At 19 and 21, Anna Dickson and Angus Fraser don’t come anywhere near the average age of Australian dairy farmers, even with their years combined.
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But that hasn’t stopped them from taking on a massive new challenge as sharefarmers at Tesbury for Anna’s parents Bryan and Jo.
Anna and Angus are now managing a 380-strong herd on a 208 hectare property, with the extra challenge of Anna studying at university and three major infrastructure projects happening in the background.
Most people their age would find this daunting, but Anna and Angus seem to be taking it in their stride.
Anna admits her friends are gobsmacked when she tells them what they’re doing, but both partners are fulfilling a long-held dream.
“This all happened very quickly, but it was off the back of conversations that had been going on for four years,” Angus said.
“It is something we both wanted and dad had been dropping little hints asking about plans for the future,” Anna added.
“We’ve been talking about it for a long time, even though we didn’t expect it to happen so quickly. We’re pretty excited and really keen.”
Anna said they might have jumped the gun a bit early, but they feel ready for the challenge, even if her friends are surprised.
“I only finished high school the year before last and when I catch up with people, and they ask what are you doing, and I say I’ve just starting sharefarming — they’re gobsmacked.”
Bryan and Jo invested in the Tesbury farm last December, supplementing their existing business half an hour away near Terang and following the sale of their second farm at Glenfyne about five years ago.
As part of the 50-50 share agreement, they’re providing a lot of support for the young couple who now own the herd and plan to add machinery down the track.
“This was too good an opportunity to pass up,” Anna said.
“It’s a very well set up farm.”
The former owners, Chris and Peter Place, handed over the Tesbury farm and herd on December 23, and are also keeping in touch to help guide the budding farmers through the transition.
Anna is no stranger to the property.
“Chris has had progeny from Genetics Australia bulls photographed to promote the sires; my sister and I would help prep the cows for the photos, so I knew the farm and the way it was set up.”
Anna grew up on the family’s Terang farm and was studying veterinary bioscience, but has changed to agribusiness, more in-tune with her new role.
Angus has been working on farms since before he was a teenager.
He grew up in Far North Queensland where his parents were teachers, but both had dairy farming backgrounds.
They are milking the farm’s existing herd of about 380 Holsteins, but they have plans to hit 400 and to introduce Jerseys.
They have taken on a good herd that was in the top 20 in the December ABVs.
“It’s a very good base to build on,” Angus said.
A group of Jerseys will come across from the Dickson farm once everything is settled.
The Jerseys are a passion project for Anna within her parent's mostly Holstein set up, but like the Holsteins, are among the best in Australia, regularly featuring in the top two in the ABVs.
Eventually, they hope to have a 50-50 mix, though it will take time to get to that point.
“We’ll try to let natural progression happen and reduce the number of Holsteins and introduce more Jerseys,” Angus said.
“We’ve always liked the Jerseys. They are a more moderate-framed animal and will suit the system of farming that we like.
“We’re trying to focus on simple things as primarily a grass-based operation with single calving.”
They plan to adjust the July-September calving to March-April, but will again bide their time in implementing the changes.
Apart from a Monday-Friday milker, Anna and Angus will do everything themselves.
The division of work is still settling and being organised around Anna’s study and commitments with the local youth camp and helping her sisters to show at International Dairy Week.
However, they are enjoying support from her parents and Chris and Peter.
“They’re really great mentors and helping with a lot of stuff,” Angus said.
“A lot of it goes unnoticed, especially with mum trying to get me set up with the administration side of things, and dad is over here a couple times a week,” Anna said.
The place is a hive of activity at the moment with three major infrastructure projects being overseen by Bryan as part of his share.
On the agenda are an updated feed system with a new silo and mill for crushing grain, a gravel feed pad and a solids pond between the drain and the effluent pond.
“We just finished cleaning out the current effluent pond and removing all the solids built up in it,” Angus said.
“The water holding capacity of the pond was significantly reduced because of the effluent build up.
“Having a smaller settling pond will make it easier to keep that in check and keep the solids away from the centre pivot which irrigates out of it.”
Anna and Angus met through cow showing more than four years ago and both see farming as their future.
“You have the business aspects of running a farm and working for yourself; there is a great variety of work and you`re outside working with animals, soil, machinery and people,” Angus said.
For Anna, it’s all about the cows.
“They’ve all got personalities, and they’re all very different.”
The transition hasn’t been without problems.
“There have been a few hiccups that happen with change and new things, but overall, we’re going okay,” Angus said.
Despite going to boarding school in Ballarat, the toughest thing for Anna was actually leaving home.
“Boarding school was a different thing. It’s more about thinking this is home now.”
She still goes home a lot, especially to visit her cat that is too old to relocate, but Anna is adjusting.
“I had it in my head that I would finish uni and then start farming, now I’m still doing uni and farming, but it’s exciting and an enormous opportunity that I don’t want to stuff up.”