Introduction to DairySAT

The initial concept of the DairySAT (Dairy Self Assessment Tool) came from Gippsland dairy farmers who recognised that they had to be pro-active in addressing environmental issues. The practices identified in DairySAT are based on input from farmers, industry consultants and technical experts from across Australia.

After going through the DairySAT process you will:

• understand the environmental issues facing your farm;
• know where your environmental practices sit compared to industry-wide practices;
• be able to identify the most critical environmental issues on your farm;
• know the legal and dairy company requirements in relation to the environment; and
• understand those issues where you need more information, and be provided with key contacts for the issues.

DairySAT does not give you the answers. It is designed to help you: identify problems; assess where you are in relation to the rest of the industry; provide you with the resources to answer your questions.

How to use DairySAT

• The DairySAT Guide has colour-coded sections for each environmental issue as shown on the left hand side of the screen.
• Click on the module of interest and work your way through the interactive version of the DairySAT tool to identify how your on-farm practice compares with industry.
• After you have completed each module your results can be viewed by clicking on the “view my results page”.

The legal requirements and key contacts sections are relevant for Victoria only. Updated legal requirement and key contact sections for Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania and NSW will be available by January 2010.