Thirty years after her first tentative foray into the dairy industry, Andrea Vallance is still paying it forward to thank those who helped her find her feet.
Andrea and her husband Bruce had no dairy experience when they started back in 1993; Bruce was from a sheep, cropping and pig farming background, Andrea a teacher who grew up in Warrnambool.
They haven’t forgotten those who helped steer them in the right direction.
Today, Andrea “pays it forward” as the co-ordinator of the Timboon Agriculture Project, DemoDAIRY Foundation chair, and with roles on Nurture Food and Fibre Great South Coast Committee and the Neil Porter Legacy Industry Sub Committee.
Since 2008 she has been a member of the Nullawarre Community Emergency Response Team and is an Ambulance community officer at Timboon.
“We knew nothing when we started but we were like sponges and soaked up everything we could seeking advice from other people,” she said.
“The people and the industry have been good to us and it’s important to give back.”
Andrea and Bruce met while she was teaching at Lake Bolac. They moved to Bendigo where Bruce managed a piggery, while Andrea taught at Maryborough.
After imports hurt the pig industry, they took a chance to lease a dairy farm milking 160 cows at Mepunga in 1993.
“One of the terms of the lease was that we had to join a grass budgeting group,” Andrea said.
“The Mepunga group included Barry Smith and Graeme Croft, really good farmers and great mentors. You find that people who are good at what they do are normally very happy to share their knowledge, and they can be prepared to share their mistakes and caution you about what not to do.
“Bruce and I are great believers in discussion groups and being mentors — you have to pay it forward.”
Within two years they had bought a 64ha dairy farm at Nirranda and were milking 130 cows.
“Because we had little or no money, we had to constantly check our figures, budget the whole time and really know the levers of our business,” Andrea said.
“We still do business with some of the same people we started with. It’s all about relationships, seeking advice from good operators or consultants like John Mulvany and building a capable team around you.”
Between 1998 and 2021 they built a herringbone dairy, then a rotary dairy and purchased more land, increasing cow numbers to 800 milkers off a 286ha milking platform with 566ha in total including out paddocks.
They milk a three-way cross of Friesians, Monbéliardes and Swiss Reds using a split calving system.
“We started with a Jersey-Friesian cross but evolved for more size and capacity, fertility and hybrid vigour,” Andrea said.
“We don’t want show ponies, we want work horses and they walk well, the fertility rate is high and they graze effectively. It’s a healthy, productive herd.”
More than 60 per cent of the diet is home-grown feed.
Andrea and Bruce try to take risk out of the business as much as possible. They have a grain storage facility at Hexham, irrigation with water monitoring in place to ensure it isn’t wasted, and have installed variable rate irrigation on the pivot — using soil texture maps which allows more efficient and strategic use of water with five different zones receiving different amounts.
There are solar panels at home and on the dairy, and collars on the cows to check their rumination, health and fertility.
In 2013 they purchased a dairy farm in Cobram in an equity partnership milking 600 cows.
It ceased milking in 2018 and the two remaining blocks are leased to a solar company. They are in the process of wrapping up that property.
In 2019 Andrea and Bruce included Nirranda farm manager Isaac Fynn in an equity partnership model after the successful experience in Cobram.
Bruce and Andrea own the land and water and Isaac has bought into the operational part of the business, the cows and equipment.
Their three children have bought in as well.
“Our veterinarian daughter, Jordy, has returned home to join the equity partnership with a future managerial role evolving as part of our succession planning,” Andrea said.
“We had to come up with different ways to look at sustainability and succession.”
Two staff will also buy into the equity system.
“You’ve got to acknowledge how people contribute to your business and it’s great when they have skin in the game too” Andrea said.
Throughout the farm’s evolution, Andrea has remained committed to her community.
The Timboon Agriculture Project is a partnership between Timboon P-12 School and the local community and industry, to provide hands-on engagement opportunities for students.
“Now in its 11th year, it has been a partnership game changer in education,” Andrea said.
More than 566 people have worked with students, provided teacher professional development and hands-on experiences since it began in mid-2012.
Andrea still gets a buzz out of introducing students to the potential of agriculture and helping make curriculum connections.
“Colleagues tell me I get a look on my face when I see that a student or teacher gets it,” she said, “that ‘aha’ moment”.
“TAP results have spread right through the community and it has won awards and influenced government policy.”
Andrea was also invited on to the DemoDairy Foundation board because of her experience in the dairy industry, education, and the TAP approach to pathways and career opportunities.
Wearing three hats as a farmer, ambulance volunteer and an educator, Andrea recognises farm safety as a priority and has worked with Dairy Australia, VFF and educators to provide resources and messaging to help keep farm families safe.
“We want our team members to go home safely to their families each night with physical and mental health both important.”
That concern about mental health has prompted Andrea and Bruce to support TradeMutt, gifting shirts to the team to encourage conversations around mental health and wellbeing.