Hi all, I could use some advice
Hello everyone.
we're new on this forum and glad to be here. First, I would like to introduce us a little bit, it also helps you to understand the plans in our mind. We're a couple, I was born and raised in Switzerland, Jacky in Australia, curently living in Canada. Both have background in farming. So, we want to move to Oz and our plan is, to start a small dairy after we sell our business here and after I'm legally aloud to work, as I'm not Aussie nor having PR.
Moving there and going through immigration process will give us plenty of time to find the right property. Well, now I don't even know where to start with all my questions..... there are so many!
- Does it make sense to buy a property, some land only or is it better to lease?
- How come, "they" say, that a dairy normally starts to make a profit after 5-7 years?
- what are the registration cost for a small dairy?
- when I browse the internet for properties, I can see some "MEGS" numbers for water, what does that exactly mean and do I need a license to irrigate?
- Insurance cost?
- how often you get paid for the milk you sold? (weekly, monthly)
- other costs I may dont think about and I should know?
- what would you do different, if you could start all over again?
I consider the farm as a business, therefore I need a business plan, but to plan, I need numbers I dont have, where can I get them? For example, how much does a lease of an acre good grazing land cost me?
We have about $300'000 to start with.. is it possible or shouldnt we dont even bother with it?
Our idea is to have about 50 cows to start with, no bull, only AI. How many acres do I need to have enough DM to feed them all? I know, it's about the location and rainfall and the soil... thats where I start to strugle.. In Switzerland we have so good soil, we feed 20 cows on 5 Ha year round.. with snow in winter, but in OZ things getting harder for me.. how many cows in lactation can I run per HA ? I think, if we have to buy hay to feed the livestock, then we're out of profit pretty quick...
I wish, we can get some advice of people here, some ideas or maybe even connections on here. Even just someone to talk with and asking questions of someone who knows how things exactly work in Australia.
I think, that will do for now, may there will be more questions coming after a while anyway...