MICHAEL and Ancret Shipton are making the most of farming on the outskirts of Melbourne.

And their cows love it too.

Citrus, spuds and apples are in plentiful supply, and added to silage, they make up a large part of the diet of their 250-head herd.

"We are close to Melbourne," Michael said.

"It is economical to feed these products. They are right on our door-step."

The Shipton's home at Nar Nar Goon, near Pakenham in Victoria, is far-cry from Cowra in central NSW, where the couple managed a dairy farm until July last year.

Sharefarming for Geoff and Debbie Bramley, the Shiptons own the milking cows and lease 130ha as a run-off block, as well as the 120ha home farm.

They have also joined the GippsDairy Focus Farm project and will have their farm data-tracked and decisions scrutinised as for the benefit of the industry over the next two years.

They applied to be part of the project to learn more about the Gippsland region.

"It is a totally new area for us," Michael said.

"That's the reason we entered the Focus Farms: to meet farmers in the area and get a grip on what other farmers are doing in the area and maximise what we are doing."

Michael began his dairying career on his parents' farm at Bega and moved to Cowra after the industry was deregulated.

The decision to take the next step into sharefarming was as much to do with family as it was business.

Michael said as dairy managers, there was less time for the family to be together on the farm.

"Back sharefarming and having our own business, we can spend time together," he said.

Recently, they cut 182ha, which yielded 450 dry tonnes of pasture silage.

Another 80 tonnes was baled for hay.

Making the most of the more "reliable" spring and winter rain than further north, the family's plans include boosting herd numbers to 300 head and converting two-thirds of the herd to autumn calving from a spring pattern.

Other plans include increasing the value of their major asset, the livestock.

The Shiptons have also taken steps to register the herd, a value-adding exercise for the future and a move towards their long-term goal of farm ownership.

Breeding has also been a focus for the Shiptons.