In this 11th edition of our dairy farm journal Julian talks about this critical time of year when farmers cut their pastures to make silage. The ability to make silage on farm - which is dependant on good rainfall and weather - reduces the amount of hay that has to be bought to feed cows, and therefore reduces input costs and helps farms remain financially sustainable.
The weather keeps us farmers on our toes! Despite good winter rainfall that allowed us to grow a lot of grass for our cows to feed on, there's now TOO MUCH moisture in the ground. We need the grass to dry out a fair bit before cutting it to make silage, a valuable source of nutrient rich feed preserved and stored for use in the drier months when there is less grass on the ground.
In this edition of our farm journal Julian explains the various initiatives and investments he and Luke have put in place to capture and secure water every time it rains.
In this month's farm journal we take a closer look at the "Mooternity" Ward, our undercover #calving pad we built way back in 2001! We relocate expectant mothers to the comfort of the Mooternity Ward from the wide open, unprotected paddocks shortly before they're due to give birth.
In the 7th edition of our monthly farm journal Julian reports that solid April rain and warm weather has combined to produce a lot of feed (lush green grass) for our cows during May/June.
After the driest three months in memory the farm received around 90 millimetres of rain during April. As a result grasses have bounced back, providing precious green feed for our herd!
In the latest edition of our monthly dairy farm journal Julian reports that he doesn't remember seeing the farm this dry in autumn in his 43 years in Cooriemungle on the Great Ocean Road.
Just 15 minutes from Port Campbell and the 12 Apostles, a visit to Apostle Whey Cheese features cheese tastings (try 12 cheeses for just $1) and the opportunity to see new born calves and the cows being milked daily at 4pm.
When cows get to within 10-12 days of calving they are bought in to the “Mooternity Ward” and fed a special feed of grain.
A visit to Apostle Whey Cheese offers cheese tastings (try 12 cheeses for just $1), the opportunity to see cheese being made by hand and the cows being milked daily at 4pm.
Our farmgate café serves cheese platters, coffee, toasties, gelato and milkshakes - all made using our milk from our cows from our farm!
In this edition of our farm journal we'd like to show you our approach to subsurface drainage using mole drains.
Soils can be variable: from sandy types that respond quickly to rain and drain freely (but also dry out very quickly), to heavy clay soils which can be very slow to drain and will hang on longer when rain ceases.
We "dry off" our cows during December and January following roughly 300 days of milking.
Drying off is very important and means we stop milking for 7-8 weeks to give the mothers a break before they give birth to their calf (calving).
We’ve had a very mild spring with cool temperatures and a bit of rain. This has meant grass has continued to grow, allowing us to make a lot of ‘silage’.
A fermented grass high in protein and energy, silage is packaged up and stored to feed cows later in summer when conditions are drier.
We're delighted to launch a series of educational videos with Regional Rising to provide customers with behind the scenes access to life on our single origin dairy farm along the Great Ocean Road.