Getting
Down and
Dirty on
the dairy
farm with
Emma
& Jet

Emma and Jet
• My name is Emma I am 16. As part
of my HSC I am doing a dairy
traineeship at Clover Hill Dairies
• My name is Jet. I am also doing a
dairy traineeship with Alan and
Leesa Swan at Hillview Dairy

Hi
I’m Jet
Hi
I’m
Emma

Visit our new Website
News
Flash
www.dairyyouthaustralia.com.au

Cream of the Crop Competition
Dairy Youth Australia and Landlearn NSW have launched
the Cream of the Crop Competition - a great opportunity
for NSW students to win $1000 and get published
• The Cream of the Crop Competition is open to students in
NSW Secondary Schools and Tertiary Institutions studying
Agriculture, Primary Industries or Natural Resource
Management related topics.
• There is over $4500 in prize money on offer with an awards
ceremony scheduled for the
Sydney Royal Easter Show, 2010.
• For full details and entry form visit: Enter and
win $1000
www.dairyyouthaustralia.com.au/competition

What are Emma
and Jet going to
talk about
today?
They are going to tell
everyone how the
farmer fertilises the
pastures and looks after
the environment so we
have plenty of lush green
grass to eat to help us
produce lots of high
quality milk

Lets start at the beginning
• Cows eat a lot of grass per day - over a
wheelbarrow load - which means they
produce a lot of manure.
100kgs grass
per day

Since the
cows use
the same
laneways
to get to
the dairy
each day

and stand in the
yards waiting to
get milked, a lot
of manure
collects on the
same parts of
the farm.

Cows help move
nutrients around
the farm. When
they graze they
pick up the
nutrients in the
grass in one
paddock and
spread them to the
next paddock they
graze after
milking.

Adapted from How Now
Aussie Cow booklet –
Dairy Australia

• Wise use of this manure is a good thing as it
contains lots of goodness and nutrients that
the cow hasn’t had time to digest.
Just think our manure
feeds the soil Amazing !!!!!!!
The soil feeds the grass
and the grass feeds us

• This goodness
includes organic
matter which
helps build soil
carbon and
keep moisture
in the soil.
• Manure also
contains
nitrogen,
phosphorus and
potassium,
nutrients or
foods which help
plants grow.

This is a map of our
farm showing the
levels of soil carbon in
our paddocks
Red = very high
pink = high
High soil carbon is
a good thing isn't
it??
http://www.csiro.au/resourc
es/soil-carbon.html

You grow lots
Look what
and lots of
happens when
yummy short
you spread
sweet grass
fertiliser
and short sweet grass
mean we can
produce lots of milk
and less methane!!!

Wise farmers recycle the
manure and urine
collected in holding
ponds around the
dairy. This waste is used
to irrigate and fertilise
(or feed) pastures
helping it grow.

On our farm we
Emma hosing out
recycle 50% of
the water we
use to produce
our milk

What sorts of fertilisers are
there??
To help the grass grow lush
and sweet the farmer also
purchases and spreads
inorganic and organic
fertiliser.

We use two
types of
organic
fertiliser
Organic fertiliser is
at Clover
derived from animal
Hill
or vegetable matter
Dairies
The first one you
have already
seen and the
other one is
poultry manure

Look They
at our are
fluffy called
chooks Silkies

Our silkies
produce lots
of manure

Truckloads in
fact which we
recycle and
spread over our
farm

We use a contractor to spread
our poultry manure and lime.
Hi I’m
His name is Dave Here he is
Dave
looking at the nutrient map with
Michael the farmer
Hi I’m
Michael

How do we use fertiliser
wisely?
Fertiliser is very expensive. To use
fertiliser in a cost effective and
environmentally sensitive way wise
farmers test soil nutrient levels and
only apply fertiliser to the paddocks
that need more nutrients.

Nutrient maps
very high
high
adequate
low
very low

Don’t worry you
Mmh this organic wont even notice in
fertiliser may be a couple of days
good for the and the grass will
environment but it’s be all green and
a bit on the nose lush

Is soil pH important??
The pH of soil or more precisely the pH of the soil
solution is very important because soil solution
carries in it nutrients such as Nitrogen (N),
Potassium (K), and Phosphorus (P) that plants
need in specific amounts to grow, thrive,
and fight off diseases.
Coastal soils tend to be acidic and farmers
spread Calcium hydroxide which is
commonly called lime to raise the soil pH

This is the pH map of our farm
pink = high
Green = adequate
Blue = low
Yellow = very low

Hi .
Dave back again
loading the truck up
with lime.

This is paddock 51 on
our farm covered in
lime

• Lime leaves the pasture looking like snow has
fallen
• Rain soon washes it into the soil
Oh my golly gosh I need to pay
closer attention to the weather
reports.
Look its snowing over there !!!!

We also use different
types of inorganic
fertiliser on our farm
to grow short sweet
grass

Want to know more….
Both natural and man-made fertilisers are
measured by the three MAJOR Nutrients that
are in them. These are: -
• Nitrogen (N), - assists plant in leaf and stem
growth.
• Phosphorus (P). (More commonly referred to
as PHOSPHATE) - assists young plants and root
crops to develop good root systems.
• Potassium (K) (More commonly referred to as
POTASH)- assists plants to produce flowers and
fruit.

On our farm we mostly spread urea
Want to know how they make fertiliser
http://www.slideshare.net/chalkie28/making-fertiliser

Nitrogen Cycle

On our farm we put
inorganic fertilisers on
the paddock with a
spreader attached to
the back of the tractor
This ensures even
spreading

Nutrient maps This map shows the
levels of
phosphorous on our
farm
Which paddocks
would you put
super phosphate on
??????

Helicopters Spreading Nutrients
• Sometimes on very large farms helicopters
are used to spread the fertilisers
• Helicopter pilots have to be very careful to
keep well away from the rivers and stream so
the fertiliser doesn't get into our waterways

Nitrogen Escapes!!!!
• It is very important that farmers look after
their waterways
• When soil and nutrients fall into rivers, they
become murky and it upsets the food
balance for all the water-dwelling animals.
• Sometimes it encourages the growth of algae
that can poison animals

How does Nitrogen get into
water ways
http://www.ew.govt.nz/environmental-information/Land-and-soil/Managing-Land-and-
Soil/Managing-farm-nutrients/Managing-farm-nitrogen/

I don’t like the look of that water
.
Do you ??????
It smells !!!!!!!!!
http://toxics.usgs.gov/definitions/eutrophication.html

Hey don’t drink out of there
Look how clean it is!!!
Lets make sure we help
keep it that way for the
ducks.
Lets go and find a trough to
drink out of.

Healthy soils and clean
waterways means happy
healthy cows

Visit our new Website
www.dairyyouthaustralia.com.au

Jet and Emma Farm Management
Education Series K to 12
Links
Milk It
http://www.slideshare.net/LandLearnNSW/dairy-farming-with-jet-and-emma-milk-it
Cups On Cups Off
http://www.slideshare.net/LandLearnNSW/dairy-farming-with-jet-and-emma-cups-on-cups-off
Grow Grass Grow
http://www.slideshare.net/LandLearnNSW/dairy-farming-with-jet-and-emma
Seeding Time
http://www.slideshare.net/LandLearnNSW/dairy-farming-with-jet-and-emma-seeding-time-1236604
How it all began – a Taste for Dairy
http://www.slideshare.net/LandLearnNSW/jet-and-emma-a-taste-for-dairy
Healthy Landscapes
http://www.slideshare.net/LandLearnNSW/dairy-farming-with-jet-and-emma-healthy-landscape-1641792
Circle of Life – Calf to Cow
http://www.slideshare.net/LandLearnNSW/circle-of-life-calf-to-cow

Acknowledgements
Farm yard animal graphics have been created
for the “Jet and Emma Get Down and Dirty
on the Farm” series by students from Mt Terry
Public School

Cream of the Crop
is a Dairy Youth Australia Inc initiative
supported by funding from
Department of Agriculture Forestry and Fisheries
Farming for the Future Initiative.

The Jet and Emma Series is a Dairy Youth
Australia inc initiative assisted by Kiama
Municipal Council through its Sustainable
Living Grants Program.

Watch
this
space
we will
be back
soon