Wilsons' commercial teaching dairy farm at Two Wells a class act

VET help is on hand at a teaching dairy farm, writes SIMONE SMITH

Wilson family dairy

GREG Wilson considers himself lucky.

The dairy farmer from Two Wells, northwest of Adelaide, has close access to specialists when it comes to hoof trimming, pregnancy testing and general animal health.

And the reason is clear when you drive into the farm on the outskirts of the capital city.

Parallel to the feed-pad, approved for 912 head, is a shed complete with four hoof-trimming stalls, 10 artificial-insemination stalls, a weigh box and three crushes.

Alongside is a classroom and parking area for a bus. Once a week this area is filled with students.

They range from a class of three final-year vet students or up to 50 first years from the University of Adelaide's Roseworthy campus 14km down the road.

Greg and wife Jeanine operate one of the few commercial teaching dairy farms in the nation.

Called the Bevan Park Teaching Unit, it is a collaboration between the University of Adelaide and the Wilsons' Wirrabank Holsteins.

The Wilsons pursued this sideline after the global financial crisis.

Five years ago the family had built their barn and were contemplating growing herd numbers and selling "milking animals" as a sideline to their milking operation.

But, as farmgate prices took a dive, they were encouraged to further develop their relationship with the university and make it a formal business arrangement.

Throughout the years, Greg and Jeanine have noticed the progress in the vet students, some starting with work experience and then eventually moving on to PhD research.

"There are final-year students, they are here at 8.30am and leave at 5.30pm, it's a solid day and they earn their keep," Greg said.

Combing the practical knowledge of farm staff with the scientific knowledge of vet students has its benefits, according to Greg.

"Our guys (employees) realise they know more than they think they do in a practical sense, there is respect both ways," he said.

Greg, Jeanine, 19-year-old daughter Grace and Greg's parents, Brian and Bev, milk 560 cows calving every month except January and February because of the hot weather.

Two Wells has an average 356mm rainfall and can register temperatures "up into the 40s" in summer.

The US style-barn - about 9C cooler - provides relief for the cows.

The barn also helps conserve water with 1.5 million litres captured each year supplementing mains water use.

The family feeds the herd outside and dry-scrapes the shed each day to keep it clean.

"It's American-style farming in Australia, we can't sort of bite off more than we can chew," Greg said.

"There are tight margins and huge infrastructure costs to make that happen (having a farm with a barn and a total mixed ration system) but the cows are doing fantastic."

Last season was tough for the Lion suppliers. Their business relies on "rain-damaged" hay for the total mix ration as well as food by-products sourced from Adelaide.

In this time all the hay produced was of excellent quality and sold on the export market.

Greg said this pushed prices up.

Operating a TMR, the herd remains filled up from hay and by-products, but they are also fed 1.1kg/grain/day and 0.4kg/cow/day of vitamin minerals. They graze for three to four months a year over winter.

The family runs 323ha and this year all their crops were grazed, instead of harvested, to limit hay bought in.

The mostly Holstein herd used to produce up to 11,300 litres/cow/lactation but this was "a bit too hard on the cows without the free stalls and not (milking) three times a day", Greg said.

Now the average production is 9000-10,000 litres per cow per lactation: a "more sustainable" level.

Recently the operation introduced 25 Jerseys and the family plan to compare the breeds' feed-conversion efficiency.

While it's only early days, Jeanine said Jerseys tended to "fight more than the Friesians do" for feed.

The Wilsons have put an emphasis on their breeding objective, striving for the balance between type and production.

Greg said the introduction of genomics had been "a big help" in this respect.

The first cows they bred using genomic semen are on second calves and they have been happy with their performance.

Greg said higher profile proven bulls have been used to build pedigrees, but genomics helped dilute costs and provide certainty with breeding decisions from young bulls.

The family also operate in partnership with Mark Boerma, of Willunga, to complete in-vitro fertilisation and embryo-transfer work with top cows.

Calf rearing is a big focus. The family described their individual hutch set-up as "calf city" as each heifer has its shelter, small yard, feed and water.

Trudy Earl has worked with the Wilsons for 13 years and she and Grace are responsible for the next generation.

Trudy said the calves spent summer facing away from the sun and under the trees while shade-cloth was applied across the top of their pen.

Housing calves individually was the best way to monitor their health, according to Grace, as they were able to track what each was eating and drinking while also preventing the spread of illness.

Each calf spends three months in the "hutch".

Attracting staff isn't a problem as Jeanine said workers could enjoy the lifestyle of Adelaide and still work on a farm.

The business currently employs two full-time and three casual staff.

But this proximity to the South Australian capital has its downside.

The Wilsons suspect their farm will be under pressure from urban sprawl with 2500 houses scheduled to be built on their doorstep.

Looking ahead, the family see opportunity in the dairy industry but stressed the ability to grow and improve businesses was crucial to the industry's success.

Attracting and retaining workers would also determine the level of industry success, according to Jeanine.

"At the moment, the future is looking better, but you have to have the ability to put in the capital improvement and have some assurance about how you are going to pay it back," Greg said.