Chloe and Rodney Brown with daughters Charlotte and Eleanor.
Fonterra suppliers Chloe and Rodney Brown from Kirkstall in south-west Victoria will be looking at all opening milk prices after their processor opened at $8.60/kg of milk solids.
Hold tight - we’re checking permissions before loading more content
“Whilst it is not the number I wanted, it does give me a starting point for my budget to work around,” Chloe said.
“Processors can always do better, but everyone needs to make money.
“They do have pressures and risks for their business just like we do, and I keep telling myself this is an opening price and not the end price.”
Chloe said once all the opening prices were on the table she and her husband would assess all their opportunities.
“I am sure everyone will be looking at the milk price and what that number means for their own business,” she said.
Like all Western District farmers, the Browns have been struggling with drought for the past two years.
Some of the Brown’s paddocks desperately waiting for rain.
“We were only able to graze grass for eight weeks, so it has been really tricky, although I do believe we are in a better position this year than we were last year.”
She said the herd was currently 100 days in milk, in good condition and producing well.
She hopes this will continue through the season.
The Browns have been following a very strict feed budget and are still feeding their own silage.
They are supplementing their cows with other feed sources including cotton seed and almond hulls to help extend their own feed out as long as possible.
They currently have enough hay and silage in the shed until the middle of August.
“We were lucky to be under a rain cloud where we got 18mm of rain, and we are starting to see a bit of green come through the paddocks which we welcome,” Chloe said.
The Browns are hoping by the time August comes around, those shoots will be grass and pasture will be returned to the diet.
The couple milks 200 Jersey cows.
Normally they run a total autumn calving herd, but last year a salmonella outbreak saw 60 cows abort.
“We have 40 cows that are dry and due to calve in September, which I am hoping in the end will have been a bit of a saving grace.”
Chloe said she and Rodney were trying to be adaptable and focus on the feed and opportunities they do have in front of them.
“We had three failed summer crops,” she said.
“Everything that could go wrong did go wrong, but we are in this for the long term and we just have to remain flexible.
“I am on my fourth plan already.”
Chloe said while the dairy industry could be hard and this was a tough period, she was hoping it won’t go on for too much longer.
“We are in this industry for the long haul and our long-term plan will not be changed by one season.
“We have done hard before and we will do it again.”
Chloe said she had been actively choosing to find and focus on the glimmers of hope that do exist, even though she might have to search to find them.
“It’s not about pretending things aren’t tough, because they absolutely are — it’s just about holding space for optimism.”
13°C