It has long been a stain on the dairy industry: the slaughter of unwanted male “bobby” calves in their first week of life.
Key points:
- Maleny Dairies programs the sex of the semen before the herd is artificially inseminated
- Practice ensures that most calves are born females
- The domestic farm is testing Ceres Tags to control the movements of animals
Maleny Dairies, an independent dairy processor on the Sunshine Coast, says she is addressing these concerns on her farm.
The family business has celebrated the arrival of its first calf born from a program that sexes the semen before the herd is artificially inseminated to ensure most calves are born female.
Bobby calves welcome tourists visiting the farm at the factory and there is a waiting list for an adoption program.
Maleny Dairies has welcomed her first calf born from female semen and artificially inseminated. (Supplied by: Maleny Dairies)
Owner Ross Hopper said he was asked many questions about what happened to the male calves.
“We’ve been called activists and we just encourage them to tour and we’ll answer all your questions,” he said.
He said the dairy had nothing to hide.
“We have bobby calves like our tour calves and then when they’re getting a little too big and bustling and too hard with the tourists here, we have an adoption program,” he said.
“We sell them and people use them as pet mowers.”
Greg Campbell and Stephen Tait are interested in seeing the results of a labeling trial. (ABC Rural: Jennifer Nichols)
The dairy has also tagged 10 cows with GPS trackers in a six-month trial with Brisbane’s agtech company Ceres Tag.
Solar-powered ears that weigh 35 grams communicate directly with satellites to monitor activity levels, temperature, and whether the animal is being attacked, stolen, or behaving abnormally.
Earplugs with solar energy weigh 35 grams and will last 10 years. (ABC Rural: Jennifer Nichols)
Maleny Dairies CEO Stephen Tait said big retailers like Coles and Woolworths wanted primary producers to be more transparent and have more responsible management of their herds.
“With Ceres Tag we can use technology and data to demonstrate how well we manage our herd and our business,” Tait said.
Improved traceability
At $ 3,000 for 10 labels, the price is high.
But Ceres Tag project manager Greg Campbell said the cost would go down and the labels provided proof of provenance to producers ’customers.
“If stock theft is reduced, by carbon accounting or by better identification of sick animals, all of these things add up to savings,” Campbell said.
The cows are milked twice a day at the Maleny Dairies domestic farm. (ABC Rural: Jennifer Nichols)
Declining industry
Savings are important as difficult times continue for the dairy industry.
Only 53 percent of the 573.8 million gallons of fresh milk sold in Queensland last year was produced in the state.
The rest was transported from the southern states where the cost of production is lowest.
The number of dairy farms in the state has dropped from 1,500 to less than 280 since deregulation in 2000.
The home farm is next to the Maleny Dairies factory. (ABC Rural: Jennifer Nichols)
The average price paid to farmers in Queensland and North New South Wales last year was 71 cents per liter.
Eric Danzi, executive co-director of the eastAUSmilk farmers advocacy group, said farmers had continued to leave the industry and were now being offered record prices for fresh milk, with fierce competition for supply.
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Unexplored territory
Danzi said Maleny Dairies, Lactalis and Bega currently offered an average of 86 cents per liter while Norco offered 84 cents per liter.
“It’s a reflection of the massive shortage of milk, but also of the high escalation of input costs of fertilizers, fuels and chemicals,” Danzi said.
“Realistically, the price should increase by at least 15-20 cents per liter at the farm gate just to cover farm cost increases.”
Ross and Sally Hopper own Maleny Dairies. (ABC Rural: Jennifer Nichols)
Invest in the future
Ross and Sally Hopper have spent millions of dollars improving their factory.
Hopper said Maleny Dairies ’point of difference was to support smaller family farms that will never receive bonuses from larger processors because their volumes were too small.
“Demand is high and we are positive about the future,” Hopper said.
“We don’t want more farmers to disappear, we have to take care of them.
“Once they leave, there will be no new ones.”