From shearing sheep to milking 700 cows in just six years

The story of their journey from the shearing shed to rotary dairy was one of the highlights of the Dairy Australia's Raising the Roof 2024 event held in Pokolbin, NSW, in late February.

Their speech at the three-day event was titled 'From 10 cows to 700 cows in six years' - an impressive set of numbers for any farming enterprise.

And how they achieved this result, at a time when young people entering the industry from scratch is rare, had the 260 delegates watching their on-farm video and event speech enthralled and impressed.

First up not too many people go from shearing to milking.

Neither of the Hamiltons thought when they left school they would end up owning and working on a dairy farm.

But the chance to buy a second larger farm once they sold a 120-hectare property they bought in 2017 saw them buy a former dairy farm with the intention to rear from bull calves to provide extra cash-flow while Mr Hamilton kept shearing.

"My one request on the purchase of the farm was for the previous owner to leave 10 milkers behind for our calf-rearing enterprise and that is how we got into the dairy industry," he said.

"Then we approached Murray-Goulburn to see if we could supply milk rather than rear the calves.

"So we bought 65 Holsteins and started to supply 500 litres/day.

"In three years our herd had grown to 220 cows."

Further expansion was required so the couple sold and bought another farm with a 44-stand rotary dairy, which enabled them to increase the herd to 300 cows.

At this time they also became year-round milk suppliers and Mr Hamilton retired from shearing to become a full time dairy farmer.

Less than 18 months later they purchased another property with a 50-stand rotary dairy on a WIWO basis and now they milk 700 cows and crop 1420 hectares.

Their next big plans are to build loose housing cow sheds on the farm to improve cow production, health and all-round productivity.

Now the milkers are fed on a feed pad but a changing climate with more severe weather events - more rain and more heat means they too must adopt to a new farming system.

When asked about their success Mrs Hamilton said yes hard work played a big role and they were able to capitalise on the sale of each property to invest in the next one.

"We also had some good seasons and we had a vision for our family's future," she said.

But both she and her husband agreed that meeting .Agribusiness Solutions director Brian Crockart in 2020 was a game changer.

"He has made all the difference to our operations guiding us along as we grew," Mr Hamilton said.

Mr Crockart praised the couple's work ethic but also importantly their ability to take and heed advice.

Both the Hamiltons and Mr Crockart commented on how collegiate the dairy industry was with the Hamiltons saying as newcomers people were willing to provide advice and assistance to them.

"Dairy farmers are happy to help fellow farmers and that is something which I think gives the industry its strength and hope for the future," Mr Hamilton said .

And although today they are very much a dairy farm enterprise Mr Hamilton, whose family grew rice in the Riverina, planted 40ha on the farm this season showing skills are never lost and a diversified income is always a bonus.

Raising the Roof brought together dairy farmers from every region in the country along with experts from across the globe.

The focus was on technology, in particular on best practice in dairy feeding and housing infrastructure and management practices.

Dairy Australia's national feeding and farm system lead Karen Romano described the event as an outstanding success.

"I loved the way all the information was shared from the global experts to the farmers themselves talking about their experiences on their particular farms," she said.

"In an era of challenges with climate, finances and ensuring best on-farm practices for cow health and well-being, the information provided at this event was so important."

The Hamiltons among others noted that farms doing the best were those that were changing by adopting the latest in cow housing and feeding systems.

Cost of the various system ranged from $4600/cow to $10,000/cow for the free stall system.

Among those to have already changed systems were Mark and Kate Walpole, Yielma, Vic.

They are about to install their third barn and increase the milking herd to 3000 head in an 80-unit rotary.

They are also looking to install solar on the barn roofs to increase efficiencies.

Mr Walpole said he and his wife went from a pasture-based system in the 1990s to a feed pad and then due to wet weather onto a free stall barn in 2022.

"When I left school I was working with my father and brother milking 230 cow," Mr Walpole said.

"That increased to 1700 cows in 2013 across three farms and then through succession planning Kate and I took on the home farm and 900 cows.

"I visited the Moxey family's operation in the Central West and later the US to understand the barn systems."

Their barns and dairy were built on a greenfield site, they had bought in 2018, not far from the home farm.

Since the milking herd has been relocated and operating in the new site production has lifted by 4 litres/day/cow.

Also from Victoria Mulcahy, Kyvalley, told the attendees their loose-housed compost- floored sheds, which they have used since 2022, has seen conception rates increase by 8 per cent and milk production up 25pc.