Fiona and Frankie Mills have two dairy farms at Kilmany. They have stopped milking on one farm during this drought.
Frankie and Fiona Mills, from Kilmany, have made some strategic decisions to get through the past two failed springs and ongoing drought.
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But their dairy business is heavily reliant on water to achieve these decisions.
Kilmany is in the Latrobe region of Gippsland, in southern Victoria.
Frankie and Fiona have been purchasing extra irrigation water from their neighbours to get their dairy farms through the drought.
They have installed an extensive pipe and riser irrigation system.
Frankie speculatively purchased straw in a forward order, that paid off when fodder became expensive and hard to come by.
Frankie and Fiona have also relied heavily on family and friends to keep their farm operating after a farm accident and family tragedy in that same period.
The couple have two dairy farms at Kilmany, but closed one dairy shed down to reduce the load this season and combined the two milking herds into one.
They also run an Angus breeding herd at Perry Bridge, alongside Fiona’s parents, Barry and Lois Neumann.
Early last year, Frankie and Fiona laid their eldest son, Xavier, to rest. The well-known and well-regarded young man had been working hard and building his dream of contract harvesting.
Later in March, Frankie had a farm accident while doing a favour for a family member, and has since been on crutches and dealing with ongoing injury, pain and debilitation.
Add to all that, the drought.
The split-calving milking herd was heavily culled each season, to take pressure off the farming system.
Photo by
Jeanette Severs
“We have really relied on our son, Aden, my father-in-law, Barry, and our livestock agent, Ben Boulton, for help,” Frankie said.
“They have helped with feeding schedules, fencing and sorting animals.
“Aden feeds out every second day, travelling out to the Sale farm after he finishes work each day. That’s the farm where we keep the dairy heifers and bulls.
“My father-in-law feeds out to the Angus cattle at Perry Bridge every second day.
“Fortunately we have a lot of silage pitted over several years at Perry Bridge, so we don’t have to transport fodder out there.”
There are 700 Angus cattle of all ages at Perry Bridge.
A rare rain event in February this year saw 120mm drop at the Perry Bridge farm.
“It filled dams and grew some feed on about 120 acres.”
After reducing the milking herd on the dairy farm at Kilmany, two failed springs still put the pressure on fodder stores.
“I’ve continued to apply fertiliser and nitrogen to pastures to promote winter growth, despite the expense,” Frankie said.
“We were able to install 1.6km of pipe-and-riser irrigation, which has saved about 20 per cent in water usage and 30 to 40 per cent in time. That’s certainly made a difference.
“We have 389 megalitres of our own, but we consumed more water by buying off other farmers. We’ve used 1100 Ml so far this year.
“We used 1250 Ml last year, by also buying extra water from our neighbours.”
The commitment to purchasing fertiliser, urea and water has enabled them to graze their two milking herds as one 550-head split-calving herd.
Frankie and Fiona Mills have used 1100 Ml of irrigation water this season after buying water from their neighbours.
Photo by
Jeanette Severs
They also culled heavily each calving season.
“I chopped a bit heavier than normal. I chopped 25 more empty cows out of the autumn calving herd when we dried them off in November,” Frankie said.
“I’ve done the same again with the spring calving herd. They’re drying off now and I moved 25 more empty cows off the farm in June than I normally would.
“Normally I’d milk through more cows.”
Young stock have grazed on the second dairy farm. This property Frankie has also been able to concentrate for growing fodder including harvesting maize and grass silage.
“We were able to harvest maize silage. In October and November I bought straw off Jimmy Dean [a crop grower at Rosedale],” Frankie said.
“We’re now putting the maize silage and straw through the mixer wagon.”
He will continue to apply fertiliser and urea on pastures to force growth during winter.
“Cold weather without adequate groundcover will cause cattle to lose condition quickly.
“We want to keep condition on the heifers too, as they come up for joining and calving down. If we get rain, the ground will turn into mud.”
He hoped milk prices would remain strong enough to help offset these additional costs.
Gippsland farmers desperate for water say the government is ignoring them. Read the story at: https://www.dairynewsaustralia.com.au/news/gippslands-ongoing-drought-ignored-say-farmers/
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