As I write this message spring is slowly warming up and seasonal conditions remain favourable, with water allocations in a stronger position compared to any other time in the past five years.
Margins over inputs for dairy remain in a healthy state with the exception of higher fertiliser and chemical costs, and labour shortages remain our key hot topic.
The COVID-19 outbreak in Shepparton highlighted the importance of having a COVID-safe plan in place for your business.
In partnership with Agriculture Victoria, Murray Dairy and Dairy Australia held two online sessions to help inform people of the current situation and what information was available to support businesses with planning and responding — these resources are all available on the Dairy Australia website.
Importantly the Murray Dairy board will host its AGM on October 21 and we encourage dairy farmers and the broader dairy industry community to participate in this online session.
We will be welcoming new board members and taking the opportunity to thank the departing board members — Chris Thomas and Tony McCarthy — for their valuable contribution to the industry.
Both Chris and Tony have served on the board for six years, with Tony being deputy chair of Murray Dairy for the past three years.
It's been a tremendous effort and your leadership and strong passion for dairy and our region will be greatly missed and we wish you both all the best in future endeavours.
In this edition of Dairy News we introduce the audience to our new Focus Farmers in the north-east, Alice and Justin Colclough of Tallangatta South.
The project is supported by dairy farm adviser Geraldine Perkins and a mix of dairy farmers and service providers as the support group, with the project running over the next two years.
Last summer Murray Dairy partnered with the Irrigated Cropping Council to conduct a research trial in Kerang to see how grain sorghum compares with maize under a range of irrigation strategies.
The aims were to compare grain sorghum yields with maize yields, to determine the differences in the quality of each species and to test if grain sorghum is more resilient under water stress conditions. You can find out more about the results in this edition of Dairy News.
Finally, I am not sure if you had a chance to participate in one of the sessions on the Fodder for the Future project, but the team has been busy providing updates on the various cereal demonstration trials from the six partner sites across the region.
If you missed the sessions in August and September, you can still view the video updates and access the project information booklet on the Murray Dairy website.
Andrew Tyler
Murray Dairy chair