Luke and Stacey Madden are doing it for themselves

DAIRY FINALIST 2018: A WAR on costs is paving the whey forward for leading dairy farmers Luke and Stacey Madden.

Team effort: Luke and Stacey Madden and their children, Tom, 2, and Charlie, four months, in their dairy at Naringal East.

A WAR on costs is paving the whey forward for leading dairy farmers Luke and Stacey Madden.

The couple, from Naringal East in southwest Victoria, have found success producing milk for the cheapest-possible price, through a tried-and-true recipe of growing as much feed for their herd as they can themselves and doing the bulk of the work.

Honing in on strengths, and not being afraid to seek outside help, have paid dividends for the Maddens, whose path to farm ownership did not chart the common industry course.

Luke left school at 17 to undertake a traineeship on a dairy farm. During this period he saved enough money to buy his own block of land, which he later sold at a profit.

In 2009, he took a gamble by purchasing a 77-hectare beef farm with the view of converting it for dairying. His timing was not ideal with the dairy industry suffering its first mid-year price cut since the early 1980s, following record farmer returns in 2008.

While the downturn prompted many dairy farmers to halt plans for expansion or upgrades, Luke seized the opportunity. “It (the timing) actually worked in my favour,” Luke says.

By doing a lot of the work himself, sourcing cheaper materials and taking advantage of a slowdown in construction, Luke was able to build a dairy at half the cost of a new one.

The farm itself also provided a blank canvas to start from scratch and, after having secured a long-term lease of 40 hectares next door, the Maddens started milking in March 2014. They now milk 230 cows and supply Warrnambool Cheese and Butter.

Aware of what measures drive profitability on farm, Luke, 37, and Stacey, 31, achieve well below industry average production costs.

Luke honed his skills through involvement in local discussion groups and by making the most of industry benchmarking opportunities.

“I was hailed down when I left school, teachers saying ‘what the hell are you doing that for’,” Luke says. “I set out to prove them wrong, basically.”

He has done just that – and some.

FINALIST: Dairy Farmer of the Year 2018

Luke and Stacey Madden, Naringal East, VIC

ON FARM: LUKE AND STACEY MADDEN