Nick Reynard has a simple approach to dairy farming at Timboon

TIMBOON’S Nick Renyard has a simple philosophy when it comes to dairy farming.

Whey forward: Nick Renyard on his farm at Timboon in southwest Victoria.

TIMBOON’S Nick Renyard has a simple philosophy when it comes to dairy farming.

Keep it simple and ask the successful.

“When it comes to running the farm we have a philosophy of keeping it as simple as we possibly can,” said the 40-year-old third-generation farmer.

“I’m also a big believer in looking inwardly and seeking improvement where we can. There’s always something else we can improve on.

“I think we can all learn from the most profitable, successful farms so we can do better. Our neighbouring farmers are not our competitors.”

Nick speaks with some authority after 20 years farming the family’s 400ha dairy farm, with his wife Simone and two children, which has a herd of 580 Holstein Friesians and a 50-unit rotary dairy.

For eight years during the 2000s he was a central councillor with United Dairyfarmers of Victoria and was on the board of Australian Dairy Farmers for five years.

He has retired from those roles, but since last year he’s become a board member of the Corangamite Catchment Management Authority.

“I’m keen to ensure there’s a set of farmer’s eyes around the management,” Nick said.

“There’s a genetic predisposition for community service in my family. My parents have always been involved in community service, inside and outside farming.”

While Nick grew up on the farm, he said he had no intention of becoming a farmer.

“My parents (John and Heather) had been through a difficult time in the 1970s and then had high interest rates in the ’80s.”

So Nick studied agricultural economics at the University of New England, where he met Gold Coast gal Simone, but admits that in the ’90s, with distance and time, dairy farming seemed more appealing.

In 1996 the couple moved to the farm and have largely run it independently from John and Heather.

Nick said at its peak the property had 780 cows but reduced the number to 580 to balance feed costs.

“At one point feed prices were going north and we weren’t making money. We’ve pulled back the number to rely on more homegrown feed.

“I don’t think we’ve got the system perfected yet. We’re still trying to get a higher proportion of homegrown feed — and our cows need to be producing more than they are.”

Timboon West, which is technically the farm’s location, suffered in 2012-13 the driest summer for 40 years, which ­affected cow condition. ­According to Nick’s records, from October to April they ­received 250mm, 50mm less than the ’82-’83 drought.

In contrast, the Renyards had a strong start to this summer, green until the spell of 40C-plus in January.

Average rainfall in their area is 895mm, with effluent dams supplying a small amount of irrigation and bores fulfilling stock water needs.

Soil is sandy loam and pasture is perennial rye grass, with about 20 per cent over-sown each year.

“We had to do a little bit more this year, because the previous prolonged summer saw the rye grass die off, ­despite our best efforts to maintain long rotations in paddocks over the summer.”

Nick said he was “not a big believer in feeding oil of snake” to his cattle, and instead kept it simple with silage, hay, wheat and almond hulls, with the ­addition of limestone, magnesium oxide and salt.

The Renyards are playing with crossbreeding their Holstein Friesians with Aussie Reds, in order to pick up ­fertility benefits.

“We are working on a variety of factors, including with the local vet clinic, to increase cow fertility,” Nick said.

“We are seeking advice for issues we have identified.”

They calve in April to June, with limited calving in September and October. The emphasis is on autumn so they lactate on grass rather than buying in supplementary feed.

Last year the couple introduced a new identification system, which incorporates milk cell count, yield, fat and protein. “It’s up-to-date data which has been very useful. We had always herd tested month to month, but this is real-time data. Cows are being sampled for these things 15 times a month so it gives us a realistic picture of each cow.”

The ID system also identified mastitis in cows faster, ensuring less incidence of the condition, which has improved milk quality significantly.

“We’ve spent more on equipment and less on drugs and treatment,” Nick said.

Their cell count on average is 15 per cent lower thanks to the system.

Average fat content is 4 per cent, protein 3.4 per cent and the average yield is 470kg of milk solids per cow, with milk supplied to Warrnambool Cheese and Butter.

Nick said his years working at an industry level had taught him the importance of seeking knowledge outside the farm.

He said farmers needed to call on the expertise of the Department of Environment and Primary Industries, Dairy Australia and regional development programs (such as Westvic and GippsDairy) for support on several issues.

“Farmers need to reach out and use those services.”

He said in two decades of dairy farming the issue of attracting employees remained a problem, with 2 per cent unemployment in the southern section of the Corangamite Shire. And he said the per­ennial problem of milk pricing remained.

“Yes, we want more for our milk, but the degree of influence industry organisations have is virtually zero and so many people don’t realise that.

“We are dictated to by an international environment. We need to focus on what we can control, which is inside our farm gate and the way we manage our farms. We’ve got to keep looking inward and seeking improvement where we can.”