Young farmers from across the region were given the opportunity of a lifetime to participate in an overseas trip as part of the Young Dairy Network development program — United States study tour.
The trip was sponsored by Murray Dairy and the Gardiner Foundation.
Under the guidance of tour leader and Murray Dairy YDN coordinator Bec Wyper and Murray Dairy staff Ross Read and Natalie Schlitz, the team of 20 young farmers spent 14 days visiting California, Wisconsin and Indiana, checking out dairy systems and developing networks.
The trip was an initiative of the YDN steering committee and was fully supported by the Murray Dairy Board as part of a broader program which focused on succession planning and career progression.
“Succession planning is a key focus of this program and is an issue for many farming families — many don’t do it well and we are conscious of that and trying to encourage the next generation to break that cycle,” Bec said.
Participants attended succession planning workshops facilitated by Cam Smith based on a modified version of the ‘Our Farm Our Plan’ program.
“We really wanted to encourage these young farmers to look to their futures and see what was involved and have some of those conversations with their parents, and if they aren’t on the same page, work out how they can get there.”
Bec said it was interesting to see some of the ways this issue was tackled in the US.
Some businesses had an LLC incorporated structure that involved the whole family as a means for succession.
Family members each had a share which they could invest in the business or sell. There was no sweat equity and everyone was paid what they were worth avoiding confusion.
“This was a key learning for many of the participants,” Bec said.
Farming systems were extremely intensified compared to Australia, and the group was surprised by the lack of farm technology, such as draft gates and collars because of their access to skilled and affordable labour force
Some farm businesses had generations of the same family fulfilling their labour roles.
“From what we saw I think we do a better job of controlling fodder quality here in Australia. When making silage their first couple of cuts are focused on quality and the last on quantity to get bulk,” Bec said.
The farmers we spoke to said there wasn’t a lot of room to expand production wise because farmers couldn’t go over their milk quota and many were only on three-month contracts with their processors which created a degree of uncertainty.
One farmer owned the cows, the dairy and the barn and where the concrete ended so did his farm — they either then leased land or bought in fodder.
“He was surrounded by cropping families and he had very strong relationships with those families buying their fodder,” Bec said.
Bec said it was quite common to see many operations only owned the cows and the milking infrastructure.
“Individual shareholders bought land and leased it back to the company to grow the business,” she said.
“The trip was such a great opportunity to look at a different way of doing things and I think it had a real impact on the farmers who participated.”
Returning back from overseas, the group completed a couple more workshops and were presented with a certificate at Dairy Australia’s AGM recently held in Moama.
To be eligible for the trip, participants had to be aged between 21-40, be involved in the dairy industry in the Murray Dairy region and commit to a 12-month succession program. They were shortlisted and interviewed before selection.
Bec is hoping the program will continue in the future with a similar itinerary that could be expanded into other places like Europe.
“A lot of work went into organising this program and we have built some strong relationships and a real legacy, so I hope this can continue in the future,” she said.
The trip was also supported by gold sponsor Pioneer seeds, silver Noumi Bega, Riverina Fresh, Provico and bronze Ky Valley, ST Genetics, Rochester Vet, Phibro, Reid Stockfeeds, Rex James Stockfeed, WB Hunter, Eagle Direct and Rubicon.