While the industry wrestles with lower opening milk prices this season, a new player is establishing himself with his first business.
Todd Brown, 29, is setting up his first dairy farm at Stanhope on 40 hectares — but his move from sharefarming has not been without some challenges.
The dates from when he finished sharefarming and started his own place did not match, so he has had most of his herd parked on other farms, while he finishes the reconstruction of his new shed.
On his home block in Lorenz Rd, he has had to milk a few cows that have calved down, with a single milking machine.
Todd played host to a visiting group of farmers with Jersey Australia in late May, so he apologised for the incomplete state of the farm, although the visitors seemed to appreciate the challenges of getting started from the ground floor.
He planned to milk about 80 cows on his Grand Dreams stud when the eight-a-side herringbone shed became operational soon after the visit.
“Things have been hectic over the last couple of months,” he said.
Todd moved down from Queensland about five years ago from his family dairy farm.
“I was offered a job down here on a farm at Strathmerton and decided to make the leap to get into dairying here, and ended up loving it.
“Gradually I moved into sharefarming, and in the meantime, purchased this farm.”
Eventually he hopes to purchase more land and lift his herd numbers.
He has purchased cows from the Walshs’ Windy Ways stud and the Nicholsons’ Jugiong stud.
His favoured genetics include the Merle family and Illusion and Dawn dams.