 |
| Benchmarking Your Dairy Business
Dairy research, development and extension activities are delivered through the Dairy Centre of the Tasmanian Institute of Agricultural Research (TIAR), a joint venture between the Tasmanian Government and the University of Tasmania. For more information see further information.
Benchmarking is a key to improving business performance and profitability. It provides information to stimulate thinking and a yardstick to set performance targets to ensure a more viable, sustainable dairy business in the future.
A free benchmarking service is provided courtesy of sponsors, DairyTas and TIAR for Tasmanian dairy farmers. This can either be a personal dairy business analysis or entered in the Impact ANZ Dairy Business of the Year Award.
For both, farmers receive: - A comprehensive report detailing key farm performance indicators and benchmarks.
- A report comparing their dairy enterprise with the average and top 10% of benchmarking/Award entrants. The option of discussion with a TIAR dairy adviser to identify opportunities for improvement and investment.
Are you interested in benchmarking your dairy business performance
through the Impact Award or even just in obtaining a personal dairy
business analysis without entering the Award?
ASK NOW FOR A BENCHMARKING QUESTIONNAIRE
FROM TIAR DAIRY CENTRE -
PHONE 6421 7601
The Award is conducted through the joint efforts of the TIAR Dairy Centre and DairyTas together with the support of sponsorship from naming rights sponsors Impact Fertilisers and ANZ Bank, together with industry organisations and service providers. It provides an opportunity, free of charge, for all dairy farmers to benchmark their dairy farm businesses and obtain feedback on their business performance.
The associated field days recognise and celebrate dairy farming excellence in business performance, farm management, human resource management and environmental integrity.
The Award program showcases successful dairy farming enterprises and their people by demonstrating what is possible and why dairy farming, managed in the right manner, can be enjoyable, rewarding and highly profitable.
The field day held at Togari on 21 April 2009 celebrated the 29th year of the Impact ANZ Dairy Business of the Year Award. The day was combined with the Share Dairy Farmer Award.
The main prizes and categories for the Award were: - Overall Winner Impact ANZ Dairy Business of the Year Award - $3500 worth of fertiliser plus $1000
- Finalists (three) - $750 each
- ANZ Most Improved Award - $1500
- Fonterra Share Dairy Farmer Award - $1500
- VDL Pasture Utilisation Awards (four) - $400 each
The prizes vary from year to year depending on sponsorship.
The Impact ANZ Dairy Business of the Year and Share Dairy Farmer of the Year field days allow the opportunity to quiz the winners, inspect the winning farm and hear from judges and industry speakers.
To participate in the program and receive reports and feedback on the performance of your business during the 2009-10 season: - Request an entry form (phone TIAR 6421 7601) or download the attachment below (Input Sheets).
- If needed, make a date/time for TIAR assistance to complete forms.
- Please return completed forms by 30 December 2009 or earlier if possible!
This is a Portable Document Format (PDF) file and requires the use of Adobe Acrobat Reader. The Reader is easy to download and is free of charge.
After the closing date for the program the four (maximum) dairy businesses with the highest return on capital who have nominated to participate in the Impact ANZ Dairy Business of the Year (DBOY) are the finalists.
Finalists are visited by two judges who followed a points scoring system to decide the DBOY winner. The following categories are assessed: financial management, pasture management, herd management, people and OH&S, environmental management and dairy effluent. Past winners of the DBOY are not eligible to be a finalist for five years after winning the DBOY.
Wayne and Angela Huisman
 | Wayne and Angela Huisman and Hatfield Dairies, Togari
Return On Assets 19%
Background
Wayne and Angela’s mission statement is To manage the available resources as best as possible; to maintain a harmony between the family and the farm and to provide a secure future for us into retirement. Back in 1988, Wayne set out to pursue his dream of farm ownership by starting out as a farm employee at Lacrum Dairy. Married to Angela in 1989, the couple continued on wages for a few years before moving into lower order sharefarming agreements and beginning to rear their own calves. They started the 2003-2004 season as 50:50 sharefarmers at Poilinna Park in Edith Creek and then for the 2004-2005 season they took on an additional 30% sharefarming agreement at Denium Park, a VDL farm at Woolnorth.
In 2006, they moved to their current farm at Togari as 50:50 sharefarmers, milking 530 cows. A three-way equity partnership was formed when the previous owner put the farm on the market in July 2007 with the condition that the new owners (Hatfield Dairies) honoured the existing 50:50 share farming contract, and that the Huismans were happy with the new owners. Wayne and Angela took up a 20% stake in the property. The Huismans now have two hats to wear - one as sharefarmer, the other as farm owner. Their share farming position is the business they run. Their farm ownership is more like a self-controlled superfund.
Goals- To maintain a healthy balance between family life and business.
- To leave home when we are fifty.
- To consolidate our position after entering into the equity partnership.
- To purchase a run-off block in our own name.
Keys To Success- To be able to manage the resources that has been available to us under our contracts as sharefarmers to the best of our ability.
- Staff.
- Equity growth.
- Developing business skills, gaining knowledge, net working.
- Communication.
- Dan Huggins – farm adviser (even though we sometimes question his ideas).
- Managing the Bank Manager.
- Taking regular time off – weekends and holidays.
Staff- Dick – Wayne’s older brother has now been working for us for seven years.
- Michael Rogers is a diesel mechanic and arrived from Darwin in November.
- Michael Deverall is a painter and started with us in December.
- Samuel Stevens, Wayne’s nephew, has just left due to illness and reduction in milk price. (We were going to have to put someone off and this just happened to suit both).
- The four Huisman children roughly do one milking a fortnight and are paid an hourly rate.
Training
Dick has completed a Certificate III in Agriculture while working for us. Staff are encouraged to do any short courses or training that is relevant to the industry.
Training for Wayne and Angela has included:- Bugs and Bucks
- Countdown Downunder
- Feeding Tasmanian Dairy Cows
- Dairy Business Focus
- Fertilising Dairy Pastures
- Pasture Management
- InCalf
- AI
- Young Dairy Farmers Conference
- Countless field days and discussion groups
Farm Expansion and Potential
A centrally located rotary dairy intended for the property has been put on hold. Instead, the 40 unit swingover dairy was upgraded, with changes made to the yards and installation of automatic teat spraying and teat cup removers. This allows for a few sides to be operated by one milker while the other gets the second herd in.
Growth in equity of the existing property funded the dairy upgrade and the purchase of an adjoining 45 ha block in July 2008.
The changes have allowed for herd numbers at the peak to increase from 530 cows to 650 cows. With a rotary and a planned Centre Pivot irrigator, Wayne sees the potential of the property at 800 cows.
Management Strategies
To maintain a balance between quality and quantity of grass and push as much of it down the cows throat as possible. Grain is used to fill gaps and drive cows to a good peak in early spring when they can’t physically eat enough grass to match their milk production. Grain helps to stop the cows from losing too much body weight.
Grass production comes from good fertility levels in the soil and by applying nitrogen after each grazing, at the rate of 1kg N per day in current grazing round. The grazing round is adjusted down in spring to 18-20 days to maintain quality. The round is extended to get quantity in summer 30 days.
Cows are calved down in 7 weeks in the spring and 6 weeks in autumn. All cows need to be production before the grass takes off in the spring. Autumn calving has been introduced to keep cows in herd by giving a second chance to get into calf. This also allows the late spring cows to milk into winter maintaining an income all year round.
Turnips are not only used as a summer crop, but as part of a drainage and re-grassing program. Soon all the drainage will be done but the re-grassing will continue.
Feed and Production
 | Total MS | Cows | MS/Cow | MS/Ha | 2006-07 | 233,804 | 498 | 469 | 1596 | 2007-08 | 279,269 | 528 | 529 | 1897 | 2008-09 | 335,000 | 640 | 523 | 1675 |
The Huisman's and Hatfield Dairies at a Glance- Return on Assets, 19%
- Herd Size, 528 cows
- Milksolids, 1,897 kg/ha
- Milksolids, 529 kg/cow
- Pasture irrigated, 0%
- Pasture Used, 13,588 kg DM/HA
- Nitrogen, 430 kg/ha
Further details on the property farmed by the Huisman's are in the 2009 Field Day Booklet.
Finalists who are not selected as the DBOY Award winner get $750 and a wall plaque each.
Norm, Lesley and Rob Frampton | Frampton Family, Gawler
Return On Assets 14%
Norm, Lesley and Rob Frampton own a dairy farm at Gawler, near Ulverstone. The Frampton’s have a milking area of 126 ha of which 28% is irrigated. They run a herd of 390 cows which produced 121,891 kg milksolids in the Award year. The Framptons are developing a cross-bred herd with one of the aims to increase the longevity of cows within the herd. The average pasture utilisation on the farm was 8,123 kg DM/ha and 12.5% of the diet is purchased. Young stock and dry cows are managed on nearby run-off blocks. The Frampton’s have an emphasis on using technology and systems that make dairy farming easier.The Frampton family achieved a Return on Assets of 14% and an Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) of $3,464 per hectare.
Wayne and Linda Hansen | Wayne & Linda Hansen and Duncan & Sally Sadler, Flowerdale
Return On Assets 15%
Wayne and Linda Hansen farm with Duncan and Sally Sadler at Flowerdale on the North-West Coast. The 122 ha milking area is fully irrigated with good pasture utilisation of 13,959 kg DM/ha. The Hansen’s have a strong focus on getting the best out of their cows. In 2007-08, the 450 Friesian cows produced 258,462 kg milksolids (574 kg MS per cow) with 36% purchased feed. Young stock are grazed on an irrigated run-off block where maize is also grown for silage.
The Return on Assets of the business in 2007-08 was 15% with an EBIT per hectare of $5,375.
Bill and Ann Poke | Bill and Ann Poke, Mella
Return On Assets 9%
Bill and Ann own a dairy farm at Mella, just west of Smithton. They milk 270 Friesian cows on a milking area of 73 hectares. The cows average approximately 580 kg liveweight and in the Award year produced 628 kg milksolids per cow. The majority of the milking area is irrigated: 33 ha with K-lines and 33 ha with a centre pivot. The Poke’s achieved pasture utilisation of 15,671 kg DM/ha Purchased feed made-up 34.7% of the diet. Young stock are grazed on run-off area adjacent to the milking area and a separate run-off block.
Bill and Ann achieved a 9% Return on Assets and an EBIT per hectare of $5,367.
| |
