Altmann family dairy farm at Murray Bridge in South Australia honoured nationally for its innovative switch
David Altmann of Dakara Farms at Murray Bridge in South Australia saw big milk production rises after switching to a total mixed ration feeding system and away from running cows on pasture. Inset: David son's Jake Altmann, who took over managing the dairy farm, and his wife Karen.
Images courtesy Dairysafe, the state government Dairy Authority of South Australia
The Altmann family, of Dakara Farms at South Australia’s Murray Bridge, won the national Weekly Times Coles Farmer of the Year 2024 award, following up on its best innovative farmers of the year gong at the 2023 South Australian dairy awards.
Fifth-generation dairy farmer David Altmann, with wife Karen, switched to a total mixed ration feeding system for their cows in the early 2000s, leading to greater efficiency and profitability at their Murray Bridge dairy.
The Altmanns had moved to Murray Bridge in 1990 from the Altmann generational family dairy farm in Balhannah in the Adelaide Hills. They bought a second Murray Bridge dairy in 1999, about two kilometres away, where they moved in 2002, after installing a new rotary dairy. David Altmann said they used consultants in California to help design their feed shed and, in 2006, moved to a full total mixed ration feeding system where each cow was individually fed: “We cut back to 500 cows and focused on getting the total mixed ration feeding system right. I really enjoyed it because I’ve always loved feeding cows.”
In 2014, the Altmanns built one of the first compost barns in Australia, designed by the same Californian consultants. “Many people questioned the move to the TMR feeding system. Most people said we were going to go broke. But I knew that, if we did it well, we’d be successful. And I didn’t have a fear of spending money to feed cows, so that helped.”
David Altmann researched total mixed ration systems around the world and found it was used extensively and effectively: “Total mixed ration systems take the weather and other elements out of the scenario. There has been a perception in Australia that you have to have cows grazing on grass to be a successful dairy farmer. But there are different ways of feeding and milking cows, and none of them are wrong. You’ve just got to do it well.”
The total mixed ration feeding system, emphasising a wide range of nutrients, saw the production curve rise every month. Milking three times a day, it went from from 33 litres a cow to 40 litres. David’s son Jake, who had taken over managing the farm, said the cows were “healthier, happier; the condition on the cows is better than when we were on a pasture-based system. We are not wasting feed. They are not in the elements, have fans and sprinklers to cool them down in summer, and in winter they can curl up in the barn and be warm and don’t have to walk through mud.”
Sourcing labour from nearby Murray Bridge, the Altmanns grew their own fodder and sourced it from four other regions. The Altmanns enjoyed other advantages because their cows were fed the same every day: “We get the same amount of milk every day, so our costs are set. Our milk supply is a very stable, flat production curve all year round, and the components are the same all year round, as the cow’s diet is consistent.”
David Altmann said improvements to the dairy over the years, included cup removers and a teat scrubbing system. “Teat scrubbing has been great, and our mastitis has dropped by 50%. Previously, we thought we had clean teats but we were getting some infection prior to cupping the cows on, which we found by swabbing the teats. The teat scrub solution kills 95% of the bacteria before you cup the cow on.That was a game changer for us. It has enabled to sit with our cell count between 80 and 120 for most of the year."
The Altmanns sold their milk to different processors including La Vera, The Yoghurt Shop and Tweedvale. “We’ve diversified with our milk sales, as I’ve always felt dairy farmers should have more control over their markets,” David Altmann said.
