Slade Hall has hit the ground running after buying his first dairy farm last year.
Along with his partner Maddie Kane, they milk 220 mixed breed cows on what was a former organic farm near Cohuna in northern Victoria.Despite neither of them having a direct dairy background, they have taken to the industry and are enjoying the many challenges coming their way.“I have done a lot in my life from working in a feedlot to driving road trains, carting stock and hay, but I never really had any plans of buying a dairy farm,” Slade laughed.Initially Slade was going to set up a beef feedlot, but the cost of grain at the time was prohibitive and considering the farm he bought had a functioning dairy, he decided to purchase some cows and start milking.It hasn’t all been smooth sailing and the couple has faced a few challenges along the way, including a batch of dodgy grain that killed a couple of cows and made 120 sick.They were able to treat the majority of the milking herd and the damage was minimised, however, it wasn’t a cheap process and it was stressful.“Lucky a lot of the milking herd were dry at the time or we really would have been in trouble. Our vet was really helpful and has continued to be a great source of information for us,” Slade said.While the couple shares the workload, Maddie is in charge of the book work and herd recording and it has been a pretty big job making sure every animal has its own identification, including a name.“Every second cow is now a pet of Maddie's,” Slade said.They both milk and rear the calves and they have the help of an employee a couple of days a week who milks and does odd jobs to take the pressure off.The herd was purchased from a few different places and includes Friesians, crossbreeds and a few Jerseys, Brown Swiss, Montbeliarde and Slade's favourite, Aussie Reds.“I was lucky I was able to buy my herd for a pretty reasonable price compared to what they are selling for now and I hope to end up with some more Aussie Reds — they are a great hardy cow and perform well in our herd and have great fertility.”The cows are milked in a 16-a-side swing-over dairy, which Slade predicts will be a bit small if they expand herd numbers in the future.“The dairy had a renovation a few years ago and it works well for our herd size at the moment,” he said.
“If we expand numbers I can see we will have to do some extensions in the future but we will worry about that when the time comes.”The use of good bulls — including Friesian, Aussie Red, Speckle Park and Santa Gertrudis — has suited the couple's management for the time being.“I have always bought good quality bulls and over our last joining we had six cows not in calf out of 130,” Slade said.
“This year the cows will calve all year round, but we will tighten that up in the future.”They keep all their calves, including the bulls, which are reared on a separate property as an additional form of income.The biggest problem the Slade and Maddie have faced to date is getting on top of the weed burden after a few years of neglect, and they expect that process to continue for the next couple of years.“Everything here on the home farm is grazed so it has been a priority to get on top of the burrs and weeds,” Slade said.Growing annuals including oats and barley, and sorghum and millet over summer, has been their focus so far and they are hoping to plant some lucerne down the track.Slade’s father also grows silage, which has been fed to the cows.The couple bought the farm without permanent water and rely on the temporary market. So far the water price has been kind and hasn't been an issue.The recent purchase of an adjoining block across the road has increased the total farm footprint to about 405 hectares.The new block will be used to grow crops and run the dry cows.“If we ever wanted to sell down the track we have a fairly big chunk of land now, which could be suitable for cropping or some other enterprise,” Slade said.However, Slade firmly believes there is a strong future for the Australian dairy industry — especially after so many people have left over the past few years.“I was able to buy my cows for a pretty reasonable price compared to what they are selling for now and I am happy with my choice to become a dairy farmer.
“I am enjoying the challenge and the monthly milk cheque and I can’t wait to see what the next few years bring.”