Littleproud lays blame for massive new drop in dairy farm numbers
Supermarkets, unions, drought and poor advocacy are all to blame for a massive drop in dairy farm numbers laid bare by last week's levy poll figures, Agriculture Minister David Littleproud says.
The dairy levy poll data showed the number of Australian dairy farms entitled to vote was just 4401, a 13 per cent fall in two years from the 5013 farms in 2019/20.
Mr Littleproud said drought had hit the industry hard and many farmers had taken the opportunity presented by high land prices to leave the industry but he said supermarkets were also responsible.
"I think that supermarkets also played a significant role in that, in basically devaluing the industry," he said, referring to the dollar-a-litre milk war.
"There were big structural changes that need to take place and it doesn't surprise me, but it concerns me deeply," Mr Littleproud said.
While he said dollar-a-litre milk had been "broken, the way forward for the industry required "harmony" and "clear direction".
"I don't think supermarkets, not only on dairy but on a number commodities, are covering themselves in glory and I think that's one of the things that we want to look at, particularly the Nationals, and we'll be bringing our Coalition partners with us on this one, is that there needs to be better reform around how supermarkets deal with perishable goods," Mr Littleproud said.
There would be greater market transparency, he said, that would mean farmers had the same information about production levels and costs as supermarkets, so they could negotiate on a more level playing field.
The Australian Milk Price Initiative, which launched a month ago and was given $500,000 in funding after last election, was an example of a tool designed to increase transparency.
The Minister said the next phase would be to strengthen laws surrounding supermarket negotiations with farmers.
At the moment, he said, the penalties for breaches were just "a cost of doing business" for supermarkets.
"We need to shift to make sure those regulatory guardrails are clear to them but, if they step outside it, there's a penalty and it should be a sizable penalty so they know that, if they breach, it's not just writing out a check for $60-odd thousand dollars, they actually feel it with some financial might," Mr Littleproud said.
On the question of "harmony", Mr Littleproud described Australia's dairy advocacy as "fragmented".
"If you've got fragmented representative bodies, it makes it difficult to know actually what producers really want and that then means that it's difficult for a minister to make a determination," he said.
That fragmentation of dairy advocacy had been obvious, for example, when it came to developing the mandatory code, Mr Littleproud said.
"It was very difficult when you had different forces articulating different things to try and get it all into place," he said.
"Ultimately, what it means is that it either delays any action being taken or action being taken at all."
There had been a great deal of division in the lead up to the dairy levy poll vote, with peak national body Australian Dairy Farmers taking the unprecedented decision to defy its own national council and recommend no increase in the levy.
Mr Littleproud wouldn't be drawn on whether he felt the levy poll was a vote of confidence in Dairy Australia.
"Look, I don't think I want to get into the minutiae of politics of the dairy industry, that's for the members to decide," he said.
"But obviously, in any industry, it's an important principle that levy payers get to determine the percentage, the amount that they put out there and that's a principle but I'll continue to protect regardless of who and what industry body is there."
He would not say whether dairy farmers should have been given the option of a decrease in the levy, or whether the committee that decided on the voting options was truly representative of grass roots farmers.
Instead, Mr Littleproud said there was a mechanism that allowed levy payers to challenge the committee and that angst surrounding producer levies was common across most industries.
He said he had already been approached about having processors pay levies alongside farmers to help fund Dairy Australia, and was happy to explore that possibility if it was supported by industry.
Asked whether he would only act with the backing of peak processor body, the Australian Dairy Products Federation, Mr Littleproud said he needed to investigate further.
"That's the legalities that I'd have to work through but, if in principle that's where industry wants to go, then I'm prepared to explore what legal options I have," he said.
"I'm not afraid to do that if that's where industry thinks that should go, and if they can articulate a reason for that, I'm prepared to explore it."
It's the shortage of labour, however, that has united dairy advocacy groups around Australia.
The Morrison government announced the Ag Visa in September, promising there would be workers on farm by Christmas but only Vietnam has so far agreed to allow its citizens to participate.
Mr Littleproud laid the blame at the feet of the Australian Workers Union.
"We've only been able to get the Vietnam to sign up to the visa as the first country because the AWU demonized farmers and said that they'd exploit their workers so they went to embassies and ambassadors and said to them not to send their citizens because Australian farmers would exploit them," he said.
Fonterra commits to fund Dairy Australia: Farmers applaud Kiwi giant
Dairy farmers have applauded trans-Tasman dairy giant Fonterra’s commitment to pay a “proportionate financial contribution” to Australia’s research and development corporation – Dairy Australia
Australian Dairy Farmers president Rick Gladigau said Fonterra’s commitment “was a very positive step” and it “is a fantastic and timely example for all dairy processors to consider”.
Federal Agriculture Minister David Littleproud said “if the dairy industry is unified about wanting a processor levy, I am prepared to work with the industry to explore the options.”
Labor agriculture spokeswoman and Tasmanian MP Julie Collins failed to respond.
Fonterra Australia managing director René Dedoncker said “we support the notion of processors making meaningful contributions – both financial and time – to ensure that Dairy Australia has the resources it needs to address the industry’s priority areas, and we commit to making proportionate financial contributions.
“This is not a once-off, short-term contribution. As a major processor, we are committed to setting up a long-term co-investment arrangement which needs consultation and alignment.”
Farmers, who contribute $31m in levies on their milk to DA each year, have been appealing to processors for months to chip in about $5m to cover half the R&D body’s post farmgate work in promotion, manufacturing research and market access.
Fonterra Australia’s share of that $5m would equate to about $900,000, based on it bringing in 1.4 billion litres this season as part of the 8.8 billion-litre national milk pool.
On that same basis Saputo would contribute $1.27m, Bega Cheese $970,000, Lactalis about $450,000, Bulla $340,000, while Burra and ACM each chipped in about $230,000, plus $130,000 from NORCO, leaving about $470,000 to be recovered from smaller players.
Neither Bega Cheese nor Canadian giant Saputo responded to repeated calls, texts and emails on whether they supported making a direct contribution to DA, via a mandatory processor levy.
Mr Dedoncker said Fonterra preferred a voluntary levy, but said “it’s too early to say what our financial contribution will be, as the next step is to work with Dairy Australia to align on priorities for co-investment, while making sure appropriate governance and accountabilities are in place to transparently report the benefits of our contribution”.
Fonterra’s commitment follows last week’s announcement of the Dairy Levy Poll results, in which an overwhelming majority of farmers voted to oppose any increase in their levy payments to DA.
As the nation’s peak dairy lobby group ADF called on its 5000 farmers to oppose an increase, given processors ongoing failure to contribute.
Yet as things stand dairy processors contribute virtually nothing to Dairy Australia, but are granted a seat on its board and its selection committee, are listed as Group B shareholders and were even represented on the advisory committee that recommended lifting farmers’ DA levy contributions by 20 per cent, from $32 million to more than $38m.
Acorn poison warning after toxin kills dairy cattle in Victoria
Acorn poisoning causes kidney and liver damage and swelling in the intestines, as seen here in one of Carlie Barry's yearlings.
A south-west Victorian dairy farmer is warning other farmers to be wary of oak trees in their paddocks after losing several yearlings to acorn poisoning.
Key points:
Carlie and Owen Barry have lost 10 yearlings to acorn poisoning
Acorns can be deadly to a range of animals if large amounts are eaten
There is no antidote available and veterinary options are limited
Carlie Barry from Woolvie Jerseys near Camperdown lost 10 yearlings and had to nurse other animals back to good health after the poisoning.
Acorns contain a toxin called tannic acid, which can cause damage to the liver, kidneys and intestines.
Ms Barry, who farms with her husband Owen, said they had been unfamiliar with the risk of acorn poisoning.
"We're on a new property so we haven't really had a lot of experience with oak trees before," she said.
"The yearlings had access to a paddock with oak trees, but they weren't locked in there. They were able to go in and out, but they must have acquired a taste for the acorns."
Ms Barry said they went away for a few days, and when they returned home, they found their yearlings in dire straits.
"Out of the 70 yearlings, all of them were affected but there was about a third basically on death's door," she said.
"We got the vet out straight away and the sickest ones we were treating and one died in the vet's arms while we were trying to treat it.
"That one went in for an autopsy and you could see that there was liver and kidney damage and there was about 30 litres of fluid in the intestines."
No antidote available
Wendy Parish from the Hampden Veterinary Clinic in Cobden said it was the first time she had encountered acorn poisoning.
"It's not common, I've never seen it before," Ms Parish said.
"The animals were dull, depressed, not eating and I was able to collect some blood and urine samples. I was seeing very high kidney enzymes, meaning the kidneys were going into renal failure, as well as liver toxicity.
"On the animal that had died, I did a post-mortem and found there were acorns within the rumen.
"Acorns have a tannin in them which becomes an acid within the rumen and then that acid attacks the kidneys, the intestines and the liver."
Ms Parish said animals including horses, sheep and goats were also susceptible.
"Unfortunately there's no antidote available, all we can do is provide supportive care, keep the fluids up, and provide a protein-rich diet," she said.
"There's no known quantity that will cause sickness, and that's what makes it difficult."
A warning to others
Ms Barry said she was speaking out so others could avoid what she had been through.
"I've called some of my neighbours, they were sort of aware of it but not really aware of how serious it was," she said.
"It's pretty heartbreaking but farming has its ups and downs and I just hope that if I can save someone else's cows by sharing and raising awareness, it's not a completely negative experience."
Australian Dairy Levy Poll result: Voters say no to levy hike
5000 dairy farmers have said no to paying higher levies to Dairy Australia. See how farmers voted by state.
An overwhelming majority of dairy farmers have voted against any increase in the levy they pay their peak research and development corporation – Dairy Australia.
More than 72 per cent of valid voters voted to keep the levy at its current level, with about 16 per cent of voters opting for the recommended 20 per cent increase.
Dairy Levy Poll - Overall result
The levy has remained at the same rate since 2012, with farmers paying 2.8683 cents per kilogram of milk fat and 6.9914 cents per kilogram of protein.
A 20 per cent rise was recommended by the Levy Poll Advisory Committee (LPAC) earlier this year but the low to negligible contribution by processors has generated controversy.
In the end the Australian Dairy Farmers Board urged the nation's 5000 farmers not support any increase in the levy, given dairy processing giants – such as Fonterra, Bega and Saputo – refused to contribute, despite enjoying the benefits of the R&D body’s $10 million investment in post farmgate manufacturing research, market access and development.
Dairy Australia managing director David Nation said: “we value and appreciate every dollar of the dairy levy, and we will continue to invest it in ways that deliver tangible benefits to farmers.
“It was also pleasing to see 36 per cent (of primary voters were cast) for an increase in levy, indicating support for the key areas identified for continuing investment – labour, regional services, climate and policy development.
“We will need to consider how we address these key areas and now work to prioritise investment and services with these areas in mind, along with our current investment mix.”
Dairy farmers were denied the right to vote for a cut in the levy rate in the poll.
In February, United Dairyfarmers of Victoria president Paul Mumford gave “an ultimatum to dairy processors to stump up or piss off” – out of Dairy Australia.
Yesterday, Fonterra Australia managing director René Dedoncker said his organisation was willing to make a proportionate financial contribution to DA.
“Fonterra recognises the value of processors and farmers working together and the mutually beneficial outcomes that can be achieved by doing so,” he said.
“We support the notion of processors making meaningful contributions – both financial and time – to ensure that Dairy Australia has the resources it needs to address the industry’s priority areas, and we commit to making proportionate financial contributions.”
Dairy Levy Poll result – by state
Source: Alex Sinnott and Peter Hunt, The Weekly Times, 6 April 2022
Budget’s farm technology treat set to drive digital investment rush
The farm sector's hunger for new technology is about to get even hungrier over the next 12 months.
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg's federal budget has promised a 120 per cent tax deduction on all things digital - from upgrading the farm internet to buying new mobile phones, GPS gear, or remote water management devices.
Farms and other agribusinesses with annual turnover of less than $50 million will be able to claim a deduction for expenses and depreciating assets associated with boosting their uptake of digital technology.
The bonus deduction, for a maximum annual spend of $100,000, includes opportunities to upgrade bookkeeping and invoicing software to cloud-based systems and beef up the farm's cyber security to better protect them from hackers and scams.
It also extends to the cost of external training to upskill staff.
"The ag sector is very much attuned to the benefits of investing in new technology," said Albury-based director with the RSM Australia accountancy group, Gerard O'Brien.
"Farmers are willing to spend money on gear if it helps lift efficiency and productivity, especially if a $100 investment qualifies you for a $120 deduction when you submit your tax return.
"That's a pretty good deal if you're pay $20,000 or more for new GPS gear to improve a tractor or header's accuracy, or installing automatic gates or water management systems."
Mr O'Brien, himself a farmer, said the biggest limitation to the federal budget's technology incentives in the bush was the current reliability of digital network connectivity.
Pleasingly, however, Canberra was also promising $480 million to expand and improve the nbn network and $812m to improve regional mobile coverage and affordability.
What's 120pc worth?
However, South Australian accountant, Megan Inverarity, cautioned that a tax 120pc deduction would not equate to business owners receiving a simple government payment in their pocket.
"If you spend $1000 you qualify for a $1200 deduction based on your taxable income rate," said Ms Inverarity, a director with the Murray Nankivell firm at Naracoorte.
"That works out as a $420 saving on your tax bill for somebody paying a typical mid range tax rate of 35pc."
Importantly, to qualify for a digital training expenses tax deduction, all training had to be done externally, not in house.
Immediate relief
A more immediate benefit to farmers' wallets will be the federal government's six month cut to its fuel excise charge, pruning the cost of petrol and diesel by 22 cents a litre.
Although the government already repays the excise it collects on fuel used on farm, Mr O'Brien said producers still had to carry the full purchase cost until their next quarterly tax statement was submitted.
"If you don't have to pay quite as much in the first place it makes quite a bit of difference to your cash flow position, especially if we're talking about a 10,000 litre fuel delivery worth $15,000 last month, and a lot more last week," he said.
"Filling up the ute in town will be noticeably cheaper - at least $20.
"Paying less than $100 for a tank of petrol will be a pretty good feeling these days."
Australian Small Business Ombudsman, Bruce Billson, said halving the fuel excise would go some way to easing this key input cost, particularly for the transport sector and the freight supply chain.
The savings would not flow through to service station stations for a couple of weeks, but the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission was already watching to see prices respond throughout fuel supply networks.
Ms Inverarity said the budget was clearly focused on easing the rising cost of living, with short term measures being a notable feature.
"It wasn't terribly ground breaking, but I did not find myself doing much cursing on budget night this year."
Buy, Support, Enjoy Aussie Dairy campaign continues to drive Aussie support
Following on from the successful first phase of the industry campaign Buy, Support, Enjoy Aussie Dairy that aired in early 2021, the second phase of the campaign has now concluded with positive results.
The second phase, also featuring Dairy Ambassador Jonathan Brown, was delivered from July to November 2021 and focused on the health benefits of Aussie dairy and its importance in building strong bones and muscles.
The TV ads featured Browny in everyday settings including the gym, family breakfast table and a milk bar, showcasing how supporting Aussie dairy in turn supports health.
The ads were supported by a large-scale national media buy that coincided with the Olympics and Australian Football League finals across television (Channel 7, Channel 10, Foxtel, Kayo), radio, as well as a digital channels, including YouTube, social media, display ads and PR.
The campaign was seen by 41 per cent of the audience, with 86pc of them feeling more supportive of the industry, 81pc feeling more supportive of the product and 63pc consuming more dairy as a result of seeing it.
A third phase of the campaign rolled out in February 2022, showcasing dairy's role in everyday moments - from healthy starts at breakfast, to brunching with friends, to supporting sport and workouts.
The television ads have aired nationally across the Nine and Seven networks, in programs with high reach including Married at First Sight, Nine News, Seven News, Dancing with The Stars, SAS, Better Homes and Gardens, Lego Masters, Sunrise and AFL game coverage.
Later in the year, Dairy Australia has secured a partnership with the latest season of Farmer Wants a Wife.
Leveraging Dairy Farmer's Harry and Ben, activity will include in program commercials, Catch Up TV extension and program association.
A Nova radio partnership will leverage Jonathan Brown to a broad-reaching audience, with Breakfast Live Reads and branded commercials voiced by Browny.
Ads will also be heard across podcasts, including Chat 10 Looks 3, Something to Talk About with Samantha Armytage, and the Chrissie, Sam and Browny Podcast.
Key messages will also be extended through food, health and lifestyle influencers on social and traditional media.
Organic fertilizer in the form of cow manure builds soil health, cuts inputs at dairy farm
Having an 800-tonne stockpile of manure couldn't have come at a better time for a dairy duo on the Darling Downs.
Brenden and Kait Ballon at Hillcrest, Maclagan, decided to start building the pile of composted cow poo a year ago to improve soil health, but with some synthetic fertilisers reaching $1600 a tonne, it's a welcome coincidence.
"The main reason was to try to get a bit of carbon in the soil and a bit more fertility, but it will definitely save on our fertiliser costs for sure," Mr Ballon said.
While it won't provide the same high concentration of nutrients offered by inorganic options, the farmers said it would be ideal for their upcoming winter plant.
"I want to get this out into paddocks before we plant winter multi species forage crops," Mr Ballon said.
"I'll probably deep rip the soil, spread the solids with a manure spreader at about 20t/ha, and incorporate it with a disc."
Kait and Brenden Ballon are on a mission to improve soil health at their dairy farm.
The pair run 150 Holstein and Jersey cows and 100 Speckle Park cross Angus steers and heifers which feed on grass, forage crops and hay. Cash crops like sorghum and sunflower are also part of the business.
Traditionally, the farmers would collect the excrement from the feed pad, dairy, laneways and pens, scoop it into piles with a tractor, and spread it on their pasture.
However, moving to a bigger scale has allowed the waste to break down and become more biologically available.
"This is our first go at it. The only reason I haven't done it before is because I didn't have a big front end loader," Mr Ballon said.
"I started growing out straw and green hay that got a bit funky, 'lasange-d' it, as such, and as I was doing that, I made a brew of liquid soil microbe booster in a 1000L shuttle and sprayed it to get that stimulation going."
He also used the manure and urine wash out from the dairy as a biological stimulant.
Some parts of the pile are very decomposed and others are quite fresh, so blending it up is ideal.
Mr Ballon said they tried to limit buying inputs by recycling what they had on-farm, but they did use urea from time to time.
"We try to use as much non-synthetic fertiliser as we can, but there are some circumstances where I will use urea post-plant to spread on top," he said.
"I did a bit last year and I might even do a little bit this year, but if the prices are too stupid then I won't worry about it."
They also had 1000t of feedlot manure delivered to their second block last year, setting them up for months to come.
In the broadacre cropping market, Terra Firma Fertilisers agronomist Ruby Earsman, Beaudesert, said enquiries into their organic poultry manure fertilisers had increased significantly.
"We started seeing a big increase in interest last year due to the rising price of synthetics," Ms Earsman said.
"It's all pre-planting for winter cropping at the moment. You've got broadacre grain growers, and then, because there's money in beef as well, a lot of pasture growers who are applying it to their pastures."
Ms Earsman said many growers were interested in custom blends.
"We work with growers to create custom blends that deliver key essential and trace elements in a stable form," she said.
"We can put a bit of synthetic fertiliser in with our poultry manure base so you're getting certain nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus and then trace elements like zinc."
After receiving market feedback, the company has also introduced shorter pellets which suit airseeder applications.
"These biologically active pellets provide a more holistic approach to conventional farming as they replenish soil carbon, soil biology, and essential nutrients," Ms Earsman said.
Even major resellers are getting in on the manure action, with Nutrien Ag Solutions Goondiwindi buying 9000 tonnes of chicken manure from a Darling Downs poultry farm to meet customer demand.
It has already sold 5000 tonnes to a client keen to build up their soil carbon.
NSW North Coast second wave of flooding puts farmers on alert again
Farmers in areas on the NSW North Coast declared as catastrophe zones earlier this month have been forced to pause the recovery effort and prepare for a second major flood event.
Four weeks ago, Paul Weir watched his milking herd wash away in floodwaters on his farm at Tuncester near Lismore.
Now he has moved what cattle and machinery he has left to higher ground out of reach of a "two-metre flood".
He has given up worrying about things outside of his control.
"It's more a psychological blow I think and slowing up any recovery and drying out, that's probably the biggest disappointment," he said.
"I can't stop the flood, if Mother Nature wants to put a record flood again well so be it, we haven't got as much to lose this time that's for sure."
With his dairy still a few weeks away from being repaired, his surviving cows have been moved to a farm at Goolmangar to be milked.
But he is worried that he may lose 1,000 fence posts and 500 round bales of quality feed he had bought and trucked in for when his milkers returned.
"We stacked the majority of that here above the one-in-100 flood level and I did err on caution, and we did take four semi loads up to higher ground on another farm just in case we got another flood," he said.
The NSW Department of Primary Industries said the main areas of concern were the Tweed River at Tumbulgum, the Wilsons and Richmond Rivers in the Northern Rivers and the Orara, Kalang and Bellinger Rivers on the Coffs Coast.
Jimmy Burnett from the DPI's Emergency Management Unit said another flood event was a "bit of a kick in the guts" for farmers just starting the recovery process.
"We've completed about 92 per cent of our requests for assistance from the last events, and we've provided about 2,000 tonnes of fodder in that time," he said.
"We're still counting the dollar impact. We still don't know what the impact has meant because so many of our landholders in the area are still counting the damage."
Landholders should call the Agricultural and Animal Services Hotline on 1800 814 647 from 8am–8pm if they need veterinary assistance or emergency fodder.
Dairy leader calls for Woolworths, Coles and Aldi to raise milk prices
Australian shoppers will need to pay two dollars a litre for generic milk in order to keep farms viable, a dairy leader says.
eastAUSmilk vice chairman Graham Forbes said two dollars a litre was still lower than most industrialised countries and below prices set for soft drink and bottled water.
He said historically low prices for milk - a hangover from the dollar-a-litre 2010s — were unsustainable.
“Two dollars a litre for milk is still very cheap. You pay more per litre for soft drink or sparkling water,” Mr Forbes said.
“Throughout the dollar-a-litre years, we were always were pretty reasonable. We’d say $1.40 a litre or $1.50 a litre was about where the price needed to be.
“But the economy has shifted in the past few months. Inflation is running and the dairy industry needs to keep up, otherwise you’re producing milk for hardly any return.
“Labour costs are high due to worker shortages. Fuel, as we all know, is far more expensive than it was at the start of the year. Two dollars a litre for generic milk is still reasonable in the bigger scheme of things.”
The dollar-a-litre milk push was introduced by Coles and Woolworths in January 2011 and lasted eight years until it rose incrementally to $1.10 a litre.
Along with Aldi, Australia’s big three supermarkets quietly increased the price of generic milk to $1.30 just prior to Christmas, although fuel costs have skyrocketed since that time.
A Coles spokeswoman said the supermarket had: “moved to source Coles Brand milk via a direct sourcing model in some regions and therefore, we are able to pay farmers directly in those regions.
“We believe this model delivers fair and competitive prices to farmers, provides greater certainty of income, and allows farmers to more confidently plan for their future,” she said.
A Woolworths spokeswoman said: “We offer our customers a wide range of milk at different prices to suit household budgets and we are particularly mindful of cost of living pressures for Australian families.
“As a result of increasing farmgate price movements, we’ve accepted millions of dollars in wholesale cost increases from our processors in recent years.”
Both Coles and Woolworths pointed to their dairy funding initatives which has provided more than $5 million and $2 million in farm grants respectively.
Aldi did not respond to The Weekly Times request for comment.
The call for milk prices to rise at the checkout is not contained to Australia.
Last week, the head of the UK’s largest dairy company called for British shoppers to pay more for liquid milk.
“(Raising the price of milk is) even more critical by the fact that the costs of producing milk are increasing like never before,” he said.
Small farmers urged to vote in Dairy Levy Poll but fears are that a few will bother
Even before the troubled Dairy Levy Poll closes on Thursday, its outcome is under question.
Farmers are not only concerned by the lack of choice the voting options present, but the perceived impotence of small to medium-sized producers.
The poll, which closes on March 31, only offers dairy farmers four choices: no change to the levy rate or increases of 15, 20 or 25 per cent.
Votes are based on production rather than on a one-vote, one-farm system, raising concerns that a handful of large farms could determine the result.
Despite direct questions, Dairy Australia would not divulge how many farms could control 50pc of the voting entitlements, but it's likely to be relatively few.
Research from 2015 stated just 13pc of Australian dairy farms milked more than 35pc of cows and DA acknowledged in a recent report there was "an emerging trend of large farm operations milking more than 700 cows".
Small farm fury
Joe Bradley milks 200 cows at Dayboro near Brisbane. He said he'd heard that 50pc of the vote is controlled by less than 20pc of farmers, which damaged his confidence in the poll.
"Some of the big guys will get 2 million votes and the little guys will get their 3000 votes," he said.
"It is absolute bullshit."
Like other industry insiders who did not want to go on record, Mr Bradley said he understood Dairy Australia had been canvassing large producers.
"If they get the big vote, it doesn't matter how the rest of Australia votes, which is wrong," he said.
"Until the government or ADF (Australian Dairy Farmers) or someone changes pulls them in the line and gets back to one-vote, one-farm no matter how big or small you are, Dairy Australia will never get its act together."
Large farm disappointment
In contrast, south-west Victorian dairy farmer Bernie Free milks 900 cows, so will have a far greater say in the levy poll outcome but still prefers a one-farm, one-vote system.
"A lot of farmers don't bother voting, because they'll tell you, 'Well, I'm only a little fish, why should I bother voting? It's a waste of time'," Mr Free said.
"You have to agree with them on that because I milk 900 cows and get the equivalent of four-and-a-half votes for every vote a 200-cow farm gets. How's that fair? We supposedly live in a democracy."
It's something that UDV president Paul Mumford last month suggested Agriculture Minister David Littleproud might take into account when the results of the poll came in.
"I disagree somewhat that only the big corporates are going to get this over the line because I think there's a circuit breaker in there with the minister and that's the participation rate," Mr Mumford said.
"I can't speak for the minister but he will look at a very broad spectrum to understand what is right for the dairy industry going forward.
"I am sure he would put into his thought process, 'Well, I can't just pick the top 20 farmers that are voting for a 25pc increase'.
"He would have to go back and think, 'Well, where's the grassroots membership and where is the general consensus of all of industry coming from?'."
The dairy levy poll legislation is unclear about how the federal Agriculture Minister should respond to the results of the vote.
It does, however, say that Dairy Australia must make a "recommendation" to the Minister that reflects the poll.
Australian Dairy Farmers has already announced it would like a formal review of the dairy poll process, a call supported by EastAUSmilk and Dairy Connect chief executive Shaughan Morgan.
Source: Marian Macdonald, Farmonline National, 28 March 2022
Major players on Australian dairy opening prices 2022/23
Bulla was first out of the starting blocks — but how and when will the big dairy players jump into the supply race.
Australian dairy’s big players — Saputo, Fonterra and Bega — are under pressure to reveal their opening prices after Bulla fired the starting pistol last week.
Bulla gave the first estimation of 2022-23 pricing, revealing an opening price of $7.40 to $8.00 per kilo milk solids to kick off the new season.
In one of the earliest opening price announcements in living memory, Bulla’s dairy general manager Rohan Davies confirmed four opening price figures as the scramble for supply becomes ever more competitive.
The Colac-based processor last year opened with a $6.40 to $6.90 a kilo milk solids range in mid-April, setting off a bidding frenzy from bigger processors such as Saputo, Fonterra and Bega as well as smaller players.
Mr Davies told The Weekly Times that announcing the opening price in March gave suppliers greater certainty in planning their financial year ahead.
Fonterra Australia managing director Rene Dedoncker said the processor planned to announce its price earlier than the June 1 deadline, stipulated by the Federal Government’s mandatory dairy code of conduct.
“Last year, we responded to farmers when they requested that we give them an early line of sight and (we announced) about mid-May,” he said.
“We’re yet to be precise on the timing for this year but what we’ve talked with our farmers about is that they need an opportunity to plan.
“So we’ll give them an early line of sight, so they can plan for the year ahead.”
Saputo and Bega have been contacted by The Weekly Times for comment.
These five items should definitely be taken off the menu for dairy cows
It's essential to make sure the potatoes are of a size that will not get stuck in a cow's throat.
I am not a ruminant nutritionist.
Sure, some vets attain higher qualifications in ruminant nutrition.
However, I am personally unqualified to be making recommendations about diet compositions, debating the finer points of NDF (neutral detergent fibre), or preaching the benefits of rumen-protected methionine.
In fact, grimly fiddling with percentages in a nutrition program is a sure-fire way to send me to sleep.
I would rather spend an hour extracting a rotting calf than formulate a lactating cow diet - a natural preference when you have a high tolerance for stench and a low tolerance for metabolic pathways.
However, I've seen things go into cow mouths that even I knew were not meant to be there.
Maybe people get caught out by 'it seemed like a good idea at the time', or perhaps it's a lack of awareness?
Whatever the case, the following items should definitely be taken off the menu.
1. Restricted animal material
In 1986, a new disease was reported in cattle in the United Kingdom.
Cows would walk strangely and fall over a lot, and then show signs of aggression, anxiety, and frenzy.
This led to the name 'mad cow disease' (which is a lot easier to remember than 'transmissible spongiform encephalopathy').
It was then found that humans eating affected material would also develop neurological signs.
The resulting panic resulted in the slaughter of 4.4 million cattle in the UK and a decade-long ban on British beef that decimated the industry.
Flash forward to today.
Since 1996 it has been illegal in Australia to feed any material taken from a vertebrate animal other than tallow, gelatin or milk products to ruminants.
Recycled cooking oil can be fed... but only from Australian Renderers Association accredited sources.
While I haven't seen anyone gleefully encouraging cow-on-cow cannibalism, I have spoken to farmers giving eggs to scouring calves.
It's true that eggs are nutritious, but they are also illegal to feed to ruminants.
This helps to protect Australian livestock and agricultural exports, alongside participation in disease surveillance programs (i.e., the only reason I can list 'axe-assisted brain extraction' as a skill on my CV).
2. Car batteries
Every time I've seen a case of lead poisoning and asked if the animals have had access to car batteries, a client has looked at me like I'm the one who's mad.
Look, we all know that sometimes the farm (or lease block) isn't as tidy as we'd like it to be.
Heifers are curious animals, and they love the sweet taste of lead.
I once tested a group of 50 healthy-looking survivors exposed to a single battery and was astounded to find that every one of them had blood levels that were off the charts.
So, if you were looking for a bit of a push to do some belated spring cleaning... well, consider this it.
3. Cypress tree trimmings
But if you decide to prune all your cypress trees while you're at it, then don't let your cows get at the trimmings.
Pine and cypress trimmings cause abortions in cattle - and it only takes a few late pregnant recipient cows losing their high genetic merit sexed semen embryos to severely ruin someone's week.
People sometimes tell me that animals just seem to 'know' what they need and won't consume silly things that are harmful to them.
Unfortunately, having peered into the contents of many a cow's stomach, I can assure you that this is not the case.
4. Whole potatoes
Excess produce sometimes finds its way onto dairy farms.
Growing up in a budget-conscious household gave me an almost pathological hatred of food waste, so it warms my thrifty heart to see perfectly good calories being recycled.
However, it's essential to make sure the potatoes are of a size that will not get stuck in a cow's throat.
Cows need to pass gas to avoid bloat.
There are also nutritional considerations which would best be addressed by speaking to, you know, an actual nutritionist.
I'm just the poor schmuck who does not enjoy trudging out with the stomach tube and paraffin oil on a late Saturday night.
5. Diesel
Speaking of which, it's true that bloat oil contains paraffin and paraffin is derived from petroleum.
Diesel fuel is also derived from petroleum, so I can see how one might confuse the two.
However, it is a severely bad idea to feed diesel to your cattle.
Do not put rocks into a trough and cover them with diesel to try and encourage your cows to lick the oil.
Yes, it may prevent them from developing bloat, but it will also cause extensive chemical burns to the lining of the rumen and your local vet will be confused and pretty horrified that you tried to do this.
So, there you have it. Have I missed anything? If so, send me an email.
*Ee Cheng Ooi is a cattle veterinarian undertaking a PhD in fertility and genetics at DairyBio. All comments and information in this article are intended to be of general nature only. Please consult the farm's vet for advice, protocols and/or treatments that are tailored to the herd's particular needs. Comments and feedback are welcome, email ecooi.vet@gmail.com.
Dairy farm boosts milk production thanks to 20,000 trees
David Vonhoff says the shade provided by thousands of trees such as the tipuana is improving herd health.
A Darling Downs dairying family originally planted 20,000 trees on their property to address runoff and salinity issues, but now they're banking extra milk money as well.
David and Cheryl Vonhoff, who bought their farm at Brymaroo near Oakey more than two decades ago and planted the trees with the help of Landcare programs, are seeing an increase in milk production.
"The shade for the cows is probably worth $56,000 a year to us in cow comfort," Mr Vonhoff said.
"We worked out the other day that it was $1.40 per day per cow extra over 200 cows over 200 days."
The family farms 600ha, milking about 200 cows which produce more than one million litres of milk a year.
When they bought the property, the land was bare and there were only about 100 native trees left - a mix of mountain coolibah, grey box, river red gum and brigalow.
"It was just one big paddock and it was bare, overgrazed and flogged out. We had a two inch storm not long after we bought it and the water that skated off the hill was just unreal," Mr Vonhoff said.
"The water table just built up [on the flat] and it just turned into a swamp. The minute amounts of salt that was in that water stayed behind [with evaporation]."
After seeing the damage, they got to work, planting trees like Chinchilla white gum and tipuana, and grasses and legumes like buffel grass and leucaena.
They've since added lucerne, oats, vetch and multi species pasture across cultivation and rotational strip paddocks, which are assisted by dams and bores.
"Now, there'd be bugger all water running off here. It doesn't matter how heavy the rain is, because all this stuff is holding that water back," Mr Vonhoff said.
"If you can hold the water back, you've got that potential for that water to grow grass, and if you've got grass growing, you've got the potential to slow water down, so it's just a compounding thing."
The cattle feed from a trough in the night, then they go on to lab lab, get pushed through to grass lucerne strips, go on to water and sudangrass, back onto the lucerne strips, then home for water. Then at about 1pm they get access to the tipuana trees before milking time.
Cattle also graze on the tree leaves when they can reach them.
"When the cows come in here, it doesn't matter how luscious the grass is, they will pick all these leaves," he said.
"If you're desperate, you can lop [the out of reach leaves] off. Quite often I do some pruning around the place and throw that on the back of the four wheeler and take them up to the poddy calves - the poddys just love eating these leaves.
"I also utilise the Chinchilla white gum - the poddys just love eating the leaves off them. I get into trouble for doing it. Some seem to think I'm trying to turn the calves into koalas, but that doesn't worry me."
In addition to cow comfort, Mr Vonhoff is also seeing the environmental benefits from the wide-scale tree planting.
"It gives me a great thrill... it doesn't matter where you pull up, you hear birds talking, and that's got to be a benefit for insect control and all the rest of it," he said.
"I've been very much involved in land care, even before Landcare started, and I was always passionate about doing a lot of different things and going to a lot of different field days and presentations with regards to better land management.
"With Landcare there was a lot of opportunity, a lot of funding and a lot of help available. And if that was available, I was quite happy to take it up and take advantage of it, and the tree planting was a big part of that.
"Taking the trees away is what stuffed up the environment and caused that salinity down on the flat.
"That area down there is really highly productive land now. We cut hay off it and the milking cows graze on it quite often, where once it was just bare, salt affected land."
The Vonhoffs are now planning to plant more tipuana trees and leucaena.
Source: Brandon Long, Queensland Country Life, 23 March 2022
Future Feed’s Dr Breanna Roque discusses benefits of using seaweed as fodder during ABS 2022 Beef Conference
The topic of Dr Roque's talk was is seaweed the solution?
THE latest research into the benefits of using seaweed varieties as cattle fodder to help drive down methane emissions was at the forefront of an industry summit this week.
Future Feed's Dr Breanna Roque was one of several keynote speakers to address the crowd of producers during ABS' 2022 Beef Conference in Tamworth this week and highlighted some of the promising research within the space of using seaweed as livestock feed.
Specialising in the Asparagopsis variety of seaweed, the company has monitored its benefits through a variety of feeding programs across different livestock during the past decade.
During the presentation, Dr Roque highlighted four major trials which indicated that Asparagopsis "can significantly reduce methane emissions in cattle".
The first experiment was a 70-day trial conducted with sheep that showed an 80 per cent reduction in methane emissions with a three per cent feed inclusion, while the second trial was a 14-day study with dairy cattle which indicated a 67pc reduction with a one pc feed inclusion.
The third trial which included Brahman and Angus Cattle, as well as the fourth trial with a variety of beef cattle, also yielded promising results with reductions as high as 80pc with varying feed inclusions.
The topic created a robust question and answer period following Dr Roque's talk, which was highlighted by a number of questions ranging from when the product may be available to what the impact of harvesting the seaweed would have on the environment.
"In Australia, New Zealand and Hawaii, Asparagopsis is native and so it plays a really important part of the ecosystems in these oceans," Dr Roque said.
"It also grows wild in other parts of the world, but it is considered invasive in places like Portugal and all through the Mediterranean, which also offers some exciting opportunities as well.
"The licencees we have in the areas where it is native are looking at supplementing wild harvested seaweed with tank systems where you can pump ocean water in and out.
"Another good aspect about this particular variety of seaweed is that it can act as a biofilter, so while it's growing it can be sequestering carbon from the atmosphere, as well as filtering contaminates out of the water if done correctly and what Future Feed is here for is to ensure it is done correctly."
"As far as what's next for us, the big thing we will be focusing on is investing in more trials as well as investing in marketing," she said.
"From there, the next big thing is certification and building a global certified trademark on the product.
"Another key focus is overcoming all of the regulatory barriers to make the product accessible. Overall, our hope is we can provide the livestock industry with a product they can use to help get methane reductions of 80pc or more and I think we are gaining traction."
Farmers call for help
Farmers have been inundating an emergency hotline after the devastating east coast floods, with more than 100 dairy farms impacted.
The NSW Department of Primary Industries and Local Land Services have activated the Agricultural and Animal Services Functional Area hotline (1800 814 647), which supports NSW SES in assisting flood-affected farmers and land managers across NSW.
Farmers and community members can call the hotline to report stranded, lost, injured or deceased livestock so animals can be assessed, attended to, or removed.
As of March 9, the AASFA hotline has received more than 800 calls from farmers requesting emergency fodder, aerial surveillance, and veterinary assistance for flood-affected livestock in less than a week.
More than 1350 tonnes of fodder have been supplied and another 500,000 tonnes allocated to livestock owners who have requested assistance. Aerial fodder drops are underway to assist owners manage the welfare of stranded or isolated stock.
DPI understands that at least 73 dairy enterprises have been impacted by the floods on the north coast. As the storm event continues, a DPI spokesman said there could be upwards of 100 dairies impacted.
The spokesman said the full extent of the damage to these enterprises was still unknown, with access and communications still having significant impacts on producers.
“Stock losses have been recorded and the impact per enterprise does vary,” the spokesman said.
“Significant dumping of milk has occurred where producers have been able to get back to milking but access for tankers is limited.”
The current priority for the AASFA response is animal welfare and ensuring that producers can contain and assess their livestock. The department is working closely with the industry and supply chain to undertake the response and the transition to recovery.
An email request hotline is supported by the call centre for those who do not have phone service and do have email service: aasfa@emergency.dpi.nsw.gov.au
Dairy Australia NSW regional manager Paul Van Weel has a team calling farmers to get an understanding of their situation and make sure they are getting the right support.
“The biggest challenge for anyone significantly flood affected is feed, stock destruction and disposal sorted out,” he said.
NSW flood-ravaged dairy farmers battling to rebuild in ongoing wet
Fodder donations are flowing into farms across Northern NSW as farmers battle ongoing rain and poor herd health.
ONGOING rain is hampering the NSW Northern Rivers Region’s flood recovery, with dairy farmers battling mastitis, soggy silt-covered paddocks and a shortage of spare parts.
Casino dairy farmer Terry Toohey, who is co-ordinating rural support, said “mastitis is running rampant” and appealed to veterinary drug companies to donate treatments.
“There’s just one company getting some mastitis treatments out there at the moment,” he said,
adding that ongoing rain also meant the country remained wet, compounding the stress of animals.
“Hay is available and a nutritionist has come in, plus a hoof trimmer to help with lameness,” Mr Toohey said Lismore dairy farmer Paul Weir finally got mains power back on this week, after a fortnight relying on a generator.
Mr Weir said BlazeAid volunteers had been out to help him clean up fences and builders had stripped the plasterboard out of the lower level of his home to let it all dry out.
“There’s plenty of mastitis, but we’re getting on top of it, drying cows,” he said. “We’re getting there.”
As for his cow losses, Mr Weir said 62 were dead with another 34 still missing.
“There was a picture of one of mine on facebook last night, as people get back in as the (Richmond) River drops,” he said.
Mr Toohey said one sugar cane grower on the lower reaches of the river was feeding 150 cattle “and he doesn’t own them”, which is a challenge given he’s not set up to run cattle.
Tatham dairy farmer Maureen McDonald, whose farm was completely inundated, said she and husband Steve were taking the recovery “one day at a time”.
“You can’t roll over,” she said. “You have to keep on moving forward.
The McDonalds have had BlazeAid and defence force crews out on the property helping with the clean up and fencing, while the couple focus on herd health, milking and feeding out.
“(Fodder) donations have come in and we’re expecting a load of silage today(Monday),” Mrs McDonald said.
Mr Toohey added that one of the biggest issues was difficulty sourcing spare parts for all the dairy and farm machinery that had been inundated.
“Lismore is the hub for all the industries on the North Coast,” Mr Toohey said. “Something as simple as a bearing that used to take about half an hour to get now takes three or four days.”
As for financial assistance NSW farmers are getting support from their NORCO dairy co-operative to lodge application forms to obtain flood recovery grants of up to $75,000.
Donations or offers to volunteer with BlazeAid can be made HERE.
Other groups offering support include Drought Angels, with farmers able get relief payments of $1500 by calling 07 4662 7371 or by filling in the form HERE, while donations can be made HERE.
The Queensland and NSW Government is also asking farmers to fill out damage assessment forms to help them direct assistance, they can be found:
Click HERE for Queensland farmers
Click HERE for NSW farmers
Support lines also operate in Queensland on 13 25 23 and NSW on 1800 814 647
Rural Australia rallies to support NSW and Queensland farm flood victims
Floods have swept farmers’ cattle, fodder and fencing down rivers, destroyed homes and smothered pastures, but the community support is strong.
Floods have swept Northern NSW and Queensland farmers’ cattle, fodder and fencing down rivers, destroyed homes and smothered pastures, but the swift flowing water failed to erode the spirit of rural communities that have rallied support.
“We’ve been overwhelmed with offers of support from farmers near and far - the Atherton Tablelands to Shepparton and King Island,” Lismore dairy farmer Paul Weir said, who watched half his 300-cow herd swept away by the floods last week.
“I’m humbled. It’s been an emotional rollercoaster.”
At a local level farmers have stepped in to milk neighbours’ herds and offer fodder, while even townspeople rustled up missing cows, with one even found outside Bunnings.
The short-term focus of most farmers has been getting the power back on or generators installed, disposing of dead cattle, rebuilding fences and sourcing fodder.
Tatham dairy farmer Maureen McDonald, whose property was inundated, saved her greatest praise for electrician Brett Hardwick, who spent three days getting her flooded dairy operational, even cleaning out a feed silo to boot.
“Without him we would not be operating,” Ms McDonald said.
Others, such as Casino dairy farmer Terry Toohey, used his broad network to keep in touch with hard hit farmers and co-ordinate the airlifting of generators, pumps and electricians into properties.
He said about 20 dairy farmers had been severely affected in the hardest hit parts of the Northern Rivers Region of NSW, with one even forced to pitch a tent on the dairy roof last week, while he waited for the water to subside.
Across the border in Queensland EastAUSMilk president Matthew Trace said the damage was generally not as severe, but there was still producers who lost 10 to 20 cows, needed fodder and help re-fencing.
He said his own region of Gympie was hardest hit, along with parts of the Lockyer Valley and Beaudesert region.
“We’re able to get plenty of fodder from South Burnett and the Darling Downs, but we’re not in the same critical situation as northern NSW,” he said.
Australia’s largest farmer owned meat processing co-operative in Casino, half an hour’s drive from Lismore, was in the midst of co-ordinating fodder donations and deliveries this week.
By early Monday Casino Food Cooperative livestock manager Heidi Hayes, said about 60 farmers had called for help in sourcing fodder. She also asked that anyone wanting to donate hay or silage call her on (0429) 640-047.
“We’ve had people just turning up with fodder on the back of trucks and just been unloading it on the hay pad and then we’re dispersing it,” Ms Hayes said.
But sourcing fuel is still a problem.
“It’s a bit like Mad Max up here, you have to wait hours for fuel,” Mr Weir said.
When friends ring to ask how they can help, Mr Weir said “I ask if they can bring a jerry can of diesel over with the scones”.
BlazeAid operations manager Melissa Jones, daughter of the volunteer organisation’s founder Kevin Butler, has already set up a fencing camp in Casino and is looking for sites at Gympie and the Lockyer Valley.
She said they had 12 volunteers setting up at Casino, but had room for 50 and appealed for more help, given she already had 100 farmers seeking help to re-fence. (Contact 0418 990 267)
Mrs McDonald and husband Steve, have already enlisted BlazeAid’s help, after losing nearly all their fencing.
She said the damage was made worse by the floods sweeping tonnes of the exotic aquatic weed water hyacinth up against fences, flattening them.
“We did lose half the herd, which was swept away, but they were back the next morning,” Ms McDonald said. “But they were back the next morning.”
However the couple say they lost 60 springing heifers, after the flood peaked 1.5m above the 2008 level they had planned for.
Ms McDonald said she and Steve thought they had prepared the farm for the worst case flood, installing a large cement feed pad, building mounds in the dry-cow paddock to keep cattle out of harm’s way and storing silage on their highest country.
NORCO director Heath Cook took one of the most startling images of the floods as he drove into Lismore last Friday morning to visit the dairy co-operative’s headquarters, showing the bloated carcass of a dairy cow that had been washed onto the veranda of a Lismore auto business at the flood’s peak.
Mr Cook said every Australian needed to see the extent of the damage, from which he feared some residents would never recover.
As one of the town’s biggest employers NORCO is reeling from the impact of four to five metres of water washing through critical processing lines in its ice-cream factory, which was undergoing a $30m upgrade and the decommissioning of its feed mill.
In the meantime the NSW, Queensland and Federal Government are offering flood-affected farmers grants of up to $75,000 to help with the recovery.
But EastAUSMilk vice-president Graham Forbes said farmers needed “major assistance, not just the $75,000, if they’re going to stay in the industry. Otherwise they will exit.”
Mr Weir said one of the big issues would be regaining affordable insurance.
“I don’t’ want to put my insurance (payout) into a sinking ship,” Mr Weir said.
Donations or offers to volunteer with BlazeAid can be made HERE.
Other groups offering support include Drought Angels, with farmers able get relief payments of $1500 by calling 07 4662 7371 or by filling in the form HERE, while donations can be made HERE.
The Queensland and NSW Government is also asking farmers to fill out damage assessment forms to help them direct assistance, they can be found:
Click HERE for Queensland farmers.
Click HERE for NSW farmers
Support lines also operate in Queensland on 13 25 23
NSW on 1800 814 647
DAMAGE TO CROPS:
Vegetable crops have been severely damaged or simply washed away after the week of intense flooding across NSW and Queensland.
With flood waters still high in some places, the full extent of crop, livestock and farm damage is not yet known.
Queensland vegetable grower Steven Moffatt said some of the paddocks on his Tarome property would reach just 50 to 60 per cent of their yield capacity this season.
“We’ve been affected, not to the extent of what the Lockyer Valley has been, and those closer to the coast,” Mr Moffatt said. “Our crop losses are realised at the time (of the floods), but also when we should be planting, and we will have gaps in our production. The other part is we’ve got crops in the ground, which haven’t been washed away … but their full yield potential, we were hoping for about 93 per cent, and that’s now about 50 to 60 per cent.”
Queensland Agriculture Minister Mark Furner said the flooding has significantly affected producers across 17 local government areas.
“We’ve had reports of significant loss of fences, impacts to infrastructure and supply chains, lost cattle, crop losses, and severe erosion and soil loss,” Mr Furner said.
“Department of Agriculture and Fisheries staff have also been on the ground assessing the damage to farm infrastructure, crops and livestock where it is safe to do so. Some areas are still covered in water.”
Pulse Australia chief executive Nick Goddard said about 25 per cent of Australia’s soybean crop may have been affected by the floods.
“We were looking at having a very good soybean crop, but a lot of it around Lismore has been badly hit,” Mr Goddard said.
“The Northern Rivers area has a large area of soybeans, about 50 per cent (of the national crop), and of that about 50 per cent has been hit by the floods.”
Farmers count the cost of south-east Queensland floods
Dairy farmer Luke Stock says the flood damage to his farm is "devastating".
Luke Stock looks out over the sodden field of his dairy farm, pockmarked with rubbish and destroyed fences, and reckons this mess will take about three years to recover from.
He'd know; it's the third time since 2011 his property in Queensland's Lockyer Valley has flooded.
"The good thing is we got through those floods and we probably come out stronger," he said.
"We put things in place from a risk-management point of view to get through those things, and we'll come out stronger from this one. It just takes time."
Mr Stock said last week's floods peaked at the same level as 2011 and 2013.
"It's devastating, to be honest," he said.
"[There are] no internal fences left. The majority of our boundary fencing [is] gone."
The floodwater also cut roads and power to the property, meaning milk could not be transported or stored.
"We would have tipped out 5,000 to 6,000 litres of milk," Mr Stock said.
"The tally will be huge. I don't think we'll come out of this for anything less than $100,000 if you take in fences, feed cost, dumped milk, repair to our driveway.
"But we'll get there. I'm confident."
Dozens of volunteers from the nearby Our Lady of Good Council school have been at Mr Stock's farm standing up fences, clearing paddocks and, most notably, lifting spirits.
"[They are] people that we've known for a long time, people that we've known for a couple of years, people that we've just had to opportunity to meet today," he said.
"This will go so far to getting us back to being a running farm again."
Scenic Rim crops ruined
In the neighbouring Scenic Rim region, farmer Fraser Macfarlane is pumping water off his sodden fields.
The heavy rain overfilled his dam and breached a levee meant to protect his crops.
His nearly 50 acres of organic soybeans, sweet corn and green beans have been transformed into a wetland — a home for ducks and corellas.
He has watched two-thirds of his annual income drown, but he remains upbeat.
"One of our banks has agreed to going interest-only for a year and I'm asking our other bank for the same thing, so that'll make a big difference," Mr Macfarlane said.
"Every bit of outgoing [money] we can reduce makes it that much easier to keep going."
He said he had not had time to look at the government assistance available to flood victims but would take any help that was offered.
The state and federal governments have announced a wave of financial assistance for flood-affected farmers.
Producers from 15 local government areas can access grants, which cover a number of things, including household essentials and home repairs for the uninsured.
Crops were ready for harvest
Scenic Rim Deputy Mayor Michael Enright said it was a particularly bad time for farmers to be flooded, with many crops ready to harvest soon.
"When it comes to harvesting the product, you've spent all the energy and time and resources in getting the crop out of the ground and provided the best growing environment," he said.
"So all of the cost has been sunk into the produce at that stage and no income is received until that is harvested."
He said the flood crisis highlighted the importance of farmers in a functioning society.
"I think we saw through this week a shortage of milk as well as many other fresh vegetables," he said.
"Our farmers play a vital role in the wellbeing of our whole population and I think if people realised the impact that natural events like the floods have and the impact it has on providing fresh food to our population, then I think they would be in a better place to understand the impacts it has had on our farmers."
Source: Tobias Jurss-Lewis and Jemima Burt, ABC News, 7 March 2022
Local families snap up popular Scenic Rim dairy and 4Real Milk brand
Local Beaudesert farmer Brad Teese and Brisbane real estate agent Doug Wyatt, and their families have bought the Tamrookum Dairy as well as the popular 4Real Milk brand from the Dennis family.
The 149ha robotic dairy at 9023 Mt Lindesay Highway in Scenic Rim, just over an hour’s drive west of Surfers Paradise, was put up for sale in July last year with an asking price of $10 million.
Led by Greg Dennis, the Dennis family established the 4Real Milk brand in 2013. It supplies a range of dairy products to supermarkets, cafés, restaurants and milk bars across Queensland, while also offering dairy tours.
The dairy, which can process 10,000 litres of milk a day, the 4Real business and brand as well as all livestock, farming infrastructure, plant and equipment was put up for sale last year as part of retirement plans for Mr Dennis’s parents Brenda and Darrell and his uncle and aunt, Ray and Rose Dennis.
They are the most recent custodians of the property, which has been owned by the Dennis family since the 1930s.
“It’s eight years now since we launched 4Real milk, I think it’s a really exciting opportunity for the continuation of what I started,” Greg Dennis told Queensland Country Life last year.
New co-owner Brad Teese and his family own stock feeding company Teese Feeds based at Beaudesert. Mr Wyatt is the principal of Brisbane real estate firm New Image Real Estate.
“The new owners want to produce local quality products from a family business for family consumption,” said Danny Bukowski from C1 Realty, who negotiated the sale.
Mr Bukowski said the new owners had already increased the number of robots used to feed and milk cows from four to six, improved the irrigation on the farm and introduced a new breeding program.
Tamrookum Dairy will only supply the Queensland market, which requires more than half of its dairy needs – about 330 million litres a year – to be trucked in due to the shutdown of more than 80 per cent of its dairies over the last two decades.
More broadly, the acquisition of Tamrookum comes amid heightened investor interest in the dairy sector, which has returned to profitability since the milk price crisis five years ago that sent many dairy farmers broke.
This financial year, the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment (ABARES) is projecting incomes for dairy farms to increase by around 35 per cent to average $338,000 per farm.
“Higher milk prices, favourable seasonal conditions, increased milk production and lower feeding costs have contributed to the increase in incomes from the drought affected lows of recent years,” said ABARES.
In October last year, Aurora Dairies, one of the largest milk producers in the country and backed by Canada’s Public Sector Pension Investment Board, acquired the Clydebank Aggregation in Victoria’s Gippsland for around $20 million.
Also last year, agricultural funds specialist Duxton Asset Management contracted buyers for six of the farms in its Victoria-based Ace Dairy Holdings.
Tough time for Cedar Pocket farmers with no time to stop to mourn
Barbara Gear hasn't had time to stop and grieve after police made the grim discovery of the body of 54-year-old motorcyclist Phillip Lambert on her dairy farm at Cedar Pocket near Gympie on Thursday.
Early on Wednesday morning, Mr Lambert was riding home from Gympie shopping centre, where he worked as a cleaner, when his motorbike hit a wall of water in torrential rain on a dark country road.
His body was recovered at about 11.30am on Thursday.
Records show an incredible 352 millimetres of rain fell at Cedar Pocket over five hours.
The floodwater swept away all of Barbara and Robert Gear's boundary fences, destroyed Granview Dairy's sorghum crop and scattered 400 head of cattle.
(Since we took Ms Gear's photograph on Thursday, her creek flats have flooded again.)
Cattle were forced to swim for their lives after they were caught in the dangerous weather event, the intensity of which hadn't been predicted.
While Ms Gear understandably did not want to discuss the loss of a valued member of her close-knit community, she did give insight into the most frightening flood she has ever witnessed.
In the exhausting hours since, she has worked tirelessly to re-erect smashed fences, helped dozens of emergency services workers who were combing their property, taken stranded workers back on the farm, and searched for her prized cows whose udders were painfully full, out in paddocks that were cut by debris-filled water.
Fences have to be fixed to stop cows getting on the road. (ABC Rural: Jennifer Nichols)
"We've collected all the girls from various paddocks. There were about 30 stuck up against the fence line that were swimming.
There were no fences whatsoever, they were actually up on the bitumen road trying to get away from the water," Ms Gear said.
"We've got most of them back. We've found three dead ones. One's in the top of a tree, one was swept under the highway culvert and she got stuck there so she obviously drowned. For the amount of cows that we have just finding three is quite good."
In the middle of the night her worker, James May, was driving his vehicle from side to side on Tin Can Bay Road, trying to herd cows that were dangerously standing in the middle of the main thoroughfare.
"The police turned up. They must have thought I was an idiot hooning, but they eventually pulled up behind me and had their lights on helping me get them off the road," Mr May said.
Next door, the flood triggered strong emotions for Geoff Pearce who only last month faced the same daunting clean-up after a terrifying flood on his other farm at Tansey.
"It's a little bit close to home for me this one, it's quite sad. It's a big effort, all the fence rebuilding and helping neighbours with stock replacement," Mr Pearce said.
"It's a big job but that's what people on the land do. They help each other out and all our neighbours here have been great. Emergency services have been great."
He has recovered three of his six cattle that were swept away. But the fences he fixed with friends, have been flooded again.
The biggest fall was at nearby Mount Wolvi on Tuesday night, where 425mm of rain fell overnight; 140 millimetres of that in just one hour.
The rain poured off the mountain down to the flats, flooding Alba aquaculture farm and owners Bambi and Andrew Gosbell's second dwelling.
"Water basically just poured through the house, so it just destroyed the carpets and all the furniture and everything. It ran through that house like like a torrent," Mr Gosbell said.
"It was just literally like something you just see out of the movies. It was torrential … It's taken out all the fencing on the boundary to the forestry and it's taken out between our neighbours so we've lost a fair bit of fencing as well."
The couple's main dam overflowed, but luckily the farm's crayfish ponds were undamaged and the sheep made their way to higher ground.
Several kilometres away Jason Lewis lost precious topsoil at his Cooloola Berries farm that was primed and ready to plant this year's strawberry runners.
"We've got neighbours missing cattle and sheep, and heaps and heaps of fences down, lots of farm equipment washed away, trucks have been in water," Mr Lewis said.
Water ran through their back shed on Wednesday, and on Friday swamped their farm cafe.
Australian Macadamia Society chief executive Jolyon Burnett said growers had been expecting a bumper crop and described the flooding as "heartbreaking".
Fields have flooded across south east Queensland and northern New South Wales and orchard floors have been damaged.
At Lindols Macadamias outside Gympie, water flowed through a shed and a large section of orchard.
Owner, Sandra Lindstrom said the true impact of the flood will not be known for months.
"Twenty or so young trees snapped off, but what often takes them out is a root rot/fungus. They were about 3 metres underwater on Wednesday," Ms Lindstrom said.
Her orchard has since been flooded again, by the storm system sitting over the region.
Source: Jennifer Nichols and David Barnott-Clement, ABC Rural 25 February 2022