Full focus on the Finley Farm Tour

In March of this year, a group of Queensland and New South Wales farmers will travel down to Finley in southern New South Wales to tour intensive dairy farms around the region. The trip is part of our Dairy Farmers Technology Uptake Program (DFTUP) supported by the Queensland Government’s by the Bush Boost fund. The program will fully fund 20 spots for Queensland members to travel down to join the Finley Farm Tour. The DFTUP focuses on the training of new technologies leading to better on-farm adoption to improve labour efficiencies, animal welfare, business management and profitability which compliments the program’s grant program and other nation-wide initiatives to get more technology onto farms.

We have been lucky to secure seven different farms to visit in the Finley region and one farm in northern Victoria. There are a wide range of farm systems and technologies attending farmers will see which include freestall and compositing barns, and Arizona dry lot. Farms also have a range of automation on farm including feed management, heat detection and milking systems. There are significant regional and environmental differences when compared to the key dairying regions in Queensland and New South Wales however in some scenarios there are significant similarities where farmers will have the opportunity to learn about the different challenges each hosting farmer has had with their farms and on-farm investments.

After visiting farms across the region, guest speakers from Garlock, Murray Irrigators Limited and a NSW dairy farmer will chat to the group through a series of dinners held during the tour. The final dinner will consist of a panel discussion with the hosting farmers where any last-minute questions and information can be shared. eastAUSmilk are happy to be connecting farmers from North Queensland all the way through to the South Coast of New South Wales on this trip.

Jade Chan - Project Officer, eastAUSmilk