Dairy couple buys 350 cows out of cashflow during drought

Nicole and Brendan Saunders arrived in Australia from New Zealand in July 2018.

Supplementary feed prices were sky-high and their new Maffra share farm was over-stocked with a 700-strong herd in light condition on skinned-out pastures.

But the farm had a potent advantage: a combination of dam, bore and channel water that allows for 6 megalitres of irrigation per hectare.

Now, Ms Saunders has introduced another secret weapon in the form of a laminated A4 sheet on the dairy fridge door.

Duplicated on the fridge at home and in the office, the single sheet is a business plan created in a two-hour session during a Rabobank Farm Management Program, which Bonlac Supply Company sponsored Ms Saunders to attend.

It summed up everything the couple wanted to achieve:

Other goals help the farm maintain a happy team and make long-term progress.

They've managed to tick almost every profit-related box, thanks to a massive dollop of courage.

"We changed our model and we bought in no feed," Ms Saunders said.

In that one season, they changed the herd's genetics, the calving pattern, the feed base and the staffing arrangements.

Ms Saunders said they were transitioning the herd to LIC New Zealand genetics for an efficient, small-statured cow.

The cows - traditionally a split-calving herd - will now also be mated for a tight nine-week seasonal calving.

"I did a bunch of gross profit margins on that and quite a bit of analysis," the Fonterra supplier said.

"For us, the winter milk premium wasn't enough for the price of the feed that was required.

"It might change but we've come in during a pretty harsh year and you have to ensure your system's resilient because we're in an industry which changes from year to year."

The value of feed is not lost on the Saunders, who decided to avoid buying in any fodder that year to augment the 1000kg/cow of supplements fed in the bail.

"We use literally every single blade of grass, we utilise roadside grazing a lot and there's no way you could find long grass patches anywhere on the farm," Ms Saunders said.

The couple also changed the pasture rotation system so dry cows follow the milkers to optimise residuals.

To help provide a bulk of feed, they sowed 20ha of maize for the first time and took advantage of the drought infrastructure grant to install concrete bins in the dry corner of a paddock.

"That maize got us through autumn and winter," Ms Saunders said.

But it hadn't all been smooth sailing.

"With every system change, we talked to a lot of people, especially about the maize," Ms Saunders said, "but we actually got pretty scared."

"Ours was the only maize crop in the district that got nailed by cockatoos not long after it came up.

"It turned into one of those things that might have been a pretty bad risk."

Resowing proved successful and 8ha was cut as green feed through autumn.

The remaining 12ha yielded 250 tonnes of dry matter that made it to the silage stack.

The gamble paid off. Aside from avoiding the high price of bought-in fodder, milk production is up 25pc on the year before and rising.

The Saunders farm employs three staff members, including two back packers housed at a nearby hostel who work a six-and-two roster and one local, who works four days on, four days off.

Every team member must complete Dairy Australia's Cups On Cups Off course and has a personalised training plan.

That includes Ms Saunders herself, who benefited tremendously from the Rabobank Farm Management Program that Bonlac Supply Company sponsored her to attend.

"On the very first day, they had a mental health session with Tom Mulholland and his book, Healthy Thinking, has really changed the way I think, to be honest," she said.

"You need to justify your emotions: 'Why am I angry about this? Should I be upset about this? Why are you upset about this?'

"People lose a lot of a productive time on those negative emotions like anger, resentment, jealousy, those kinds of things."

"Something might happen in your life that gets you really, really down and you might struggle with that but you can't let one thing ruin the rest of your life."

The program also included sessions on financials, human resources, succession planning and goal setting but Ms Saunders said the social element was equally as beneficial.

"It was great to be surrounded by a group of people passionate about all types of agriculture that created such a great atmosphere of positivity," she said.

Growing and improving the business helps Ms Saunders maintain that postivity but the couple are more focused on profitability than expansion, so growth is more likely to come from diversification than intensification.

"We don't want more than about 1000 cows," she said.

"I like to be sure our animal welfare and everything else is on the ball and I think that when you stretch yourself too far, it can be hard to ensure that all of these practices are always being done the way we want.

"I envisage the dairy industry as making ethical food that people want and are happy to buy."