Farmer focuses on steady improvement

Being a focus farmer has taught Brenton Ziero how to work smarter, not just harder.

The Jindivick sharefarmer, who took on the Focus Farm in 2016 with farm owner Steve Ronalds, said one of the biggest changes in the farm business has been organising labour to benefit the business operation.

“We still have a lot of improvement, especially in staffing levels and in training,” he said.

“But improving in this area has allowed me to manage things rather than just doing it all myself.”

“It’s allowed me to grow more grass, produce better milk and get things done on time, not two days later.”

Improving the situation with farm labour is one of many significant adjustments made at the Jindivick farm, with Brenton saying the support group had been a major driver of change.

“You need to have the right support group. You need to hear other opinions. If you don’t hear it, you don’t think about it,” he said.

Speaking at the farm’s final open day recently, Focus Farm facilitator Matt Hall said getting the little things right had added up to significant wins during the two year focus farm period.

“Through a different attitude to feeding we got better feed conversion efficiency out of the cows,” he said.

“We had better management in year two in terms of better attention to detail and timing. That was probably about Brenton getting more time to be more organised because his staff did more. It freed up more of his time to do the things that he perhaps should have been doing in the past.”

Focus Farms, which are funded by Dairy Australia and managed by GippsDairy, are not “demonstration” or “best practice” farms, but normal commercial dairy farms trying to manage the variability of the dairy industry.

The Focus Farm receives support from an experienced farm consultant, who acts as a group facilitator, and a support group made up of farmers and local service providers.

Matt Hall said the primary goal of better cow production had been achieved, with improvements to labour structure another significant outcome.

“The group focused mainly on goal number one, which was getting more profitable milk solids from the cows, but the staff issue was improving steadily in the background, so one could ricochet off the other. I think they happened together, not one causing the other.”

GippsDairy regional manager Allan Cameron said the latest round of Focus Farms had highlighted the project’s value to the Gippsland dairy industry.

“We’ve seen in Jindivick, Fish Creek and Won Wron that farmers who are committed to change and improvement can build better farm businesses by accessing the resources of the Focus Farm project,” he said.

“Just some of the outcomes from the three Focus Farms have included improved labour structures, more efficient pasture usage, changes to calving patterns, better work-life balance, safer farms and more in-depth understanding of farm financials and the drivers of profit,” he said.