Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry The State of Queensland, 2014.

Transcription

1 Department of Agriculture, Fisheries & Forestry Qld Dairy Research Development and Extension Profile

2 Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry The State of Queensland, The Queensland Government supports and encourages the dissemination and exchange of its information. The copyright in this publication is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Australia (CC BY) licence. Under this licence you are free, without having to seek our permission, to use this publication in accordance with the licence terms. You must keep intact the copyright notice and attribute the State of Queensland as the source of the publication. For more information on this licence, visit Enquiries should be addressed to: Dr David Barber Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry John Mahon Building 8105, University of QLD, Gatton Campus, Gatton, QLD 4343 Australia Phone david.barber@daff.qld.gov.au

3 SUBTROPICAL DAIRY INDUSTRY Australia's sub tropical dairy region extends 2200km from the Atherton Tablelands in far north Queensland down to Kempsey in northern New South Wales. The subtropical dairy region is uniquely characterised by hot and humid summers and mild and dry winters. Average annual rainfalls often exceed 2000mm in northern parts of the state, with cyclones, flooding and drought all common events that challenge farm production and profitability. The industry is comprised of 752 (540 in QLD) dairy enterprises which produce 650 million litres annually primarily for the domestic fresh milk market. Subtropical dairy farms are typically family owned and operated, average herd size is cows producing 6,250 litres per cow per year and average farm size is hectares. The value of Queensland s milk production at the farm gate is $250 million per year, after processing for drinking milk and manufactured products this value increases to $675 million. Within the region there are seven major processing plants operated by Lion Nathan and Parmalat and one co-operative (producer owned co-operative) Norco and more than 50 boutique processing factories. When combined, dairy farmers and manufacturing employees account for more than 3,000 people. Investment by dairy farmers amount to over $2.1 billion in farms, cattle and equipment. Recent changes to milk pricing and allocation contracts by processors to promote a constant and predictable supply of milk throughout the year has impacted significantly on dairy profitability and farmer confidence. The industry has also experienced a decline in branded milk consumption caused by the ongoing supermarket milk price war. Competition for natural resources such as land and water, and labour shortfall are ongoing. The capacity of subtropical dairy enterprises to respond to pricing signals is difficult with the added complication of climate variability impacting on total dry matter production and continuity of forage supply. To address these challenges and to remain profitable, production systems have intensified and there has been a move towards partial mixed ration (PMR) and total mixed ration (TMR) and a greater reliance on tropical forages. Farmers are conserving larger amounts of fodder, investing in heat management infrastructure such as shade structures, sprinklers and free stall barn housing systems, and low pressure delivery irrigation systems to optimise energy consumption and application efficiency. The focus of the feedbase research, development and extension (RD&E) projects conducted by the Queensland Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) is to increase feed conversion efficiency (FCE) of milk from tropical feeding systems. The DAFF dairy team delivers projects in forage, nutrition and business to industry from its central dairy research facility at the University of Queensland Gatton Campus. The Campus dairy is managed as a commercial dairy facility and is co-funded by DAFF and UQ. The facility comprises the latest in research and infrastructure technologies, represents best management practice and is used for research, teaching and as an extension platform for the subtropical dairy industry. Further support and relevant extension activities for industry are delivered by the QDO an organisation representing the interests of Queensland dairy farmers and the northern dairy industry on a wide range of issues with the objective of deriving positive outcomes for its members and the industry as a whole. Subtropical Dairy is another representative organisation with a collaborative and unified approach to farm viability, by facilitating research and extension, improving technology and empowering people in the industry.

4 UQ/ DAFF GATTON RESEARCH DAIRY The University of Queensland Gatton Campus is located on the Warrego Highway an hour and half drive west of Brisbane, Queensland. Nestled in the heart of the Lockyer Valley the commercial dairy and research facility is within a 2 hours of 65% of Queensland dairy farms. A $7 million upgrade funded by the University of Queensland (UQ) and the Queensland Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) has recently been completed, with the facility now jointly managed by UQ and DAFF. Farm facts Area The campus has a total of 1250 ha with an effective dairy area of 250ha, of which 120 ha is irrigated. The dairy has approximately 90 ha of improved pasture, 120 ha cropping and 40 ha of dairy/ loafing area. Dairy infrastructure 14-a-side double rapid exit herringbone and a calf rearing building to accommodate up to 100 calves. Dairy processor Norco cooperative Dairy Herd Approximately 250 Holstein-Friesian (70%), Brown Swiss (20%) and HF x BS (10%) milkers and dry cows and 125 heifers. Calving pattern Batch calving in spring (Aug - Oct) and autumn (Mar - May). Animal and Production overview Currently producing around 1.5 million litres per annum (7500 L/cow/yr) with an average fat and protein of 3.93 and 3.33% respectively. Labour 5.2 FTE s (FTE s 36 hour week). Feeding system The dairy uses a partial mixed ration (PMR) feeding system with the PMR fed out twice a day. Protein meals are forward purchased and grain is purchased from the University s cropping unit and processed through a computerised disc mill. A mixer wagon is used to mix concentrates and silages to be fed on the feed pad. The 40ha of pasture is grazed by the milking herd once a day in summer and twice a day in winter and is less than 250 metres from the feed pads. Feeding infrastructure includes: 5 concrete silage pits (700t as-fed of silage/pit). 3 bay commodities shed with 27t capacity each bay. 2 feed pads with sufficient space for 340 cows. 2 shade structures on each feedpad with the equivalent of 4 m2 per cow at full capacity

5 Forage production Permanent pastures for grazing include prairie grass and kikuyu with annual ryegrass over sown into the kikuyu during the winter period. Other annual crops that are grown for grazing include; ryegrass/clover, forage oats, forage barley, lablab and forage sorghum. Lucerne is grown for hay and round bale silage and the main crops grown for silage in summer are; corn, soybeans and forage sorghum and barley in winter. Irrigation The University has approx 600ML of water storage which is predominantly captured by overland flow which includes access to 150ML of recycled water from Gatton township and numerous bores across the campus. The dairy facility s irrigation infrastructure includes: 12ha of solid set irrigation Two lateral boom irrigators (12 and 35ha) Two centre pivots (15 and 35ha) Fertiliser management The main fertiliser used on the dairy pastures is urea applied at rates of 60 kg/ha and 120 kg/ha in winter and summer respectively. Soil tests are carried out every two years with specific nutrient requirements added accordingly. Manure and compost are being used on cropping areas and will be trialled on pasture areas in the future. Nutritional management Currently the herd is managed as a single herd and fed a PMR twice a day which is reviewed monthly. The mixed ration includes a cereal based silage (corn or barley), soybean silage, grain, protein meals and lucerne hay. As previously mentioned, pastures are grazed once a day during summer and twice a day during winter. The diets are balanced for fibre, starch, sugars and crude protein according to production targets. Target dry matter intake is 21kg DM/day, with approx 5-7kg kikuyu DM in summer and 10kg of ryegrass DM in winter. Future Plans The main aim for the herd is to reach production levels of 8,500 9,000 L/cow/lactation. The herd is split into two production groups according to calving time and are looking to develop a dedicated calving area with a labour pen under cover. Further cow comfort issues will be addressed with the addition of fans under the feed pad and shade structures.

6 DAIRY IN ACTION EXTENSION PROJECT The Dairy In Action (DIA) extension project aims to provide dairy farmers with increased production and economic opportunities through access to information and demonstration of feedbase management strategies that meet market and climate driven demands. The project has developed and delivers a range of extension topics and activities that meet the specific needs of the northern dairy industry. Both DIA and C4Milk s (dairy R&D project) broad objective is to increase feed conversion efficiency of tropical feedbase systems by 10%. The benefit to industry will be through maximising profit by improving management of the feedbase. Improved management will result in a more even supply of milk, thus resulting in dairy feeding systems that are profitable, sustainable and resilient to market and climate changes in northern Australia. Specific objectives of the DIA project are to increase the confidence of dairy farmers to develop and implement flexible tropical feedbase systems and management strategies by: Increasing the knowledge, skills and confidence of dairy farmers to develop forage, nutrition and business management strategies to deal with market and climate related issues; Increasing on-farm trialling and adoption of forage, nutrition and business management strategies, technologies and systems; resulting in an increase in forage production and utilisation and an increase in feed conversion efficiency (FCE) on-farm. To assist farmers with changes to their feeding systems, they need access to better feedbase management options, including strategies that aid with growing forages, grazing management, forage utilisation and balancing the diet. The DIA project brings together the feedbase R&D project findings from C4Milk as well as other national feedbase results, and delivers them under the recognised project brands of Forage Plus, Nutrition Plus and Business Plus. As the DAFF extension team have a large area to cover across the state, a targeted extension program is run delivering specific activities and content of relevance to differing regions. An annual survey is used to help identify the extension needs and preferences in each of the 8 subtropical dairy regions from which the customised extension programs are based. The types of extension activities include field days, training courses and workshops, decision support tools, individual farm visits, an extensive discussion group program and demonstrations conducted on commercial farms and at UQ Gatton. By continuing to deliver a targeted and relevant extension program to the northern dairy regions, along with providing R&D project and demo findings, it s anticipated dairy farmers will increase on-farm trialling and adoption of new production strategies, technologies and systems. Project Leader Dr. David Barber david.barber@daff.qld.gov.au

7 C4MILK RESEARCH PROJECT The C4Milk research project aims to increase the feed conversion efficiency (FCE) of milk in tropical environments by developing forage and animal nutritional management strategies to deal with market forces and climate related issues. The current challenge for QLD dairy farmers is to increase profitability by utilising tropical forages more efficiently as part of their feedbase. C4Milk and DIA s (dairy extension) primary objective is to increase the FCE of milk by 10% using feedbase management options to provide a constant supply of quality feed throughout the year. A large focus of the C4Milk project has been benchmarking FCE for the Queensland dairy industry. FCE was determined across very different types of dairy production systems in both winter and summer. In total 850 feed samples were tested for forage quality. The results highlighted large differences within and between feed types. The widespread results for FCE reflected large differences in feedbase combinations, management and production systems. As there were inconsistencies found between actual and predicted milk yield using starch-based diet models, an animal experiment was conducted to define the response in milk yield to different starch: sugar ratios. A number of other experiments and demonstrations are being undertaken to assess agronomic strategies and alternative forage species to improve the quality of forages in tropical environments, these include: Evaluating oversowing techniques of shortrotation ryegrass into kikuyu to increase the proportion of ryegrass and overall quality of the sward. Assessing alternative forage combinations to improve the quality of starch based silage. Combinations include mixtures of sorghum and soybeans, maize and soybeans, and maize and sunflowers. Examining alternative tropical pastures for dairy production including creeping Bisset Blue grass, Floren Blue grass and Gatton panic. The C4Milk team have also compiled a Tropical Feedbase Manual which summarises local and national feedbase management strategies relevant to the northern dairy industry. The focus is on managing forage, water and animal nutrition. The manual is available on and is used by the Dairy in Action extension project. Project Leader Dr. Mark Callow mark.callow@daff.qld.gov.au

8 RURAL WATER USE EFFICENCY PROJECT The Rural Water Use Efficiency (RWUE) project has been funded by the Queensland Government since 1999, with industry bodies responsible for managing their respective projects. The Dairy and Fodder Water for Profit project is managed by the Queensland Dairy Farmers Organisation and supported by DAFF. The project team has sought to improve irrigation systems and management practices of both Dairy and Fodder farmers throughout the State. Irrigation practices have changed significantly over the duration of the project, the catalyst for this has been the Financial Assistance program that has enabled producers to purchase improved irrigation hardware and benefit from the team s irrigation evaluations that have provided data on the actual performance of systems. At the time when the project commenced the majority of irrigation systems comprised of high pressure travelling guns and there was generally little understanding of the benefits of improved irrigation systems. As new hardware was installed the project team and producers realised the potential of low to medium pressure systems in terms of lower pumping costs, improved distribution application and increased productivity. Producers have reduced pumping costs by more than 60% with the installation of new low pressure equipment, and many have installed more than one irrigator having realised the benefits. The RWUE team has provided crucial technical support to schedule and seasonally budget water to assist irrigators realise the full potential from their improved systems. Only with competent management of the irrigation infrastructure and the feedbase or whole farm system will the largest gains be achieved. With an improved irrigation system, correct fertiliser applications, grazing management and scheduling producers are able to maximise gains across the business. Project Leader Ross Warren ross.warren@daff.qld.gov.au

9 POP SORGHUM PROJECT The Pop Sorghum study is a co-funded project by DAFF and Dairy Australia. The pop-sorghum project is aiming to increase the starch availability of sorghum grain through dry popping. The primary objectives of the experiments are: To determine the starch and protein degradability of popped sorghum grain compared with conventional grain processing methods; To determine the response in milk production and composition of lactating dairy cows through feeding popped sorghum grain and the associated financial benefits. Sorghum grain is a cheaper and more readily available grain source for Queensland dairy farms. Approximately 60% of dairy farmers throughout Queensland use sorghum grain as their major starch source for milk production. However, many dairy farmers struggle to achieve higher production levels due to the poor digestive characteristics associated with feeding sorghum grain. While sorghum grain is very high in starch (ranging between 62-66%), the outer coating of the grain prevents all of the starch from being digested and absorbed by the animal. Studies measuring the rate of absorption in the rumen of cows fed sorghum grain showed that only ~10% of the grain is degraded/hour. Therefore, the grain would need to remain in the rumen for a minimum of 10 hours for the starch to be completely utilised. In practice, delaying rumen throughput to every 10 hours would severely limit feed intake thus decrease milk output considerably. As an alternative, it may be possible to increase the starch availability and degradability of sorghum by popping the grain using heat, similar to popping maize grain as pop-corn. The process of popping the grain increases starch availability through gelatinisation of the starch molecule and increased surface area for microbial attachment and degradation. Added benefits to popping the sorghum grain is increased dry matter content associated ease of handling at feedout, longer shelf-life and the potential to process on-farm. The anticipated benefits for industry of this project would be an improvement in FCE through increasing the starch availability of sorghum in the rumen of dairy cows. This would result in a reduction in feed related costs as grain intake supplied to the cow is more effectively utilised enabling farmers to reduce the amount of sorghum grain being fed in order to achieve similar milk production levels. Or, similarly, by feeding the same amount of grain, an increase in utilisation will contribute to an increase in milk production and subsequently reduce feed related cost per litre of milk. Project Leader Amy Anstis amy.anstis@daff.qld.gov.au To speed up rumen degradation rate, farmers can process sorghum by rolling and hammer-milling. However, some starch will remain unavailable due to the starch protein matrix that exists in sorghum grain.

10 PREVIOUS PROJECTS M5 Project ( ) The Sustainable Dairy Farm Systems for Profit project (M5 Project) was initiated in anticipation of a significant drop in milk price following deregulation to identify farm systems capable of achieving profit. Five farm systems were simulated as farmlets to represent a cross-section of systems found in northern Australia. The farmlets were run over 5 consecutive years and all five farmlets produced a positive return on assets for the duration of the project at average SEQld milk prices, despite high concentrate costs and low water availability. The project team identified key drivers of profit for farm businesses, published the results in an information series (Andrews et al. 2006), and held a series of extension activities to communicate the findings to industry. Forage Plus ( ) The Forage Plu$ project addressed the challenges faced by northern Australian dairy farmers at the time, which was the need to produce substantially more on-farm forage and milk from forage using existing infrastructure and natural resources more efficiently. Nutrition Plu$ ( ) The Nutrition Plu$ project commenced following deregulation when many regions of the northern dairy industry were suffering drought conditions and a significant reduction in farm numbers and total milk production was seen. A clear message from industry was received to develop a project that provided nutritional management training for dairy farmers. Nutrition Plu$ was an extension program developed to provide nutritional training courses and technical material for dairy farmers that focussed on developing problem solving skill to allow them to make better decisions with respect to the nutritional management of their cows. The principal objectives of the project was to improve the profitability, particularly gross margin per cow, of dairy farms in the subtropical dairy regions by 5% over a 2-year period. The project ended up continuing for a 4 year period and achieved an increase in the basic nutritional knowledge and nutritional problem solving skills of farmers, as well as increasing the efficiency of feed conversion and production per cow. The project also worked toward increasing the advanced nutritional knowledge of farmers and service providers. The principal objectives of the project were to increase forage utilisation to 20 t DM/ha for pasture and 50 t DM/ha for crops through improving farmer skills and knowledge. The Forage Plu$ project placed great emphasis on demonstrating the interconnection between the extension, development and research programs and used a framework around levels of farmer knowledge and skills to deliver the targeted materials to meet pasture utilisation targets of 10, 15 and 20 t DM/ha/year and crop targets of 20, 35 and 50 t DM/ha/year

11 PREVIOUS PROJECTS Protein Plu$ ( ) The Protein Plu$ extension project aimed to further verify the outcomes of Managing Milk Protein Levels in Dairy Cows which addressed the issues surrounding problems with low milk protein concentration at certain times of the year across WA, Qld and northern NSW. The project used specially selected farms to provide the necessary resource material and training to overcome the problems being experienced on most farms by low and/or fluctuating protein levels and poor processability of protein at factory level. The main aims of the project were to lift the average protein content of milk supplied by SDP and WA dairy producers by 0.15% compared to that supplied in 1999/2000, and to investigate the relationships between farm management practices, milk composition and processability and improve the efficiency and profitability of manufacturing processes. Along side this, the project also aimed to provide the tools necessary to economically evaluate the changes. Business Plu$ ( ) Business Plu$ was established to build the capacity of dairy farmers to understand and apply business principles in their management, to improve farm profitability and create a culture where business KPI s are seen as important as production KPI s in making management decisions. Business Plu$ activities included peer business review workshops and on farm business reviews. Economics analyses were also undertaken into buying versus growing fodder, investing in automatic cup removers, investing in automatic milking systems and production efficiency. Modelling of the buying versus growing fodder question in 2009 found that the feed related costs of the TMR farms in QDAS would increase by 6.0c/l if they stopped using home grown forage. This also increased risk to farmers since they now rely on others to supply the quantity and quality of forage required.

12 STAFF Wayne Jorgensen (Science Leader) The new Gatton Research Dairy Unit, is a focus for research, development, extension and education in critical areas of sub-tropical dairy production relative to the Queensland and northern New South Wales dairy industries. These critical areas of RD&E for the DAFF researchers and extension officers include delivery of improved and more efficient systems and structured activities that help dairy farmers improve productivity, profitability and sustainability. The collaboration between UQ and DAFF in this joint facility will drive a new era in the state's sub-tropical dairy to develop new on-farm strategies designed to improve the productivity, profitability and sustainability of Queensland dairy farms. Dr David Barber (Team Leader) PhD Ruminant nutrition, B Agr Sci Senior Extension & Research Officer- Nutrition david.barber@daff.qld.gov.au Dave has been actively involved in nutrition and milk composition research and extension in Queensland and northern NSW for the past 13 years. Dave has specialised skills in nutritional management, diet formulation, nutritional requirements of dairy cows, mixed ration feeding systems and feedpad infrastructure. Dave is project leader of the Dairy In Action extension project and is also provides technical support for the nutritional research associated with the C4Milk research project. Dr Mark Callow PhD Agronomy, M Agr Sci Senior Research Officer Agronomy mark.callow@daff.qld.gov.au Mark has more than 19 years experience developing and implementing dairy feedbase systems combining modelling, component research. An important part of Mark s research was to improve the efficiency of natural resource use in particular water. Mark is currently leading the C4Milk Research project and was the previous project leader of the Forage Plu$ Project.

13 STAFF Amy Anstis B Agr Sc (Hon) Research Officer Nutrition amy.anstis@daff.qld.gov.au Amy has more than 6 years experience in research and extension particularly within the nutritional management field. She is heavily involved in the nutrition research for the C4Milk project and enjoys getting out and about talking to farmers when she can. She also leads the Pop Sorghum project which is looking at improving the starch availability of sorghum grain to dairy cows. John Miller Grad Dip Rural Systems Management Senior Extension Officer john.miller@daff.qld.gov.au John has over 30 years experience working as a dairy extension specialist and livestock consultant across the Queensland industry and a number of S.E. Asian dairy industries. John areas of expertise cover milking systems management, mastitis management, dairy and yard design as well as forage and irrigation management. John is currently involved in the Dairy In Action extension project as well as Queensland Dairy Organisations Rural Water Use Efficiency project. Melissa Mathews B App Sci Graduate Research Officer- Nutrition melissa.matthews@daff.qld.gov.au Melissa started with DAFF Dairy Team in Within the Dairy department Melissa is assisting with nutrition based experiments (Popping sorghum and FCE trial), attending workshops, learning the Qld Dairy Accounting Scheme (QDAS) and assisting with extension and agronomy areas.

14 STAFF Jordan Minniecon BA App Sci Extension Officer Jordan has been working with the QDAFF Diary team since September of Having a great passion for the industry that he works in, his main focus is in dairy extension. Jordan currently is involved in the Dairy In Action project running discussion groups, delivering extension activities and is heavily involved in managing demonstration sites for the research and extension projects. Coming from a farming family, he is a young and enthusiastic member of the team and has a keen interest in the agricultural industry. Jordan is also in the process of completing a Master in Agribusiness Ray Murphy M Rural Systems Management, B.Ag.Ec.(Hons) Senior Extension Officer - Dairy Farm Business Management ray.murphy@daff.qld.gov.au Ray has extensive knowledge and experience in farm business management stemming from more than 20 years work in dairy and broad acre agriculture. Ray has trained hundreds of farmers in computer based farm analysis and has undertaken many farm financial reviews. He leads QDAS which provides a financial analysis service to around 15% of Queensland dairy farms and produces an annual report into the financial performance of the Queensland dairy industry. Gordon Simpson M Applied Science, Dip Information technology Dairy Systems Modeller gordon.simpson@daff.qld.gov.au Gordon has 12 years experience modelling farming systems, the last 10 being with Australian dairy farming systems. He has developed a range of software products for the dairy and beef industries, these being used within Australia and internationally. He also helped to develop the climate analysis program Rainman StreamFlow 4.3. Prior to this Gordon worked as an entomologist, providing advice about a range of insect problems to tropical horticultural, grain and cotton farmers.

15 STAFF Ross Warren B Agr Sc (Hon) Senior Extension Officer ross.warren@daff.qld.gov.au Ross is a Dairy Extension officer in the areas of forage and irrigation. Ross has been involved in all facets of dairy research and extension in Qld and northern NSW for the past 13 years. He is currently the project leader of the Dairy Fodder Water for Profit project aiming to improve water use efficiency across the State. He is also involved in the Dairy in Action and C4Milk research projects. Wendy Wallen Operational Officer wendy.wallen@daff.qld.gov.au Wendy has been part of the DAFF dairy team for in excess of 2 years. Wendy's initial role was providing administrative support to the team, and now is employed as an operational officer. Wendy provides operational support to all aspects of the projects, from assisting in tropical grass trials, popped sorghum experiments, animal experiments and extension activities.