Category Archives: Dairy

Pea Souper at Montrose Dairy

Posted on May 31, 2012 by hoddlecows

A foggy morning to finish off a soggy Autumn.

Posted in Cows, Dairy, Weather | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Setting up pastures for winter

Posted on May 24, 2012 by hoddlecows

Heading into winter it is critical we have lots of high quality pasture on hand, pasture growth rates decline as the days shorten and our soils cool down. To manage our pastures we monitor the pasture cover in each paddock … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Cows, Dairy, Milk, Pasture, Technology | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Milk now and mud later??

Posted on May 7, 2012 by hoddlecows

Recent heavy rains have forced us to evaluate how we approach the next six weeks on our farm. Our herd is due to start calving on the 12th of next month and in order to give the cows a break … Continue reading →

Posted in Dairy, Dairy Farming, Milk, Pasture | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Grazing under the stars.

Posted on April 19, 2012 by hoddlecows

One of the many fringe benefits of living in the country is the night sky we get to enjoy. For several weeks now the evening sky has been dominated by Jupiter setting in the west.  This is tonight’s display for our cows … Continue reading →

Posted in Dairy, Environment | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

Autumn sets in

Posted on April 17, 2012 by hoddlecows

The weather for the last 6 months here at Hoddle has been fantastic for growing grass with a very mild summer and just enough rain to keep the grass ticking along.  With the deciduous trees losing their leaves and a … Continue reading →

Posted in Cows, Dairy, Dairy Farming, Weather | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Checking up on Soil Carbon

Posted on February 28, 2012 by hoddlecows

Last year we offered up some soil from one of our paddocks as part of a national research project.  Scientists who are part of The Victorian Soil Carbon Project came one rainy day to take the samples. The project’s aim … Continue reading →

Posted in Dairy, Dairy Farming, Environment, Pasture, Technology | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Mid summer hay

Posted on January 17, 2012 by hoddlecows

Hay season is normally done and dusted by Christmas in our region but this is the second year in a row we have cut hay in mid January. Good summer rains have resulted in more pastures than our cattle can … Continue reading →

Posted in Dairy, Dairy Farming, Pasture, Uncategorized, Weather | Leave a comment

Dairy and Guinness-got to be a winner

Posted on January 13, 2012 by hoddlecows

Posting recipes on this blog was never the plan but… I was recently given this recipe by a brother-in-law and he gives a very big wrap for the resultant cake. Now having tried the cake I feel the recipe deserves … Continue reading →

Posted in Dairy, Milk | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Water ‘n Poo

Posted on December 2, 2011 by hoddlecows

Today I’ll be setting up to pump effluent onto some recently grazed pastures. Every time I do this task I can’t get one song out of my head it’s Will Gilmer’s Water ‘n Poo. This song has been around for … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Community, Dairy, Dairy Farming, Environment, Pasture, Soil | Tagged | 3 Comments