The Business of Dairy
The Business of Dairy podcast will look at aspects of management of dairy businesses from both within the farm gate and outside the farm gate, speaking to farmers and service providers with skills, information and knowledge of value to you and your business. We will bring to you monthly discussions on topics that will grow your knowledge and understanding of management areas that will drive strong farm business performance into the future. This series is brought to you by the NSW DPI Dairy Business Advisory Unit with funding and support from the Hunter Local Land Services.
Episodes
42 episodes
Revisiting profitable pasture management and silage production
Feed costs are the highest operational costs in a dairy business, so it is vital that we manage these well in order to enhance our farm’s profitability. We are currently well into a somewhat mild spring here, in most regions of New South Wales...
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Episode 42
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26:27
Responses and Decision Making in Natural Disasters
Late in 2023, a group of dairy farmers from across NSW were interviewed about their experiences, decisions made, support networks and lessons learnt following a number of recent natural disaster events, including the 2021-2022 floods. Tori Alex...
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Episode 41
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27:25
Moving and Managing our Dairy Business
NSW dairy farmer Brad Winzer shares his journey, moving their well-established family farm from Northern Victoria to the Mid Coast of New South Wales – the reasons why, the differences between farms and the challenges they faced. He outlines th...
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Episode 40
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21:20
Intensive Dairying - Profitability and Risk Insights
This month’s episode focuses on a project looking at intensive dairy systems in Inland NSW and Northern Victoria over the last 7 years. This has provided the industry with quality foundational information on the profitability, cost structures a...
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Episode 39
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25:45
Feed Conversion Efficiency – at What Cost?
Feed costs are typically the largest component of operational costs in a dairy business, typically making up 50 – 60% of total costs, depending on feeding system, seasons and conditions. Hence it is vital that what is being fed to the cows resu...
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Episode 38
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32:18
Decision Making and Risk Management with a Family Board
The use of a structured approach within a NSW dairying business to assist with decision making and risk management, is discussed this month with Kay Smith from Bulahdelah. The Smiths have been operating a family dairy business for over 40 years...
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Episode 37
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35:44
Financing Dairy Farm Infrastructure
This episode follows on from episode 35 “Successfully navigating farm loans” but focusses specifically on financing for large infrastructure projects such as cow housing facilities. This topic was addressed by my guest, Greg Kuchel, Senior Insi...
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Episode 36
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22:14
Successfully Navigating Farm Loans
My guest for this episode is Greg Kuchel, Senior Insights Manager at Rural Bank who spoke recently at the “Raising the Roof” conference in Hunter Valley of NSW about farm loans in particular for infrastructure loans related to cow housing facil...
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Episode 35
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25:21
Features of the Most Profitable NSW Farms in 2023
What were some of the features of the Top 25% of NSW Dairy Farm Monitor farms in the 2023 financial year? This month’s podcast provides insights into some of the physical and financial metrics associated with their productivity and profitabilit...
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Episode 34
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25:58
Lifting the Lid on NSW GHG Emissions
With a national focus on reducing dairy GHG emission intensity by 30% by 2030, farm greenhouse gas emissions are currently getting a lot of attention. This month we take a look at what has been happening with emissions on NSW dairy farms throug...
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Episode 33
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25:22
Highs and Lows of Dairy Farm Monitor 2023
The 2023 financial year saw the highest average profit for the Dairy Farm Monitor participants in the 12 years of the project in NSW. Jess Bell hosts this month’s episode as she teases out what the main drivers were behind this performance with...
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Episode 32
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35:25
Heifer Management in Dry Times
Rearing heifers well is an extremely important aspect of herd management. Selecting the right heifers and ensuring they reach target weights in a specified time period is integral to the future production of your herd. However reari...
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Episode 31
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31:09
Dry Times – Fodder Supply Outlook
With much of the State of NSW currently experiencing very dry conditions NSW DPI reached out to Tim Ford, Director at Feed Central to provide an update for the industry on the current situation and outlook for fodder supply. Tim presented this ...
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Episode 30
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23:11
Supporting Your Dairy Business
Dairies are complex businesses requiring a very broad range of skills to manage. In today’s environment, good business management skills are more important than ever. This is recognised by industry organisations whose role is to support farmers...
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Episode 29
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30:02
Economics and Risks of Raising Non-Replacement Calves
Recently a farmer reference group was formed in the Mid Coast region of NSW to provide information and guidance on an economic and risk analysis of rearing non-replacement calves. The project was led by Dan Armstrong, Senior Consult...
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Episode 28
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28:07
Intensive Dairies - Drivers of Adoption and Profitability
Interest in NSW and Australia in intensive dairy systems has grown significantly in the last decade due to many factors. These systems require significant capital investment, so it is important that if this is a system that interests you, you r...
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Episode 27
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45:47
Dairy and Carbon Emissions – What Does it all Mean?
Greenhouse gases, carbon emissions, carbon credits, mitigation strategies, emission reduction targets - these are terms that are bandied about regularly in relation to agriculture and dairying. What do they all mean and how do they impact you a...
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Episode 26
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34:52
DairyUP – Fast Tracking the NSW Dairy Industry Through RD&E
NSW dairy farmers have faced many extreme weather and climatic challenges in recent years from severe and prolonged drought to bushfires and then widespread flooding. There is no doubt we will continue to see these events and others...
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Episode 25
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35:48
The Economics of Silage Making
Silage is used to varying degrees and in different ways on NSW and Australian dairy farms, depending on the type of feeding system the farm has. It can be an important component of your herd’s diet and given that producing it comes with additio...
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Episode 24
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33:06
Breeding Better Kikuyu with Bill Fulkerson and Ken Bryant
Guests Bill Fulkerson and Ken Bryant speak with Zita Ritchie about a new cultivar of kikuyu which has shown resistance to fungal infections, particularly kikuyu yellows. Key management strategies are also discussed for kikuyu. Bill is a well kn...
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Episode 23
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37:09
Five Things to Get Right for Autumn Sowing
It is coming up to a key time of the year for many of our dairy businesses, that being the autumn sowing period. There are many things to consider now to get the best outcome for your pasture production in the winter and spring period ah...
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Episode 22
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29:33
How Can Genomics Benefit Me?
Genomics - to some farmers this is an amazing innovation that they have embraced with open arms. For others, it may be a bit of a scientific mystery but according to Rob Cooper, my guest this month it is actually very simple to use and a powerf...
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Episode 21
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39:46
A Profitable Year With Challenges
NSW Dairy Farm Monitor results were recently released for the 21/22FY. Analysis of the performance of the 36 farms involved in the project showed a wide range in profitability. All farms experienced above average rainfall for the year - many of...
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Episode 20
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24:11
Managing Well in Wet Conditions
NSW dairy farmers have been faced with some incredibly challenging seasonal conditions over the last 2 years which has seen one in one-hundred-year floods, repeated floods and prolonged wet conditions on many coastal farms and now our inland fa...
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Episode 19
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36:07
Real Farmers Managing Climate Risk
This month, Zita Ritchie interviews Paula Gray. Paula is a farmer form Rolland’s Plains on the Mid North Coast of NSW who farms with her husband Mick. The Gray’s have been the NSW case study farm for a project called Dairy Businesses for Future...
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Episode 18
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31:50