Dairy investment shows confidence

Pinjarra dairy famers Tim and Anna Clunes said investing in their dairy farm was a big decision but worth it in the end.

The Clunes have just installed a $1.2 million state-of-the-art 50-stand rotary milking machine.

Mr Clune said they had just increased their cow numbers from fewer than 300 to 400.

"So we've been able to utilise our grass a bit better and the new dairy has enabled us to do that," he said.

Mr Clune said the dairy was a big decision and took many years to work out.

"The project involved many years of steadily increased planning," he said.

"Things became really serious about three years ago after we made a decision to increase our heifer numbers.

"We decided to put a Friesian bull in for breeding and kept up with an artificial insemination program for a longer period of time and that way we were able to rapidly increase our numbers."

Mr Clune said the new dairy has been in operation for about three months, but prior to that their old dairy with a 300-cow a day capacity was just about at breaking point.

"We milked nearly 400 cows in the old dairy at one point, which meant it was taking a lot longer than normal," he said.

"It was a very labour intensive period for us."

Mr Clune said now the new dairy was operational, he would be taking small steps to bring the rest of the farm's infrastructure into alignment with the more modern milking facility.

"There's no point investing in a state-of-the-art 50-stand rotary milking machine and then you are working harder dealing with the increased numbers of cows on your farm … it's hard work," he said.

"We need to complement the new facility and to do that we need to build about 500m of roads and water supplies.

"We've always had gravity-fed tanks and troughs, but over the last few days of warmer weather we've had the troughs just didn't keep up with the cows.

"So you can't just go instantly from 300 to 600 cows because there is always going to be capital infrastructure required on the farm to support the increased capacity of your dairy."

Mr Clune said a larger dairy and herd also meant changes had to be made to the management of the farm. "It's a whole different ball game for us now," he said.

"You've got to have people in place to manage the people.

"Now instead of worrying about only a couple of people on the farm, we're now employing half a dozen people."

But Mr Clune said he felt they had made the decision to invest in the industry at the right time.

"There is some positivity in the industry that is yet to be realised, but we are confident that it will be eventually," he said.

"There seems to be lots of speculation driven from the processors about good times for producers ahead, but we are looking forward to seeing some positive outcomes and not just talk.

"But equally, producers need to work together to drive the best outcomes for their peers and not focus so much on individual outcomes."

Mrs Clune said before the new dairy, the pair were working more hours and barely had a social life.

"Now even though we're not sure yet if it will return financial dividends, the extra time we have to do things together has made it worthwhile," she said.