GippsDairy Programs

Each of these programs reflects GippsDairy's strategic priorities:

Strategic Priority 1 – Enable prosperous and resilient dairy businesses

Strategic Priority 2 – Improve the capability and capacity of our dairy people

Strategic Priority 3 – Foster a culture of leadership across the Gippsland dairy industry

Strategic Priority 4 – Enhance the reputation of the Gippsland dairy industry

 

Projects are listed by focus area.

Animal Performance

Cups On Cups Off

This two-day workshop is suitable for anyone who milks cows on a dairy farm. Skills covered include how and why mastitis infections occur, practical methods to detect and deal with mastitis, adapting the milking process to reduce the risk of infections and how to develop an action plan to achieve best practice in milk harvesting.

Humane Euthanasia of Livestock

This workshops helps participants to ensure the most humane treatment of sick, injured or unsaleable cows with effective, swift and least painful methods.

InCharge Fertility Program

This five-day workshop over five weeks helps assist farmers with improving the fertility of their herd.

Transition Cow Management

A one-day workshop which provides farmers with an opportunity to improve cow health, milk production and reproductive performance.

Heifers on Target

Well-grown heifers are more likely to realise their full potential for milk production and recover their rearing costs earlier.

Rearing Heathy Calves

A one-day interactive discussion on raising healthy, contented dairy calves. It is designed for calf-rearers and farm managers who are looking to take their pre-weaning calf management to the next level. The care provided for your calves from the start of life is critical to their health and growth rates.

Healthy Hooves

Healthy Hooves workshops are for people looking to explore the identification, treatment and prevention of lameness in a hands-on environment.

Facial Eczema Monitoring Program

Facial eczema is a disease caused by a fungal toxin in perennial ryegrass pastures. Spore counting on sentinel farms across Gippsland commences in January each year. If spore counts rise to dangerous levels, Dairy Australia will issue an alert to dairy farmers in the affected regions to monitor their own pasture spore counts and/or commence feeding of zinc oxide supplements to their milking herds.

Feedbase and animal nutrition

Feeding Pastures for Profit (FPFP)

The FPFP program aims to provide farmers with the skills and tools to achieve the profitable balance between home-grown feed harvest and supplement use. The program has two days of ‘up-front’ classroom-style delivery plus six on-farm group days over 10 to 12 months. Each participant receives a farm visit to support pasture rotation decisions.

Nutrition Fundamentals

Feeding dairy cows profitably is critically important to all dairy farmers. This course is practical and hands-on and pitched at a basic level.

Advanced Nutrition in Action (ANIA)

The goal of the ANIA training program is to enable farmers to improve herd nutrition practices by providing the technical knowledge, problem solving and strategic planning skills and tools to develop and implement appropriate, nutrition-related management strategies which support personal and business goals.

TopFodder

TopFodder is a two-day workshop with one day on-farm. The TopFodder program covers the science of silage making. It involves hands on-inspection and assessment of silage on farms.

Land, water and carbon

Nutrient Management: Fert$mart

Fert$mart encompasses the dairy industry’s national nutrient management guidelines, developed to improve the efficiency and profitability of fertiliser use and to improve soil health on Australian dairy farms.

 

Farm Performance 

Dairy Farm Business Fundamentals

This course runs over two to three days and focuses on farm financial management, providing the skills and knowledge to pull together annual farm financial numbers. It also covers getting organised, budgeting, compliance and farm financial systems. It introduces the Dairy Standard Chart of Accounts and the Dairy Cash Management Planner.

Dairy Farm Business Analysis

This is a three-day course that assists farmers and their advisors to better understand and analyse farm business performance. It uses DairyBase and covers the importance of getting annual farm physical and financial numbers right, how to interpret farm performance and to understand cash, profit and wealth for a dairy farm business using DairyBase reports. This course is recommended for all dairy farmers and their advisors.

Governance & Investment

A two-day workshop introducing practical ways to implement effective business governance principles into the business and how to become investor ready.

Discussion Groups

Discussion groups to benefit farmers and support decision making on farms. Visit our Discussion Group page for a list of current groups.

Focus Farms

The Focus Farms program supports a network of Australian farms, tracking real decisions on real farms under real conditions over a two-year period. Find out more about Focus Farms.

Our Farm, Our Plan

Our Farm, Our Plan gives farmers a clear vision of their long-term business and personal goals and assists with better decision making, especially the big decisions. More information can be found on the Our Farm, Our Plan webpage.

Capable people

Don Campbell Memorial Tour

A five-day study tour of the northern Tasmanian dairy industry with 10 to 14 young farmers. Find out more about the Tour and information on how to apply.

Young Dairy Network – East, South and West

Technical and social events for young dairy farmers. Events may include dinners, discussion groups, farm visits, tours, guest speakers and seminars on specific topics such as share farming. Feel free to suggest an idea or a topic you think others might also be interested in. Find out more about the Young Dairy Network.

Farm Safety Starter Kit and Farm Safety Manual

Helping farmers to get started with farm safety. Access the Farm Safety Starter Kit and the Farm Safety Manual.

Taking Steps

A one-day workshop covering share farming, leasing and shared equity arrangements.

Stepping Back

A one-day workshop for those considering transition out of the industry.

Stepping Up

Understanding options for a career in dairy.

Employment Basics (ESKI)

A workshop aimed at employers, covering the pastoral award and how to employ people correctly in the dairy industry. Find out more at the people in dairy website.

Employing Overseas Workers

A workshop to assist with employing overseas workers and relevant visa requirements.

Education

Various programs to promote a career in dairy to students such as Cows Create Careers, Picasso Cows and career days.

Major event

GippsDairy Muster

GippsDairy’s annual major event, the GippsDairy Muster, is an opportunity for farmers and service providers to come together for a day of learning, entertainment, and networking.

The event alternates between convention-style and on-farm, and each year features a range of engaging, informative speakers who provide relevant and practical content related to the dairy industry.