By ROBERT WHITE

PERSISTENCE is a key trait for any dairy farmer and Kane Smollenaars has it by the vat full.
Consider this. He left school to undertake a dairy apprenticeship but when he completed his time, there was no work available.
He then took up a plumbing apprentice through his father’s company but all the while he was a weekend relief milker.
Once his plumbing apprenticeship was over, he took on dairy sharefarming and leasing roles before buying his own farm at Airly, just south of Sale, in April 2006.
It had been owned by an uncle who had operated a dairy farm but he had suffered an illness and was forced to lease the property before selling it to Kane.
“It hadn’t been looked after for about eight years and when I arrived I reckon you could have cut logs out of the thistles that were here,” Kane recalled.
Fences and laneways were virtually non-existent and as for the dairy shed … “I walked into the dairy with an angle grinder,” he said.
Once much of the farm had been cleaned up, more persistence was needed as a flood ravaged the Macalister Irrigation District in mid-2007. There wasn’t a part of the farm that wasn’t under water and the house and dairy were inundated.
Then this year, the farm was hit by another flood … not as bad as 2007 but there was a damage bill just the same.
Through it all, Kane has taken the roller-coaster ride in his stride.
Now he is milking 215 cows in a 10-double-up shed and runs a pasture-based operation that has grass thick and lush and spreading to all corners of the 88ha property.
Kane, 34, is a bachelor and the workload falls squarely on his shoulders. He likes it that way. He is his own boss and he likes to do things his own way.
Kane said he always wanted to be a dairy farmer. He grew up with a family plumbing influence but he enjoyed the chances during school vacations to spend time with uncles who ran dairy farms.
But he maintains that the four years he worked as a plumber have proven to be a valuable asset for the demands on dairy farming life.
“On reflection,if I had my time all over,I’d do it a again. There are so many aspects of farm life that benefit from having the skills I got while plumbing.”
Kane said he made the move to Airly with his eyes wide open. He already had a herd of his own which he milked while sharefarming and leasing at nearby Nambrok and he was confident he could turn the new farm around.
There were new fences to build, pastures to re-sow and new troughs to be installed.
New equipment was needed for the dairy and the milking plant was purchased at a local clearing sale while other necessary equipment was bought from a variety of sources.
Kane said the 2007 flood was a setback.
“I knew the farm was flood prone but 2007 was a bad flood. I had the cows off the farm for a fortnight and there was a lot of fencing to be replaced,” he said.
But Kane remains philosophical about such events and acknowledges that the fertile soils of the region are a result of generations of flooding that has brought silt from higher ground.
“Generally when we get a flood here the water is on an off very quickly but 2007 was a bit different,” he said.
Kane said he was keen to take advantage of the great potential the farm had to grow pasture.
He is committed to a strong fertilizer, watering and grazing management program and has struck up a loyal association with a local contractor who does most of the harvesting work.
Further improvements are planned to increase pasture growth and the most important is a laser-grading project.
About 8ha of the farm has been laser levelled and Kane has a plan in place to increase the lasered area to more than 70ha. He intends to keep about 16ha aside for cropping.
There are also plans to reduce herd numbers from the current 215 to about 170. He believes this will enable him to cull for quality in the herd and also provide a much more manageable number for his single person operation.
Kane concedes that the lifestyle can get lonely at times but he still enjoys the work and the rewards he is now getting thanks to firmer milk prices.
“It’s a job where you can do an 18 hour day or an eight hour day. It’s up to you,” he said.