Who does what on the farm....

Our dairy and beef farm is what is called a generational farm. That means that the same family has owned and worked the farm for consecutive generations and in our case it is now the 3rd generation. Ownership has been since the late 1800's. As with all generational farms the hope is that the next generation will take on the ownership and carry on the farming enterprise. Our farm has always been a dairy farm with beef cattle as an extra income. Over the years the dairy has grown in size of up to about 85 to 95 milkers although at times we milk down to 75 cows. In Australia this is now considered a small sized dairy. We have deliberately kept our milking herd down to this size so that we can run the farm ourselves without employing outside labour to do the milking and farm work, labour being one of the largest costs of running any enterprise.

Steers being finished off with bulk feed for  the local meat markets

So the majority of the farm work is carried out by DH Farmer and his brother, with whom we are in partnership. They milk, rear the calves, organise the heifers, check the dry cows and springers, fence, weed control, pasture manage, muster cattle for sale and movement to paddocks on the farm, immunise calves and so on. DH Farmer and his brother also break up this work. Both milk and rear the calves but one tends to check dairy springers and the other the beef springers. DH Farmer tends to do the tractor work, silage and haymaking work, sowing pastures, etc.

Producing milk - the main enterprise on the farm.

We also contract our eldest son to milk for us when we have a holiday or time off farm. This son also owns his own rural contracting business and most weeks he spends at least a day on farm helping with general farm work such as fencing, cutting timber and posts for fencing, mustering, silage and haymaking. He also carries out the  AI ing (artificial insemination)  of our dairy cows.
My role these days is to deal with all the paperwork and accountancy work the farm generates. Things have changed greatly from previous farm generations in that all dairies must be audited  for food safety, in our case by NSW Food Safe. This requires a lot more record keeping of which I apparently do the best. Personally I think the men just simply hate doing it! Like all businesses we also have to keep accurate financial records for income tax purposes and pay GST through our BAS system. Good record keeping also helps us to make informative business management decisions relating to the farm enterprises. I also tend to be the farm "gopher". Trips to town to pick up supplies and repair parts is common place for me. I also like to help with the springers and taking the cows to their night paddocks - a great chance for me to get some exercise done and get outside!

Putting the dairy herd into the night paddock.

A family farm is more than a business - it is a way of life. One I feel fortunate to live!

Until next time..
Carol