With Australian dairy farmers investing more than one hundred million dollars renovating pastures each year, assessing the performance, or potential economic benefit of different ryegrass varieties is critical for farm profitability. In this episode, Gipps Dairy’s Lead REO, Matt Hall and Senior Consultant in Agribusiness at Pinion Advisory Jason Lynch , talk about some of the practical ways to manage pastures - from what to consider when selecting a species, sowing versus full renovations, to be...
Apr 12, 2023•55 min•Ep. 81
As the average age of our farmers increase, planning ahead to bring the next generation on becomes vitally important. Recorded at the recent Australian Dairy Conference in Tasmania, Dairy Australia’s Elizabeth Mann caught up with Family Meeting facilitator and succession planning expert Lyn Sykes, to discuss the ins and outs of succession planning, how to approach the conversation in your family and what a successful succession plan can look like. You can find more information on business planni...
Apr 05, 2023•21 min•Ep. 80
Recorded at the recent Australian Dairy Conference in Tasmania, hear Lachlan Barnes, Murray Dairy’s Lead Regional Extension Officer, talk candidly with farmers Scott Fitzgerald (North VIC region), Jeffrey Gijsbers (Smithton TAS), and George Rigney (Cressy TAS) about their personal stories of starting out in dairy, the barriers they see to farm business growth and individual perspectives and successes taking on opportunities for the long term sustainability of dairy farming. www.dairyaustralia.co...
Mar 21, 2023•25 min•Ep. 79
Dairy Australia’s industry analysts team, John Droppert and Eliza Redfern, discuss some of the insights from the recently released Situation and Outlook report. Hear about some of the key drivers of the current domestic market situation as well as the outlook for the industry with increased on-farm and manufacturing costs in the context of global economic developments and what that may mean for milk prices moving into the next season. You can find the full March 2023 Situation & Outlook repo...
Mar 13, 2023•20 min•Ep. 78
For those new to genomic testing, or those who have already embraced it as a critical part of their farm business strategy, this DairyPod episode explores the latest developments in genetic data reporting – new herd ranking and index tools - and how these can further help inform animal trait selection decisions, supporting long term herd management and improving farm profitability. Hear the discussion as Jane Woolacott, Dairy Australia’s Regional Extension Officer in New South Wales, explores th...
Mar 02, 2023•21 min•Ep. 77
In this Dairypod episode, Dairy Australia’s Jess Phillips, Senior Community Engagement Advisor, speaks with dairy farmer and industry Ambassadors Lucy Collins from West Victoria and Joe Hammond from Tasmania, about the importance of promoting the dairy industry and the value in sharing their experiences to help maintain community trust. The conversation shares Lucy and Joey’s personal perspective on what drives the need for marketing of the dairy industry, what value they see in Dairy Australia’...
Feb 20, 2023•37 min•Ep. 76
In this Dairypod short, Dairy Australia’s Industry Insights and Analysis Manager, John Droppert and Tony Anderson, Dairy Australia’s Agribusiness Manager, discuss the value to farm businesses in understanding the factors impacting milk markets and driving local, farm-gate prices. The conversation provides an insight into why Dairy Australia’s new Milk Price Workshops were develop, the market information available to all farmers today and how a better understanding of the basics of milk-market dy...
Feb 15, 2023•12 min•Ep. 75
In this episode, Dairy Australia’s Industry Insights and Analysis Manager John Droppert and Industry Analyst, Eliza Redfern, talk candidly about the origins of the annual In Focus report - its value to industry and the challenges in compiling this annual review of the diary sector. The conversation delves into the various sources of data that informs the report, how the data is then validated and the significance of having transparency of both the immediate year in review along side long term tr...
Jan 24, 2023•19 min•Ep. 74
Hear from Cath Jenkins, working on a series of environmental management case studies with Dairy Australia, discuss how environmental considerations can become part of an effective farm business strategy. Speaking with Nigel Pannett, Managing Director at Compass Agribusiness, the discussion focuses on ways to improve the natural assets on dairy farms and Nigel explains how this experience led him to include the environment as a key strategic area for the overall business strategy - alongside fina...
Jan 20, 2023•35 min•Ep. 73
On this episode hear from Cath Jenkins, working on a series of environmental management case studies with Dairy Australia, discuss the benefits of on farm practice change with Geoff Rollinson, an industry service provider with Landcare Network working with dairy farmers across south west Victoria. Talking about some of the great work dairy farmers are doing to improve environmental outcomes and natural asset utilisation, the discussion unearths productivity and financial benefits from making imp...
Jan 04, 2023•34 min•Ep. 72
Nitrogen fertiliser use within our dairy systems has come into sharp focus of late. The rapid price increase in the last 12 to 18 months has left many farmers questioning how profitable nitrogen is. Add to this the fact the countries such as New Zealand have brought in caps on the amount of nitrogen that can be used annually on farm and farmers here in Australia are rightly concerned about how our dairy systems can still produce high amounts of home grown forage and remain profitable while reduc...
Dec 21, 2022•38 min•Ep. 71
With close to 60 per cent of all dairy farms in Australia using some form of irrigation on their land, it is important to continually find more ways to use and manage water resources. In this DairyPod episode, Dairy Australia’s National Soils and Irrigation Lead, Cath Lescun, discusses with Climate Adaptation Lead Cathy Ashby some of the current challenges facing farmers when it comes to effective irrigation. The conversation also delves into the Smarter Irrigation for Profit (SIP) research proj...
Dec 15, 2022•33 min•Ep. 70
The December 2022 Situation and Outlook report highlights strong farm finances and stable milk prices, set against challenges caused by inflation and widespread spring flooding. In this podcast episode, John Droppert Industry Insights and Analysis Manager discusses, with John Penry Manager, Technical and Innovation, the report insights including the increase in sales of fresh milk and yoghurt for the year to October 2022, ongoing labour shortage issues seeing an increased investment in labour-sa...
Dec 08, 2022•18 min•Ep. 69
What does it take to achieve a high level of milk quality? On this episode Kristen Davis, Regional Extension Officer at GippsDairy, and Dairy Consultant Dr Mark Humphris discuss some of the changes dairy farmers James and Luke from the MID in Gippsland and Darren and Tracey from Bega NSW, took to reduce their bulk milk cell count through effective mastitis management practices across their herd. The discussion covers some practical changes that were made on-farm along with the programs and resou...
Nov 10, 2022•36 min•Ep. 68
Hot summers are part of the Australian landscape but as our climate warms, we are seeing more extreme and frequent hot and dry weather conditions in all regions of Australia. Heat stress in dairy cows occurs when a tolerable threshold in environmental temperature and humidity is surpassed, and this can put at risk the wellbeing of cows and have negative implications on productivity. In this discussion we hear from Dairy Australia’s Technical Lead, Feedbase and Nutrition, Rodrigo Albornoz as he d...
Nov 02, 2022•41 min•Ep. 67
In this DairyPod episode, Dairy Australia’s Debbie Twiss sits down to talk with Jess, a dairy farmer in Victoria who shares a very personal story about her experience with anxiety and mental health and well being. Drawing on her personal experiences, Jess shares the very real and confronting challenges she faced, and the steps she took to seek help from those around her. Trigger warning - This episode does contain themes that may be upsetting for some of our listeners. If this does raise persona...
Oct 24, 2022•20 min•Ep. 66
Setting the background on Dairy Australia’s Workforce Attraction campaign, in this discussion we hear from Dairy Australia’s Ross Bawden and Sarah Cornell talking with dairy farmer Kristy Grant, about the challenges of labour shortages, a new national approach to driving community awareness and engagement and resources available connecting job seekers with careers in dairy. Find out more at www.dairyaustralia.com.au/people See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Oct 13, 2022•20 min•Ep. 65
Hear from Dairy Australia’s Manager, Technical and Innovation John Penry and Industry Insights Analysis Manager and report author John Droppert, as they discuss the key insights from the September Situation & Outlook report. The discussion covers the effects and outlook resulting from record-high farmgate milk prices, global production volume outlook as well as ongoing challenges caused by weather conditions, workforce shortages and high input costs which remain key issues for the industry. ...
Sep 14, 2022•21 min•Ep. 64
Listen to Dairy Australia’s John Droppert talk to Situation and Outlook report author, Sofia Omstedt, in the latest DairyPod. John and Sofia discuss the forces influencing the global dairy commodities market, how they affect farm profitability, and the broad outlook for the dairy industry. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mar 08, 2022•17 min•Ep. 63
The December 2021 Situation and Outlook report notes increasing competition for resources between beef and dairy in some regions. With that in mind, Dairy Australia’s John Droppert caught up with Matt Dalgleish from Thomas Elder Markets to discuss the outlook for beef prices and whether the beef boom is likely to turn into a bust. If you want to read more about the latest Situation and Outlook Report, go to www.dairyaustralia.com.au/sando See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Dec 14, 2021•42 min•Ep. 62
Today we’re back in beautiful South Australia where the high number of sunny days has led to a revolution in energy usage, especially involving renewables. But apart from whacking a few solar panels on the shed roof, how much do you really know about the opportunities and pitfalls involved in power usage? DairySA extension officer Beck Burgess recently sat down with farm energy expert Simon McKay to see just how fast the game is changing in generating and utilising power. See omnystudio.com/list...
Dec 06, 2021•25 min•Ep. 61
Treating lameness is an incredibly rewarding job, allowing farmers to ease pain and suffering as well as getting their prized milkers back in top shape. But for most farmers, treating lameness in their herd seems well beyond their skillset. In this podcast, a group of experts and farmers from a recent Healthy Hooves workshop look at approaches to preventing, diagnosing and treating lameness. It’s a great discussion led by GippsDairy’s Kristen Davis and Gippsland vet Mark Humphris, with plenty of...
Nov 29, 2021•27 min
An increasing number of farmers are strategically using sexed semen to increase their replacement rates and reduce the number of bobby calves or male calves produced. In this podcast, WestVic Dairy Regional Extension Officer Debbie Twiss caught up with Warrnambool based vet Dr John Kelly. John and Debbie discuss how modern sexed semen performs relative to conventional semen, the considerations you need to take on board when preparing to use sexed semen, when might sexed semen might be most appro...
Nov 08, 2021•46 min
With an increasing number of farms considering more intensive dairy systems, we thought it would be a great chance to hear what respected farm consultant Phil Shannon has to say on the pros and cons of housed systems and the untapped potential for growth in existing grazing systems. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Oct 09, 2021•58 min
The DairySA team back is back in the in the pod, with regional extension officer Beck Burgess joined by DairySA chair Andrew Cavill for a chat on how heifer genomics have transformed his herd. Andrew, who farms at Bool Lagoon, about half an hour from the Victorian border, is a great advocate for the positive benefits of genomic testing. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Sep 30, 2021•27 min
With the release of the September Situation and Outlook Report, it's a good chance to look at what’s happening in grain trends. With input prices remaining subdued and milk prices still favourable, farmers will now be looking down the track to see what their balance sheet will be like for the rest of the year. To help paint a clearer picture of hay and grain forecasts, Dairy Australia’s industry analyst John Droppert is joined by ProFarmer Australia analyst Claudia Kirby. See omnystudio.com/list...
Sep 14, 2021•17 min
Bega irrigator Will Russell is a young dairy farmer who is determined to maximise the yield from his water resource. Will is part of the Smarter Irrigation for Profit Two project which is delivering innovative ways to optimise pasture and crop yield. Will sat down with SIP2 co-ordinator Kym Revington to discuss how he’s getting more bang for his buck for the 500 megalitres he uses on his farm each year. For the latest tools, resources and information from the Smarter Irrigation for Profit 2 proj...
Sep 02, 2021•31 min
Spring is just around the corner, which means silage season is here for many dairy farmers across Australia. In this episode of DairyPod, technical services manager for Lallemand Australia David Lewis joins Murray Dairy regional extension officer Lisa Birrell to discuss inoculants and additives in silage. David’s well known as a silage guru, so anything he says on the subject is well worth listening to. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Aug 06, 2021•30 min
Heat detection technology has been changing rapidly over recent years, so Carl Hockey has joined Steph Bullen for the latest DairyPod episode. Carl services dairy farms across much of the subtropical region and is extremely knowledgeable about reproduction and heat detection. This is a must-listen podcast for any farmer looking to improve labour efficiency and reproductive performance. If you have ideas on podcast topics, we’d love to hear from you. Feel free to drop us a line at dairypod@dairya...
Jul 21, 2021•35 min
Dairy Australia’s June Situation and Outlook report tells us that farmer confidence is riding high. With so much of our industry dependant on trade, DairyPod spoke to Stewart Davey, the man charged with helping exporters cut red tape and improve market access. Talking to Dairy Australia industry analyst, John Droppert, Stewart offers an insider’s look into some of the challenges of international trade. If you want to read more about the latest Situation and Outlook Report or National Dairy Farme...
Jul 01, 2021•36 min
