STRATHALBYN dairyfarmer Ty Maidment found participation in Dairy Australia’s Dairy Business for Future Climates research project particularly relevant as he negotiated his own changing climates.
Mr Maidment took on the role of chair of the SA working group at a time when he moved between jobs, from working on a Mount Compass dairy farm to sharefarming at Strathalbyn.
“I’d moved from a grass-based high input irrigation system to a dryland system on about half the rainfall,” he said.
With this experience, he was able to put some of the changes from the project into practice. He said some of the project recommendations, such as the installation of fans and sprinklers in the dairy, increased shade and summer crops were introduced on the farm.
This included the introduction of dryland lucerne, which he said could be a big investment but had proven itself already.
“I don’t think anyone was too surprised at the (project) findings but it reiterated that simple, practical thinking on-farm can bring big gains,” he said.
Mr Maidment said he considered himself something of a climate change sceptic, but he recognised there were extreme weather patterns emerging, including long, hotter summers and cold, wetter winters, which would need to be considered in management.
Elizabeth Anderson
Editor of Stock Journal.
Editor of Stock Journal.
