New lease of dairy life

Writen by Simone Smith

FOR the first time in seven years, Stu and Clare Modra are making all their business decisions on their own.

They can feed their 180-head Avalon Holstein herd the way they want.

Costs can be cut where they feel their business can handle it and they have freedom to explore their own ideas.

But despite all the positives of taking the leap from share-farming to leasing, there is a downside.

“If we weren’t leasing and we owned our own farm we would be willing to a take few more risks,” Mr Modra said.

“We want to build an asset . . . but there is not as much security with cows as with land.”

Owning a farm is the couple’s ultimate plan.

A move to Simpson in Victoria’s Western District from a share-farming arrangement at Allendale East, south of Mount Gambier, South Australia, a year ago was a step towards this goal.

And maintaining their herd milk production average during the move has been a positive start.

Production remained at about 8000-8500 litres a cow, with the cows averaging 21.5 litres a day prior to the arrival of the recent heatwave.

With the last of the season’s green pick turning a couple of weeks ago, feed is now a combination of supplementary fodder and crop.

Every day, milkers are fed 5kg of grain in the bail, about 9kg of pasture silage, 2.5kg oaten hay and 20kg of rape crop.

Currently in the process of drying-off the herd, the couple expect to witness the differences between share-farming and leasing once calving-time arrives.

Up to 75 per cent of their herd is in-calf to artificial-insemination bulls. In South Australia they only bred 13 heifers from AI in three years.

“(Share farming) the genetic merit of the herd suffered. We couldn’t do what we wanted,” he said.

“It was the difference between a stud herd and a commercial herd on-farm.”

The Modras are now on track for a profit for their first year in the Western District.

The Murray Goulburn suppliers admit the mid-season milk price has slightly derailed this plan.

Hinging their future on next season’s opening price, the couple have budgeted for the coming months.

“Even if it (the milk price) drops to 25 cents a litre we are still making a profit over feed costs,” Mrs Modra said.

She said at 25c/litre they would make a profit of 4.5c/litre.

An abundance of hay and silage, cut as a result of over-sowing existing pasture earlier this year, will save the couple up to $60,000 on feed costs.

Up to 45ha of their 112ha farm was cut for fodder, equating to 500 rolls of silage and 160 rolls of hay.

The Modras hoped to buy the farm when their three-year lease expired.

Australian Grand Dairy Awards announced

Tasmania’s Heidi Farm Gruyere was named Grand Champion Cheese – manager Darren Pease (left) holds the award. Bead Foods managing director David Mann holds the Grand Champion Dairy Product trophy awarded to Bead’s Gippsland Dairy Pure Double Cream.

IT WAS all about the cream, milk, yoghurt, butter and cheese yesterday as the industry recognised the best of the best at the Australian Grand Dairy Awards.

In it’s 10th year the Dairy Australia event crowned National Foods owned Heidi Farm Gruyere of Tasmania, Grand Champion Cheese, and Victorian Bead Foods owned Gippsland Dairy Pure Double Cream, Grand Champion Dairy Product.

And the winners are:

PRODUCT

MANUFACTURER

GRAND CHAMPION CHEESE

Heidi Farm Gruyere

National Foods Limited, TAS

GRAND CHAMPION DAIRY PRODUCT

Gippsland Dairy Pure Double Cream

Bead Foods Pty Ltd, VIC

Champion Fresh Unripened Cheese

Floridia Ricotta

Floridia Cheese, VIC

Champion White Mould Cheese

Tasmanian Heritage Signature Camembert

National Foods Limited, TAS

Champion Semi-Hard and Eye Cheese

Heidi Farm Gruyere

National Foods Limited, TAS

Champion Cheddar-Style Cheese

Ashgrove Double Gloucester

Ashgrove Cheese, TAS

Champion Hard Cheese

Floridia Pecorino

Floridia Cheese, VIC

Champion Blue Cheese

King Island Dairy Endeavour Blue

National Foods Limited,  TAS

Champion Washed Rind Cheese

Milawa King River Gold

Milawa Cheese, VIC

Champion Flavoured Cheese

Mamma Lucia Pecorino Chilli

Fresh Cheese Company, VIC

Champion Goat’s or Sheep’s Milk Cheese

Red Hill Mountain Goat Blue

Red Hill Cheese, VIC

Champion Natural Yogurt

Mundella Greek Style Natural Yoghourt*

Mundella Foods Pty Ltd,  WA

Champion Flavoured Yogurt

Maleny Gourmet Yoghurt* – Passionfruit

Maleny Cheese, QLD

Champion Ice Cream

Connoisseur Caramel Honey Macadamia Ice Cream

Fonterra Brands (Australia) Pty Ltd, WA

Champion Dairy Gelato

Tutto Bene Banana Gelato

Tutto Bene, VIC

Champion Dairy Dessert

Tant Pour Tant  Chocolate Raspberry Supreme

Tant Pour Tant, TAS

Champion Milk

Dairy Farmers Milk

Dairy Farmers, SA

Champion Flavoured Dairy Beverage

Dare Iced Coffee Double Espresso

Dairy Farmers, NSW

Champion Cream

Gippsland Dairy Pure Double Cream

Bead Foods Pty Ltd, VIC

Champion Butter or Butter Blend

Western Star Original Butter

Fonterra Brands (Australia) Pty Ltd, VIC

* Spelled as per manufacturer packaging.

Koalas benefit from Energex scrap

Scrap metal is being cashed in to help koalas in south-east Queensland.

Energex has donated more than $100,000 from recycled transformers and powerlines to help restore koala habitat corridors.

Chief executive Terry Effeney says they are working closely with SEQ Catchments on a range of environmental projects.

“We’re spending over a billion dollars a year on our capital and operating programs,” he said.

“There’s a lot of materials involved, there’s a lot of aged stuff we pull out of our system, just getting the value out of that is important for us and the fact that we can give away a proportion of that is great.”

Single Mom Gets Help at Wal-Mart

Source: MSNBC

An Arkansas woman struggling to make ends meet received an early Valentine when the man ahead of her in the checkout line paid her grocery bill. NBC’s Brian Williams reports.

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