Dairy Farm Management tour
The Dairy Farm Management Program recently held its Innovation and Sustainability study tour with attendees from the Northern Victoria, Gippsland and Western District campus of the National Centre for Dairy Education Australia.
As part of the 12 month Dairy Farm Management Program the tour was organised to give students insight into farms and industries with the focus on innovation and sustainability within the dairy industry. Many kilometres were covered during the five day tour with visits to farms and enterprises throughout Victoria and South Australia.
One of the key attractions included a visit to Gary and Lee Hibberd's 500 hectare property where they milk 650 cows. Having cows producing to the optimum of their breeding with efficient feed conversion is a philosophy that has worked extremely well for Gary, Lee and their six children.
Addressing cow comfort has seen infrastructure developed on the farm to include a 300 free stall barn where the herd can be split on a rotational basis to minimise wastage of feed, prevent paddock pugging, minimize walking and protecting the cows from weather extremes. Further infrastructure has also included a maternity barn that enables the cows to be constantly monitored including the timely feeding of lead feed.
The Dairy Farm Management Program is being run as a pilot program this year across Victoria which is designed to further develop an understanding of the components of the farming business and how they interact.
Some of the topics covered include developing a whole farm plan, managing integrated crop and pasture production, managing staff, developing and reviewing a business plan and developing and implementing a breeding strategy.
The program is for people who have a good grounding in how a farm business operates. Participants will need a Certificate IV in Agriculture or equivalent farming experience to participate. This equivalent farming experience will be validated and will provide the opportunity to confirm the skills and knowledge you already have through a skills recognition process.
For further information on the Dairy Farm Management Program please contact the National Centre for Dairy Education Australia on 1300 0 NCDEA (1300 062 332).
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