KATUNGA dairy farmer Daryl Hoey has learnt the hard way that managing seasonal change isn’t easy.
Mr Hoey and wife Lani purchased their 80ha farm in 2002 and almost immediately had to battle the worst ongoing drought in memory.
He admits some of his thinking has been about survival for much of the time, but like other farmers in the region, Mr Hoey is now enjoying the fruits of the best season in a decade along with improved milk prices.
He has since purchased a 40ha run-off block in 2006 and a neighbouring dairy farm in 2008 which is another 70ha.
The seasonal adjustments made by Mr Hoey to help him through the tough times will be the basis of his address to the Grassland Society of Southern Australia’s annual conference at Wangaratta on August 10-12.
Mr Hoey will provide an overview of how the farm system has been adapted to the changing seasons to ensure productivity in the long term.
“I will be looking at world markets and changing climatic conditions and how they affect the local dairy industry,” he said.
The most notable change for many farmers has been the move from permanent pastures to short rotation and long rotation ryegrass.
“While the rainfall and seasonal water allocations are low I expect that trend will continue,” Mr Hoey said.
Part of his advice to farmers centres on finding the right level of flexibility in their production systems. “You’ve got to be flexible...but have a clear picture of the kind of system you want to operate,” he said. “You still need to have a basic system in place but be flexible around the edges of it depending on the capital outlay and the seasonal conditions.”
Part of Mr Hoey’s campaign to cope with the dry conditions involved reducing stock numbers. “We cut back to milking about 240 cows from 300 because of the dry conditions and low returns. We’re now in the process of building up the herd again to make the most of the extra land we have bought.”
Reducing input costs was another method of achieving savings, though that was tempered by locked-in contracts.
Farmers need to be careful not to over-capitalise with fixed costs without allowing for flexibility, he added.
Mr Hoey said to remain profitable farmers needed to aim for high pasture utilisation, low cost of production per cow, high labour efficiency and low capital costs and keeping the depreciation schedule to a minimum.
A board member of Murray Dairy and UDV central councillor and ADF board director, Mr Hoey has a long farming involvement in the Murray region having been a sharefarmer for nine years before purchasing his property in 2002.
“My presentation is based not only on my own experiences but also other farmers in the region. Generally farmers are expanding with a lot more confidence though we are hedging our bets to a degree when it comes to long-term planning.”
More than 20 guest speakers are on the program for the Grassland Society conference at the Wangaratta Performing Arts Centre.
