Ellinbank research scientist Meaghan Douglas has a second job as a relief milker.
Photo by
Mike Woods
During the week, research scientist Dr Meaghan Douglas can be found researching ways to improve life for pasture-based dairy cows and dairy farmers at Agriculture Victoria’s Ellinbank SmartFarm.
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But on the weekends, Meaghan takes on another role in the dairy industry as a relief milker for Nilma North farmers Will and Kate Ryan.
Will describes her as “the most over-qualified milker in the world” but says she does a great job, and for Meaghan, the milking shifts are another way to work with cows and contribute to the industry that she loves.
Meaghan grew up in Nar Nar Goon, but her grandfather drove cattle trucks and introduced her to the world of dairy cows.
“Where Nan and Pa lived was surrounded by a dairy farm,” she said.
“I have a memory as a kid of Pa taking me into the paddock and we just sat with the cows. I think it was there that I fell in love with them.”
She later lived on a dairy farm for a couple of months when aged 10. “The house was next to the calf paddock – how could you not fall in love with them?”
Like many students who profess a love of working with animals, Meaghan was directed by careers counsellors towards becoming a vet.
“I was at Melbourne Uni at the end of my third year and applied for both the Doctor or Veterinary Medicine course and to do an Honours research project at Ellinbank SmartFarm,” she said.
“I got the honours project, and my research looked at the positive association between milk protein concentration and fertility in dairy cows.
“Before that, I didn’t even know the research farm at Ellinbank existed and didn’t really know about research career pathways.”
Meaghan started her Honours year of her undergraduate at Ellinbank in 2014 and “fell in love with it and never left”.
“I loved doing the research and the fact that I got to work with cows every day,” she said.
In recent years, Meaghan has been researching the effects on cows of prolonged periods of time away from the paddock together with her colleague senior research scientist Dr Marlie Wright.
This work is part of the DairyFeedbase program — a joint venture between Agriculture Victoria, Dairy Australia and the Gardiner Foundation.
“It is based on their milking order,” she said.
“Cows that go back to the paddock first get fresh pasture compared to those that go back last, which could be three hours later, meaning they face a completely different sward of nutrient characteristics in the pasture.
“That impacts their milk production, so we’ve been looking at mitigation strategies to alleviate that, such as reserving fresh pasture, or reallocating the amount of grain fed to cows based on their milking order.”
That research has expanded into a new project looking at measuring and enhancing nutrient intake.
Meaghan Douglas is 'the most over-qualified milker in the world'.
Meaghan is also the project lead for the demonstration of virtual fencing technology at the Ellinbank SmartFarm, a 12-month project due to finish at the end of this financial year.
“We’ve found that the cows learnt to associate with the cues in a very short time and adapted within a couple of days,” she said.
Meaghan had been living on a dairy farm while working at Ellinbank, but after moving into Drouin, she reached out to Will Ryan about potential relief milking jobs.
“I just love cows, have a passion for the dairy industry and love milking, so I contacted Will last year and asked if he knew anyone with a milking job coming up and he offered the weekend work,” she said.
Some might look at milking as a bit of light relief after a week of intense research, but Meaghan takes it seriously.
“I’m a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to milking, and believe that a good milker needs to have the ability to pay attention to details,” she said.
“It’s easy to put cups on, but if the cow has mastitis you need to be able to pick up on that, and you need to know that if a cow comes in at a time that’s not normal for her, there may be an underlying health issue that needs to be assessed.”
Meaghan also joined the Australian Red Dairy Breed, and was a member on the board for four years after meeting members who visited her previous farm when she got involved in an on-farm challenge.
“Part of my passion is getting involved with farmers, and the group of Australian Red farmers are great people,” she said.
Meaghan doesn’t currently own cows, but harbours ambitions.
“Maybe I should get an Australian Red or two and park them at Will’s place,” she joked.
