Milk Value Monitor Case Study - Dehne and Sarah Vinnicombe

Sarah grew up on a wheat farm in England and moved to Australia about 20 years ago. Dehne grew up in a farming family at Yarrawalla and started sharefarming for his grandmother when he was in his early 20s, milking 110 cows. A few years later he went into partnership with his father Ron, expanded the land area and increased cow numbers to about 220 cows.

In 2011, they purchased another 220 ha farm and in 2013 they purchased a additional 283 ha farm (neither of these had irrigation water share when purchased). Since then there has been continual growth in cow numbers with the milking herd currently about 450 – 500 cows. The Net Worth of the partnership is currently about $9 million. There are generally three paid employees plus the owners’ labour. They have four school age children.

The Vinnicombes make their key decisions based on different tools and methods of assessment. Read how.