Water policy changes in the past decade that have led to a massive reduction in water available for irrigation have dramatically changed the face of dairying in the Murray region.
Before the millennium drought and then federal buyback of water for the environment, large swathes of northern Victoria and southern Murray NSW were back-to-back dairy farms irrigating permanent pastures, participants in the Australian Dairy Conference farm tour this week were told.
The changes have seen many dairy farms shut down or converted to cropping operations to provide feed for the remaining farms.
But they have also seen the emergence of a new type of dairy farmer – forward thinking, flexible and prepared to make the most of any opportunity.
Participants in the farm tour saw four farms that have adapted to the challenges in different ways.
Rob and Gai Singleton and two of their children Sam and Ellie run a 850-cow operation on 1006 hectares at Blighty, NSW.
The family moved to the Riverina in 1994 from a high-rainfall farm on the NSW north coast and converted a rice, sheep and lucerne property into a pasture-based dairy farm.
But the drought and lack of irrigation prompted them to switch to a system where cows are grazed from April to November and then fed a total mixed ration in a dry lot system across the summer.
This also allowed them to use irrigation to grow high-yielding summer crops such as maize, which is conserved as silage.
Neville and Ruth Kydd and their sons Daniel and Steven, who also farm at Blighty, continue to operate a seasonal, grazing system with an emphasis on keeping things simple and low cost.
To counter the risk of low rainfall and poor irrigation allocations, the Kydds have focused on silage production, aiming to have at least 12 months worth of silage stored on farm.
They have also bought more land to use for fodder production and still see a bright future in the region as they plan to start a second dairy business on a farm they bought in 2009.
Don and Meg Stewart own three farms in northern Victoria, including one at Yarrawalla, which is operated by sharefarmers Kelvin and Shelley Matthews.
The irrigation system at Yarrawalla has been upgraded under the Federal Government On Farm Efficiency Program, in which the Stewarts received some funding to help with the investment in exchange for returning irrigation allocation.
The new pipe-and-riser automatic system with water-monitoring technology can be operated remotely via the internet.
The farm now grows predominantly annual pasture and lucerne.
Tom and Emma Acocks, who farm with Tom’s parents Mick and Heather at Rochester, have converted to a total mixed ration system, investing $1 million in a barn and dry lot for their 760 cows.
They have also bought nearby dryland cropping land and use this to grow feed, which is conserved or stored to be fed to the cows.
Irrigation is now via centre pivots, growing crops such as lucerne and maize.
Carlene Dowie
Carlene Dowie is the editor of the Australian Dairyfarmer magazine and has more than 30 years' experience as a rural journalist.
Carlene Dowie is the editor of the Australian Dairyfarmer magazine and has more than 30 years' experience as a rural journalist.
