Ocean Road Pastoral promotes innovation, farm solidarity

Through analysis, innovation and co-operation, this Nirranda dairy couple prove that by working together, every farmer can be better off.

Well managed: Issac Fynn and daughter Ruby Fynn, 7, work with Andrea and Bruce Vallance, Nirranda, running 800 milking cows on at their dairy. Picture: Dannika Bonser

WORKING smarter not “necessarily harder” is Bruce and Andrea Vallance’s dairy farm management philosophy.

Currently milking 800 cows on their 300ha Ocean Road Pastoral property at Nirranda, in southwest Victoria, the couple say cost-analysis and innovation have been key.

The three-way cross herd of Montbeliardes, Swedish Reds and Friesians calves twice a year.

With a full-time staff of four, and casuals for calving, the herd is milked in their 50-stand rotary dairy, achieving 105 per cent of body weight in milk solids as the team aims for a 590kg yield.

Milk is supplied to Bega and Bruce is chairman of the Australian Dairy Collective, an ACCC-approved collective bargaining group, which negotiates the best annual milk price for its 30-plus members.

“It’s a not-for-profit group and our motto is ‘every farmer is better off’,” said Bruce, who has chaired the group since it started three years ago.

Innovation continues on the farm, which they bought in 1994.

GOT IT COLLARED

OCEAN Road Pastoral uses DairyBase, an online tool enabling dairy farmers and their advisers to measure and compare farm business performance over time.

In the past year the Vallances have invested in SCR cow collars to monitor herd health and heat to pinpoint peak insemination time.

“We already had a fertile herd, but the collars enable us to identify the mating window even more accurately and it alerts us to potentially sick or distressed animals,” Andrea said.

The sandy loam soil property, which receives an average annual rainfall of 800mm, has 130ha of irrigation, with 10 per cent of pastures renovated annually and cows calved to suit the farm’s pasture growth curve.

Andrea said irrigated pastures were monitored with probes, with data relayed to the dairy to “manage the soil with less guess work and to avoid wasting water and maximise fertiliser applications”.

FORWARD THINKERS

FOR many years the Vallances have bought grain and hay up to 12 months in advance, which locks in a price.

“It’s hard to lock in the milk price so we always try to focus on the things we can influence,” Andrea said.

Added Bruce: “During a recent drought in NSW when grain prices were high our forward contracts were really beneficial for the farm.”

They are taking part in a Heytesbury and District Landcare carbon sequestration trial with 15 farmers.

It has a range of tools, from seaweed supplements for cows to adding more carbon into the soil through a multi-species pasture mix growing on a trial plot.

“The trial supplements our use of pine chips in calf sheds, on tracks and in compost, and spreading pond effluent on paddocks to improve soil health,” Bruce said.

PARTNER POWER

BUT arguably the Vallances’ greatest innovative leap has been the creation of an equity partnership with 34-year-old farm manager Issac Fynn over the past two years.

With the help of Angus Drummond from Headlands Consultancy, two years ago they created the unit trust, with the couple retaining 51 per cent and Issac able to buy up to 49 per cent, currently with a stake of 10 per cent.

Issac manages the farm, meeting with Andrea and Bruce every Monday morning to plan the week, while Bruce milks every second weekend and on Issac’s holidays.

Bruce said initially they looked at sharefarming, but decided that model had a focus on the cows “and not the farm so the outcomes may not be as productive for the whole business”.

“An equity partnership is more holistic. Issac looks after the grass, cows, the whole system,” he said.

“It is a good way to see the farm move forward and offer a mentoring role at a time when there’s an exodus of young farmers from the industry.

“This gives Issac a wage and a percentage of the profit to build assets.”

Issac was managing a corporate dairy before seeing the Vallances’ ad for a managerial role, which explained the potential to evolve to an equity partnership.

He managed the Nirranda farm for a year before joining the business, ensuring both sides had built trust and strong communication.

“For me it was a step forward in the industry.

“It didn’t feel risky at all,” Issac said.

“You have to make sure the numbers work and you can afford the loan to buy the equity, even in a bad season. The numbers are everything.”

The Vallances have three children, who are all in alternative careers, but have an option of returning to the farm under the 51 per cent agreement.

“We see this equity model as a way of ensuring our business is well managed, giving us options in retirement, while mentoring and giving them the opportunity to build equity,” Bruce said.

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