Bernie Free was destined to be a dairy farmer and he wouldn’t have it any other way.
“When I was a kid, all my family told me I was going to be a farmer of some sort and probably a dairy farmer – I just loved being out with the cows,” he said.
“Some people get up in the morning and hate the job they do — I’m not one of them. I’ll probably be farming until I die, which is a good thing.”
Bernie’s passion for the industry led him to the presidency of the United Dairyfarmers of Victoria in late 2023, although it wasn’t necessarily part of his destiny.
“It was because of circumstances,” he said.
“I’ve always said that if you’re not happy you’ve got to put your hand up and get in there and try to do the change you want.”
It has been a turbulent year for the UDV with a break-away group, Dairy Farmers Victoria, but Bernie is confident the UDV is well placed to represent members.
“We need an organisation that advocates for the best interests of all dairy farmers. The UDV and VFF are in a position to advocate for farmers in general and dairy farmers in particular.”
Bernie, wife Sandra and daughter Rebecca along with four staff members milk 600 cows on a 526 hectare farm at Winslow north of Warrnambool, supported by 202ha of out paddocks.
The herd is mostly Holsteins, but with a few Jerseys and crossbreds that stayed with the farm Bernie and Sandra purchased in 2010.
“I’ve always been a Friesian man. We get over 6000 litres per cow and they have made a pretty good lifestyle for me, so I can’t complain,” Bernie said.
Today, Bernie, 59, steers clear of the dairy, but oversees the staff to make sure everything is going right and then does “all the jobs no-one else wants to do”.
Bernie’s father moved from northern Victoria to become one of the original Heytesbury Settlement farmers in the 1960s, while Bernie’s farming career started in 1983 on a Princetown farm milking 400 cows.
He worked there for five years before getting a job with John and Shirley Harlock at Wollaston and in 1993 entered into a sharefarming agreement with them after they invested in another farm at Yambuk.
In 1996, Bernie and Sandra bought adjoining land which was integrated with the share farm.
In 2000 during deregulation, they bought another dairy farm, installing a New Zealand employee as their sharefarmer, but when the GFC hit, the 250-cow farm couldn’t sustain both owners and sharefarmer so was sold to a neighbour.
Bernie and Sandra looked in Gippsland, South Australia and Western Victoria for a new farm, avoiding the heat in northern Victoria, before buying the Winslow property in 2010.
It is a wet farm, a nice contrast to the dry soil of Yambuk.
“That was one of my requirements because Yambuk was so dry and we wanted a contrast,” Bernie said.
“Yambuk is dryer dirt with limestone underneath it so it’s free draining. This is a different way to farm, but we knew that. I just see it as a different challenge and you have to manage cows differently.
“The Yambuk farm was 50 per cent irrigated so we could prescription grow grass each year, whereas here is rainfall dependent, which makes life more interesting.”
They sold the Yambuk farm in December 2022 and were pleased that it remained in dairy.
The Winslow property has several wet paddocks and Bernie has been grappling with the best way to use them.
“We’ve toyed with the idea of doing fescues on them, but the important thing is that the cows don’t stay on them in winter.”
The farm has a feed pad which is being upgraded and concreted.
Bernie feeds a lot more hay and silage at Winslow compared to the grass-based Yambuk.
“They eat a lot more conserved feed,” he said.
“People say we’re a bit under stocked but it gives us breathing space. In an average year, we shouldn’t have to buy in hay or silage, just grain, meaning we’re self-sufficient, which has always been the aim.
“This year looked like being bad, but we had 50 per cent of what we usually cut for silage and hay on hand already. That’s the insurance policy here rather than irrigation.”
There’s not enough water for widespread irrigation but the farm has a centre pivot which helps with dispersing effluent.
It’s predominantly ryegrass-based pasture. For the past three years, a tonne per hectare of lime and gypsum a tonne and a bit of silica has been added to boost the soil’s ability to handle moisture.
“We’ve seen a change in how the cows handle the wet paddocks and how they don’t pug them up as much, so we’re continuing on that road to try to manipulate the soil to be better for us.”
When Bernie arrived at the farm in 2010, calving started on May 20 but it has been brought forward to a March 1 start.
“It’s to make life easier for everybody. It’s colder and wetter in June so it’s better for animal health and easier on staff to start earlier.”
Selling the Yambuk farm has given Bernie more time to give back to the industry.
As UDV president, he wants an organisation that advocates for the best interests of all dairy farmers, regardless of their size.
“We need new people coming into the industry and people with experience who can fill higher-up roles,” he said.
“We’re all inter-dependent on each other and need to work out where we can grow and become more profitable. We all say we love dairy farming but we’ve got to make a dollar out of it.”
Reigniting confidence in dairy farmers is a high priority.
“The past three years have been good price points and while costs have over-run some of those prices, we have seen a stabilisation or reduction in milk volume, not the usual uptick that you see when prices go up,” Bernie said.
“There has been a fundamental shift in the way dairy farmers think, which probably came from the 2015-16 price crash.
“It’s understandable that people aren’t going into debt just to produce milk — they want to be profitable or they will lease the land or sell it.”
Bernie believes the UDV still has a strong voice for dairy farmers.
“It is the state-recognised organisation in Victoria and we need to strengthen that voice and advocate for dairy farmers’ interests so more want to join,” Bernie said.
“It’s always been about one-third of farmers and we need to get the other two-thirds interested.
“A bigger, united voice is a stronger voice.”