The Business of Dairy

Farm profits will be interesting this financial year with strong milk prices and milder seasons being in our favour but then on the other side of the scales we have pricing pressures on key inputs such as fertiliser and wet weather and severe flooding impacting many dairy businesses on the east coast of Australia. Whether you are looking at a profit or a loss for your dairy business, we are now in...

The potential for reduced yields and fodder quality in corn and sorghum crops is something that now has to be proactively managed by farmers as a result of detection of fall armyworm in Australia. It is a plant pest that first appeared in QLD in February 2020 and also the NT and norther parts of WA.  It has subsequently been found throughout the eastern seaboard as far as Tasmania. Being a new pes...

Covid-19 continues to impact how we live and operate as individuals, communities and businesses. This month we look at the impact it is having on farm input pricing and the supply chain from the perspective of a rural produce store and a farmer.  Troy Higgins, manager at Gloucester Rural Supplies, shares his perspective on how he is managing the challenges of securing supply of products in the yea...

This year marks the tenth year of the Dairy Farm Monitor Project in NSW and the most profitable we have seen in that period with an average operating profit or Earnings Before Interest and Tax of $2.07/kgMS which translated into a 4.9% RoTA. This project involves a detailed physical and financial analysis of dairying businesses in NSW and saw 41 farms participate this year, the highest number to d...

Nitrogen fertiliser is a key input for pasture and fodder production in dairy businesses. In the last eight months we have seen urea prices increase on farm by around 80%. Is it too costly to keep applying with urea prices over $1000 per tonne?  This month we are joined by Neil Moss, director and Senior Consultant with Scibus who consults to dairy and beef producers in NSW and interstate. We touch...

Commercially operating automatic milking systems (AMS) have been in Australia since 2001. While this system currently makes up less than 1% of the Australian dairy industry, positivity in the industry is currently seeing many farmers consider AMS as part of future investment in their businesses, with a number of farms installing them in the coming 12- 18mths.  This month we speaking with two of th...

Breeding and reproduction targets in a year-round calving system are the focus this month. Matt Brett from Tocal Dairy joins us again to talk about the breeding program at Tocal, looking at their strategy, the systems they have in place to manage and monitor herd reproductive performance and their use of sexed semen. Dr Luke Ingenhoff, veterinarian from Sydney University visits Tocal on a monthly...

What is over-capitalisation, what does it look like on a dairy farm and how does it impact your business performance? It is important to be aware of how over-capitalisation can add to your business’s cost of production – adding to both cash and non-cash costs. This month, Jake Musson (Data Analyst – Dairy Australia) describes over-capitalisation in a dairy business, the impact it can have and the...

Growing high quality feed and utilising it in the Spring period is a key opportunity to lower your total feed costs across the year. Agronomists, Josh Hack and Peter Beale talk about the importance of getting your ryegrass management right coming into the Spring period, the importance of nitrogen in growing this feed source and principles of good grazing management to capture your Spring surplus....

In this episode, we talk to dairy farmer Justin Walsh about his business structure, resources and goals and how he uses his Dairy Farm Monitor Report to measure and monitor the farm’s annual physical and financial performance. Justin also talks about the importance of getting the daily decisions right on farm by calculating metrics like his margin over supplementary feed cost as ultimately it is g...

Matthew Brett, Manager of Tocal College’s dairy in the Hunter Valley region of NSW, talks about margin over feed costs, nitrogen feriliser use, and monthly milk production among other things. Learn about the dairy, its goals, the role it plays in educating the next generation of people who have a passion for and want to work within the dairy industry and be introduced to the Tocal Monthly Business...