Focus Farms

Dairy Australia's Focus Farms program centres around farming families and enterprises. It aims to assist Focus Farmers to achieve their stated goals during a defined period in which they are supported by a support group made up of farmers and local service providers.

The Focus Farm program has been running for almost 20 years with Focus Farms and their open days giving all farmers insight into how on-farm decisions are made and the impact they have on the broader farm business. Farmers can use Focus Farms as sources of inspiration and reference points to inform their own decision-making.

In this video, extension officer Laurie Hickey explains how Focus Farms have assisted farmers to make impactful decisions.

Why the Focus Farm program was created

Dairy farming is a decision-intensive business and farmers face an increasingly complex set of management, technical and risk issues. Dairy farmers need more than 170 separate skills in 11 specialist areas to run a successful farm business.

Farmers are making multiple operational and tactical decisions on a daily, weekly and seasonal basis. Some of these decisions can have a lasting impact on the profitability and sustainability of their farm.

Varying conditions, regional factors and farming approaches across the Focus Farms participants means a wide range of data and information can be captured. These insights then help other dairy farmers to make impactful decisions for their own farms.

How farmers can get involved

Focus Farmers are selected through an application process and supported over the duration of the Focus Farm period by a farm consultant and a support group made up of other farmers and service providers.

The support group meets regularly throughout the year. Open days are held for other interested farmers and the dairy industry to get a closer look at the Focus Farms’ progress.

Dairy farmers interested in finding out more about the Focus Farms program can contact their local regional team or attend an open day.

Focus Farms across our regions

Select a regional team from the list below to meet the farmers taking part in the Focus Farms program:

• Murray Dairy Focus Farms
• Dairy NSW Focus Farms
• DairyTas Focus Farms
• WestVic Dairy Focus Farms
• Subtropical Dairy Focus Farms

Focus Farms case study

Read the case study below on how New South Wales dairy farmers Justin and Libby Walsh are driving down their cost of production by participating in Dairy Australia's Focus Farms program.

NSW farmer drives down COP through Focus Farm 

New South Wales dairy farmers Justin and Libby Walsh achieved significant gains in pasture growth and slashed their cost of production in a tough season by taking part in Dairy Australia’s Focus Farms program.

The south coast farmers recently took over the family farm from Justin’s parents after a period of succession planning and saw the transition as an opportunity to set up their operation for success.

Now 15 months into the two-year program, Justin and Libby have made significant inroads to drive down their cost of production and increase their profit margins.

“Focus Farms is one of the best and most valuable programs that Dairy Australia runs,” Justin said.

“Through the program, we now have a solid base to easily assess improvements in our business for the long-term, as well as access to an enhanced level of analysis of our unique situation to inform decision-making.”

Achieving tangible outcomes

When he entered the program in August 2018, Justin identified his pasture and fertiliser management approach as a key area for improvement to drive profitability.

Despite securing a high milk price in recent years, Justin said it was challenging to realise the benefits due to his high cost of production.

“Our main objective was lowering our cost of production and a key goal was growing more grass,” he said.

Justin set a goal of doubling his tonnage per hectare by the conclusion of the program – and he is already well on his way to success.

Adapting his pasture and fertiliser programs after he received advice from his support group, Justin has moved toward planting the entire milking platform with a combination of ryegrass and oats.

The Walshs also used widespread suppression of kikuyu to plant ryegrass earlier in the season to get more grazings out of each season.

While the south coast experienced one of its driest seasons on record, the Walshs achieved a 50% increase in dry matter tonnage – a substantial boost of two tonnes per hectare.

Connecting with farmers and advisors

The best part of participating in the Focus Farm program for the Walshs has been connecting with other farmers and service providers to offer more micro-level advice on their farming operations.

Their support group is comprised of nine local farmers and six service providers, including a nutritionist, an agronomist, a feed specialist, a Dairy Australia representative, a processor field officer and a farm business consultant.

Together, this network provides advice on a range of opportunities for improvement in Justin and Libby's farm business operation – a unique opportunity to draw from a variety of skills and perspectives to make informed decisions.

For Justin, the key benefit of this network has been receiving tailored advice that looks at every aspect of his farming operation with a better understanding of his unique situation.

Having already used DairyBase to compile and compare his farm data using “the same language as other farmers”, Justin saw Focus Farms as an opportunity to generate real-life comparisons using knowledge provided by farmers and service providers in his region.

“Participating in the Focus Farm program was a real opportunity to bring these people together. I wouldn’t have had access to the depth of knowledge that was provided to us without this program,” he said.

“Your support group gets to know the intricacies of your farm business, rather than high level or general advice that you would usually receive.”

As well as immediate access to an experienced support group, Justin has broadened his network through referrals and signposting.

“You can do a lot of networking through people in your support group and I now have contacts for specialists for hay or for reproduction that I wouldn’t have had before,” he said.

“The networking is unbelievable through this program – you don’t really understand how wide reaching this program can be until you’re in.”

Reward for openness and transparency

While he was initially uncertain about the benefits of sharing detailed information about his farm with others in the industry, Justin believes he has been rewarded with stronger relationships and better advice.

“The process can be a little confronting at first, but my wife and I decided that unless people understand the financial position we’re in – negatively or positively – it’s very difficult to receive sound advice,” he said.

“But while it was confronting, we knew that our support group would use their professional discretion, and it puts them in a much better position to provide advice going forward about our farm.”

Since openly sharing information about his farming system, Justin believes other farmers have repaid his openness with more informed discussions and insights.

“I find that people reciprocate your openness – you can have much better discussions because people can see you know what you’re talking about and that you’re being up front,” he said.

“The vast majority of dairy farmers are facing similar situations or decisions, and people are definitely more open toward us now that we’re more open to them.”