Balancing land and water is the key for the Keely family’s dairy operation at Cohuna
Efficient use of water and smarter application of dairy effluent help create the optimum amount of pasture.
BALANCING the land area with available water is a key strategy for fifth-generation dairy farmer John Keely.
John, wife Michelle, father Des and son Harrison run their 423ha dairy enterprise at Cohuna in northern Victoria.
The original farm has been in the Keely family since 1874 and has been operating as a dairy farm since irrigation opened up in the 1920s. The original farm was 130ha and they then bought the farm across the road in 1997 and have added other properties since then, including a turnout block at Gunbower.
The Keelys milk 310 to 320 mostly Holstein cows, with some Jersey and Brown Swiss in the mix, although John said they were moving back to an all-Holstein herd.
GROUND RULES OF DAIRYING SUCCESS
Water availability plays a big part in how the Keelys operate. John said all of the farms had irrigation, with water out of the Murray system.
“Our water right was never enough, but when water trading started Dad was given the advice to buy as much water as you can,” John said.
“The first lot of water we purchased was $200 a megalitre for permanent water, the next was $250 a megalitre. His biggest regret was that he didn’t buy more.
“It was such a smart move at the time and as well as buying water we bought a farm in 2003 with 157 megalitres and sold it three years later without the water, which has now become the norm.”
John said they were at “about capacity” of land volume compared to the water available.
“We like to have 1500-1600 megalitres (of water) available annually,” he said.
HAPPY MEDIUM
JOHN said balancing the water availability with what pasture they needed to produce was an important consideration, particularly in a dry year like this one.
“We were looking at buying water when it was $400 a megalitre and then it got to nearly $600, so decided it wasn’t worth it,” he said.
“We had 400 megalitres at the start of March to start our autumn irrigation program of annual pastures, cereals and legumes.”
John said it was important to work out what water was available for growing pasture, depending on the year. “If you don’t have an autumn, you aren’t going to get a spring,” he said.
Annual pastures are usually sown in March and then they wait for the typical Anzac Day “autumn break” before sowing cereals and legumes.
Pastures are mostly made up of shaftal clover and ryegrass, with at least 40ha of vetch planted for silage, while oats or wheat are planted over summer for grain or hay. Sorghum is also grown to graze over summer and irrigated lucerne is grown for grazing and to cut for hay.
“The strategy is to grow as much pasture and grass in autumn to graze over winter and store any excess in spring,” John said.
This strategy has benefited the Keelys in the past and has meant they have not bought in any fodder this year, despite the dry season, except for 130 bales of lucerne in early April.
There was no rain at all since December last year, until 29mm fell in early May, but John said “we know it will rain again”.
“Our youngest son Harrison is home on the farm and wants to milk cows, so (for sustainability for the future generations) it is about managing the situation as best as possible to get through it,” he said.
SPLITTING HEIRS
CALVING is split between autumn and spring, with half the herd calving in March and the other half in August.
The Keelys supply the Australian Dairy Farmers Corporation, after changing from Murray Goulburn in early 2017. The annual herd milk production is 2.34 million litres and 183,000kg of milk solids.
John said they used the Alta Advantage system, through Alta Genetics Australia, which puts their goals into a unique genetic plan for optimum profitability.
All cows are assessed by an Alta Genetics representative and bulls are selected on a number of traits, but the focus is on health.
“So we select bulls on somatic cell count, mastitis and high fertility,” John said.
All cows and heifers are artificially inseminated to Holstein bulls.
“Getting cows in calf is what drives profitability,” John said.
He said they used to join the heifers to Jersey bulls for easy calving, but after a Charolais bull jumped the fence, he figured if they calved OK they would be fine to calve to a Holstein.
They used sexed-semen on the heifers last year for the first time and got 40 per cent in calf in the first round.
John said they extended the old dairy in 1997 and in 2014 upgraded the pulsation system and automatic cup removers, as well as installing an automatic dipping and flushing milking system.
“We didn’t have a huge mastitis problem, but there was a lack of consistency between the milkers,” John said.
“When we put the ADF system in it took 20 minutes off (the time of) milking and the cell count has reduced from 180,000 to 200,000 (cells/ml) to be at 80,000 to 90,000 now.”
BRIGHT SCHOLAR
JOHN recently completed a Nuffield scholarship supported by the Gardiner Dairy Foundation. He investigated better ways to use nutrients from manure and effluent generated in intensive dairy operations, with a specific focus on biological farming systems. “The idea stemmed from our own experience, “ he said. “We have a feed pad which is rock-based and we clean it down regularly by pushing manure up and then spreading it on the paddock, so I wondered if there was a better method. “I realised that people changed because they are forced to. Innovation is often driven by regulation.”
John said they used effluent ponds beside their channels to then pump the effluent through irrigation, while they spread solid manure across a paddock of cereals last autumn and they did not have to irrigate in spring because it held its moisture so well.
Being actively involved in the community off-farm is important to John, who is the new vice-president of the United Dairyfarmers of Victoria.
“It is about having involvement in the community and to ensure as an industry we can have our say,” he said.
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