![Quentin Moxey, Australian Fresh Milk Holdings. Photo Dairy Australia. Quentin Moxey, Australian Fresh Milk Holdings. Photo Dairy Australia.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/32XghFRykTWK8psrWNhdBMC/8950fef1-d1e1-4bc1-84bd-872db2dd8bdc.jpg/r100_7_2133_1300_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Rapidly rising farmland prices, better herd management options and climate volatility pressures are driving Australia's dairy cows under cover.
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Within six years about half the nation's milk production will likely come from cows housed in giant barns, and more from herds partially accommodated under big shelters.
That's a leap from about 20 per cent of the current 8.1 billion litre a year national milk pool coming from intensive open stall dairies housing just 6pc of the Australian herd.
"When the momentum gets rolling I think it will happen pretty quickly," said one of Australia's leading identities in the housed dairy sector, Quentin Moxey.
"Farms will find it's a double value situation - you can milk more cows and you get more milk production per cow.
"As land and water get more expensive, the industry will become more intensive."
Mr Moxey, the general manager of Moxey Farms, one of the earliest movers into housed dairy production in 1997 when it put 2000 cows under cover, was addressing Dairy Australia's Raising the Roof event in the Hunter Valley last week.
"I think it's quite realistic to see 50pc of Australia's milk coming from intensive dairies by 2030, or certainly soon after," he said, pointing to a swag of reasons farmers were opting to change.
We need to become more water efficient and work out how to do more with the land we already own
- Quentin Moxey, Moxey Farms
Farmland prices continued to rise, water resources were finite and harder to access, and expensive, and the human capital needed for many farm jobs was not easy to secure in a nation "embracing flexible work arrangements and people working from home".
"We need to become more water efficient and work out how to do more with the land we already own ... caring for a cow in an environment that allows her to express her genetic potential."
Ongoing refinement of dairy facilities, management skills and improved cow genetic merit would support greater milk production per animal, and cow lifespans.
That was good news for the environment and the farm's bottom line because fewer cows would be required each year.
"Moving from three lactations per cow to four represents a 25pc reduction in replacement heifers needed to support the herd," he said.
Critically, regardless of any particular view on climate change, he said it was undeniable the weather had become more volatile.
Environmental wins
Housing cows not only protected them from weather extremes and made them more efficient, it opened up waste recycling, emissions reduction and energy revenue opportunities.
Reducing climate changing greenhouse gas emissions was all about producing more for less, which, conveniently, fitted with the strategies behind housed dairy production.
Moxey Farms in the NSW Lachlan Valley, is part of Australian Fresh Milk Holdings' dairy and cropping portfolio which milks more than 10,000 cows in NSW and Victoria, generating electricity from its herd waste.
The main farm at Gooloogong, which includes an 80 stand rotary milking parlour dairy, captures fresh manure daily to feed a biodigester to capture methane for electricity production.
The dairy's green energy output powers the entire site, including milking and refrigeration equipment, cooling fans in the cattle shelters, irrigation pumps and on-farm housing.
The farm also exports electricity into the local grid.
"These types of initiatives are becoming commonplace and offer huge offset opportunities to farmers," Mr Moxey said.
"Environmental sustainability and the focus on agricultural emissions is the real deal. We all need to get on board.
"Fortunately, I believe this audience today is heading in the right direction, and we have the secret weapon of efficiency on our side."
Farms must evolve
Consumer expectations about food nutrition and quality, animal welfare and environmental responsibility meant farmers had to evolve to listen and better understand customers, while also presenting themselves and their farms as reputable producers.
"Everybody needs to be on board with farm biodiversity initiatives and environmental stewardship - and mow the lawn around your facility, making sure it's always tour-ready," he said.
Mr Moxey said change was being rapidly aided by an extraordinary rise in technology options to improve paddock efficiency and sustainability and to monitor cow health and productivity.
Robotics would be an increasing part of the milking and feed management scene and integrated into the overall farm operation.
"There's some cool stuff going on in this space, and cows love robots."