THE Gardiner Foundation will again sponsor five dairy scholarships next year.
The scholarships, each valued at $10,000, assist drought-affected dairy farming families to meet the cost of school children having to leave home for university studies.
Eligible candidates will start first-year undergraduate university studies next year.
Gardiner Foundation chairman Chris Nixon said the scholarship program was a response to concerns about the financial burden on dairying families "whose farm incomes had been negatively impacted by drought (which) could lead to decisions to defer or cancel plans for their children to undertake tertiary studies".
Applications close on December 10.
For details, visit www.gardinerfoundation.com.au
Profit for DemoDAIRY
DEMODAIRY recorded improvements in both visitor numbers and financial performance last financial year.
In his annual report, chairman Tim Bligh said the farm, at Terang, generated high activity and visitors, mostly due to the success of the global dairy industry.
Mr Bligh said the farm posted a profit of $538,952 in 2007-08, well up on a $187,316 profit the previous year.
However, this included a re-evaluation of stock from $332,890 to $635,600.
Mr Bligh said the construction of a new student centre, calf shed and a new research centre had added significantly to the farm's infrastructure.
Victorian Dairy Conference
"PLUG in, Charge up, Power on" will be the theme of next year's Victorian Dairy Conference.
The conference, to be held in Warrnambool on March 29-31, will cover topics such as dairy automation, future forage systems and business management.
The first day of the conference will focus on the future of dairying, centred around the question "Where will we be in 2020?"
For details, phone Alex Goudy on (03) 5561 9935.
Fight against mastitis
THERE is money to be saved by using existing dairy herd records in the fight against mastitis, according to Jo Crosby.
Ms Crosby, of the Department of Primary Industries, said there were benefits in taking action before mastitis was detected.
The average clinical case of mastitis now costs about $230 - a significant increase brought about by higher milk prices.
"Mastitis treatment records are required for quality assurance programs, but they can do much more for us than just pass a QA audit," she said.
"They can reveal how many clinical cases occur each month, how well they respond to different treatments and which dry cow therapy is likely to be effective in a herd.
"Action is necessary if your herd hits one of the Countdown Downunder triggers of more than three clinical cases per 50 freshly-calved cows or more than five clinical cases per 100 cows in the first month of lactation."
Send your dairy news to Felicity Lunghusen, The Weekly Times, PO Box 14999, Melbourne 8001, email lunghusenf@theweeklytimes.com.au or fax to (03) 9292 2697.
