From the program leader

Welcome to another Dairy UP e-news and this one is bursting with news!

I am very excited with the upcoming Dairy UP second road trip; this time to the Northern NSW region (Casino), and the DRF Dairy Symposium on 7^th and 8^th November.

It’s shaping up to be another tough season with the dry and early hot weather so we look forward to Dairy UP providing new ideas, tools, solutions, and applications that can help to manage the risks dairy farms face.

Yani Garcia

Professor Yani Garcia
Dairy UP Program Leader.

What's news

It's been a big year
Dairy UPdate for Northern Rivers
Economics and risks of beef on dairy
Welcome Rafiq
Economics of intensification
Dairy UP in a nutshell
Young scientists – we want you
Symposium early bird closes soon!

It's been a big year

Our 2023 Annual Highlights flyer shows just how much has been achieved this year.

Click here for a quick browse of Dairy UP’s key achievements.

Dairy UPdate for Northern Rivers

Come along to hear insights into the early results of DairyUP research, practical implications and potential usefulness for farmers.

Tuesday 10th October 10:30am to 1:30pm – lunch provided
The Tonge’s farm (Kupidabin), 920 Sextonville Rd, Casino, NSW 2470.
Speakers:
- Ian Lean (Scibus) - P2 Unlocking the potential of cow
- Sheena Carter (NSW DPI) – P3 Economics of intensive systems
- Martin Correa Luna (USyd) – P1 Unlocking the potential of Kikuyu
- Barbara Brito (NSW DPI) – P2 The infectome: new tools for diagnosing disease in calves

More info: zita.ritchie@dpi.nsw.gov.au

Register Here

Economics and risks of beef on dairy

Dairy UP’s P10 project (Sustainable pathways for non-replacement calves) is now complete.

Dan Armstrong has recently completed an analysis of the economics and risks for raising non-replacement calves in a dairy business. Market fluctuations during the study period highlighted the risks associated with variations in demand and price for dairy beef. Beef market prices were the biggest contributor to variation in net return per head.

The feedlot market (and beef market in general) is highly volatile and this has an impact on the prices paid for dairy beef calves, as the current low price situation shows. The decision to rear non-replacement calves involves significant non-financial considerations.

Read more

Welcome Rafiq

We are delighted to welcome Dr Md Rafiq Islam to the Dairy UP team.

Rafiq was previously a researcher on FutureDairy’s forage crops program. He has been already working for Dairy UP, but until now through a technical position based at the University of Sydney’s Faculty of Science. He has now been appointed Research Fellow, working directly on Dairy UP’s Project P4 – feedbase for intensive dairy systems.

Rafiq brings lots of expertise in forage crop research supported by an extended list of scientific publications and also deep knowledge on plant/dairy nutritional lab analyses, techniques and lab management.

Economics of intensification

Project P3 – Intensification of diary systems is now complete.

The project aimed to provide information to help farmers to decide if transitioning to an intensive production/feeding system is a suitable investment for their circumstances. This work was complemented by a similar project undertaken in northern Victoria, led by Agriculture Victoria and Dairy Australia.

The findings from both the Victorian and NSW Dairy UP project underpin the Farm System Evaluator, a tool that helps assess a dairy farm’s readiness to change to a new farming system involving feeding and housing infrastructure. Dairy UP’s P3 project involved two areas of work:
P3a: Economics of intensification (7 NSW case study farms)
P3b: Social research to explore the drivers of change (including NSW case study farms

Read more

Dairy UP in a nutshell

Dairy UP is a diverse program with more than 10 projects and 22 sub projects.
Click here to see how it all fits together.

Young scientists – we want you

Are you an early career scientist working on a project with the capacity to have a positive impact on Australian dairy farm productivity and sustainability?

If so, you should apply for the DRF Emerging Scientists Competition. Successful applications will present their research to industry guests at the DRF Symposium 7-8 November 2023 at Camden. Prizes and bragging rights will be awarded for the best abstract ($250), best promotional video ($25) and best presentation ($500).

Expressions of interest and abstracts close 30 September.

Apply here

Symposium early bird closes soon!

Did you miss out on the early bird discount for the DRF Annual Symposium?

You are in luck because the discount period has been extended to 30 September. This year’s program and location (Camden) are a big attraction and tickets are selling out very quickly (over 100 registrations already!)

Don’t’miss out on this excellent professional and personal development opportunity.

Register Now