Grant & Jane Sherborne (1)

GRANT & JANE
SHERBORNE
B U R R A W A N G , S O U T H E R N H I G H L A N D S

Jane and Grant
The Sherborne family from
Burrawang, in the NSW
Southern Highlands, operate
a 700­acre property. Grant
and Jane oversee the farm
business and their two eldest
children, Georgia aged 21,
and Will 18, work on the farm.
The Sherbornes are involved
in the dairy industry with
Jane serving on the Dairy
NSW Board of Directors and
Grant the Board of Dairy
Farmers Milk Co­operative.
Georgia and Will

original 115-acre property has been in Grant’s family since 1931.
The
though it was a small dairy, the property was mainly used for
Even
Background
farming until Grant’s parents grew the dairy-side of the
potato
business.
“In 1975 my father died in a farming accident,
so a decision had to be made whether or not
to keep the dairy going,” Grant said. “Mum
kept it going and I worked on weekends and
school holidays. Once I left school I made
many improvements on the farm.”
1982, Grant entered into a partnership with his mother. Then
In
he married Jane in 1993, a seventh generation dairy farmer,
when
also joined the partnership. Grant’s mother slowly stepped back
she
the physical-side of the operation but retained a keen interest
from
in the business.
“Mum was fairly progressive back then. The
dairy was built by my parents in the early 70s,
but it got to the stage where we’d outgrown it.
A decision had to be made whether to build a
new dairy or go somewhere else,” said Grant.

used as a small calf shed.
now
else has been built
Everything
Developing the Dairy
and Jane were approved for
Grant
loan and built a 20-aside swing-
a
dairy that came into
over
in 1995. The
operation
also purchased a 100
Sherbornes
property that had split the
acre
property in two land
original
finally allowing their two
parcels,
parcels to be joined.
generation has put
“Every
back into the
something
he said. “Over the
property,”
we have leased land and
years
a couple of blocks to
subdivided
buying extra farming land.
fund
only structure that remains
The
the original dairy, which is
is
1993: the feed shed, feed
since
most of the irrigation – all
pads,
been modified and we had
have
major upgrade in 2010.”
a

Developing the Dairy cont.
years ago the couple built a
Eight
small calf shed and invested in
new
feeding systems. After using
robotic
system for a period they found
the
they were not as successful as
that
thought they would be and
they
have now built a larger calf
they
with individual pens.
shed
Jane explains, “[The calves] can
As
completely enclosed in the cold
be
rain and then opened and
and
when it’s warm.”
ventilated

Production of quality milk
Sherbornes currently milk 260 cows, mostly Holstein
The
a few Guernsey cows, and calve year-round. With a
with
for high quality milk, the Sherborne dairy
reputation
usually receives an annual milk quality award. The
business
aim to have a somatic cell count under 200 and
family
they are under at 150. Their fat and protein tests
currently
always well above the base as they try to maximise milk
are
incentives. Grant has aspirations to produce 2.5
quality
litres which represents an increase of a further
million
litres on current production.
300,000

Farm business
management
with their significant growth,
Even
and Jane appreciate that farming
Grant
with challenges. Deregulation
comes
a major one however they
was
prepared.
couple invested in their dairy by
The
cows and a new milk vat.
purchasing
and Jane also paid off some debt.
Grant
have learned to listen and apply
They
financial advice – as before
sound
they found cash flow and
deregulation
budgets were easier to manage.
a business practice, Grant and Jane
As
track their operation’s
regularly
They benchmark through
performance.
NSW Department of Primary
the
Dairy Farm Monitor Project
Industries
compare their farm performance
to
“Once we got over
deregulation, my mother
passed away and we had a
family provisions act claim
that went for four years
which could have closed the
business. We learnt what
could go wrong; and
because of that, I’ve put in
place a regular update of my
will. If the kids are keen on
the business, they should
take steps to enter ­ whether
that be purchasing property
or an asset – then they can
go from employees to
sharefarmers to partners,”
said Grant.
annually.

Diversification
with challenges, the Sherbornes have still
Even
opportunities to grow their business.
implemented
years ago Jane was frustrated with selling good
Five
for little reward, so instead of selling their
calves
calves, the Sherbornes diversified their
bobby
and leased an area to run steers. With cattle
business
booming, they have now built a steady side
markets
that compliments their dairy operation.
business

farm is a family operation. Jane oversees the business,
The
Grant, and also manages the calves. For three years
alongside
also performs the AI and herd health recording. While Will,
Georgia
has been on-farm for 18 months, has a talent for pasture
who
Farm and human
resource management
their eldest, has been working on-farm full-time. She is
Georgia,
for managing the dairy and their two casual milkers.
responsible
management and irrigation and manages that side of the farm.
two casual milkers, Jane and Georgia manage employment
With
occupational health and safety procedures through Dairy
and
online human resource tools located on the People in
Australia’s
website.
Dairy
“We usually have employees stay
for a couple of years,” Grant said,
“but when a new person starts
we go through the dairy
procedures, staff training,
induction and health and safety
issues especially farm hazards
and operating machinery. We get
new employees to sign that
they’ve read and understood
everything, then all our employee
records are kept and managed by
Jane.”

has developed their farm systems to minimise wastage and
Grant
efficiencies. They have two double-sided feed pads and a
increase
wagon. Hay and grain or any supplements are all feed on
mixer
feed pad. the
a significant irrigation system, Grant can irrigate nearly all
With
milking area. The property has good water security with a
the
Sherbornes undertook an energy audit as they are mindful of
The
water and electricity efficiencies; subsequently, of their three
both
systems, two have a variable speed drive as well as the
irrigation
pump in the dairy. The audit showed these systems would
vacuum
On-farm efficiencies
large storage dam and bore that are used for the dairy.
in a significant power savings.
result
“We re­use all effluent,
everything from the dairy shed,
feed pad and calf shed go into a
concrete solids trap which is
pumped out by a slurry
spreader or irrigated from the
effluent dam onto the land. A
consultant did nutrient
management mapping and we
had the whole farm mapped with
areas where we can spread with
‘buffer’ zones, especially around
waterways. We’re very close to
town so we have to be mindful
of our neighbours.”

“Apart from a little bit of
feed that the cow flicks
over the back, very
little of it is wasted,”
Grant said.

The Future
Sherborne family plan to keep innovating. They are currently
The
the advantages of solar and are considering
investigating
the dairy system to incorporate electronic tags and
upgrading
When researching new technology, the Sherbornes
scanners.
research findings with their own working knowledge of the
align
farm.
“With solar you can get an estimate on how
much power you use, how much you’ll save and
offset – so there’s not a risk because you can
mathematically calculate the advantages,” Grant
said. “We are also considering upgrading the
dairy system. It will save time in milking, so it will
save power and labour. It will be an upgrade to
good technology that is already available and
proven.”
Georgia and Will working on the farm, and their youngest
With
Sam, still at school, Grant and Jane’s long-term goal is to
son,
keep growing the business.

“We don’t want to get into a situation
where we have two, possibly three, children
saying that there’s not enough work; so we
are hoping to build and expand the
business ­ whether it be purchasing a
property elsewhere, building up the beef
side of the business, increasing milk
production, or maybe we will find other
related opportunities to further grow our
business.”