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Dairy farm's cost-savvy hack makes cow comfort 'Cono-key'

As Queensland braces for a potentially warm and dry winter, a father-son dairy farming duo hasn’t let high fuel, fertiliser and feed costs sour their drought preparedness after cleverly combining a free program, grant and concessional loan to save money. 

Stewart and Dylan Conochie’s family operation, ‘Brookland Stud Farms’, located at Kalbar, 80 kilometres southwest of Brisbane, has saved tens of thousands of dollars in grant funding and interest on a loan for drought resilient on-farm infrastructure through the Queensland Rural and Industry Development Authority (QRIDA).

“Anybody who's thinking about getting ready for drought – look at QRIDA. They have amazing assistance and amazing people there to help you with any application and progress your business to be better prepared,” Stewart said. 

QRIDA Regional Area Manager for South East Queensland and the Lockyer Valley, Brian Coe, said the cost-saving combination requires producers to first create a free Farm Business Resilience Plan through the Australian and Queensland Governments.

“In the process of applying for a Drought Preparedness Grant, the first thing a producer must do is complete a Farm Business Resilience Plan (FBRP) or equivalent. The FBRP covers everything from drought, fire, flood and risk management,” Brian said.

Producers can get help completing their FBRP from the Department of Primary Industries or a relevant industry peak body, which in the case of the Conochie family, was eastAUSmilk. 

Then, producers can stack a Drought Preparedness Grant with a concessional Sustainability Loan through QRIDA to fund the on-farm infrastructure improvements identified in the FBRP.

The government assistance has helped the Conochie family install a more productive watering system to grow fodder year-round for their 170 Jersey herd. 

“We used a QRIDA Drought Preparedness Grant to install a centre pivot irrigator,” Stewart said.

QRIDA Regional Area Manager for South East Queensland and the Lockyer Valley, Brian Coe, said the irrigator has increased the family farm’s cropping area and improved the quality of their sorghum and lucerne. 

“The Conochie family can now more efficiently water approximately 20 acres of double cropping which means about an extra 600 tonnes of silage for their livestock,” Brian said. 

The co-contribution Drought Preparedness Grants of up to $50,000 are available to Queensland primary producers subject to the availability of funds.

“Drought Preparedness Grants can cover up to 25 per cent of the costs of purchasing, upgrading and installing permanent capital infrastructure to improve drought resilience,” Brian said.

The Conochie family then used a concessional QRIDA Sustainability Loan as the co-contribution for their Drought Preparedness Grant to fund the rest of their project.

“QRIDA’s concessional Sustainability Loans of up to $1.3 million can help primary producers fund a wide-range of on-farm activities, and for Stewart and Dylan, this was the installation of a compost feed shed,” Brian said. 

Dylan explained the shed has improved the welfare of the Conochies’ Jersey cows in dry conditions.

“The shed has added comfort for the cows with the soft bedding, along with being able to bring feed directly to them and it being cooler for the cows, especially on the hotter days,” Dylan said. 

The Conochie family learnt about QRIDA’s financial assistance after searching QRIDA on the internet and getting in touch with their local Regional Area Manager for South East Queensland and the Lockyer Valley, Brian Coe.

“Brian's always been helpful. He's attended the farm many times, inspected what we were doing, and helped with the paperwork and the whole process, making it much easier to manage,” Stewart said.

The drought preparedness improvements came after Stewart and Dylan reflected on August 2014 when their local government area was added to the Queensland Government’s drought declaration list alongside other South East Queensland areas. The additions meant 80 per cent of the state was drought declared – the largest area in Queensland’s history at that time.

“The serious drought we had, probably about 10 years ago, was just a real wake-up call, not only for us but a lot of the area,” Dylan said.

To find out how Queensland primary producers can get ready for drought with QRIDA, visit QRIDA's Drought Preparedness Grants page and Sustainability Loans page or call 1800 623 946.

If this drought story raised any concerns for you, call 000 in an emergency or visit QRIDA's mental health resources webpage for a list of confidential mental health resources available for Queensland primary producers.