Dairy advocate says farmers must present a united front

From a broader industry perspective, he wants to see the cooling of divisions between farmers at the representative level so dairy can have a strong and united voice.

Rob has never been one to stand back and let things deteriorate.

He was part of the formation of the Central Murray Environmental Floodplains group and said that group continued to do good work in protecting the rights of farmers.

When the water price hurt too much in northern Victoria, he moved.

Today he is one of two Western Victorian policy councillors for the UDV and is keen for farmers to have a united voice to tackle regulations which may impact on their livelihoods.

Rob’s father Alisdair has been on the Carpendeit farm since 2008, after moving from Cohuna.

After working in mining, broadacre farming and truck driving, Rob and his wife Joanne and sister Heather bought a northern Victorian farm in 2017.

“The first year was good but the second year the water price ramped up to $700. We couldn’t survive with those prices and it was too volatile,” he said.

“It was either sell everything and get out or there was an opportunity to come down here and go sharefarming.”

Rob is now an 80:20 shareholder with his father and is transitioning to buy the business.

Heather still sharefarms in a different business in northern Victoria, and they also own a block in partnership.

Rob is happy to be away from the water price fluctuations, but he has a few new environmental issues to deal with.

“I hate the cold,” he said.

“I don’t like six months of winter and this year we haven’t had a summer. I have to thaw out in the mornings, but from a business point of view, I’m happy.”

The home farm covers 138 hectares and is supported by an outblock for heifers, leased land for heifers and dry cows and about a parcel of land in the nearby Stony Rises, which is helpful in winter for a bit of dryer ground.

The cows are licorice all-sorts — a few Swiss and Jerseys, some cross-breds, Aussie Reds and mostly Friesians.

Alasdair’s herd is pure Friesian, but when Rob moved down in 2019 the mixed herd came as well, including the balance of about 25 Jersey heifers purchased by his mother Janet in 2016.

“We tried to get them a bit bigger so we crossed them with Swiss and we’re constantly evolving to get the Friesians a bit smaller. We’re trying to make a medium-sized cow; if they’re too big and it gets too wet, we get too much damage.

“The year before last we were wet from May to December, especially from August to November, but 2019-20 and 2020-21 were really good with a perfect amount of rain,” Rob said.

The farm has a mixture of spring and autumn calving and polled is Rob’s number one genetic priority.

“I don’t want to de-horn. It’s another job you don’t have to do, especially if you can’t get staff.”

Rob introduced cup removers two years ago, following the same mantra of saving time and making things easier.

They peak at 270 cows, but Rob said 240 would better suit the wet farm.

They produced 1.7 million litres last year, but Rob is more interested in profit margin than production.

“There’s no point chasing production if you’re cost is more than you make. I think we’re getting closer to getting the balance right by changing the size of cows through genetics and improving pasture management.”

One of the keys has been reducing the use of phosphorous and nitrogen with a focus on regenerative farming and improved cow health.

“We had cows with foot problems, but since changing their diet, that problem has been reduced.

“If you’ve got lots of lame cows, you’re chasing your tail trying to fix that problem.

“We’re aiming to go to a regenerative style of pasture management. We’ve turned down synthetic inputs and are planting more mixed species pastures.”

A multispecies paddock planted in December with a Soilkee renovator is still green, while not much else is by late February.

He has tried chicory, plantain, different clovers, different forages including barley and wheat, tillage radish and other brassicas, along with more lucerne on the hilly areas.

“We’re trying everything to see what persists ... and the cows look healthier.”

Rob has mixed feelings about the future of the industry.

“It depends on what the milk price does and the biggest threat at the moment could be from government regulations,” he said.

“There are a lot of licensing requirements and other regulations being pushed on to us that could be detrimental to farming and could over-complicate things.

“There’s stuff coming at us from bureaucrats, but farmers haven’t had any input.

“For example, we don’t know what’s going to happen with the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act.”

Rob originally became involved with the UDV over water issues in northern Victoria, and said he now wanted dairy farmers to have a united front and to stand alone as an advocacy group.

“There are lots of things we want to focus on but we’re getting pushback from head office (VFF) trying to tell us what to do.

“Dairy Farmers Victoria knew they couldn’t get things done with current management and left. If they had stayed there would have been a stronger voice to push back.

“Ultimately, we have to reunite. If we’re not united, we’re back to where we were before 1975 when the UDV was formed because there were three different groups who said different things — the government wants to hear from one industry voice.

“The split has weakened the representation of everyone. Ideally, we want to get back together.”

Rob, who is also worried by plans to convert large parts of the Heytesbury Settlement to timber plantations, said a resounding theme of the Dairy Plan was that dairying wants to be by itself and to advocate for itself.

“It’s a complicated issue because there’s so much tied into the dairy advocacy train but we need a strong, united voice just for dairy farmers.”