Scott used a blend of nitrogen, sulphur, phosphorus and potassium to prepare for an early silage season. “This year, with the forecast being wet, we wanted to get the fertiliser on our land early, when it was dry enough to do so.” Scott says he’s always looking 3 months ahead and tries to be proactive in his decision making. It will be a good quality feed for our youngstock in another 6 weeks time.”Ī Holstein Friesian cow will drink 150 or 160 litres a day when it’s hot. We managed to sow there in early September and it’s flying out of the ground now. “It was a difficult part of the farm with rocks and trees. Recently Scott has planted a brassica crop on a paddock, that was a bit neglected. That has become a bigger part of our forage system.” When I get a combination of hot and wet weather forecast for the summer months, I grow tropical crops such as sorghum. “I understand that when I reach a certain point in time, and weather conditions haven’t materialised, I might have to move on to something else. Which can do damage to our tracks for example, on which we rely heavily to move our stock around on the farm.” Tropical cropsĪdapting means that Scott has to be flexible in making plans for his farm. We get large volumes of rain in short periods of time. “That obviously puts more pressure of heat loads on the cows,” he says. Scott has noticed more hot days, with temperatures rising above 35☌. Some of the calves on the farm around a mobile feeder. Now we tend to be getting more variability in spring rain, drier winters and more humidity and rainfall events in summer.” You could always rely on a good spring in north-east Victoria and a good dry summer. We don’t get the defined autumn, winter, spring and summer as we used to. Seasonal weather patterns in north-east Victoria have changed, Scott emphasises. Movement of animals for example, like ants or turtles.” They have seen things in the past that can indicate change. “We listen to the older generation that has a lot of experience. “But we’re still looking for local knowledge,” Scott says. He gets most of his weather information from Dairy Australia, CSIRO and the Bureau of Meteorology. We live in a beautiful part of the world and want to maintain that and prosper.” “We have great care for our resources, such as our land, our animals and our people. “We are all very passionate about the great things that dairy offers,” he points out. Scott’s family has been operating in the region for over 150 years.Ĭooperative: He is one of the founding members of the new Mountain Milk Cooperative that was started a few years ago.
They produce 3 million litres of milk a year. The farm: They milk 380 cows off 200 hectares on a 500 hectare farm. Name: Scott McKillop and his wife Belinda and kids Angus Lexi and Marli operate a dairy farm near Dederang in the Australian state of Victoria.
0 kommentar(er)
