Focus Farms

The Focus Farm project revolves around a single farm. This farm family is supported by a local consultant who facilitates a support group. The support group is made up of local farmers and service providers. The Focus Farmers set goals around finance, production and lifestyle issues. The support group and facilitator help the Focus Farmers reach these goals through regular financial analysis, close monitoring of cow and pasture performance and discussions around lifestyle implications of the farming system.

The support groups meet monthly for 2 years and there are 3 open days over the life of the project. There is technical information released to the media through a column in the Weekly Times and Stock & Land, plus a monthly article in the How Now Gippy Cow (HNGC). The Focus Farmers businesses are exposed to the public. They live in a fish bowl so others can learn from their decision making.

Sponsorship for the project has come from the Gardiner Foundation, Dairy Australia and GippsDairy. This has enabled the GippsDairy Board to initiate six Focus Farms. They are located near Foster, Middle Tarwin, Nar Nar Goon, Willowgrove, Denison and north east of Maffra. The current project will finish in December 2011.

When the invitation was issued for expressions of interest from farmers across the region, 16 farm families responded. This was a great response but made the job of choosing very difficult when only six places were available in the project.

This round of the Focus Farm Project will continue the very important emphasis on farm financial management, production and farm family issues. However, there are some additional features that have not been formally included in previous Focus Farms. There is mentoring of young service providers by the facilitators. This aims to build the understanding of the whole farming system so they can provide better service to their dairy farmer clients. Also, the Focus Farms will all have a Green House Gas audit done to measure their emissions and develop a plan that will reduce their emissions plus give them a financial saving.

The mentoring component is seen as an investment in the future of the dairy industry and in these young people. As was the case in the Focus Farm selection, these people responded to an invitation for expressions of interest to take on this role and their current employers have allowed them the time to participate. The mentees will support the facilitator prepare for the monthly support group meetings and contribute to the discussions and in some cases facilitate components of the group meetings. These mentees will also gain specialist group training from Jenny O'Sullivan.

Another initiative in this round of Focus Farms is the opportunity to have a Greenhouse Gas Audit performed using the industry tool DGAS. Woolworths through Landcare Australia has provided the financial support for this to occur. It is part of a bigger project that is being delivered in conjunction with DairyNSW and DairyTAS.

The Focus Farm families are:

• Kevin and Helen Jones, South Gippsland Highway, between Foster and Toora. This year they are looking to milk 380 cows. Their facilitator is John Mulvany from Onfarm Consulting and the mentee working with John is Matt Hall from Murray Goulburn.
• Rod and Lyndall Cope at Middle Tarwin. This year they will be milking 400 cows. Facilitator for this farm is Matt Harms from Onfarm Consulting and the mentee is Alison Potter from Murray Goulburn.
• At Nar Nar Goon, Michael and Ancret Shipton are sharefarming with Geoff Bramley. Currently they have 250 cows in a spring, summer, and autumn calving pattern. The facilitator is Peter Notman from Notman Seeds and the mentee is Andrew Wood from Fonterra.
• The Willowgrove Focus Farm is on Mick and Paula Hughes’ farm. They will peak at 280 spring calving cows this year. The facilitator is Jeff Urie from AgChallenge and the mentee is Dan Armstrong.
• At Denison, the Focus Farm is on the Anderson family farm where Ross and Kelly are the new generation on the farm. Ross' commitment to the family farm has lead to some changes already, a new dairy, and more land purchased. The facilitator is Craig McWhinney from AgChallenge and the mentee is Donna McAinch from Irwin Stockfeeds.
• The Focus Farm just northeast of Maffra is on Wayne and Dana Saunders farm. They moved to the district from New Zealand almost four years ago and are establishing a strongly pasture based dairy farm. The facilitator is Neil Baker, the Saunders agricultural consultant Gavin McClay will also be assisting. The mentee is Peter Gaffy from Fonterra.

A feature of past Focus Farm projects has been the openness of the data provided and the wide opportunity for the Focus Farm families, support groups and facilitator to deal with the issues being faced on that farm. That same situation applies across these new Focus Farms. There is a wide diversity of climate, soil type, farm financial and management issues, and a diverse list of farm family goals. Information about these Focus Farms and their activities will continue to appear in How Now Gippy Cow, there will also be opportunities for farm walks and field days to inspect the farms and their progress. Items will appear in local papers, and the weekly reports in rural newspapers will continue. There is also an opportunity for people to be placed on the mailing list for a particular farm that they are interested in following. They can receive the regular meeting notes coming from that farm.

For more information about the project contact John Gallienne on 0407 863 493.