Gippsland dairy farmer transitions to beef after four decades

Long dairy days are being swapped out for beef cattle by Gippsland farmer Doug Hanks as he seeks a better work-life balance.

After almost 40 years of milking cows, Douglas Hanks is now fattening heifer wieners.

The second-generation now former dairy farmer waved goodbye to more than 400 milking cows in recent weeks to ready his Stony Creek property, in east Gippsland, for 350 Angus cows and calves.

Doug Hanks on his Stony Creek property. Picture: Yuri Kouzmin

Hanks made the switch from milk to beef in search of a better work-life balance after rising at 4am for 39 years and putting in 70-plus hours a week.

He has only had one holiday in the last decade away from a dairy that has been in the family for 69 years.

“People are asking me what it is like being a man of leisure now we are getting up at 6am, but I may get every second weekend off which will be a huge step,” he said.

Mr Hanks will be retaining the current layout of the farm and not dividing paddocks as do many beef operators.

Most heavy lifting for the transition has been installing dozens of gates and converting the single wire boundary fence to triple-wire as beef cattle “are generally not as calm and easy to handle as dairy cattle”.

Doug swapped 400 milking cows for 350 beef cattle. Picture: Yuri Kouzmin

Mr Hanks said one of his biggest regrets about leaving dairy was resigning from the Australian Dairy Farmers Corporation board as he was no longer a supplier.

“I was enjoying giving back to the industry. Dairy has been very good to me, but it was time to re-energise,” he said.

“If you are keen enough you can start a dairy with a pair of gumboots and it is a great industry to build your assets up. Not only is a cow giving you $2500 of milk a year, she also gives you another cow.”

While running costs will remain about the same, Mr Hanks is looking forward to power bills without the cost of running milking equipment – often hitting $10,000 a quarter.

Mr Hanks, who also runs cows and calves and heifer and steer fattening replacements on nearby properties, will be keeping the 30-year-old dairy shed and equipment – just in case.