Southeast Dairy Farmer James Mann has been a Board member of Dairy Australia since November 2015 and Chair since 2020. After four years in the top job, James will finish his term on the Dairy Australia Board this month.
In this article, James shares his views on the dairy industry, his vision for the future and his plans for his own dairy business.
Donovans Dairying Pty Ltd
With my wife Robyn and our two children Adam and Georgie, we own Donovans Dairying at Wye in the South East of South Australia, milking 2,000 cows at our home dairy and another 400 cows at a second neighbouring dairy.
The end of my time on the Dairy Australia Board will mean more time on the farm and with the family, and there’s plenty to keep me busy on farm, so I’m keen to get back into it.
I grew up in England on a family farm and Robyn grew up in New Zealand on her family farm. We purchased a farm in northern Victoria in 1989 and then moved to Mount Gambier in 1998.
We bought a greenfield site, and we put everything on it: water, fences, dairy houses, power poles, laneways, grass, fertiliser, calf sheds, the lot. We have a few sheep and a bit of beef, but we are predominantly a dairy farm.
We started out with 1,200 cows in the first year and the business has grown steadily since then. The land area is growing, irrigation is growing, and how we grow grass is evolving. We are getting better at irrigation, nutrient management and grazing management.
A key focus for us has been genomics and improving how we breed our cows, and we’re reaping the benefits of a solid breeding plan. Our cows are healthier, more fertile and robust, and they live longer. We’ve made incremental and solid changes over time that have delivered good improvements in our milk quality. Cell counts were previously around 250,000 and are now sitting between 70,000 and 120,000.
Cows are milked in a traditional 116-unit rotary dairy at the main farm, and a 15 double up rapid release Herringbone dairy at the second farm, which is managed by our son Adam.
Our home dairy has been through a couple of sets of milking machines, but it’s pretty much the same dairy that we built in 1998. It’s a dairy with two people cupping up: one person cups off and another person brings cows to and from the dairy. Adam’s dairy is a bit more high-tech, with cow collars, an auto draught and fully automatic cleaning system.
We’d consider more automation and perhaps robotics if we were building a new dairy, but for now our current dairy does the job. It makes sense to put in labour-saving devices where you can, but they have got to stack up financially.
Big investment decisions will be the kids’ decisions as much as ours going forward. We need to create space for them to allow them to grow and develop, as we had around the same age. As opportunities arise, we will consider them as a collective. We are looking to grow if it is the right thing to do by the business and the family.
Donovans Dairying has been fortunate with good staff, which has allowed me to pursue off farm activities.
Dairy Australia
I’ve spoken with hundreds of dairy farmers, politicians and other key stakeholders over my nine years at Dairy Australia, with the role taking me from Metricup in south west WA to Malanda in far north Queensland.
I’ve spent a lot of time listening to stakeholders, primarily farmers, but other key stakeholders in the Federal Government and various State Governments, to help drive opportunities and policy for the dairy industry.
Dairy Australia has responsibility for policy, industry support, research and development innovation and extension. They have a $65 million spend, and their core role is to support Australia’s dairy farmers to be profitable as well as sustainable.
The Australian dairy industry is impressive: In 2021/22, $4.9 billion of milk was produced by Australian farmers, and transformed by dairy processors into products worth more than $17 billion. On average, a $1 increase in dairy industry output drives a $1.23 increase in Australia’s GDP, and every $1 million of dairy sales generates 9.65 full time equivalent jobs.
I firmly believe that what you put into life, you get out. I have put lots of time and energy into Dairy Australia, but I’ve got a lot out of it from a personal development point of view, including a broader view of what’s happening across the dairy supply chain, which isn’t always front of mind as an individual farmer.
Equally, I’ve always thought that if you’re not happy with something, you need to get involved and make it better yourself. You can’t just sit on the outside and throw stones. It’s important to contribute where you can and try to make the industry a better place.
I think there’s always a way forward for those who are nimble and inquisitive.
Australian Dairy: the future
The sustainability expectations from government and consumers continue to increase, and the Australian dairy industry must respond.
Consumers are more connected to the foods they eat and the products they buy through social media, so we need to adapt the way we share our story. News travels faster now and to a wider audience. The expectations of consumers and government have changed and continue to evolve to higher levels.
We already have a strong connection with consumers, with more than nine in ten Australians putting dairy in their shopping basket every week, but we need to consistently deepen that connection through social media and storytelling to maintain and build trust in our sector.
I’ve seen firsthand how a small investment in building trust and telling our story can have a huge impact on how the community sees us, and in turn, on how government policy is influenced by those perceptions.
The climate conversation, carbon, animal welfare, traceability – we need to try to find the opportunities in these issues and not see them as a burden.
Becoming informed is the first step, and there are many industry resources available to assist, through Dairy Australia and other industry bodies.
If we look at carbon and climate, we can leverage research from around the world that has identified crossover opportunities between productivity and better carbon management, and they are the places to focus on. For instance, cows that live longer and give more milk will have less carbon intensity than those that have a shorter life span and give less milk. So that’s a win for productivity and a win for climate impact.
We should also be looking at how we grow our grass and how we can have less impact on the environment through modified compost, changing nitrogen sources, or changing pasture species.
There are some real opportunities in the sustainability space, especially when it comes to social media, and that’s exciting for the next generation of dairy farmers coming through the industry.
We have a great story to tell about the way we care for our cows, our people and the land on which we farm, the innovative practices that enable us to make more milk with less input and impact, and the high-quality nutrition we create that helps feed the world.
It’s through sharing that story that we ensure dairy farming is a profitable and sustainable industry that enjoys the support and trust of the community, now and for the generations that follow.
