Author Archives: hoddlecows

Birds and biodiversity

Posted on October 25, 2019 by hoddlecows

I’ve got to admit somewhere deep inside me there is some sort of twitcher hiding. (A twitcher is a type of birder who seeks to add as many species as possible to their life list, often without detailed or long-term observation of … Continue reading →

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Fingers crossed

Posted on November 1, 2018 by hoddlecows

Fingers crossed this is the start of a, ‘from little things big things grow’ story. These tiny little seedlings will hopefully form part of our cows summer diet. The seed was sown directly into the stubble of a silage crop … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Dairy Farming, Pasture, Soil, Summer | Leave a comment

Kimchi for cows

Posted on March 2, 2018 by hoddlecows

Fermented foods seem to be all the rage at the moment. Our cows, like so many other cows around Australia, have been on the fermented food bandwagon for years. At this time of the year as our pasture dries off and … Continue reading →

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Topping off summer

Posted on February 15, 2018 by hoddlecows

Managing our pastures has been a challenge this summer(a challenge in a good way). Some of our mixed species perennial pastures have got a bit over mature, they look pretty with all those flowers but they aren’t the best feed … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Dairy, Pasture, Summer, Weather | 1 Comment

WWW -The Winter We Wanted

Posted on July 21, 2016 by hoddlecows

We had a long dry spell our region leading up to this winter, our fodder supplies were low and our pastures were struggling. The pastures needed rain and time to get their roots down and build reserves, the farm looked … Continue reading →

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Back on the horse

Posted on March 2, 2015 by hoddlecows

The motivation to get back on the horse, blow the dust off MontroseDairy.com & start blogging again came from a recent trip to Melbourne. I go to Melbourne often for meetings and usually enjoy the contrast of the city, to … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Dairy, Dairy Farming, Education | 1 Comment

Checking in on the BIG boys

Posted on March 1, 2014 by hoddlecows

I enjoy checking in on cattle after I have sold them to other farms, it’s good to see how they have grown up and how they are going with their new owner. Recently I went to see how some of … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Calves, Dairy, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Plans sometimes need to be changed

Posted on October 17, 2013 by hoddlecows

Waking early most mornings to collect the cows for milking I sometimes head off in the dark thinking here we go again, ground hog day.  But what I love about my job is each day is different and as much … Continue reading →

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Winter milestones

Posted on July 17, 2013 by hoddlecows

  Winter can be hard work on a dairy farm, wet, muddy, cold, windy and short days.  It’s not all bad though, I love the crisp winter days and I must admit part of me enjoys the cold fronts which … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Dairy Farming, Environment, Pasture, Soil, Weather | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Agriculture and biodiversity cohabitate at Montrose Dairy.

Posted on June 1, 2013 by hoddlecows

Over the last few weeks we have had a black shouldered kite and a white faced heron feeding out our kitchen window. Productive agriculture and biodiversity cohabitate at Montrose Dairy.  Providing habitat for native wildlife is something we really enjoy, … Continue reading →

Posted in Dairy Farming, Environment | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments