As a relative outlier in the dairy industry, Lachie Tindall has adapted while others have escaped.
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Lachie farms at Carapook near Casterton, a region better known today as the birthplace of the kelpie and for its sheep and beef farms.
The area was once dominated by dairy farms but now it’s just the Tindall family and one other smaller business.
“I like to joke that everyone else got smarter and got out; we got stupider and got bigger,” he says.
As one of the first Victorian farmers to adopt Halter virtual fencing technologies – and the first signed up to use it for dairy cows, dairy young stock and beef – he’s continuing to innovate.
The farm has been in the family since 1948, with the major change being the addition of an adjacent beef farm in 2014.
They farm off a 445-hectare dairy block with a 365-hectare out block, and the beef operation on 525 hectares.
“We’d reached the point in the dairy herd where we’d need to buy more feed in, or work out another plan to milk and feed more cows,” Lachie said.
“My father John was the driving force. He had milked cows his whole life and wanted to try something different and we wanted to grow more fodder.”
They bought a herd of 200 at dispersal and were encouraged to put in F1 Wagyu at the time as a way of getting quick cashflow.
That worked well for a couple of years until the beef price crashed and the dairy clawback disaster meant “everything that could go wrong, went wrong”.
They later moved to black Angus and are now aiming to run the beef property like a dairy farm.
“It’s basically applying dairy principles to beef farming – smaller paddocks, rotational grazing and eating more grass – not like when we bought the farm which had big paddocks, set stock and didn’t grow much feed.”
In an area prone to drought with dry summers and mild winters, the Tindalls have had to adapt, using technology and good advice to cope with fluctuations in seasons and prices.
“It tends to be a drought more often than not,” Lachie said.
“Every year is treated as a drought and we cut every blade of grass that we possibly can.”
The average rainfall is about 500-600mm.
About 15 years ago they started burying silage stacks, a move that has paid dividends.
“We’ve pulled up two in the past two years which has saved us a lot of money,” Lachie said.
“We also forward contract grain and work with consultants to help us out. We have a good team and we bring in people who do a very good job for us.”
A feed pad was installed a few years ago to reduce feed wastage and boost production. “For six months of the year we’re basically in drought so they’re on the feed pad in a loafing area right next to the dairy,” Lachie said.
They are also influenced by animal welfare.
“We try to do what’s best for the industry and focus on what we can do to get the most out of our animals,” Lachie said.
Rumen drenching all dairy cows within 24 hours of calving has had a big impact on cow health and production.
“The mixture pumped into them is made by our nutritional company and it replenishes everything they have lost during calving,” Lachie said.
“It helps immensely with milk fever. We calved down 720 cows last year and treated less than five with milk fever.
“Since we’ve been doing it, we’ve gone from peaking around 2.2 Kg/Ms to 2.62 last year and we expect to be pushing around 8500 litres this year.”
“There are seasonal factors influencing that and we’ve implemented other things like feed pads and better feeding.
“It’s not a silver bullet but it’s a piece of the puzzle to make it better.
“They hit the dairy firing and healthy, we’re not dealing with sick cattle and we get back in calf again because they’re happy and healthy.
“The joining program starts as soon as the first calf hits the ground. I’m results driven and from an animal point of view, it’s amazing.”
Fertility has gone up as well, with the six-week in-calf rate ranging between 70 and 75 per cent.
The latest addition, Halter collars, are part of a plan to split the dairy herd.
“We’re milking 700 which is our yard capacity,” Lachie said.
“To milk more, we need to go to two herds and with Halter I can split the herd without needing more staff.
“We’ve got cows walking on laneways or standing in dairy yards for eight hours a day and I want to reduce that.”
Already the collars are having an impact.
“We’re saving 10-20 minutes a day and a labour unit bringing the calving mob in.
“We’ll see more benefits when we get grass. It gives us the ability to quickly and easily strip-graze beef and our young stock.”
Having well-fed cows is a priority.
“I love feeding cows,” Lachie says.
“If you die and come back as a cow, you would be well looked after here.”
They buy in about 2.2 tonne of grain or concentrate mix per cow, and around 400-500 tonnes of vetch or lucerne hay a year.
Despite the need for a lot of inputs, they have stuck with autumn calving.
Lachie and his wife Nicole have two sons and a daughter and hope at least one will continue the business.
“They will adapt to what’s coming in the future better than I will but we all aim to keep progressing,” he said.
While the Tindalls have been keen to trial new technologies, Lachie warns that they shouldn’t replace personal experience and input.
“You need to get out there and visually see things and learn things; record the data and don’t just rely on artificial intelligence. Do it the hard way, like we’ve all done.”