Colac region farmer Tim Beswicke on hay savings in Fonterra report

Sorting out a few numbers at the kitchen table has provided a potential $30,000 hay saving for Tim Beswicke. This is how he did it.

Translating kilograms of fodder in the paddock to numbers on a page has helped southwest Victorian dairy farmer Tim Beswicke save roughly $30,000 annually on feed.

Based at Larpent, near Colac, Mr Beswicke is one of the first of Fonterra’s suppliers to showcase the processor’s new Farm Insights Reports.

The reports are tailored to individual Fonterra suppliers, using a range of information sources

to improve on-farm profitability.

For example, Mr Beswicke’s report showed that by growing an additional 500kg of dry matter across the farm, he could potentially save $30,000 annually on purchased feed.

“(The report) combined our data with our dairy base but it showed us a dollar figure and to me dollar figures talk a lot,” he said.

“It shows what it’s costing us and where we can improve to save some money or do the same thing to get an increased profit return and it gave a five-star rating or showed you how to sit within that rating and whether you’re average or need improvement.”

The reports draw on a range of data, such as Fonterra’s own network of figures as well as Dairy Australia’s Dairy Farm Monitor Project, covering areas such as greenhouse gas emissions, milk production, and animal health.

Mr Beswicke has worked with Fonterra farm source area manager Andrew Martin on the report, recently meeting to discuss its findings.

“Each year after we’ve done our financials with our accountant we pass it on to Andrew and he’ll get some other information of us about how much silage we’ve made and our electricity usage and our fuel usage,” he said.

Mr Martin said the report showed if the Beswickes produced an additional 500kg of dry matter could be grown across the farm, “it would be equivalent to $30,000 of brought-in feed.”

Dairy farmer Tim Beswicke and Fonterra's Gavin Hunt