Dairying for Tomorrow: On the Ground (2004-2007)

Dairying for Tomorrow: On the Ground enhanced the DfT program and explored the pathways to Environmental Management Systems (EMS) could be established on dairy farms and in the industry. It aimed to boost farmer NRM capacity and develop a set of processes to deal with NRM issues common to dairy farmers across the country.

Outcomes generated by the program included:

Increased community capacity and institutional change demonstrated by:

• 1000 farmers having completed DairySAT (12% of Australian dairy farmers)
• 800 farmers having commenced or committed to an action plan for on farm change.

Institutional change evidenced by:

• Regional Development Programs (RDPs) establishing Natural Resource Management (NRM) Steering Committees or equivalent;
• Catchment Management Authorities (CMAs) nominating dairy representatives on their staff;
• Landcare staff and government agencies using DairySAT;
• Milk companies incorporating DairySAT into their standard practices;
• Farm service providers participating in DairySAT facilitator training and using it as an addition to services provided to farmers, and;
• Other industry groups requesting access to DairySAT for their own use.

LINK TO CASE STUDIES: http://www.dairyingfortomorrow.com/index.php?id=29

Activities included:

Regionalising DairySAT for use as the entry point to industry on-farm EMS

Regionalising DairySAT to include local contact details and legislative requirements and locally applicable best management practices ensured it was relevant to all dairy farmers.

Piloting BizLINK projects in three different regions

BizLINK is a process designed to incorporate natural resource management into farm financial and business planning. Projects included:

• Murray Dairy -North Central Catchment Regional BizLINK trial.
• Sub Tropical Dairy – Darling Downs Young Farmers BizLINK Project.
• Dairy SA, BizLINK Project.

Developing eight BetterPRAC projects

BetterPRAC projects are regional NRM on-farm change programs designed to increase NRM capacity on farm. Projects included:

• West Vic Dairy – “West Vic Focus Farms”.
• Dairy Industry Development Company (DIDCO) NSW – “DairySAT implementation in the Lachlan Valley and Riverina”.
• Dairy South Australia –“DairySAT on the Ground”.
• Subtropical Dairy, “Dairying Better’n’Better – Continuous Improvement”.
• Mid Coast Dairy Advancement Group NSW, “Farmer Targets for Change”.
• DairyTas,”Water and Nutrient management”.
• GippsDairy – “GippsDairy BetterPRAC,
• Western Dairy WA, ”DairyCatch II –DairyCatch Catchment Connections”.

All projects were based on the Dairying for Tomorrow: On the Ground framework. Funding for the project was provided by the Australian Government “EMS Pathways to Sustainable Agriculture” program. Additional funding included $1.15 Million cash from NRM agencies, RDPs and the National Landcare Program (NLP) and an estimated $2 million in kind contribution from organisational stakeholders involved and $1.2million in kind from participating farmers.

Dairying for Tomorrow: On the Ground gave the dairy industry an extremely good start to implementing best practice environmental management on dairy farms. The project helped build a strong network of NRM and industry stakeholders in all regions as evidenced by the number of new regionally based industry NRM committees and networks. The Regional Dairying for Tomorrow Coordinators, funded through the NLP Sustainable Industry Initiatives programme played a key role in facilitating this project.