Profitable dairy season within reach

NZ dairy farmers who take a proactive, as opposed to a reactive, approach should still have a profitable season. According to the manager of a national farm consultancy group, the key to farmers maintaining a profitable business during this difficult economic period, is to concentrate on maximising the farm's profit and cash flow. FarmWise Manager, Sue Hagenson, says the increasing volatility of the dairy market is likely to continue until economic and credit conditions are restored "therefore for the next few seasons, "˜cash is king' for the country's dairy farmers. "Farmers can still make money from milk so it's important they don't have knee jerk reactions or panic. The focus needs to be getting through this season with more cash in their pockets. "Even profitable businesses can go under in times of economic recession which is why we need to make sure farmers are not cash poor. "In order to get through this period of uncertainty farmers need to look at their whole farm systems including debt servicing levels to find solutions." Sue said the two of the major spends farmers should be looking at are feed and fertiliser. "These are the two big operational spends so it's all about planning timely application, establishing the right amounts and reducing wastage," says Sue. "For example working out in advance the right time to use urea which means knowing what the pasture covers and growth rates are doing; when a short fall is becoming obvious applying urea early will give greater gain v. reacting to no grass (appreciating there is a lag time between urea applied and pasture available). "Similarly seeing surpluses early, enables farmers to be proactive and take paddocks out of the round for supplement making. By making that "˜bulk cut' of surplus into a silage stack and not wrapped bales, costs are reduced."