old farmer from Cobden says. And he doesn’t do it...

Rick Bayne

20 Jan 2019

News

Chasing his dairy dream

AS A 22-year-old forging a strong path in the dairy industry, Liam Allan has a pretty simple outlook on farming. “We keep it simple and easy,” he says. “There’s nothing too dramatic about we do here.” Mr Allan is sharefarming with new...

Rick Bayne

07 Jan 2019

News

Finding the right balance

PETER CHOW’S 280 dairy cows used to help sustain his passion for horse racing; now he wonders if it’s the other way around. After 21 years on his farm at Purnim, north of Warrnambool, and years before that on his grandfather’s farm 40 minutes...

Rick Bayne

07 Jan 2019

News

Grabbing every opportunity

DYLAN LIGHT doesn’t turn 21 until next March, but he’s already moving up in the dairy industry. With a herd topping 150, mostly young stock, and a sharefarming agreement in the pipeline for next year, the 2018 Great South West Dairy Awards’...

Rick Bayne

02 Jan 2019

Management

No turning back

OWEN AND Carlie Barry don’t mind taking on a challenge or two. When the dairy crisis was at its nadir, instead of selling cows they leased a second farm. In early 2019 they will move onto their first purchased farm at Carpendeit but at the same...

Rick Bayne

16 Nov 2018