Megan and John Hay are always looking for efficiencies in the dairy farming business they operate near Finley in the Riverina.
Currently milking 650 cows all-year-round, the couple hopes to hit 800 as soon as possible.
Megan said hitting 800 would make their operation efficient and help dilute their overheads.
“It is our sweet spot. It is doable and makes our management neat and tidy,” Megan said.
The key to meeting their efficiency goals has been the building of a 400-cow compost barn which was finished in December 2025.
When they began building the barn, they were in two minds.
“We didn’t know whether to build a feed pad and then a shed later, but in the end we decided to go ahead with the barn, and we are glad we did.
“The system is easy to run, production is up, and the cows are better able to deal with climatic conditions,” Megan said.
John said initially there were a few teething problems including too wet compost over an exceptionally wet winter, which saw them take the cows out of the barn for a month.
“We have installed fans now and we believe they will make a big difference moving forward and over the summer months in particular, the cows should be really comfortable, lane sprinklers will also help,” John said.
Since the building of the shed, the couple acknowledges it had previously underestimated the impact of climatic conditions on the cows.
“The cows are really comfortable in there and we can see an increase in production already.”
The other major benefit of the barn has been the feed lane which has reduced waste significantly.
At the moment they are running two herds, and while it is not ideal, it is currently their best option with the fresh cows and high producers housed in the shed.
The grazing herd have access to a PMR via a feed lane on the way to the paddock.
While the couple would love to build another barn, they are hoping to at least build a second feed pad to continue to improve feed utilisation and reduce waste.
Other efficiencies the business has implemented include Allflex collars and Jantec ID.
“The collars are great for heat detection, but not as accurate for health, and we are looking for the next technology to link that a bit better.”
Megan and John took over the running of the family farm from John’s family in 2004, but it did take another decade to get the succession plan sorted.
During that time they milked up to 800 cows, dropped to 600, and then got as low as 300, and then started to rebuild numbers again.
In 2008, they built a 60-unit one person rotary dairy with an 800-cow yard, 30,000 litre vat and auto fed, draft and teat spray, with the goal to minimise labour requirements.
Over time, they have also bought additional land to increase feed efficiencies rather than investing in the high cost of water. They also have access to bore water.
“At least it can rain on land and that doesn’t cost us anything,” Megan said.
In the last four years the business has returned to growing corn and now they grow around 100ha.
“We did grow corn years ago, but it was too expensive when we were only milking 300 cows, now it is an important part of the cows’ ration.”
They also grow around 100ha of pasture and multispecies for silage.
Acknowledging the high cost of growing and sourcing fodder, they built a commodity bunker.
“Feed is expensive and we don’t want to waste any,” Megan said.
To mitigate fertility issues their herd now consists of 50 per cent Holstien and 50 per cent cross-breeds.
They employ around nine full-time equivalent staff.
“We currently have good staff, but we are concerned about the implications of changes to the visa laws for our future,” Megan said.
Given their own experiences with succession planning, the couple has decided to make that side of their operation as easy possible for the next generation.
Dairy News will follow up with the couple on their own succession plan journey in a future edition.