In 2015, the Lion Landcare Grants Program awarded 11 Australian dairy farms a share in $100,000 to help them improve the sustainability of their farms.
The successful applicants are from right across the nation and have used the grants to reduce energy consumption, enhance biodiversity and improve on-farm nutrient management.
Murray Jeffrey, Lion’s director of agricultural procurement, said through the Lion Landcare Grants program the business was able to help Australian dairy farms become more sustainable, now and into the future.
“Our grants program with Landcare Australia allows us to provide funding to help make a real difference for Australian farmers and we’re really encouraged by the high quality and variety of projects we have funded in 2015,” Mr Jeffrey said.
Landcare Australia CEO Tessa Jakszewicz said the grants program showed economic and environmental aims could be complementary in agriculture.
“The 11 projects that were funded through this partnership in 2015 each demonstrated innovative ways of optimising results for the dairy industry, our land, water and sustainable farming practices for the future,” Ms Jakszewicz said.
Take a look at four of the 2015 Lion Landcare Grant success stories:
The Tasmanian Experience
Tasmanian dairy farmer John Wilson used his Lion Landcare Grant to help improve nutrient management and crop life on his Kayena property “Limberlost”.
Mr Wilson undertook drainage works to prevent surface flooding, long periods of soil saturation and to improve drainage of excess salt from affected paddocks.
“The work will help minimise nutrient leaching by enabling active plant growth to take in nutrients rather than losing them in runoff,” Mr Wilson said.
The Word from Western Australia
Western Australian dairy farmer Warrick Tyrrell found a new way to improve energy efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions at his Waterloo property, at which his 300 cows produce 2.5 million litres of milk every year.
Mr Tyrrell used his grant to replace his dairy’s constant speed vacuum pump with a variable speed controlled pump, and to install an AuziMax electricity monitoring device.
“The overall benefit of lowering electricity use is lower contribution by our business to greenhouse gas emissions. Detailed monitoring gives us clear measurements of our electricity savings,” Mr Tyrrell said.
How South Australia does it
Dairy farmers Lyn and Kaye Gale are set to significantly reduce energy consumption and optimise milk quality at their Strathalbyn property by halving hot water heating time.
The Gales will use their grant to install a heat recovery system in the refrigeration unit of the milk vat. The system uses the heat removed from the milk as an additional and renewable source of energy to partially heat water. This preheated water is then used in the hot water service for vat and plant washing.
Mr Gale said the heat recovery system was a cost-effective way of reducing electricity usage and greenhouse emissions.
“To halve our hot water heating time is a remarkable achievement for the installation of a heat recovery system,: he said.
“We are very pleased to have this grant from Lion Landcare Grants 2015.”
Murray Bridge dairy farmer Ian Mueller installed an impressive energy efficient system on his property, “Glenbrook Dairy”, which significantly reduces his farm’s energy costs by more than 30 per cent or more than $2 per kilolitre of milk, on a farm that produces more than three million litres of milk a year.
“Saving energy is important to our business because ultimately it means saving costs and producing less greenhouse gasses,” he said.
“Installation of a heat recovery system and a new larger hot water service means the shed’s hot water system no longer needs to run 24 hours per day.
“The system will run on off-peak night power only, the lowest cost electricity. We expect this will reduce our costs from over $6 per kilolitre to about $4.”
Lion Landcare Grants help Aussie dairy farmers reduce on-farm energy usage.
