Marcus Flanagan describes his career and expansion in the dairy industry as a “process”, and one that started back in 1994 when he was just 17 years old — when he told his parents he wanted to be a dairy farmer.
That process has seen him grow from 120 cows when he first started with his parents, to 1230 cows and a free stall barn some 25 years later.
But Marcus isn’t planning to stop there.
The next step will be a new 80-unit dairy, then another barn within the next five to seven years.
Consultant Brian Crockart has been a fantastic support to the business over the last 25 years.
He is leading the way organising permits to build another barn, enabling the business to eventually milk 2000 cows, three times a day.
Marcus said there had been many learnings along the way when it came to upgrading infrastructure and converting to a fully housed free stall barn.
“Over time we have had challenges with different systems, however, we found a free stall barn best answered all our questions, when we were researching the best fit for us,” Marcus said.
“Currently, 1200 cows is the capacity for our 214m long x 41m wide free stall barn.”
He said when he builds the next barn, there would be a couple of things to tweak, however, having the barn and sight professionally designed before the process started was a smart move.
“This allows new infrastructure to slot into place seamlessly,” Marcus said.
“When we built the first rotary in 2001 we were only milking 400 cows, believing at the time, getting the cows milked quickly and finishing up was what were after — now running the dairy all day and night is the goal.”
Marcus said growth over the decades had had its challenges with droughts, water price fluctuation and milk pricing, however, improving infrastructure and attempting to implement best practice has improved efficiencies.
“This has given us more control over our own destiny and ultimately fostered growth,” Marcus said.
In 2016, the farm experienced the wettest season Marcus had ever seen.
This impacted the viability of the business and Marcus decided it was time for some serious change.
In 2017, he travelled to the World Dairy Expo upon returning home he started pouring concrete.
“I could see the value in a free stall barn particularly to help control some of our climatic variables — wet, cold, and heat. It keeps cows comfortable, while catering for all of their needs.”
Marcus said when it came to feeding cows, he used advice from a nutritionist in the United States.
He has been feeding his milking herd on a TMR for six years which he believes has helped get the most out of his cows, facilities, water and climate.
“Our management of feed is multi-pronged,” Marcus said.
“We use flood irrigation to grow the most water efficient crops we can these being corn, cereals and lucerne.”
This year they have planted around 200ha of corn and they have been keeping a close eye on temporary water prices, as they have continued to increase as the season has progressed.
“We have a large portion of our water secured, however we do buy a little as the season progresses.
“We also utilise byproducts like citrus pulp and we forward contract human waste products like cotton seed, almond hulls and canola meal, which are fantastic feed sources to include in our TMR.”
Marcus said being able to partner with companies like Ridley to forward contract different feeds and byproducts was pivotal to security and success.
In 2021, he invested in a commodity centre, he said half of all revenue was spent on feeding his cows so being able to handle feed in a quick, clean, efficient manner had been invaluable.
“Being able to buy larger volumes of various commodities and being able to store it without wastage means we can often sit out of the market when things get volatile.”
Marcus said he kept in constant contact with his nutritionist who also visited the farm two to three times every year.
Having committed, hard working full-time staff has allowed the business to grow and add more quality people.
“I try to understand our staff members’ motivation and allow them to pursue what they are interested in within my business as much as possible.
“We try to make a point of helping them upskill with training, we are improving our measurement of performance and generating regular KPIs.”
Marcus acknowledged this was probably not his own personal strength.
He considers himself lucky to be able to employ a committed motivated person who is full-time running the office, overseeing the rosters, organising people and generating KPIs.
“We have over time, sponsored backpackers looking for permanent residency, and we have some really good people working for us,” he said.
“We have some great long-term leaders including our workshop and herd managers, our office staff, cropping people, feeding and calf teams.”
Marcus said employing staff had made him realise that was not all about him.
“I try to make sure the things that are important to all the members of my team are recognised,” he said.
“Allowing people to follow what they are passionate about is key to retaining good people.
“If you have good people who want to do a good job, then it is just a matter of making sure that both sides are catered for.”
Marcus said his own role on the farm had evolved as the business has grown.
“I have over 30 years of experience in the industry now, which counts for a bit I suppose,” he said.
“I help fill in when staff are away and it can get pretty hectic at harvest times, but as you get older you might get physically slower, but you do get hopefully smarter,” he laughed.
He said in regard to his herd’s breeding program, genomics had been a game changer.
“We are definitely more specific and structured with our bull selection,” he said.
“We can now breed animals that will be less prevalent to illness, more productive and last longer, much more accurately than we have ever before.”
Marcus believes strongly in family and would like to pay special tribute to his parents Lawrie and Lynne, and also his brother Nick, who milks 1700 cows of his own on the other side of town.
“Mum and dad have supported and encouraged Nick and I, and combined, we milk almost 3000 cows within five minutes of Finley.”
Wife Claire is also a great support as well as being the resident farm veterinarian, and their four children all play an active role in helping around the farm.
Marcus firmly believes there remains a lot of opportunity in the Australia dairy industry if you embrace technology, best practice and apply attention to detail.
“There are fantastic career opportunities and a healthy future for the next generation,” he said.