Jason and Kelly McRae run three farms in South Gippsland, producing 9.5 million litres of milk annually on a pasture-based system, with cows receiving 6-10kg/day of grain.
Jason and Kelly are looking to increase production after a new 80-bail rotary dairy currently under construction on their Kongwak farm is commissioned.
“We’re growing cow numbers and growing production, and with the next generation interested in coming into the dairy industry, it was time to invest in this farm,” Jason said.
“It’s also our first dip in the water for a rotary dairy.”
Of course, increasing cow numbers isn’t an overnight decision, so Jason and Kelly have been upgrading the capacity of their Kongwak farm to service the increased herd size.
They have also invested in infrastructure upgrades across their farm holdings.
The McRaes aren’t strangers to hard work or succession planning.
Jason and Kelly are in a partnership with his parents, Len and Heather.
Len and Heather bought the Tarwin dairy farm in 1983 and initially milked 100 cows. Jason and Kelly took over in 2004 and have since expanded the family partnership’s holdings with an additional two dairy farms. They employ sharefarmers at their Kongwak and Wattle Bank dairy farms.
The three farms’ Holstein herds are split-calving and cows are carried over. The majority of each herd is spring-calving. Joining is by using bulls bred locally.
All three farms supply milk to Burra Foods.
About 300 heifers are retained each year and are grown out on the Wattle Bank farm as herd replacements for all three farms.
The Tarwin dairy farm run by Jason and Kelly has recently benefited from an infrastructure upgrade, with two centre pivots installed. The decision was made after a parcel of irrigation water on the Tarwin River system became available.
The 162-hectare farm was hosting 315 Holstein cows but the irrigation upgrade has meant the herd can grow.
“We’re now milking 400 cows, and moving numbers up to 430,” Jason said.
A dry summer and the opportunity to buy irrigation water were the impetus for the irrigation upgrade, in a district renowned for good pasture growth.
“We bought a bit of water on the Tarwin River and the opportunity for installing pivots came up,” Jason said.
“We installed the pivots at the end of last summer — we put the superstructure in at the beginning of November (2021) and finished in February (2022). We should see the benefits come this summer.”
Irrigation is available from October to May in the district.
Effluent water can also be distributed through the pivots.
The irrigation is a key factor in growth on the Tarwin farm. Production has grown to four million litres a year.
All the February/March-drop calves — heifers and bulls — are reared. Steers are grown out to 2.5 years old and sold over the hooks or through the local saleyards. Heifer calves are reared and grown out at the Wattle Bank farm.
The Wattle Bank farm, bought in 2004, is 202ha of heavy country. Sharefarmers Daniel and Chelsea Grant milk 300 cows, producing 2.5 million litres annually.
This dryland farm produces all the silage for the herd, but pasture hay is bought in.
Significant investment has been made into the Kongwak farm, particularly with Jason and Kelly looking for opportunities for the next generation. Their son is interested in the dairy industry, and having realised significant benefits themselves, they are very supportive of him finding a role.
The Kongwak farm, with Tim Harris and Katheryn Hazel as sharefarmers, was bought about seven years ago.
It is 283ha of mostly flat country, with heavy black soils. The dryland farm is a combination of 182ha of milking platform and 101ha to grow out heifers.
The old 20-swingover herringbone dairy currently milks 400 Holstein cows, producing an average of three million litres annually.
“We’re looking to raise numbers from 400 to 650 milking cows,” Jason said.
“By next season we’ll be milking 500 cows. The herringbone isn’t comfortable for milking in and can’t cope with that level of herd increase. It was tired and needed a big investment.”
Jason and Kelly had already invested in a new 15,000-litre milk vat, in a new vat room, with an eye to increasing milking numbers. Laneways have been upgraded and paddocks improved. The farm is in a reliable rainfall district.
“The farm is pretty well self-sufficient, producing all the pasture silage and hay we need there, in round wrapped bales,” Jason said.
“At Christmas we begin feeding out fodder through to February, then we increase feeding to the end of April, when we come into grass again.
“There’s plenty of land and we had to make a decision for the longer term. It was either make a big investment and retain it as a dairy farm, or move into beef cattle.
“So we chose to replace the old herringbone with a new rotary dairy.”
It wasn’t a decision taken lightly, considering the other farms have herringbone dairies. Because of a broken hand, Jason had to take some time off from milking, and he spent that time visiting other dairy farms and looking at their set-ups.
He looked at herringbone, rotary and robotic dairies.
“We decided to stick with the rotary,” Jason said.
“The farm gets big floods on it, and I didn’t like the idea of running the robots with the herd accessing the dairy on only one laneway.”
Jason’s brother Shaun, of McRae Engineering at Meeniyan, has undertaken the build, which is managed by Peter Farrell of PFC Group Australia.
Rockwork was installed to weatherproof the site, and the shed roof was built on-site and lifted in June. Large-diameter gutters and pipes were installed to capture rain water.
Under the shed roof, as well as the 80-bail rotary, is a large undercover veterinary area to treat cows. There is enough floor space for an office area, a tea room, a change area, storage room and the vat room.
Uniquely, Jason designed a walkway that enables people to walk under the rotary milking platform and into the milking area. This access will enable maintenance and repairs to be efficiently undertaken, as well as milking and cleaning.
The rotary dairy will include automatic drafting, wash and teat spray, and cups on and off.
“We expect to be using the same number of labour units, but the milking time will be less. We estimate it’ll take two hours to milk the increased number of cows in the new dairy,” Jason said.
Sharefarmer Tim Harris is looking forward to his new work environment, citing lifestyle benefits.
“Using the rotary dairy will enable us to take time off,” he said.
“That means a better lifestyle for all of us.”