Tassie Dairy News Feb 14.indd

Tassie Dairy News
Produced for the Tasmanian Dairy Industry by the TIA Dairy Centre, University of Tasmania
Funded by Dairy Australia, DairyTas and TIA
ISSUE 18
February 2014
THIS ISSUE INCLUDES: n 3-in-2 MILKING n CHANGES IN TIA EXTENSION TEAM n YOUNG DAIRY NETWORK ACTIVITIES
Dairy Smart Groups Visit
AMS Dairies
Elya Richardson, TIA Dairy Centre Summer Student
On the 14th January, all Dairy Smart groups across the
state combined for an Automatic Milking Systems Field
Day. The field day included a visit to the Dornauf family’s
Automatic Milking Rotary (AMR) and the Crowden family’s
Voluntary Milking System (VMS) to discuss how the
technology is working on each of these farms, and what
have been the challenges and benefits from moving to
automatic milking systems. Members of the FutureDairy
team and DeLaval company representatives were also
in attendance on the day to share their expertise on the
technology being used. There was strong interest in the
day with over 100 people attending.
The day began at the Dornauf’s family farm ‘Gala’ located
at Quamby Brook, where they have installed the world’s
first commercial AMR. Manager Nick Dornauf began
the day by providing an overview of the farm set-up and
Gala’s key performance indicators (Table 1). Gala is
currently milking 415 cows on a 200 hectare milking area
and with the integration of the AMR, they aim to produce
1,710 kg MS/ha with 570 cows next (2014/15) season.
In order to get the cows flowing automatically through
the dairy, the farm is divided into three grazing areas into
which cow movement is controlled by automatic gates.
Grazing area A opens at 6:30 a.m., B at 2:30 p.m. and C
at 10:30 p.m. The cows must pass through the dairy in
order to reach the next fresh pasture break.
This voluntary 3-way grazing system relies on good
pasture management for the cows to choose to flow
from one paddock, through the dairy and onto the next
break. Milking frequency is currently 2.3 milkings/day/
cow and the AMR is averaging 955 milkings/day. The
cumulative operating time of the AMR is 13hrs milking
and 2hrs cleaning. For the Dornauf’s, one of the main
benefits of the AMR is the more efficient utilisation of
labour. Time that would have been spent on fetching and
milking the cows is now more effectively used to manage
other aspects of the dairy farm. The AMR also improves
Gala’s ability to attract, recruit and retain labour as the
system allows a greater flexibility in working hours when
compared to a conventional dairy system. In 2014/15,
the Dornauf’s are targeting 250 cows/FTE, an increase of
50 cows from the current season.
The second farm visit was to Marcus Crowden’s family
farm, located at Western Creek. The Crowden’s have
converted a run-off block into a profitable dairy farm
using Tasmania’s first DeLaval VMS. The Crowden’s are
milking 200 cows on a 48 ha milking platform and aim to
increase the number of cows milked to 240 in 2015/16.
continued on p.2
(L-R) Chris Dornauf, Rebekah Tyler, Ian Dornauf and Nick Dornauf
For many attending the field day, this was the first time they had
seen the AMR in action
Marcus Crowden spoke about how the VMS is helping them to
achieve their goals
TASMANIAN
INSTITUTE OF
AGRICULTURE
continued from p. 1
Milking frequency varies slightly between the three
individual box units with 160, 156 and 149 milkings/day
respectively. Currently 67 cows are milked per day per
robot box and they are aiming to increase this to 80 cows
per box for the 2014/15 season. The average milking
speed for each cow is 7:05 minutes. Crowden’s have a
feedpad which they use in conjunction with their 3-way
grazing system. The 3-way grazing system is operated
via automatic gates at the dairy which open to allow
access to block C at 1:40 a.m., block B at 8:30 a.m.,
block A at 4:30 p.m. and the feedpad becomes available
from 11:30 p.m. to 1:40 a.m. The Crowden’s said the
main advantage of the VMS is its ability to be managed
remotely, it can be managed from the home computer
or mobile phone. This has meant that Marcus has been
able to significantly reduce time spent ‘on farm’. He
spends 2-3 hours in managing the VMS on farm during
weekdays, and as little as 20 minutes on weekends.
Similarly, across both farms using robots to milk
cows, the move to automated milking systems has
meant there is now more time to spend on other farm
Both farming families believe their cows are more relaxed with
automatic milking systems
activities. Both families visited on the field day, also
emphasised that there is a lot of learning and patience
involved in moving to automatic milking systems and
that it can take several years to optimise performance.
A copy of the field day notes is available on the TIA
website (www.tia.tas.edu.au) or by contacting Alexis
Perez by email, Alexis.Perez@utas.edu.au or phone
0418 876 089.
Table 1 Dornauf’s (Gala) Key Performance Indicators
Farm Details
Milking area (ha)
Dairy run-off area (ha)
Milksolids (kg)
Cows milked
Stocking rate (cows/ eff ha)
Calving periods
Nitrogen applied for year (kgN/ha)
Effective area % irrigated
Physical KPI's
Milksolids per milking ha (kg)
Milksolids per cow (kg)
Milksolids per cows as % of Lwt
Grain intake (t DM/cow)
Fodder fed-hay, silage etc - (t DM/cow)
Cows/full time equivalent (cows/FTE)
Target 2014-15
200
40
342,000
570
2.85
Aug-Sep 65%;
Feb-Mar 35%
240
50%
Target 2013 -14
200
40
247,500
450
2.25
Aug-Sep 65%;
Feb-Mar 35%
240
50%
2012-13
200
40
194,700
330
1.65
Aug - Sep 75%,
Feb-Mar 25%
180
30%
1,710
600
115%
2.3
0.5
250
1,238
550
106%
2.3
0.5
200
974
590
113%
2.3
0.4
150
Table 2 Crowden’s Key Performance Indicators
Farm Details
Milking area (ha)
Dairy run-off area (ha)
Milksolids (kg)
Cows milked
Stocking rate (cows/eff ha)
Planned start of calving (PSC) spring
Nitrogen (kgN/ha)
Effective area % irrigated
Physical KPI's
Milksolids per milking ha (kg)
Milksolids per cow (kg)
Milksolids per cow as % of Lwt
Pasture and crop utlilized (t DM/ha)
Pasture intake (t DM/cow)
Grain intake (t DM/cow)
Fodder fed, hay, silage etc - (t DM/cow)
Total feed per cow (t DM/cow)
Feed Conversion Efficiency (kgDM/kgMS)
Cows/full time equivalent (cows/FTE)
2
Target 2015-2016
48
0
144,000
240
5
7th Aug
350
90%
Target 2013-2014
48
0
100,000
200
4.17
7th Aug
350
40%
3,000
600
105%
20
4
2.5
1
7.5
12.5
450
2,083
500
88%
14
3.36
2.5
0.9
6.76
13.5
300
3-In-2 Milking System Works For Oakdene
Heidi Broun, TIA Dairy Centre
Oakdene is a 242 hectare milking platform at Symmons
Plains being sharefarmed by Grant and Kim Archer
and managed by Steven Saltmarsh. Currently they
are milking a herd of 966 cows with an on-farm team
of 3 full time employees and 2 casuals, in addition
to Steven. The cows are managed as two separate
herds and 3 staff are required at each milking (one at
cups-on, one at cups-off and one to move the herds to
and from the dairy – roles are rotated throughout the
milking). Since the dairy farm was set up at Symmons
Plains two and a half years ago, Steven has been
implementing the 3-in-2 milking system which involves
milking the cows 3 times in 2 days rather than the
traditional twice-a-day milking system. This system
has also been used at Rosemount Dairy (sharefarmed
by Grant and Kim Archer at Cressy) and is being used
at the property recently purchased by Grant and Kim
Archer at Liffey. There are also a number of other
farms in Tasmania that are using the 3-in-2 milking
system, each of them varying slightly either in the times
the cows are being milked, or when the 3-in-2 milking
system is implemented on the farm – it depends on
what best suits the farm and team. At Oakdene, the
cows are milked at 5:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. on one
day and at 11:00 a.m. on the following day. The 3-in2 milking commences from the start of calving (22nd
August) and continues 3-4 weeks into calving (until
the synchronised cows finish calving). This reduces
the workload at a very busy time of the year. Cow are
then milked twice daily until the end of the AI (artificial
insemination) period, normally mid-December. This
ensures that the 3-in-2 milking does not impact on
peak milk production and also works in best with the AI
technician. The 3-in-2 milking system is then used for
the remainder of the season.
As with most things, there are advantages and
disadvantages.
“By far the most obvious advantage of 3-in-2 milking
is the overall health and condition of our cows. We
have little lameness as the cows spend less time on
the concrete. They are not walking or being milked
during the hottest part of the day. They seem to move
along the laneway much quicker. We have also seen no
increase in the number of mastitis cases with the 3-in-2
milking system. We feel we have very happy and relaxed
cows”.
When asked about how the herd coped with the change,
Steven has found the cows to be very adaptable.
“Collecting the cows from the paddock for the first
time at night was a bit of a challenge but after the first
milking the cows adapted straight away and now seem
to really like it. Cows just seem to adjust to change
really well”.
Steven does however admit that he and his team were
hesitant and did resist the change initially. However
now two years on, he can see the benefits in regard to
maintaining a better work/life balance.
“Having a six to seven hour break in the afternoon
between the morning and night milkings allows us to be
with our families after school and during tea times. We
Saltmarsh, while hesitant at first about 3-in-2 milking, is now
enjoying the lifestyle benefits it brings
The cows at Oakdene adapted easily to the
different milking times
can go to Saturday afternoon football or I can take my
family water skiing in the afternoon if I wish”.
At Oakdene, staff work ten-day fortnights so individuals
are required to work every second weekend. With the
3-in-2 milking system, each person will do seven night
milkings in four weeks with two being weekend night
milkings. Previously, under twice-a-day milking, casual
staff were used only for weekend milkings. In order
to implement the 3-in-2 milking system, a casual now
helps with one of the weekday night milkings to lessen
the requirement on the full-time employees. As the
casual is only required for 3 milkings on the weekend
in the 3-in-2 system in comparison to 4 milkings under
the twice-a-day system, there is no extra cost to the
business. Steven believes that looking after and
retaining happy staff is absolutely paramount to the
success of Oakdene and the future of the dairy industry.
”Relaxed staff equals relaxed cows. The 3-in-2 milking
system means that our staff are working less hours
and get a sleep-in every second morning. We also put
on a casual milker for one night a week and every
weekend. Night milkings are the hardest on staff so we
try and make sure we look after everyone in that regard.
Making sure our staff have social and family time is
really important to us and to the future of our industry
in general”.
From an economic perspective, Steven said there have
been some savings in the 3-in-2 system; however these
have not been substantial.
continued on p. 4
3
continued from p. 3
”We have had some savings in rubber wear, chemicals,
and power. The main benefit is the overall health of the
cows and fulfilling our social responsibilities to staff”.
In terms of milk production, there has been no
noticeable change in milksolid production when cows
are swapped on to the 3-in-2 milkings (Figure 1 and 2).
Steven emphasises the importance of feeding cows
the same amount as with a twice-a-day milking system
otherwise you will impact on milk production. Two days
4
feed just needs to be divided into 3 allocations rather
than the 4 allocations with a twice-a-day milking system.
The main disadvantage that Steven can see with the
3-in-2 system is the number of night milkings that
families might need to do. For anyone considering the
3-in-2 system, he suggests to work out how many night
milkings each person will need to do and look at how
this can be managed.
“Get a feel for what 3-in-2 would look like, give it a try
and give it time to work”.
Steven will be speaking at the King Island Dairy Smart
dinner on February 20.
Figure 1
Accumulated milksolids production (kg MS/cow) for the month of December in 2012 (red) and 2013 (green). 3-in-2
milking started on December 16 in 2012 and on December 13 in 2013.
Figure 2
Kilograms of milksolids per cow per day (kg MS/cow/day) averaged over two days (to reduce the variability that occurs
on a daily basis with 3-in-2 milking) for the month of December in 2012 (red) and 2013 (green). 3-in-2 milking started
on December 16 in 2012 and on December 13 in 2013.
Dairy Farmers Miss
Opportunities
Australian Dairy Herd Improvement Scheme
Many herds are not taking full advantage of artificial
insemination even though the benefits of technology
have been proven for many years, according to the
latest Herd Improvement Report.
Michelle Axford from the Australian Dairy Herd
Improvement Scheme (ADHIS) said that the latest herd
recording data showed that AI bred cows produced 12%
more protein and 10% more fat than their naturally bred
contemporaries.
“On average this benefit is worth an extra $97.96
fat per cow and $206.50 protein per cow each year,
demonstrating a clear return on investment in AI,” Mrs
Axford said.
Despite this, almost 40% of herds have less than 50%
AI replacements. And only 30% of herd recorded herds
had more than 80% AI replacements.
Every dairy farmer has to join their cows, so it makes
sense that the joining contribute to the herd’s genetic
gain. The best way to achieve that is to use artificial
insemination over most of the herd.
“The beauty of genetic gain is that it is permanent
and the benefits compound every year. Research has
shown that genetics contributes about one third of dairy
productivity improvements,” she said.
The Herd Improvement Report is published by ADHIS
and the National Herd Improvement Association. It
can be downloaded from www.adhis.com.au. For more
information contact Michelle Axford at ADHIS ph (03)
8621-4240 or email maxford@adhis.com.au.
ADHIS is an initiative of Australian Dairy Farmers’, that
receives the majority of its funding from Dairy Australia
through the Dairy Services Levy.
Many Australian dairy herds are not taking full advantage of
artificial insemination even though the benefits are well proven.
Glad To Be Part Of The
TIA Team!
Heidi Broun, TIA Dairy Centre
I have recently been lucky enough to join the TIA
Dairy Centre Development and Extension Team. I
come to this role with a varied background in both
the rural and non-rural world. For the past eight
years, I have been teaching in schools across the
North West Coast. Starting my teaching career at
Forest Primary in Circular Head, I was fortunate
enough to work alongside dairy farming families,
sparking an underlying interest in agriculture
and rural communities in general. This led me to
spending my holidays working on a cattle station in
northern New South Wales. During this time, I was
also introduced to the Rural Youth Organisation of
Tasmania.
Three years later I returned to live on my family’s
apple and potato processing property at Spreyton.
Once returning home, I became an active Agfest
committee member, taking on various roles
including, currently, Executive Committee and
Promotions Manager. My involvement with Rural
Youth and Agfest meant that I was lucky enough
to be selected for a three month Young Farmer
Study Tour of the United Kingdom. During this time,
I stayed and worked on a number of dairy farms
across Northern Ireland, Scotland and England.
This was a real eye–opener to agriculture in another
country and a fabulous educational experience all
round.
So upon returning to Tasmania in July 2013,
I decided a career change was in order and
agriculture was the direction I wanted to head.
I also wanted to do this in my home state of
Tasmania. I am passionate about supporting the
industry and all those involved. Accordingly I look
forward to contributing to the Tasmanian dairy
industry and working with you all in the near future.
Please don’t hesitate to contact me with any
queries or questions that may arise. My email
address is Heidi.Broun@utas.edu.au or mobile
0417 575 433.
5
Extension Co-Ordinator
For Tas
DairyTas
After almost 13 years working as a dairy adviser with
initially DPIPWE and then with TIA, Liz Mann is leaving to
join the DairyTas team to work for Dairy Australia in the
role of Extension Co-ordinator for Tasmania.
The role with Dairy Australia is new to our industry and
is about ensuring that farmers are receiving the services
and information that is required to make profitable
business decisions.
It is aimed to improve the delivery of services and
programs to dairy farmers working with existing private
and government providers. It will focus on bringing
existing programs into Tasmania and servicing the
needs of the Tasmanian Dairy Industry in collaboration
with existing DairyTas services. It will also work with
local farmers on identifying needs and gaps with
existing services to maximise the impact from the dairy
levy investment.
DairyTas Executive Officer, Mark Smith, says that the
role will enable us to improve the delivery of programs
to the industry around farm management and to make
sure that national programs hit the mark in Tasmania.
Dairy Australia is ramping up its efforts to provide
activities and programs around farm management and
productivity to support the work already being done
around animal health, environmental management,
human resources, careers and education. Farmer and
service provider engagement will be a priority for the
role.
Changing Role
Elizabeth Mann, TIA Dairy Centre
I have started and re-started this article many times
over, how do you tell people you are leaving, when you
are not really going that far, is the question I have been
struggling with.
Being up front is always a good idea. So, here goes,
after almost 13 years working as a dairy adviser with
initially DPIPWE and then with TIA, I will be leaving. Well
it is more like changing roles within the industry. From
the end of January I will be working for Dairy Australia in
the role of Extension Co-ordinator for Tasmania.
It was a hard decision to leave a job that I loved and that
has given me so many opportunities over the years. The
role with Dairy Australia is new to our industry and is
about ensuring that farmers are receiving the services
and information that is required to make profitable
business decisions. Therefore, I thought it would be an
interesting challenge to take on such a new position.
While I am leaving TIA, I am not leaving the industry and
you will definitely be seeing me around the place.
So for now I would like to thank everyone in the industry
who has made my time at TIA so interesting and
enjoyable and while it is goodbye from here, I will be
seeing you all very soon.
Young Dairy Network Tas Update
Alison Hall, TIA Dairy Centre
The next event for the YDN Tas is a tour of the Rigney
brothers’ conversion farms at Cressy, on Tuesday
18th February. George and Robert currently milk
approximately 1700 cows between the two properties,
with the aim of increasing this to over 2500 in the
coming years. This is a great opportunity to see how
they went about converting a property into dairy, and the
challenges and opportunities for further dairy expansion
in the state. Buses are available from Smithton
(departing 7.00am), Deloraine (9.00am) and Scottsdale
(8.00am). Please RSVP to Alison by the 14th if you would
like to book a spot on the bus, or if making your own way
there by the 17th for catering purposes.
Video competition – we have a winner!
The Australian Dairy Conference invited all young dairy
networks across Australia to submit a short video
featuring a young farmer from there region. From these,
the top three were selected and receive a complimentary
registration to the conference later this month. Tasmania
had two entries, and one of these was a successful
winner. Congratulation to Mark Griffin from Deloraine who
is one of the three winners!
Upcoming events
Liz Mann (left) facilitating last year’s Dairy Business of the Year
Award field day (with Lesley & Norm Frampton on the right)
6
Keep an eye out in the Tassie Dairy News and our Facebook
page http://www.facebook.com/ydntas for events coming
up in your region. We are planning on running an evening
session in the NW on technology in the coming month, and
a series of workshops across the regions on goal setting and
planning in the next month or so.
For further information on YDN Tas activities, contact
Alison Hall from TIA on 6430 4525, or email A.F.Hall@
utas.edu.au.
Plan To Feed Budget
Elya Richardson, TIA Dairy Centre Summer Student
Achieving good utilisation of feed on a dairy farm is
important for farm profitability. One way of improving the
efficiency of feed utilisation is to use a planning tool such as
a feed budget. Setting a feed budget enables you to draw a
clear picture of what is happening on your farm with regards
to feed supply and demand. Regular monitoring of your
current feed situation provides you with information that
can be used to predict your feed situation for an upcoming
period. Feed budgets are written to help you manage your
pasture cover and to identify feed gaps and to supplement
your animals where necessary.
The accuracy of the feed budget is only as good as the
information entered. Data that needs to be entered
includes: the number of cows and their daily feed
requirements, the milking area, supplements such as
hay and silage, pasture growth and opening pasture
cover. The opening pasture cover gives you the starting
point of how much feed is on your farm; from there, you
work out how much is going to be brought in (pasture
growth and supplements) and how much is going to be
removed (consumed by cows or harvested). Given that
it is the starting point for the feed budget, it is important
to undertake some measurements to ensure that it is
reasonably accurate.
There are several tools and methods of measuring the
average pasture cover. A rising plate meter is a simple tool
that can be done used by someone with very little prior
training. It involves walking across a paddock with the plate
meter, which measures the compressed height of pasture,
and an in-built equation converts the average height of the
pasture into kilograms of drymatter per hectare (kg DM/
ha). The advantage of walking the paddock is that it enables
you to visually assess the pasture, while collecting reliable
data at the same time. With time and experience a plate
meter will help you visually gauge your pasture with more
accuracy.
One farmer who uses this tool on a regular basis is Steven
Saltmarsh, of Oakdene dairy farm at Symmons Plains. As
Steven explains: “Either myself, or another member of the
farm team, plate meters each paddock before and after
the cows graze. The pre-grazing reading is used to allocate
the right amount of feed to the cows and determine if
supplement needs to be added to maintain the correct
rotation length.”
After grazing, if the plate meter shows the cows have left
more than 1500kg DM/ha, an Excel-based calculator is
used to determine how many cows need to be sent back
to that paddock in order to reach that target post-grazing
residual. With each paddock being measured pre- and postgrazing, it is possible to use these numbers to calculate the
average pasture cover of the farm without doing a whole
farm walk. To do this, you would average the pasture covers
from the three most recent pre-grazing measurements and
the three most recent post-grazing measurements. This
would give you a reasonably accurate opening pasture cover
for the starting point of a feed budget. The other method
would be to undertake a whole farm walk, measuring the
average pasture cover of all the paddocks on the farm.
A bike pasture reader is another tool for measuring pasture
cover. Using advanced sensor technology, a C-Dax Pasture
Meter+ can be used at speeds up to 20 kilometres per hour
– taking up to 200 measurements per second or 18,500
readings over a single 500 metre pass. However, the use a
bike reader requires a little more training than a plate meter,
and paddock visual assessment is reduced.
Both of these tools described are reliable, non-destructive
methods of obtaining average pasture cover to start your
feed budget. A feed budget template (TIA Farm Feedbudget)
is available on the TIA website (http://www.tia.tas.edu.au/
centres/dairy-centre/publications-and-tools/tools) which
will allow you to enter your farm information and plan your
feed strategies. However it is important that pasture cover
is updated as necessary throughout the period that you
are feed budgeting for, since pasture growth rates, stock
numbers and other unforeseeable factors can mean that
average pasture cover may not be as predicted.
Since pasture is your cheapest source of feed, it is worth
investing the time in writing a feed budget as it can help
you manage your pasture and utilise this feed resource as
efficiently as possible.
Walk The Talk
Australian Dairy Herd Improvement Scheme
The region’s dairy farmers are being encouraged to join
Australia’s Longest Farm Walk – a series of events to give
farmers a direct say about the National Breeding Objective,
which is expressed as the Australian Profit Ranking (APR).
Adrian Drury, Chair, Australian Dairy Herd Improvement
Scheme (ADHIS) said the farm walks were running across
all dairying regions during March.
“Each event will involve visiting dairy farms, looking at cows
and discussing our breeding objectives and the type of cow
that would best meet the needs of Australian dairy farmers
into the future.” Adrian said.
“Love it or hate it – everyone has an opinion about the APR.
The idea is to have a conversation with farmers to discover
the traits that are important to the everyday business of
dairy farming.”
“Our goal is for the National Breeding Objective to be a true
reflection of the overall breeding direction for the country,
from which individuals can pick bulls that meet their own
breeding objective.”
“We don’t expect everyone’s breeding programs to be the
same but it is really important that we get the big priorities
right – that’s what the review process is all about,” he said.
In addition to the farm walks, the review process will also
involve a large scale farmer survey, consultation with
industry as well as scientific review, technical analysis and
the opportunity for interested parties to provide written
submissions.
“We are open to all ideas and we want to hear from as
broad a cross section of the industry as possible. We won’t
shy away from discussion about the economic values of
new traits or tricky traits.”
Adrian said that as a herd was probably the second biggest
asset for most dairy businesses, it made sense to have
a say in any changes that might be made to the National
Breeding Objective.
ADHIS is an initiative of Australian Dairy Farmers’ that
receives the majority of its funding from Dairy Australia
through the Dairy Services Levy.
For more information contact Michelle Axford at ADHIS ph
(03) 8621-4240 or email maxford@adhis.com.au.
7
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DairyTas Board
DairyTas is the Regional Development Board for Dairy Australia in Tasmania. The Board funds and
coordinates research and development activities for the dairy industry in Tasmania to improve the
industry’s productivity and sustainability. For more information contact DairyTas Executive Officer Mark
Smith, phone 6432 2233, email admin@dairytas.net.au or view the website at www.dairytas.com.au.
Dairy Awards
Nominations are open now for the Dairy Farmer Awards
for Safety and Environmental Management. Applications
can be obtained by contacting DairyTas or downloading
from the DairyTas website (www.dairytas.com.au).
Farmers can self-nominate. Awards will be presented to
the winners at the Dairy Industry Dinner on March 26th.
Countdown 2020 Workshops in February
This is an opportunity to learn about the latest
developments in the following areas of mastitis and milk
quality management:
• How lower Bulk Milk Cell Counts drive your bottom line
• Protecting your herd with the milk PCR test
• New Countdown Mastitis Toolkit app for your
smartphone
• Pre-milking preparation – is it worthwhile for Australian
herds?
• Preventing residues from Teat Sealant and Dry Cow
Treatments
These interactive half-day workshops will be presented by
local Countdown advisors and national experts in udder
health and on-farm milk quality issues.
The workshops are being held at Scottsdale on Feb 18th
at the Elders Centre; Dairy Plains Hall on Feb 19th; and
Smithton Recreation Centre on February 20th from 10:00
a.m. to 2.30 p.m. RSVP to DairyTas on 6432 2233.
Tasmanian Dairy Conference
The 2014 Tasmanian Dairy Conference is on Wednesday
March 26th in Burnie. Speakers will cover:
• Tasmania’s farm competitiveness
• Industry outlook
• Legendairy campaign
• GM opportunities
• Dairy farmers progressing in the industry
• Managing your staff
• Farm succession
• Energy costs and contestability
• Investing in dairy
Book it in your diary now!!
Succession Planning Workshop
In addition, Rob Brown from Peppin Partners in NSW will
run a half day workshop on farm succession on Thursday
27th March in Burnie. Bookings are essential with
DairyTas. Cost is $100 per farm business.
Dairy Industry Events Calendar – February 2014
February 2014
Feb 11: TIA – NW Dairy Smart Business Group (closed group).
Feb 12: DairyTas – Farmer Advisory Group, Deloraine.
Feb 14: TIA – AMS Discussion Group (closed group).
Feb 18: TIA – Young Dairy Network Tas, tour to Rigney Brothers dairy conversions, 334 Macquarie Settlement Road, Cressy,
10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Lunch provided. Please RSVP.
Feb 18-20: Dairy Australia Countdown Farmer Workshops,
10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
• Feb 18 – Scottsdale, Elders Centre
• Feb 19 - Dairy Plains Hall
• Feb 20 – Smithton Recreation Centre
Feb 20: TIA – NE Dairy Smart Business Group (closed group).
Feb 20: TIA - King Island Dairy Smart Dinner with guest speaker
Steven Saltmarsh
Feb 25: DairyTas – Farmer Advisory Group, Burnie.
Feb 26: DairyTas – Farmer Advisory Group, Smithton.
Feb 27: DairyTas – Farmer Advisory Group, Scottsdale.
Feb 25-27: Australian Dairy Conference, Geelong.
Feb 27: NE Dairy Smart Feedbase & Nutrition Group, 11:00
a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at Nailer’s, 532 West Maurice Road, Ringarooma. Lunch sponsored by ANZ.
TIA = Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture
6430 4953
March 2014 onwards
Mar 4-5: Australia’s Longest Farm Walk - ADHIS & national
breeding objectives review, 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Lunch
provided.
• March 4 – Timperon’s, 83 Timperons Road, Scottsdale
• March 5 – Lillico’s, Blameys Road, Smithton
• March 5 – Frampton’s, 35 Top Gawler Road, Gawler
Mar 6: DairyTas Board Meeting, Launceston.
Mar 11: DairyTas – Farmer Advisory Group, Hamilton.
Mar 13: National Dairy Farmer’s Summit, Melbourne.
Mar 26: DairyTas – Tasmanian LEGENDAIRY Conference and
Dairy Awards Dinner. Burnie Arts & Function Centre.
Mar 27: DairyTas – Farm Succession Workshop, 10:00 a.m. to
2:30 p.m. at The Point, Burnie.
Apr 2&3: DairyTas/DA/Immigration – Immigration and Employing Overseas Labour sessions, Smithton & Launceston.
Apr 8-10: DairyTas - Dairy Australia InCalf Farmer Workshops,
9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
• Apr 8 – Scottsdale, Elders Centre
• Apr 9 – Dairy Plains Hall
• Apr 10 – Smithton Recreation Centre
Apr: DairyTas & TasTAFE – Recruit and Supervise Staff workshops
DairyTas Board - 6432 2233
TasTAFE - 6434 5836
Tassie Dairy News is provided free to all Tasmanian dairy farmers and is funded by Dairy Australia. For more information, please contact a
TIA Dairy Centre adviser, phone 6430 4953 or email tas.dairynews@utas.edu.au. Electronic copies of this newsletter are available at
www.tia.tas.edu.au.
Disclaimer: This publication has been prepared for the general information of dairy farmers in Tasmania. TIA and the University of
Tasmania do not accept any liability for damage caused by, or economic loss arising from reliance upon information or material contained
in this publication.