Dairy crisis? What dairy crisis?
North coast producers of drinking milk for the lucrative Queensland market are enjoying a stable income at the moment, with the biggest worry a persistent patch of dry weather that seems to have settled south of the border.
People like Ben Gould and his wife Tennielle, Greenridge via Casino, have been taught to work within their means – the family farm produces 100 per cent feed and can survive a downturn in order to reap profits down the track.
But clever production and market negotiation by Ben’s father John over many years now sees a milk contract with Parmalat worth 56 cents/litre.
“My father always used to say: ‘Don’t look beyond the farm gate. Keep your head down and do what you can to save dollars. Keep your costs down.’
“He’d say: ‘We’ll ride it out and wait for prices to come back’. But at the moment milk prices are good.”
The Goulds require 300t of grain annually for their 280 Holstein and Holstein/Jersey cows feeding them 2kg of home grown corn a day in summer and up to 7kg in winter.
Last year they grew 320t of corn, hiring neighbour Damian Macrea to plant with specialised equipment they didn’t have.
Norco suppliers Andrew Wilson and Kelly Boyd, Woodlawn via Lismore, are grateful that the local market respects their co-operative brand as well as it does.
“We’re very lucky here,” Mr Wilson says. “Liquid milk prices are better, Norco has contracts with Coles, we have access to the South East Queensland market and when it comes to our 115 year old co-operative brand people are very loyal. It is something we are very thankful for.”
Norco pays on a sliding scale somewhere between 52-70 cents depending on quality. Anyone has access to the top price if they can provide the right stuff.
Mr Wilson says his farm relies on home grown feed and he tends to steer clear of spending money on concrete and steel, which he says will never realise a profit. That’s just the reality of dairy.
Other cost savings involve tweaking genetics to give the herd a bit more Jersey content to increase fertility and handle heat stress.
A focus on moderate cow frame size is paramount.
“Big framed cows take a lot of feeding,” he says.
Mid North Coast dairy consultant Marguerite White says programs like the Resource Efficiency Focus Farm Project, funded by Dairy Australia and the Australian Government, help dairy businesses build greater “resilience’’ to the ups and downs of the market and seasonal conditions. And best practice has proven better for the environment.
