In what seems like the blink of an eye, Terry and Shannon Blasches’ WestVic Dairy Focus Farm project at Jancourt East concluded with its final field day in late April. Attendees were able to see and hear about the significant improvements that have been achieved over the course of the two-year program.
Terry and Shannon became Focus Farmers only months after moving down from northern NSW. At a time when many would be getting settled and finding their feet, the Blasches’ took the bull by the horns and threw themselves into the project.
At the start of the Focus Farm several key goals were established. They were:
During the field day each goal was revisited and the progress made discussed. Below is an update on how things now stand.
Pastures
When the farm was purchased, soil fertility was quite low, especially in the lighter soils found to the east of the property. Grass swards were also past their prime and in need of renovation. Webber and Chivell agronomist, Glenn Cain was an integral member of the support group and has worked closely with the Blasches’ on improving this area of the business. An extensive renovation project commenced immediately, with the aim to have the whole milking platform sown down to perennial ryegrass. Base and Matrix are the two main cultivars that have been used. About 75% of the farm has now been renovated, with plans in place to complete the process within two years.
Along with the reseeding, a significant amount of lime and capital fertiliser has been applied across the property. Of course, this has been during a period of high fertiliser prices. Whilst the high prices slowed down progress a little, they did not allow the direction to change – fertility needed to improve. The results of this commitment have been excellent. Last year’s data shows that the farm grew 7.2t/DM/ha, which is above the top 25% of farms in the Dairy Farm Monitor Project (DFMP). There is still more room for improvement, with the aim to be producing 8t/DM/ha. This will allow 400 cows to be milked on the 215ha farm.
Seasonal calving
One of the reasons for the move down south was to simplify the business – moving away from irrigation and year-round calving being key to that. The herd is now in the process of transitioning to a single autumn calving commencing in mid-March. There were several considerations in how this would best be achieved. Firstly, the cows are registered Aussie Reds, meaning to cull hard purely on calving date would lose too many top genetics – and let’s be honest, maybe a few favourites too!
Secondly, the Reds are not the best at milking for extended lactations, they tend to dry themselves off and put on weight.
In order to work around these issues, a small, temporary ‘third’ calving in late January was initiated. This allows those calving in late winter through to late spring a stepping-stone to then calve in autumn the following year. Approximately 220 cows have or will calve in the preferred autumn window this year. Following this process, all cows will calve in autumn from 2025. In addition to this, all heifers have been joined to calve in the autumn for the past two years.
Infrastructure improvements
A huge amount of time, effort and capital has gone into improving the farm’s infrastructure, which in turn has increased productivity and reduced workload. The 40-stand rotary dairy has been transformed into a single operator setup, with ACR’s, retention bars, automatic teat spray, Easy Dairy and auto-draft all installed. CowManager ear tags have also been fitted to the cows.
The feed system has been upgraded with a disc mill, more silo storage, new feed troughs, a second feed head into the dairy and the ability to feed to production.
There has been ongoing work replacing old fences and improving laneways.
The latest project is currently underway, a 41m x 12m steel frame calf shelter with poly cover. Initially it was hoped that this would have been completed for this calving, however, that wasn’t to be. Calving 2023 has seen calves in three to four different locations, making the whole process more labour intensive. Everyone is looking forward to this shelter being in use next year.
Financial focus
Whilst Terry and Shannon have been running their business for many years now, the move to Jancourt East was effectively the start of a new business. The cost of production, land values and milk price are so different to in NSW. Therefore, establishing an appropriate cost of production – then working to reduce it – was a goal of the project. During the project two annual budgets were drawn up using any historical data that was relevant to the new location and the insights of the support group, including the farm accountant and banker.
As with any business, there has to be a decision around when to pay down debt and when to invest. As mentioned above, there has been a great deal happening on the farm, so whilst more debt could have been paid down, the decision was taken to use the good profits currently being achieved to set the farm up for the long-term.
Equity has certainly increased, though that is due mainly to the significant increase in land prices over the past few years.
Staff
At the start of the project the Blasches’ were milking around 320 cows, with Terry working full-time, Shannon part-time and Siegard (Terry’s dad) part-time and a relief milker doing a couple of milkings a week. There was not a lot of fat in the system and the whole business was heavily reliant on Terry. Over the two years things were tweaked along the way, but no further external labour was added up until recently.
With cow numbers now heading towards 400 there really had to be more labour employed. With the labour market still tight and no on-farm accommodation available, the Blasches’ did what farmers have been doing for many years to solve this issue – they employed their son!
Flynn finished school last year and is about to start a dairy farm apprenticeship. Whilst this certainly helps spread the load, it doesn’t allow for time away as a family. Finding a reliable relief milker that can manage the farm in their absence remains a goal for Terry and Shannon – along with the majority of family dairy farmers!
Wrap-up
Looking back on over the project Terry and Shannon are very happy they took part and believe it has been of great value to their business.
“We saw the Focus Farm as an opportunity to fast track our knowledge of farming in a completely different environment to what we were used to. We could have spent years finding out by trial and error what works down here, but instead we surrounded ourselves with people that know about dairying in this region – the support group – and that has really helped us to achieve our goals.
“Being able to discuss ideas with the group, hear about others experiences and then make informed decisions has been fantastic for our business. Being new to the area it was also a great way to meet people, many of those involved are now good friends,” said Terry.
WestVic Dairy are currently taking expressions of interest from dairy farmers across the region who may be interested in taking part in the project, please call the office on 55571000 for more information. With thanks to Matt Wood of WestVic Diary.
