Rural Management

Management

Herd a fan of breezy comfort

Temperatures can get hot and oppressing in Cowra during the peak of summer, unless you are one of the lucky cows housed in the free stall barn built by dairy farmers Colin and Erina Thompson. The building of the barn has been a gradual process over...

Dairy News
Management

‘Hillbillies moment’ hits jackpot at Gunbower

Uncertainty surrounding the future of irrigation was the catalyst for Gunbower dairy farmers Harry and Jodie Rowlands to look outside the square and do something no-one in the area had done before — install a bore. It was October 2018 when Harry...

Sophie Baldwin
Management

Farm evolves at steady pace

In the words of dairy farmer John Cockerell, the family has been ‘puttering away’ on its Baulkamaugh North farm, Warrain Jersey’s, for four decades. John, wife Margaret, and son Edan have expanded their land holding from one settlement block...

Sophie Baldwin
Management

Mixing milk and wine

Barry and Bernadette Wurlod’s farm south of Terang makes milk for breakfast and will soon make wine to have with dinner. The dairy part of the farm is leased but Barry and Bernadette have been tinkering with a vineyard for the past 12 years and...

Dairy News
Management

‘Struggle’ family moves on

Barry and Rosey Warburton brought dairy farming, the Murray-Darling Basin Plan and the effects of poor water policy into the spotlight when they recently featured on the SBS documentary Struggle. The couple were facing their second year with zero...

Sophie Baldwin
Management

Measuring grain for rye-grass value

Agriculture Victoria research scientists have developed a quicker and more cost-effective way to measure the nutritive value of thousands of individual rye-grass plants, enabling pasture breeders to select for high-energy varieties. The nutritive...

Dairy News
Management

Beefing-up US dairy

It’s hot and dusty and there are pens of cattle lined-up alongside each other into the distance. A tractor is moving manure, another is dispensing feed into the long troughs. The animals stick their heads in and munch, it’s like they don’t...

Dairy News
Management

Love of cows unites pair

Katunga’s Krystal Sheridan and her partner Benj Roubini might have been born on different continents, but they have been united by a love of cows. Neither grew up on dairy farms but together they are determined to carve out a future in the...

Dairy News
Management

Farming a family affair

With five brothers interested in farming, the Parkinson family at Kirkstall had to get big to keep busy. Today, the extended family runs three adjoining farms and a dry-stock farm, with a peak of about 2550 cows, and brothers Xavier, Vin, Adrian...

Dairy News
Management

A simple plan for Australia’s food bowl

Brad Collins believes western Victoria is the best dairy farming land in Australia, and will only continue to grow in stature.

Dairy News
Management

Efficiencies key to running two farms

Jeanette Severs Ashley and Lisa Mezenberg, from Denison, operate two farms, milking 600 cows; a self-replacing, predominantly Friesian-cross herd, with infusions of Normande, Aussie Red and Brown Swiss. The herd produces 3.7 million litres annually...

Dairy News
Management

Perfecting time for work and play

Jeanette Severs Milking once-a-day meets production targets, minimises risk and creates an enjoyable work-life balance for David and Narelle Macalister, of Orbost. It has also kept them in the dairy industry. This is the fifth season of milking...

Dairy News
Management

Robotic dairy brings entire family on board

Jeanette Severs Installing an automatic milking (robotic) system on their farm is good business for a multi-generation dairy family at Buln Buln. The investment has proven efficient for workflow, as well as good value if the family unexpectedly...

Dairy News
Management

Robotic technology embedded in farm’s future

TASMANIA’S DORNAUF Dairies has successfully transitioned its Gala Farm to the latest generation of voluntary milking technology following the installation of eight DeLaval VMS V300 milking robots. Farm owners Nick and Rebekah Dornauf say the...

Dairy News
Management

Spotlight on feed-pad needs

MANY FARMERS are looking to transition their herd to a temporary or permanent feed-pad type system this summer as reliance of bought-in fodder becomes a key part of management — a $14 000 load of hay with wastage of 25 per cent will cost the...

Dairy News
Management

Agonising decisions for Deniliquin couple

BARRY AND Rosey Warburton have always gone quietly about the business of dairy farming on their Deniliquin property — until recently when they featured on the SBS documentary Struggle Street. The documentary highlighted the southern Riverin...

Dairy News
Management

Sisters stepping up

Sisters Alicia and Sophie Blain know how to step up and take on a big challenge. With their father Darin’s ability to do physical work limited by a back injury, Alicia, 21, and Sophie, 19, are now the backbone of the family’s Cooriemungle farm...

Dairy News
Management

Beef moves into traditional dairy territory

Ecklin is prime dairy country but a long-established dairy farm is being converted to beef by its new owners. It is estimated up to 20 farms and out-paddocks in south-west Victoria have gone from dairy to beef in recent years. While the industry’s...

Dairy News

Trending stories

News

Shepparton man identified as victim of fatal crash

A 33-year-old Shepparton man has been identified as the victim of Monday’s fatal collision in Arcadia.

Liz Mellino
News

Fatal collision in Arcadia

A driver has died following a collision with a truck in Arcadia this morning.

Shepparton News
News

Hume Freeway closed, near Wangaratta

The Hume Freeway is closed towards Melbourne, just outside of Wangaratta, due to a truck rollover. Emergency services are on site. Motorists are advised to detour at the Great Alpine road exit to get back on to the Hume Freeway. Northbound lanes...

Simon Ruppert
News

23 with three months to live

“The year looked so promising for me.“ This is how Johnathon Bentancourt saw his future before doctors told him he had just a few months left to live.

Morgan Dyer