Victorian
Ron is Mr Versatility
Ron Schmedje is a stayer. He’s been with
Greenham for 16 years now, and for the
first 12 or so of those years he worked as a
boner. It’s a long time doing the same work
in the same location.
So it wasn’t surprising Ron decided it was
time for a change. But rather than leaving
Greenham, he took up an opportunity to
move out into the yards where he is now
a leading hand and described by livestock
manager Danny Sinclair as “Mr Versatility”.
Ron handles receivals and liveweight
buying, the preparatory work for each
day’s processing, and he also deals with
veterinary and welfare issues around the
yards. And he still keeps his knives sharp,
occasionally filling a gap in the boning
room when the chips are down.
In order to make sure the whole operation
is ready to fire up, he’s on site by 4 am
every day. It’s a big commitment.
Ron comes from Koyuga where, in his
spare time, he runs a few cows and calves
on his 14 acres. He grew up next door and
has been involved with farming all his life
which no doubt explains why he’s happier
working with live animals in the yards than
chopping them up inside.
MAY 2013
Talent and enthusiasm
He has two young children and says
that juggling family life can be a bit of a
challenge with his early morning starts.
While the farm keeps him busy outside
work hours he still finds time for a hobby.
Ron owns several 70s vintage Holdens
which he is currently restoring.
One of the highlights of the year is the
presentation of our Dairy Scholarship.
There really are some very talented and
enthusiastic young people entering our
industry who will undoubtedly be drivers
of the dairy sector as they mature into
their careers. It should be a source of
great comfort to us all.
Ron Schmedje
“The problem is they cost money,”
he says. “But you need an interest outside
work and something to do at
the weekends.”
This year’s winner is no exception. It was
great to meet Katherine Lang and her parents
at the presentation ceremony recently, and to
hear her story.
Peter Greenham
honoured by Meat
Industry Council
AMIC board chairman Frank Herd
presented Mr Greenham with an
engraved whiskey decanter in
recognition of his considerable
contribution to the red meat processing
industry over almost 60 years.
Peter Greenham
Cattle dispatch check list
Before dispatching cattle please check:
1. That you have correctly filled in your
NVD. Please pay particular attention to the
Russian eligibility question (Question 11 on
the Greenham form and Question 9 on the
MLA form). It’s the one that is most often
overlooked.
However, we are pleased that the great
majority of NVDs are now being filled in
correctly. Thank you for your assistance.
2. That all animals have an electronic ear
tag in their right ear. It’s easy to think that
because they are going straight to slaughter
it doesn’t matter, but it is a government
requirement and you could be subject to a
fine for dispatching cattle without NLIS tags.
If you don’t have adequate restraint facilities,
or have an animal that is too dangerous to
handle, there is an alternative. Go to your
local DPI and get an ‘Application & Permit to
Dispatch Cattle Without NLIS
Ear Tags’. It’s designed for situations
where it just isn’t possible to fit a tag.
And while it might seem obvious, the tag
must be in the ear - we have had them
handed to us in a plastic bag!
Prompt payment always at Greenham
Encouragement
And talking of confidence in the future, I urge
you to read Ann and Mark Gardiner’s story
over the page. Ann makes a good point about
encouraging young people into the industry.
She says that we can’t expect young people
to consider dairying as a career if all they
ever hear is bad news.
The Australian Meat Industry Council
is the peak council representing
retailers, processors and smallgoods
manufacturers. It is the only industry
association representing the
post-farm-gate Australian meat industry.
The industry certainly has its problems but over
the longer haul, as their story illustrates, it isn’t
necessarily all gloom and doom.
Peter Greenham has had a long
involvement with AMIC and has
also served the industry through his
association with the Meat Industry
Employees’ Superannuation Fund.
Thanks for the good work
For the last couple of years we have been
hammering the importance of correctly filling
out NVDs. The livestock staff at Tongala tell
me that everybody is now doing a very good
job with practically all NVDs spot on. Thank
you for the effort.
The origins of the current HW Greenham
& Sons business go back to 1923 in the
Melbourne wholesale and retail market,
and the metropolitan abattoir with
earlier generations of the family also
involved even further back.
On the compliance front, a few cattle are
still coming through without the government
required electronic ear tags. We know it can
be sometimes difficult to fit tags but there is
an alternative. You’ll find details on the back
page.
By 1963 HW Greenham operated from a
number of Victorian plants and was one
of the early beef exporters to the United
States.
In addition to the Tongala plant which
mainly exports hamburger meat to the
US, the family also runs an abattoir at
Smithton, Tasmania which processes
prime grass fed beef that is sold under
the very successful Cape Grim brand.
Throughput keeps growing
RGM/GRV36145
Executive chairman Peter Greenham
was honoured by the Australian Meat
Industry Council at a function held at
Vlados Restaurant in Richmond on
Wednesday, March 6.
Our independent judges tell us that the standard
of entries edges higher every year. Again,
that gives us great hope for the future.
Throughput at the plant keeps improving, a
reflection of the herd getting back to normal
levels. We can get the cattle - I just wish it
was as easy to find additional workers. But
we continue to advertise far and wide and
numbers are gradually building up. It’s good
to see so many people around the place
again after the drought turn down.
Californian study
for scholarship winner
The winner of this
year’s Greenham
Dairy Scholarship
is 22-year-old
Katherine Lang
of Tatura.
Currently in the
last 18 months of a
Bachelor of Veterinary
Science at Charles
Sturt University at
Wagga Wagga, she
plans to use her
$12,000 award for a
period of intensive,
hands-on study at
the University of
California.
The idea was put
to her by a Camden
vet while she
was doing work
experience.
Peter Greenham
with
“I wouldn’t have considered the US
option but he recommended it as an ideal
way to gain a lot of experience in a short
time,” she said.
“There’s a very large cow population in
California which means you are exposed
to a much wider variety of problems over
a condensed timeframe.”
Katherine has already completed a
Bachelor of Veterinary Biology degree.
She was raised on the family farm,
a large dairy property just south of
Tatura, milking around 1200 cows in two
separate 600-cow operations.
Katherine has completed several clinical
veterinary placements, played hands-on
roles at the Royal Sydney Easter Show
and International Dairy week, and has
acted as herd health manager at home
since last year.
She won the Coopers Animal Health
professional experience scholarship in
Tel: 5859 0912
2012 Scholarship
winner Katherine
Lang.
2012 and a Rotary National Science
School Scholarship in 2008.
Katherine was presented with her award
by Kerry Callow, president of the UDV, at
a function held in Melbourne.
She hopes to be a genuine contributor to
the Australian dairy industry when she
graduates.
“I’d really like to be active in the dairy
community, particularly with regard to
how the industry is viewed by others and
making sure we remain sustainable for
younger people coming through in the
future,” she said.
Away from her studies, Katherine is
a keen netballer, and also an active
member of the Veterinary Students’
Association in Wagga Wagga.
Peter Greenham said he was again very
pleased to provide support for a young
person with future leadership potential in
the dairy industry.
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The Gardiners note their top producing
cows are often crossbreds, and have toyed
with the idea of crossbreeding but say they
have too much on their plate at present.
Mark also says Friesians don’t handle
heat that well. “And their reproductive
performance is falling - it’s a worldwide
trend as production rates go up,” he adds.
“Make sure
you emphasise
the positive.”
Their philosophy on dairying is simple
- it’s all about turning grass into milk
as efficiently as possible. “Our whole
approach is about keeping everything as
simple as we can. We feed grain and forage
but in a way that’s designed to optimise
the consumption of pasture,” Ann says.
“We feed about 4 kg of grain in the bail at
each milking and then they go on to a feed
pad for between 25 and 40 minutes. Too
long and they won’t eat enough grass, too
short and the ration really isn’t balanced.
Mark Gardiner with the
60
bail rotary that milks 750
A further 150 acres is slated
for the same treatment in
the near future and they
plan to convert the whole
property over the next two
to three years. They believe
large bays and automation
are the way of the future.
Ann and Mark Gardiner are keen
to emphasise the positive side of
dairying.
How can we expect young people
to come into the industry when
so many farmers talk it down, they
ask?
As Meatworks Messenger was leaving
the Gardiner property at Bamawm after
conducting the interview for this story,
Ann Gardiner made a heartfelt request.
“Please make sure you emphasise the
positive side of dairying. There’s too
much negativity. How can we expect
young people to come into the industry
when so many dairy farmers are always
talking it down?
“Dairying has been good to us. We
started with nothing in the late 80s,
we’ve worked hard and we’ve had our
ups and downs, but it’s allowed us
to build up wealth we wouldn’t have
achieved any other way.
“And we’ve raised and educated a large
family along the way,” she added.
Mark and Ann Gardiner’s story is
impressive, and it started a long way
from a dairy farm. Mark grew up in
Melbourne and did agricultural science
to get away from the rat race. Ann says
she came from ‘everywhere’. “My father
was in the RAAF and I grew up as an
air force brat, but my grandfather had
been a shearer on the Darling Downs
and two uncles farmed near Townsville.
Agriculture seemed like a natural fit.”
Ann also studied ag science in Melbourne
and the couple ended up as extension
officers based in Echuca. Going farming
appealed because it provided a good
family environment. “We wanted to have
a few kids and we both wanted to be
involved in parenting. With dairying we
could be hands-on in the business and
hands-on parents,” Ann says.
They share farmed near Tongala for 15
months until the ever unreliable milk
pump broke down one time too many.
“That’s it,” Mark said, “We’re buying our
own farm.”
In 1990 the couple bought 107 acres at
Bamawm and started off milking 160
Prompt payment always at Greenham
cows. Mark worked off the farm while
Ann ran it with the help of one worker.
“I had the baby with me all the time and
Mark could always find me by following
the pram tracks,” Ann says with a smile.
“I would just park the pram under a tree
and get on with drenching or whatever
was on.”
The reason why they are so enthusiastic
about the dairy industry is revealed
when you find out they now employ five
full-time workers on a holding that has
expanded to 780 acres - and that’s after
weathering the drought. The original 160
cows now number 750, predominantly
Friesian but with a smattering of other
colours (all heifers are mated to Jerseys).
Ann selects the AI bulls and looks for
sires that produce well put together cows
with good legs and good udders. “They
need to be able to walk the distance,”
she says.
ture consumption.
means of optimising pas
Feed pads are used as a
Mark also sees flood
irrigation as another spoke
in their efficiency wheel.
“You don’t have to pay
for gravity,” he says. “We
learnt from the drought
that you have to have the
best irrigation system
possible.”
The farm’s feed base is
lucerne and perennial
ryegrass and their constant aim is
to maximise growth.
“We mix our own rations because we
can easily make changes to meet current
conditions.
“We used to feed out hay and silage
on check banks but there was a lot of
wastage. When we were paying $300 per
tonne during the drought we decided to do
something about it. We put in two Waste
Not feed pads that can each accommodate
150 head. They’re big enough to hold
enough large squares to last over the
weekend.
“Cows have four legs and a mouth. Our
approach is to make the best use of these
features. We haven’t worried about total
mixed rations - why introduce a machine
when the cow can do it herself?” Ann asks.
Simplicity also features in the Gardiner’s
approach to irrigation. The whole farm has
been lasered and is under flood irrigation,
but over the last 18 months they have
installed pipelines and automated controls
across 250 acres. They have even managed
watering from their laptop while on
holidays at Inverloch!
cows.
backgrounds to look at all the options
and possible solutions.
“We tried to think outside the square,
especially in the first year, and went
looking for opportunities – there’s usually
an opportunity in every situation. We
backed ourselves to get through it.
“We ended up becoming the largest
exporter of hay out of Tasmania during
the first year of the drought. It was a real
windfall at the time. We had a couple of
partners and were bringing back large
quantities of pea straw which turned out to
be good feed,” she explains.
With their exposure to Tasmania at the time
they even considered relocating their farming
operations to the island state but decided
they would be too far away from family.
Culls are sold off in small lots with
90% or more going to Greenham.
“I just give Les Mitchell a call and
the truck turns up - I trust Les,”
Mark says.
“During the drought we had to
get rid of 60 head at one point
and walked them down to the
local scales. We were lucky we
had Greenham around during
the drought - at least we had a
market for our cattle.
“They could have screwed
us on price but they didn’t.
Relationships are everything in
a drought.”
Ann Gardiner explains tha
t cows remain at the fee
d pads for
between 25 and 40 minute
s after each milking.
Talk of the drought features strongly
throughout the discussion. It’s clear the
Gardiners have emerged stronger for the
experience and it’s made them better farmers.
“It was just horrendous for a start,” Ann
says. “It was a steep learning curve but we
used our experience and science
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Ironically, with the lessons of the drought
under their belt Ann says they now feel more
pressure during the good times.
“You know they won’t last and you’re always
wondering whether you’ve done enough to
meet the next challenge!”
www.greenham.com.au