Koondrook Focus Farm

Koondrook Focus Farm 

Leigh Verhey and Angela Turner own and operate the North West Focus farm located at Koondrook in northern Victoria.  Both Leigh and Angela have dairy in the blood having grown up on dairy farms in the region but have purchased the current property in their own right.

They first purchased the farm in July 2005 which as made up of 56 ha milking 130 cows in a ten double up herringbone dairy.   They had very little equity in the business and the farm was run down but they could see its potential and took on the challenge.  In the six years since purchase they have nearly trebled the land area (56 ha to 156 ha) and doubled the herd size (130 to 260).    The dairy has stayed the same which is one of the future challenges Leigh and Angela face as time in the shed is becoming an issue. 

This growth and development has occurred during a challenging period for the region which is a great effort.   Their achievement reflects the hard work and passion that they have for their dairy farming business. 

Leigh has a strong focus utilising as much home grown feed as possible and sees this as an important profit driver for the business.   The low water allocations in recent years has changed what is grown on the farm and currently the majority of the area is sown down to shaftal and annual ryegrass with a small amount of lucerne (8 ha).  The feed base for the farm in the future is one of the many questions that Leigh it keen to explore as part of the focus farm project. 

They feed approximately 1.5 tonnes grain per cow in the dairy and Leigh likes to see the cows produce their bodyweight in milk solids.

Leigh and Angela also have access to two lease properties in close proximity to the home farm totalling 106 ha.  They have a close working relationship with both of the owners of the properties that they lease and Leigh and Angela really value the contribution they make to their business.  The properties provide additional fodder and are used for young stock and dry cows. 

The  property is serviced by two backbone channels and they own 320  HRWS and 143 LRWS.  The lease properties provide access to an additional 306 HRWS and 146 ML of LRWS.  The irrigation development work completed on the farm means that they have good control over their irrigation water and able to capture 100% of the irrigation run off in three separate recycle systems.  There is always some more work to do and there is 25 ha close the dairy that is ear marked for development.  

During the drought, like a lot of farmers,  Leigh and Angela have had their moments and questioned their future.   However, during that time they have strengthened their business relationships which they see is as really important for the future success of their business.

Leigh and Angela are excited to be involved in the Focus Farm project as they see it as great opportunity to help them achieve their business goals.  They want to see the equity in their business grow to help reduce some of their financial risk and to be able to invest in the farm to improve productivity and make life a little easier.