With close to 60 per cent of all dairy farms in Australia using some form of irrigation on their land, it is important to continually find more ways to use and manage water resources.

In this DairyPod episode, Dairy Australia’s National Soils and Irrigation Lead, Cath Lescun, discusses with Climate Adaptation Lead Cathy Ashby some of the current challenges facing farmers when it comes to effective irrigation.

The conversation also delves into the Smarter Irrigation for Profit (SIP) research project and the resulting outcomes and practical steps - defined as the eight principles for effective irrigation – which were identified as the result of a six-year study across five key industries and supported by Department of Agriculture Fisheries and Forestry through the Rural R&D for profit program.

You can find more information about this project: SIP2 Project Summary 

Access the SIP resources: Soil Moisture Monitoring Resources

If you have suggestions for future podcast episodes, you can get in contact with us by emailing [email protected] 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The December 2022 Situation and Outlook report highlights strong farm finances and stable milk prices, set against challenges caused by inflation and widespread spring flooding. In this podcast episode, John Droppert Industry Insights and Analysis Manager discusses, with John Penry Manager, Technical and Innovation, the report insights including the increase in sales of fresh milk and yoghurt for the year to October 2022, ongoing labour shortage issues seeing an increased investment in labour-saving technologies and Australia’s milk production outlook for 2023.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What does it take to achieve a high level of milk quality?

On this episode Kristen Davis, Regional Extension Officer at GippsDairy, and Dairy Consultant Dr Mark Humphris discuss some of the changes dairy farmers James and Luke from the MID in Gippsland and Darren and Tracey from Bega NSW, took to reduce their bulk milk cell count through effective mastitis management practices across their herd.

The discussion covers some practical changes that were made on-farm along with the programs and resources available to help dairy farmers on this journey to improving dairy hygiene and milk quality including the redeveloped Cups on Cups off – Milking & Mastitis Management program.
Find out more at www.dairyaustralia.com.au/mastitis

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hot summers are part of the Australian landscape but as our climate warms, we are seeing more extreme and frequent hot and dry weather conditions in all regions of Australia. Heat stress in dairy cows occurs when a tolerable threshold in environmental temperature and humidity is surpassed, and this can put at risk the wellbeing of cows and have negative implications on productivity.

In this discussion we hear from Dairy Australia’s Technical Lead, Feedbase and Nutrition, Rodrigo Albornoz as he discusses everything from cooling infrastructure to nutritional strategies with Dr Kristy DiGiacomo, Senior Lecturer and Researcher at the University of Melbourne and Ian Sawyer, Ruminant Nutritionist with Feedworks.

Find out more about the Feeding Cool Cows project here Cool Cows Manual | Heat Stress | Dairy Australia

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this DairyPod episode, Dairy Australia’s Debbie Twiss sits down to talk with Jess, a dairy farmer in Victoria who shares a very personal story about her experience with anxiety and mental health and well being. Drawing on her personal experiences, Jess shares the very real and confronting challenges she faced, and the steps she took to seek help from those around her.

Trigger warning - This episode does contain themes that may be upsetting for some of our listeners. If this does raise personal issues for you, there is help and you can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue at www.beyondblue.org.au

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Setting the background on Dairy Australia’s Workforce Attraction campaign, in this discussion we hear from Dairy Australia’s Ross Bawden and Sarah Cornell talking with dairy farmer Kristy Grant, about the challenges of labour shortages, a new national approach to driving community awareness and engagement and resources available connecting job seekers with careers in dairy.

Find out more at www.dairyaustralia.com.au/people  

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hear from Dairy Australia’s Manager, Technical and Innovation John Penry and Industry Insights Analysis Manager and report author John Droppert, as they discuss the key insights from the September Situation & Outlook report. The discussion covers the effects and outlook resulting from record-high farmgate milk prices, global production volume outlook as well as ongoing challenges caused by weather conditions, workforce shortages and high input costs which remain key issues for the industry.

Read the full report at Situation and Outlook | Dairy Australia

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Listen to Dairy Australia’s John Droppert talk to Situation and Outlook report author, Sofia Omstedt, in the latest DairyPod. John and Sofia discuss the forces influencing the global dairy commodities market, how they affect farm profitability, and the broad outlook for the dairy industry.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The December 2021 Situation and Outlook report notes increasing competition for resources between beef and dairy in some regions.  With that in mind, Dairy Australia’s John Droppert caught up with Matt Dalgleish from Thomas Elder Markets to discuss the outlook for beef prices and whether the beef boom is likely to turn into a bust.

If you want to read more about the latest Situation and Outlook Report, go to www.dairyaustralia.com.au/sando

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today we’re back in beautiful South Australia where the high number of sunny days has led to a revolution in energy usage, especially involving renewables.
But apart from whacking a few solar panels on the shed roof, how much do you really know about the opportunities and pitfalls involved in power usage?
DairySA extension officer Beck Burgess recently sat down with farm energy expert Simon McKay to see just how fast the game is changing in generating and utilising power.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.