Building drought resilience on the Atherton Tablelands

eastAUSmilk’s project team has been delivering the Farm Business Resilience Program assisting dairy farmers across Queensland develop business plans to improve drought resilience.

Late in 2021, Bill Hamilton, a dairy farmer located in Ravenshoe, North Queensland started developing his business plan identifying increased labour demands, water and feed security as his main farm risk during a drought. Bill runs a certified biodynamic dairy farm milking on average 110 Brown Swiss and Jersey cows across 334 acres with an annual production of 500,000L.

The development of a business resilience plan identified a priority list to improve overall farm preparedness and resilience. In the case of a drought, feed and water security was highlighted as a priority area for Bill. The focus for his business was to increase his total irrigatable area on farm by expanding his current solid set from 20 acres to 50 acres.

Investing into additional sprinklers has increased feed security on farm. Solid set has high water use efficiency where water is evenly distributed across the paddock improving pasture yields and consistency throughout the paddock.

Bill was successful in obtaining a 25% grant for the project cost through the Drought Preparedness Grant (DPG). The irrigation has been utilised over their dry season to maintain pasture production for the milking herd. On average, milk production sits at 14L/cow/d and with the irrigation he has been able to maintain this level of production without the need to supplement fodder.

His next steps are to expand the hay shed on the dairy block from 40 bale to a 120 bale capacity to improve feed security and labour demands during a drought, also partially funded by the DPG. Extra shed capacity will allow Bill to feed bank fodder in preparation for a drought and minimise the risk of spoilage from the humidity and rainfall commonly found in the region.

The farm business resilience program provides great benefits for Queensland dairy farmers - contact Jade for help to access it.

Jade Chan – eastAUSmilk Project Officer

Taking time out for technology

eastAUSmilk held a succession of workshops across the Southeast Corner last month as part of the Dairy Farmers Technology Uptake Program, funded by the Queensland government’s Backing Bush Communities Fund. The first day of workshops started out in the Scenic Rim near Roadvale, venturing up to Esk then across to Pinelands, North of Toowoomba. Warwick was next on the list, finishing up the workshop with a tour and walk around Rob Stewart’s farm. The workshops finished at Gympie looking at automation and monitoring systems within Barb Gear’s dairy.

John van Bergen from Jantec Systems was welcomed along to speak about his herd monitoring systems, dairy shed automation and automated grain feeders. He was able to discuss with each farmer the individual benefits a farm could gain from each bit of technology and how it could be tailored to their systems and integration with heat detection systems. A big focus was on the mechanisms of the CellSense, the somatic cell count monitoring system, which has a benefit to farm managers who aren’t always in the milking parlour.

Farmers were also advised on the different grant opportunities in relation to on-farm technology improvements opening over the next few months. eastAUSmilk was also offering grants via the Backing Bush Communities Fund to improve technology uptake with a successful first round of grants being completed. Farm businesses were able to acquire grants for improving internet connection around farm, upgrading radio towers on irrigation systems, adding extra collars or heat detection units on a current system, autodrafting systems and autosteering. Round two has closed with similar projects proposed by interested farmers to improve labour demand for jobs, herd health and overall business efficiencies.

eastAUSmilk will also be visiting North Queensland to host two more workshops in the last week of November, dates to be announced.

Jade Chan, eastAUSmilk Project Officer