Farmers of the Year Brucknell dairy farmers Brad and Becc Couch plan for the future

CALVING is strictly seasonal on Brad and Becc Couch’s dairy farm in southwest Victoria.

DAIRY: Brad and Becc Couch

CALVING is strictly seasonal on Brad and Becc Couch’s dairy farm in southwest Victoria.

It’s tight and condense, to maintain a low cost of production and make the most of homegrown feed produced on The Weekly Times Coles 2014 Farmer of the Year’s 243ha farm at Brucknell.

But this year, the Couchs have broken with tradition — albeit it only slightly. “We have an extra one to calve down in October,” Brad jokes. “The other change is going to be an increase in our stocking rate.”

He is referring to the impending arrival of the couple’s third child, a little brother or sister to Jack, 3, and Charlotte, 2, in the coming months. The new addition is the only expected change to an otherwise stable year for the family.

Brad and Becc have continued to keep a tight rein on costs, an approach that saw them take out the prestigious competition last year.

KEEP IT SIMPLE

THE Couchs operate an “uncomplicated system” with a lower-than-average cost of production of about $3.30/kg of milk solids.

Early last month, Brad said the 360-head herd was milking well and there was only a few cows left to calve.

At this point of the season, it hadn’t been a traditional cold and rainy southwest Victorian winter, and the cows and pasture had responded well.

“This year the mild winter has suited us, production seems to be up on the previous year,” Brad said. “Touch wood, that can easily change, but we have enjoyed a mild winter and I think the cows have too. There’s probably a little bit more feed around than at the same stage last year.”

Last season’s hay harvest wasn’t as plentiful as previous years due to a lack of spring rain.

Without Mother Nature’s co-operation there was more pressure on costs.

“Our costs were up, we fed a little bit more in the bail and bought in a couple of extra loads of (lower-quality) dry cow hay,” Brad said.

“Our cost of production was up slightly on our average due to the season and probably a little bit because of the calving pattern, but mainly the season.”

Winners: The Couch family were The Weekly Times Coles 2014 Farmer of the Year.

FERTILE FIELDS

WHILE welcoming improvements to the herd’s fertility, Brad said this also presented a management challenge as more cows getting in calf earlier put a strain on feed availability during winter.

He said the average calving date for the past two seasons was the first week of June, almost 10 days earlier than what they considered ideal.

Calving earlier meant the traditional pasture feed wedge was not as plentiful ahead of the fresh cows.

“It ran us a little bit tight for feed in August,” Brad said.

To overcome this problem, joining for the most recent calving started five days later. Although it didn’t entirely solve the problem, Brad said he was confident keeping the calving pattern tight meant they would be able to push the average calving start date back to mid-June.

“By pushing joining back a little the first year, it gave the cows more time to cycle. It will take two years for the average calving date to go back (to where it used to be),” Brad said.

CALF STRENGTH

MATCHING grass to calving has underpinned the Couchs’ low-cost operation.

Traditionally, at the end of winter, grass “is running short”, but Brad said their earlier calving date meant it was “a little bit too short”. The Couchs like to enter spring with the entire herd milking and consuming as much grass as possible. Shortfalls in pasture, at this time, are supplemented by an increase in pellets fed in the bail for two to three weeks.

If there is too much grass at the end of winter, Brad says “something is out of whack”, such as too much grain being fed in the bail or an incorrect stocking rate.

Other changes to the Couchs’ business in the past 12 months have included upgrading their irrigation to three-phase power to reduce running costs.

Brad said it was now cheaper to run with irrigation this year ensuring the herd entered calving with a “guaranteed” autumn break as well as a bit more grass cover.

If predicted dry El Nino conditions eventuate this spring, Brad and Becc have a number of management options they will consider.

“If it does turn out dry we will have to buy in a bit more hay and perhaps feed a bit more grain, but hopefully we don’t have to do that,” Brad said.

“We might irrigate a bit more too, normally we just irrigate a couple of summer crops and pasture in the autumn, but if it is an El Nino and we get a really dry spring we might put an extra couple of summer crops in and water them.”

The final option is to dry the herd off earlier.

Top gong: Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews presents Becc and Brad Couch with their award in February.

HAY THERE

A GOAL to lease an outpaddock to cut surplus hay remains a priority for the Couchs but Brad said sourcing extra land in the region was like finding “hen’s teeth”.

Supplying Bulla Dairy Foods at Colac through Australian Dairy Farmers Co-operative, the Couchs opened the 2015-16 dairy season with a farmgate price of $5.87/kg of milk solids.

This is a slight premium to the major processor’s opening prices of $5.60/kg of milk solids.

But true to their business philosophy, Brad and Becc have the bottom line in their sights.

Brad said cost control was “the key to making money, it is the only thing we can control”.

Preparing for a potentially drier year, the Couchs are realistic about costs but haven’t taken their eyes off their ultimate business goal.

“Becc’s parents cost of production is under $3/kg of milk solids and that is what we are striving for,” Brad said.