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Prioritising health: A fit mind is fit for business

Whether it’s extended dry conditions or floods, farmers continually face challenges that affect their businesses. Key to seeing tough times through is keeping your mind and body fit so that you can plan, prepare, manage and cope with any situation that may arise.

DFMC’s Executive Officer, Mark Kebbell, is urging members to be responsible and proactive about their health .

“Climatic events like drought add a lot of pressure to farm management and sometimes mental health can be put on the backburner while the immediate threats to business are handled,” said Mark. “But at the end of the day there is no dairy and no business without a healthy, fit and able dairy farmer.

“I want to encourage our members to look at some of the expert advice and useful resources that are available to help you look after yourself and, in doing so, look after your business.”

The National Centre for Farmer Health (NCFH) has a range of resources that assist farmers in managing their physical and mental health. Here is their list of tips to ‘Mind Your Mind’ as published in their ‘Managing Health on the Farm’ booklet:

  • Keep active – Regular exercise can boost your self-esteem and can help you concentrate, sleep, and look and feel better.
  • Eat well – What we eat may affect how we feel. Your brain needs a mix of nutrients. In order to stay healthy and function well, just like the other organs in your body. A diet that’s good for your physical health is also good for your mental health.
  • Get enough sleep – When you’re a busy worker on the land, life is hectic. We don’t give our bodies as much rest as they need to fully function. Pretty soon we find ourselves running on empty. Sleep is not only good for the body, but it is also good for the mind. A well-rested body and mind can accomplish great things.
  • Drink sensibly – We often drink alcohol to change our mood. Drinking is not a good way to manage difficult feelings. Stay within the recommended daily alcohol limits.
  • Talk about your feelings – Talking about your feelings can help you stay in good mental health and deal with times when you feel troubled.
  • Keep in touch – Strong family ties and supportive friends can help you deal with the stresses of life.
  • Ask for help – None of us are superhuman. We all sometimes get tired or overwhelmed by how we feel or when things don’t go to plan.
  • Take a break – A change of scene or a change of pace is good for your mental health. It could be a five-minute pause from cleaning or driving the tractor, or a half-hour lunch break at work. A few minutes can be enough to de-stress.
  • Do something you’re good at – What do you love doing? What activities can you lose yourself in? What did you enjoy doing in the past? Remind yourself that you are fabulous – Don’t let deadlines get you down. Remind yourself of all the things you have accomplished and don’t get caught up in problems or the things that were/are out of your control.

Also available is the Lion Dairy Pride Farmer Support Program, which offers free confidential counselling to you and your families. This can be accessed 24/7 by calling 1300 687 327.

Members may also be interested in the following:

 

Reference

Phillips, T., Hatherell, T., & Brumby, S. (2018). Managing Health on the Farm. National Centre for Farmer Health, Western District Health Service, Hamilton.

 

Update on drought fund

The drought conditions suffered by suppliers in many regions have been, and continue to be, very trying. Lion Dairy & Drinks introduced a temporary wholesale price increase on 1, 2 & 3 litre fresh white milk and with the support of participating retailers in New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland created the Be True Blue Farmer Drought Fund. All fund proceeds have been distributed to Lion Dairy & Drinks dairy suppliers through DFMC or directly to farmers in drought affected NSW, South East Queensland and Northern Victoria. 

DFMC chairman Andrew Burnett joined with Lion Dairy & Drinks Agricultural Procurement Director Murray Jeffrey and another LDD dairy supplier to form the Fund’s Oversight Committee. The Committee met monthly to ensure the accuracy, independent assessment and transparency in the payment process. Ernst & Young were also appointed as the independent auditors of the Fund.

The program has come to an end, with the last fund payment made on 15 February 2019.

“I can’t thank Lion enough for the program, the money was a real help to farming cash flows,” Andrew said.

“The fund has distributed just under $3.5 million, which is clearly significant.”

DFMC is conscious that many farmers are still facing very tough weather conditions.

Meet a director: Adrian Dauk

Self-sustaining dairy businesses are the key to a thriving industry, says DFMC Director Adrian Dauk.

Blinkbonnie Dairy on South Australia’s stunning Fleurieu Peninsula is home to Adrian, his wife and business partner Holly and their four young children. In the pursuit of increasing their dairy’s profitability and strengthening efficiencies, Adrian and Holly have been gradually introducing automation into the business.

“We’ve increased the herd from 180 cows to over 250 in the past three years,” said Adrian.  “The more you improve your efficiencies, the more scope you have to make those kinds of decisions.

“Profitability in business is directly linked to efficiencies.”

Adrian and Holly have introduced automated feeding and an automatic draft to improve cow flow, boost cow comfort and allow staff to work more efficiently. Automatic calf feeders have resulted in consistent growth rates and calmer calves. In the long term, Adrian and Holly would like to investigate smart collars and milk meters.

“There’s a big role in the industry for young people, especially in automation because you need to be tech savvy and interested in automation,” Adrian said.

“We know time on-farm isn’t free, so an efficiency gain of 1 to 2 percent is going to help businesses be self-sustaining, which means we won’t be as susceptible to outside pressures like the price of grain, hay or water.

“I think the more self-sustaining we can be, the brighter the future will be.”

Adrian began dairy farming in 2007. His passion for the industry meant that by 2016, he had joined DFMC’s board as a Director.

“I felt that particularly in my region, people are very busy, and I had the time and support that allowed me to put my hand up,” Adrian said. “You can’t have an impact on the industry if you’re not involved and I like being able to help other farmers who don’t have time to commit outside of their business.

“I think being younger, it’s almost my job to keep everyone on their toes and enthused,” Adrian joked.

“I enjoy being able to help make decisions that keep DFMC moving forward.”

Result of Independent Director Election 2019

4 February, 2019

 

Dear members,

Following a process managed by a specialist agricultural recruiting company the Board nominated John McKillop for election by the members.  The voting period closed on Friday 1 February and as Chairman I am pleased to announce the Returning Officer has advised the nomination has had over-whelming support.

As previously communicated current Independent Director John Bywater, elected by the members to the Board in 2011, has decided to stand down from the board and will leave at the end of June 2019.  John McKillop will commence immediately, with a planning and strategy day preceding the first board meeting of the year in the first week of February, and allowing a 5 month handover.

I welcome John McKillop to the Board and am excited about what his experience in agribusiness, finance and commercial negotiations will bring to DFMC as we transition beyond the current MSA into a future with the opportunity to broaden DFMC’s involvement in the dairy industry.

 

Regards,

Andrew Burnett
Chairman

Cream of the crop at milk quality awards

Winners of DFMC’s National Milk Quality Awards were announced at our AGM and convention in November. The awards, held in honour of long-serving Far North Queensland Farm Services Manager Ian Stewart, are now in their 18th year.

DFMC believes that farms providing milk of exceptional quality should be recognised as the ‘cream of the crop’. A full list of regional award winners is below. To qualify for the awards, farmers must have NOT received any demerit points for the year, must have supplied milk for the full twelve months of the 2017/18 financial year and be current members of the co-operative.

For the second year running, we congratulate Kaid and Jo Hawken from Leitchville in Northern Victoria for winning the National Milk Quality Award. Supplying three million litres of milk at a 4.41% fat and 3.53% protein with a 72,000 somatic cell count (SCC) is an exceptional effort.

Far North Queensland

  1. Laceview Pty Ltd
  2. P & VA English
  3. KF & SC Collins
  4. J & S Geraghty
  5. MB Daley Pty Ltd

South East Queensland

  1. DA & CG Vonhoff
  2. MC & JM MacDonald
  3. Crouch Farming
  4. RL & SL Skyring
  5. ME IW & WD Pukallus

New South Wales

  1. Beaulands Pty Ltd
  2. WG & AJ Sherborne
  3. Jim Strong
  4. MacArthur Stanham Holdings P/L
  5. The Gee Partnership

South Australia

  1. Jared & Megan King
  2. The Bartlett Family Trust
  3. Blinkbonnie (SA) Pty Ltd
  4. JR & JP Fisher

Victoria

  1. GR & JR Hawken Pty Ltd
  2. BD & KL Mitchell
  3. JC & NT Smith
  4. Northvic Farms
  5. JH & BA Dealy

Congratulations also to suppliers from both the Northern and Southern regions who have achieved fantastic bulk milk cell count (BMCC) averages for the October/November period.

 

2018 milk quality awards

Milking keeps Lex Emerson on the move

Calcium-rich dairy foods are often recommended as a natural booster of bone health, but Far North Queensland dairy farmer Lex Emerson is incorporating dairy into her fitness routine in an unexpected way.

At 75, Lex still milks the cows every day and helps to manage the farm business.

Christened Alexandra but known her entire life as Lex, this 75-year-old continues to take the lead in milking her family’s 160-cow herd.

“I milk full-time – twice a day, every day,” the third-generation dairy farmer Lex says. “It keeps me healthy. I have osteoarthritis so I need exercise. If I wasn’t doing that now, I probably wouldn’t be able to walk; it’s as simple as that.”

Dairying runs through Lex’s bloodline. Her parents and grandparents (the Graham and Chapman families) were in the industry, as was her late husband Keith’s family (the Emerson family).

Lex’s father-in-law Bob Emerson arrived in the Atherton Tablelands in 1908, having driven 1000 cattle more than 1800 kilometres overland from Lismore in northern New South Wales. Despite half the mob having been lost to tick fever when they reached Mt Garnet, the Emersons went on to establish one of the region’s earliest dairy farms.

At the time the family supplied milk to the Malanda Butter Factory – a facility that led the way in dairy processing on the Tablelands and was the forerunner of Lion Dairy & Drinks’ site today.

By comparison, the Graham family were relative latecomers, settling the Tablelands a decade or so later.

“My father was only a baby when the Graham family arrived on the Tablelands – one of 12 children,” Lex says. “Dad loved showing cattle and when he first left school he used to go around the shows, travelling with the cattle on the train to look after and feed them. He always loved shows and milking competitions in those days – going to the exhibition in Brisbane.”

The extended clan has been dairying at Jaggan, on the Atherton Tablelands near Cairns, for more than a century.

Lex’s cousin, Ross Chapman, has a dairy farm not far from the Emerson property.

“The Chapman side of the family came from Scotland to Gympie; my grandmother’s people were Danish. My grandfather thought there were no more selections to be had down Gympie way so when he and my grandmother were first married they came further north to find land. They had two selections here; he had one and she had another. Now we have four blocks altogether that were originally selected.”

Lex’s family history in dairying in Far North Queensland dates back to 1908.

The Chapman and Graham name changed to Graham and Emerson in 1962, when Keith and Lex moved back to the family farm in partnership with Lex’s parents. Lex has lived on the farm ever since.

“Things were tight and tough at times but we always managed. I don’t care who you are: you have your hard times, your hard seasons,” she says.

And now, one of Lex and Keith’s four sons, Wayne, is continuing the tradition. While Chris, Raymond, Mark and sister Maree have pursued off-farm careers, Wayne has chosen to work beside Lex, sharing responsibility for managing not only dairy but also beef cattle.

“Keith loved cattle and so does Wayne, just like his father,” Lex says. “It’s something within. We’re part beef here these days as well; we’re not all dairy.”

For milking, the Emersons run a blend of Aussie Reds, Friesians and crossbreds. “We’re mixed today,” Lex says. “When deregulation came in we bought some Jerseys to up the milk fat and protein levels, and we’ve crossed them through some of the others.”

Lex says she has seen consolidation and contraction across dairying on the Tablelands, where roughly 100 farms have tapered down to 43, in her view driven largely by milk pricing.

Sweeping views of the Emerson family farm, Malanda, Queensland.

She is assisted in the dairy primarily by 19-year-old Jessica Stonehouse, with backup from sons Wayne and Raymond whenever their workloads permit.

One of Lex’s teenaged grandsons is already showing interest in the farm. “Raymond’s on the railway in Cairns and is here a lot. His son Lachlan, who’s just turned 15, loves the farm. We’ll wait and see, but he comes up as often as he can – holidays and weekends.”

Lex is conscious of maintaining her physical health, having seen her mother experience osteoarthritis and a sister become paralysed by multiple sclerosis. “Given what my sister’s going through I’m very lucky,” she says of her own osteoarthritis. “At times it gets to be a bit much but generally speaking the milking is very healthy for me.”

Lex balances running the dairy and taking care of the property’s business paperwork with having an off-farm break occasionally. “I tend to go once a year to see Mark in Ballarat, Victoria, or Maree in Lake Cargellico, NSW.

“I do the business paperwork; Wayne does the cattle paperwork and the dairy. We split it between the two of us,” she says. “It works out.”

Lex says increasing digitisation is one of the biggest changes to have occurred in dairy farming in recent decades. “Everything is more computerised; in our day it wasn’t. You have to be up with that. It’s what’s expected.

“But, also farmers need to be very careful financially. You have to work out a plan to focus on where you’re aiming to go.

“We’re not stressed like young people starting off, coming in and having to work their way through. We’ve been there; we’ve done that. We’re just comfortable where we are at the moment.”

Automation, quality food a hit on TAS field trip

After DFMC’s convention, 14 DFMC suppliers headed to Launceston where the post-convention tour commenced with some beautiful scenery on the way to Lion’s state-of-the-art The Heritage speciality cheese manufacturing hub in Burnie.

DFMC suppliers sporting the brand new hats.

Led by Lion’s Tasmanian Farm Services Officer, Alistair Shepard, the group was given a detailed tour of the plant – which is the largest speciality cheese production facility in the Southern Hemisphere – and was able to meet master cheese maker Ueli Berger. Ueli is responsible for the 11,000 tonnes of brie and camembert produced each year.

The 150-million-dollar redevelopment of the Burnie plant has seen a large focus on robotic production, which Ueli credits to making a more consistent and higher quality product. However, Ueli emphasised that the human workforce is still vitally important in ensuring quality.

The tour was also lucky enough to visit Garry and Bev Carpenters’ robotic milking operation.

Built in an old hops processing shed, the eight-box robotic dairy milks a herd of 500 cows and was an interesting example of how new technology can be incorporated with existing infrastructure.

Also interesting was the ownership structure of the operation, with the Carpenters leasing the property from a Singaporean businessman but being responsible for implementing the infrastructure improvements.

The next morning saw the DFMC tour head to Quamby Brook near Deloraine, where the Dornauf family operate a 350-cow farm that features the world’s first fully automatic milking rotary dairy (AMR).

While participants watched on from the viewing room overlooking the dairy, owner Nick Dornauf provided insight into the development and ongoing operation of the system.

The world’s first commercial Automatic Milking Rotary (AMR) dairy.

One of the more fascinating aspects of the facility was that, when maintenance of the robots is required, the dairy can be operated manually to avoid excessive disruption to cow milking patterns.

Lunch was at another Dornauf-owned operation – The Christmas Hills Raspberry Farm – although Nick’s confession that he prefers to eat in his tractor cabs certainly raised some eyebrows!

Any doubts about the establishment were quickly erased as the tour group were treated to one of the best meals experienced for the week, with the raspberry sundaes proving a particular favourite.

The Dornaufs operate five dairies in the area, milking around 2200 cows. In May this year the Dornaufs commissioned a new one-person 60-unit rotary on their 600-cow Moltema property, at an investment cost of $1.7 million.

Featuring a robotic arm teat sprayer, the state-of-the-art installation greatly impressed the tour group, with nothing overlooked in its design and construction.

Nick explained that although the family was happy with their automated rotary, the decision not to build another was based on management capacity due to geographic considerations, with the Moltema property not well suited to automation.

Meet a director: Grant Sherborne

Dairy farming means family and smart business for Grant and Jane Sherborne. After the two eldest Sherborne children left school and joined the business, Grant focussed on diversifying the strategies used on their farm at Burrawang, NSW to leverage the diverse skills that his family brings to the table.

Grant and Jane’s daughter Georgia manages the dairy full-time.

Grant’s wife Jane has served on the Dairy NSW Board of Directors for the past four years and Chairman for the past two years. Jane manages the farm records and accounts, but her passion lies in rearing top-quality calves; both male and female. Their daughter Georgia has a full-time position operating and overseeing the milking procedure, as well as the running of the dairy computer system, including recording all herd events. William, the older of their two sons, specialises in pasture management, irrigation and stock feed requirements.  Samuel, who has just finished school, helps out wherever he can, lending his great eye for detail and natural aptitude for farming to the team.

“It’s an advantage to us, having the kids come into the business with a fresh perspective and new ideas,” Grant said.

“It’s important for farmers to always be willing to diversify and forever be willing to change to improve practices. Having the kids take on more on-farm responsibility has also freed me up to do a little more off-farm to support the industry.”

Jane and Grant Sherborne both serve on boards for the dairy industry.

Two years ago, Grant updated their 20-a-side swing-over dairy to include Automatic Disinfectant Flushing (ADF) cups, DeLaval milk meters, a computer system with DeLaval scanners that read the NLIS tags, individual milk meters, individual cow recording, and conductivity meters for detecting mastitis before it develops.

The dairy currently milks 300 cows, with plans to calve 340-345 this coming year. The Sherbornes’ short-term aim is to produce a bit over 2.5 million litres and eventually build up to 3 million. Rather than selling bobby calves at low value, the Sherbornes raise all bull calves into steers, running them on their semi-feedlot 4km down the road, until they reach production targets to meet market requirements, with some going into premium MSA grade beef.

The Sherborne family have also been working with Neil Moss from the Scibus program (through DFMC) to boost herd and farm production, through improved pasture and reproductive management. A nutrient mapping program enables them to reuse all the effluent from the dairy, feed pad and calf shed in the right places.

“We go for a drive with Neil to look at things on the farm and he doesn’t ask too much of me, but he really challenges the kids on what they’re doing,” Grant said.

Eldest son William manages the pastures, irrigation and stock feed requirements.

The Sherborne farm featured in Dairy NSW and Dairy Australia’s Project 20:20 Pathways to Change. Grant and Jane are also heavily involved in Dairy Australia’s Cows Create Careers, taking calves into high schools to demonstrate how well they are looked after and educating students on what is involved in milk production, as well as taking on work placement students throughout the year, and welcoming school excursions on-farm to see how the cows are milked, fed and handled.

“The way our cows are treated can be different from what they’ve read or been told. Hopefully we’ll see a correlation between this education and graduates deciding to investigate a career in dairy – or at least have a deeper understanding of what we do.”

Grant is a long-serving member of DFMC, beginning with the original Dairy Farmers Co-Op. In 2002 he became a Ward Representative, in 2010 a Central and Southern NSW District Chair, and in 2013 a Board Director. Grant says his role as a director is to be a voice for farmers, so they can focus on their job.

“I’ve always thought the reason DFMC exists is to do all of the negotiating and the policy making that is beyond the farm gate, because if individual farmers have to run around negotiating a price or getting the best deal, they’re losing effectiveness on-farm,” Grant said.

“Today’s farmers have to specialise in what they’re doing, and that’s producing great milk.”

As far as the challenges currently facing industry, Grant says “Sometimes challenges are exactly that: they are challenges. They make you re-evaluate the situation and make necessary changes; often bringing out the best in you and your business.”

“We’ve been encouraged to make a few improvements and become more focused and efficient. I can give examples of our better nutrient applications and better pasture growth, and how the development of our dairy steers has become integral to our business – these are changes that we made because of the challenges we faced.”

From left to right: William, Georgia, Grant and Samuel Sherborne. Picture: Jane Sherborne.

December Christmas functions with Lion Dairy & Drinks

DFMC and Lion invited members to attend one of the following events in their region during November & December:

  • Crestmead, Brisbane: Wednesday 21 December, Kensington Tavern
  • Malanda: Thursday 22 December, Malanda RSL
  • Sunshine Coast / Gympie: Thursday 6 December, Gympie RSL
  • Harrisville: Thursday 6 December, McInnes farm for a BBQ
  • Oakey: Friday 7 December, Oakley RSL
  • NSW South Coast: Tuesday 11 December, Kangaroo Valley Country Club
  • NSW Central West: Wednesday 12 December, Orange Ex services club
  • Hunter Valley: Thursday 13 December, Muswellbrook, Balmoral House
  • NE Victoria: Thursday  13 December, King River Café, Oxley

Some pictures from our Christmas event in Echuca earlier this month, with DFMC and Lion suppliers from the Northern Victoria region.

Merry Christmas from DFMC

We would like to wish all of our members a very merry Christmas and thank you for your work this year.

Thank you also to the DFMC & Lion suppliers who attended each Christmas event this month. It was great to catch up with you all and we look forward to working with you in the coming year!

DFMC gets seat on dairy leader roundtable

DFMC Chair Andrew Burnett represented members at a roundtable meeting of dairy leaders held in Brisbane on 8 October.

Participants at the dairy roundtable meeting, 8 October 2018 (Photo: Joel Fitzgibbon MP, Facebook page).

Hosted by Shadow Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry the Hon. Joel Fitzgibbon MP, the roundtable sought to gather industry input on the ACCC dairy inquiry report and the proposed mandatory code of conduct.

All the major processors, including Lion Dairy & Drinks, and major retailers were present as was Senator Kim Carr Shadow Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research, and Queensland Senator Chris Ketter, Chair of the Economics References Committee.

“It’s important for DFMC to work with both sides of politics in a bipartisan manner,” said Andrew. “We wanted to be present at the roundtable to ensure our farmers were represented and their perspective shared.

“The main messages I communicated were the value of collective bargaining groups – such as DFMC – but that collective bargaining groups alone were not enough.

“The current market limits the capacity of farmers to pass their production costs fairly and reasonably up the supply chain, leaving otherwise viable, efficient and productive farmers in a challenging business situation.”

DMFC hopes to continue conversations with politicians interested in supporting the long-term viability and sustainability of Australia’s dairy industry.