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Clever ‘Down Under’ Dairying Opens Us Expert’s Eyes

Cow parking, sacrifice paddocks and split herds have left a visiting US dairy expert scratching his head in wonder.

By Department of Primary Industries - 21st July 2008 - Back to News

Professor Mark Powell, from the US Dairy Forage Research Centre in Madison, Wisconsin has spent the past year learning about Australian dairy farming practices.

"Not all of the Australian grazing practices seem logical to me, but the good ideas are very, very good indeed," Professor Powell said.

The research soil scientist visited Australia in 2007-08 as part of the Accounting for Nutrients (A4N) on Dairy Farms project, supported by the Victorian Department of Primary Industries (DPI) and Dairy Australia.

Professor Powell has just reported back on his experiences across Victoria and other states, visiting dairy farmers and talking to scientists in Australia and New Zealand.

"I feel very fortunate to have had this opportunity, and it has been an amazing year," Professor Powell said.

"For myself, the standout practices are herd splitting; sending the younger cows to far away paddocks and milking them only once a day, and keeping older cows in closer paddocks for twice a day milking. I thought this was very clever.

"I was also intrigued to learn about the practice of agistment, or receiving another's cattle depending on forage availability. I found this such a fascinating practice, and so many questions arose: Why ship cattle to feed rather feed to cattle? If there is excess forage in a location, why not just increase stock numbers, rather than accepting someone else's cattle? How does this contribute to dairy industry resilience, especially during this current period of drought?

"One farmer said it was a way to preserve a herd's genetic stock, which took years to build up. The flexibility imbedded in agistment seems so interesting to me.

"My initial understanding of sacrifice paddocks was that these areas were sacrificed in terms of pasture growth. However, on some farms, sacrifice areas were routinely rotated to take advantage of the benefits of building up manure nutrients."

During his visit, Professor Powell studied the relationship between nutrient management practices and the chemistry of feed, milk and dung. His visit strengthens links between US experiences and the work of the Victorian DPI’s A4N team.

A4N is a national project backed by a wide number of industry stakeholders including Dairy Australia, Dairying for Tomorrow, the Victorian and other state Departments of Primary Industries, Land and Water Australia, GippsDairy, and DIDCO.

Professor Powell recalled a memorable trip to three dairy farms in south-west Victoria. "Some very interesting forage classification systems emerged. One farmer put silage and hay into good, medium and poor categories, another provided more detailed classes based on cuts, paddock location, mix of grass/legume and other factors.

"I came across very different farms with very different strategies that were only kilometres apart."

Professor Powell said his greatest pleasure was to experience the truly genuine Aussie hospitality during his farm visits.

"How 'bout a cuppa?’ were among the first words spoken to me. I'll always cherish these farm visits and yarns about dairy farming."

Fore more information, contact Dr Cameron Gourley, Senior Research Scientist, Accounting for Nutrients on Dairy Farms Project, DPI Ellinbank on (03) 5624 2226 or Email Cameron.gourley@dpi.vic.gov.au.

Source: http://gippsland.com/

Published by: news@gippsland.com

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