Gippsland - How Now Gippy Now - May 2010 Edition
GippsDairy Focus Farms
Reflections from Willowgrove Focus Farm
At the April meeting of the Willowgrove Focus Farm operated by Mick and Paula Hughes the financial budget was updated and discussed.
Focus Farm facilitator Jeff Urie and Support Group members reviewed the actuals to that time and the budgeted figures to the end of June, ie referred to as Cumulative Total on this Focus Farm.
Key assumptions behind the budget:
- Leased milking area 85 ha.
- Leased turnout area 57 ha.
- 260 cows, July calving.
- 88 rising 2 year old heifers.
- 99 heifers from 2009.
- 384 kg milk solids per cow.
- 800 kg grain fed per cow.
- 60 tonne urea on milking area.
- Fodder from total area.
- Pasture consumption of 10.2t DM per hectare across total area.
Mick and Paula's primary long term goal is to work towards farm ownership.
Their medium term goals are:
- At least maintain current assets through the low milk price of 2009-10.
- Maximise profit per hectare on the total area of their farm business (Milking and turnout area).
- Emphasis on maximising home grown feed while reducing costs.
Summary of Farm Budget
|
|
2009-2010 |
Cumulative |
Budget |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Farm Income Herd Costs Difference |
411941 46442 157808 |
1584 179 607 |
1622 150 379 |
Some of the key cost areas on a per cow basis in the Cumulative Total are out lined below:
|
Key Cost Areas |
$ Cost/cow |
|
|---|---|---|
|
Herd Costs Shed Costs Feed Costs Overhead Costs |
38
24
13
21 |
Increased 50%
High teat spray cost |
The actual financial position has been tightening up relative to the budget with costs expected to match budget predictions by the end of June. Milk income is unknown, will it continue to trend up prior to the end of this lactation and exceed the budgeted figures?
The farm loans are due to go back to Principal and Interest at the start of July. This will need to be reviewed in light of the end of the year actual position and announced milk prices for next season.
How would your farm business cope in the following situation?
In February, Mick was admitted to hospital in Melbourne for surgery. At that time he was told to expect a three-month recovery period including six weeks of no work on the farm. Paula took on the job of managing the farm, as well as looking after Mick and the children.
Mick proudly says, "Paula has done a terrific job". She took on the milking, animal health including mastitis control, feeding, pasture rotations, including strip grazing, and the young stock on the turnout area. She got help with feeding out silage and some minor repair jobs. There were some problems at the dairy that normally Mick would attend to, but they got the milking machine technicians in to deal with these as they arose.
In the first six weeks it cost them almost $3,500 for extra costs on the farm as a result of Mick being out of action. The upshot has been that they began reflecting on the impact that Mick's absence had on their farm system and what they should change in the future.
This includes:
- Getting more regular relief milking support. This should give more time for Mick to get jobs done on the farm by spreading his load more evenly.
- Taking time to step away to get an opportunity for a renewed perspective on the farm operation.
- Take a little more time for breaks away with the children - become confident that the farm will still operate and not fall apart during the family's absence.
- Farm Insurance was a great disappointment. They had insurance believing it would give them protection should the circumstances they found themselves in were to ever arise. This proved not to be the case and even if the cover they thought they had was paid, it would only have covered half their costs so far. Their strong suggestion now for others was, “Get your insurance policy out and see what it will and will not cover! Update the policy regularly, but only after reading the policy fine print carefully.”
Mastitis Control at Willowgrove Focus Farm
Rod Dyson is a veterinarian in the Goulburn Valley now specialising in mastitis control. He spoke at the Willowgrove Focus Farm Field Day and had the following to say in his notes about his work over the past 18 months with Mick and Paula:
Mick Hughes hates mastitis - not only that but Mick Hughes hated mastitis with a passion! While Mick would like to have no mastitis at all, he realises that this is not possible so Mick and Paula have a goal for their farm to reduce the number of clinical cases of mastitis to a minimum, and to produce premium quality milk for the whole year.
The key to mastitis control is to understand which bacteria are causing mastitis on that particular farm. Milk cultures have shown Mick and Paula that Strep uberis is their main mastitis bacteria.
Because Strep uberis is an environmental bacterium which can also spread in the dairy during milking, it has been necessary to look at the risk of mastitis in both the outside environment and in the dairy when creating a plan for Mick and Paula.
The Dairy Focus Mastitis Risk Assessment has given us a clear understanding of where the risks of mastitis spread are, in the Hughes dairy, and what needs to be addressed.
At their first Mastitis Risk Assessment in December 2008, Mick and Paula had a risk score of 29 points out of 60. This had them at the very high end of 'Medium Risk', almost into the 'High Risk' category for mastitis spread. Key issues were teat end condition and cup slip.
By steadily addressing these risk issues, Mick and Paula reduced their Mastitis Risk Score to 16 points out of 60 by March 2009. This put them on the verge of becoming 'Low Risk' for mastitis (a score under 15 is considered 'Low Risk').
Some subtle changes in management and Mick's back injury caused the Mastitis Score to slip slightly in November 2009 - out to 18 points.
The challenge for Mick and Paula now is to continue their excellent progress towards getting a risk score below 15 points. The Dairy Focus Mastitis Control System provides everything they need for mastitis control and keep them on the path to their goals for mastitis control.
By providing a defined plan for drying off, a plan for mastitis control at calving, and gaining a Mastitis Risk Score below 15 points, Mick and Paula would be comfortable in knowing that their farm is low risk for mastitis.
Rod's final comments:
- Properly spraying the teats by taking the time to do it well is the best investment you can make in the dairy. It involves 100% cover of 100% of the teats in the herd.
- He says, 'No cow has ever died from teat spray poisoning'.
- He is finding Strep Uberis, which lives in the bowel of the cow, is now the most commonly found bacteria when milk cultures are done.
The Focus Farms Project is an initiative of GippsDairy and supported by Gardiner Foundation and Dairy Australia. If you want more information or a copy of the Open Day Farm notes, or if you would like to have your name on the extended mailing list for the Support Group notes contact John Gallienne 0407 863 493
