Future Ready Dairy Systems:

Managing increased climate variability

GOING AGAINST THE FLOW

Grass fed dairy system

Kym and Kate Bartlett farm on the Lower Murray Irrigation

area in South Australia. They are passionate dairy farmers
who have adapted their pasture-based farming system
to better manage climate variability and irrigation water
uncertainty. Theyve retained their pasture-based system as
the most cost effective way to produce milk on their farm,
with no costly infra-structure development.

Farmer Profile
Owners

Kym and Kate Bartlett with their

children Jesse (11) and Tarsha (7)

Location

Woods Point, South Australia

Land area

Flood irrigation: Owned 47 Ha:

Leased 9 Ha
Highland: Owned 69 Ha
(plus 126 Ha purchased in Dec 20101):
Leased 26 Ha

Lucerne crop on irrigation bay, Bartlett farm

Farm data (20092010)

Share Farmed: Flood irrigation 21 Ha:

Highland 171 Ha

Herd Size:
245 cows (average 206 milking). Dry cow av. 15.9%.
Milk Production:
1.82 m litres or 136,700 kgs milk solids at 4.23%
butterfat and 3.28% protein.
Milk Yield per cow:
7,430 litres or 557 kgs milk solids.
Purchased Feeds:
Grain and supplements: 2.3 tonnes DM per cow or
6.3 kgs DM per cow per day.
Purchased hay fed: 1.33 tonnes Dm per cow or 3.6 kgs
DM per cow per day.

Water Use
Irrigation water use: In 2009/2010 water use was
restricted to 16% of allocation. Only two irrigation bays (M3
and M4) were watered in the spring/summer/autumn of
2009/2010 season, with another irrigation bay W4 watered
only once. Average water use for the six months over the
two bays M3 and M4 is 6.15 ml/ha/month.

Autumn Plantings: 2010

1. Highland197.3 Ha to oats, barley and triticale.

Observations: Showers of rain came at the correct time to

revive the pastures during the summer of 2010, periodically
topping up the two irrigated bays. As a result of limited
flood irrigation due to water restrictions and a series of dry
seasons, there was no underground water reserve in the
subsoil below the irrigation bays. This meant that irrigation
application rates were significantly higher than usual. The
natural summer rainfall kept the dryland lucerne pastures
growing during the summer on the normally irrigated bays

2. Swamps41.2 Ha to lucerne with oats, barley

andtriticale.

Rotational grazing was practised over all the irrigation bays

during the summer.

Pasture and Home Grown Hay:

Pasture intakes: 1.84 tonnes DM per cow or 5.1 kgs
DM per cow per day.
Home grown hay: 0.63 tonnes DM per cow or 1.8 kgs
DM per cow per day.

They have over-sown the whole irrigation area with lucerne

in June 2010. A total of 24.6 tonnes of fertiliser was used
that year (irrigation and highland).

1. Land purchased in December 2010 was not included in case

studycalculations

In hindsight, we would do some things differently after being through the stresses of the drought
and reduced water allocations. It is amazing how everything has been robust and resilient that we
have been able to have one of our best seasons ever with the natural rainfall that has been regular
and steady over the growing season extending into late spring of 2010.
Kate Bartlett
Why a pasture-based system suits our
dairybusiness
Kym and Kates main reasons for running a pasture-based
farming system:
Employmentwe believe extra labour would be
required for more intensive PMR and TMR systems.
Kym likes to be in control of all aspects of his
herdmanagement.
Infra-structurethere wasnt an area close to the dairy
that was suitable for a feed pad and there was a high
capital expense in developing a TMR system.
Investmentland was purchased as an appreciating
asset rather than investing in a TMR system, which they
saw as a depreciating asset. They have been gradually
building up their assets through positioning themselves
to having cash reserves available to purchase additional
land when the opportunity presents.
Trading relationsthrough honesty and fairness
the Bartletts have been able to foster strong trading
relations with farmer growers/suppliers for both grain
and hay supplies.

What weve learned

Water supply is a bigger concern than expected,
with accessibility being the main issue, more so than
availability. It is vital to the life of the farm and should not
be taken for granted.
Rainfall is still a valuable resource to be utilised
in optimising pasture production during the
growingseason.
Direct grazing pasture on the irrigation bay by the
milking herd is still the most cost effective way to
produce milk on their farm. When conditions are right,
time is saved by not hand feeding.

Decision making over the past few years for the

Bartletts business has been made much easier
through having a lower level of debt. They have
never chased milk production targets, or believed in
buying the extra milk to be a high input, high output
milk producer. They have been able to grow their milk
supply at 5%perannum over the past two years while
maintaining a static milking herd size.
The Bartletts are now feeding cows more successfully
and efficiently and have been using their water
moreresourcefully.
The Bartletts are still happy to be a family farm. They
do most of the routine daily tasks concerning herd and
pasture management, but use contractors to mow the
crops for hay. Kym bales the hay to control feed quality.
Team work makes everything much easier on each
other. They make it a priority not to take each other for
granted. There is always good healthy discussion in
all matters relating to water, hay and any other issues
relating to the business. They believe they complement
each other through the tasks and areas that they are
both responsible for within the business. They are
sensitive to each others needs, aiming not to worry
each other unnecessarily.
Contact DairySA
Phone 08 8738 4184
www.dairysa.com.au
Disclaimer: DairySA endeavours to ensure that all information in this
document is accurate and reliable at the time of publication. However,
we make no warranty with regard to the accuracy and reliability of the
information provided, and accept no responsibility for loss arising in
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information or advice, or use of the information.