More than 50 people drove between the maize crops and piled into the dairy shed which houses the the southern NSW farm's rotary dairy.
Some were neighbours but others had tracked from Warrnambool and western Victoria to take the Flanagans up on their invitation.
Lawrie Flanagan owns the 416 ha Woodlawn Dairy and said the self-organised event — called Riverina Field Day — was created so farmers could experience a "bit of positivity about farming in the Riverina for once".
The 588-cow milking herd operation is managed by Marcus Flanagan who stepped the crowd through what the farm does and why.
There was a lot of interest from visitors about the farm's free-stall barn, complete with robotic caretaker, and the water-efficient irrigation systems used on farm.
The owners proudly attested to the usefulness of their AGMAC irrigation system, which allows the farm to water 350 ha with one person monitoring it for less than one hour a day.
The system was developed by local farmer Shaun McCarthy.
Heat detection collars on the cows were another focus point.
Marcus Flanagan said SCR Heatime Pro collars help the year-round-calving farm operate at peak productivity.
“The collars are effectively you spending $40 a year to manage that cow's health and reproduction,” Mr Flanagan said.
“We are doing 35 to 60 litres (per cow per day) here and that's a result of managing them so efficiently.”
The heat collars also helped bring AI costs down — earning their price tag even more when the farm moved to sexed semen last year, brought on by good export heifer prices.
“We use the best sexed semen we can get. We want cows that can last, stand up on concrete and compete,” Mr Flanagan said.
Being able to handle periods on concrete is becoming an increasingly important trait as farmers modernise their feedpads and move into free-stall barns in order to deliver higher efficiency and welfare.
On a philosophic note, Mr Flanagan said the difference between a good farmer and a bad one could be just two weeks.
“When you've got an important job, instead of racing down in the morning and ripping around trying to get it done, set aside the time and don't rush,” he said.
“I see it as, the job is important enough to do it right.”
This advice was mainly for sowing, where knowing when to walk away and delay a job until the weather is perfect can have big rewards.
“It is worth it to work when there is moisture in the soil, or to wet it down beforehand so you don't have all the dust and disturbed top layer,” he said.
The trick when it comes to growing your own feed was to grow a little bit more than you needed annually, storing the excess.
“Sometime in the next three years that feed is going to double in value,” Mr Flanagan said.
“On the other hand you don't want to grow too much, because it ties up time and money.”
In general you want to have nearly two years’ worth of silage instore, he said.
Woodlawn Dairy plans to increase its milking herd by 100 head annually with the use of sexed semen, while still selling 10 to 15 per cent of heifers to China.
The farm is currently in the process of building a 950-cow sand-bedded free-stall facility to take over from dry lot sheds.
There are also plans for an eight-bay commodity shed and a concrete feed mixing area.
Lawrie Flanagan said the businesses efficiency was all due to the hard work done by Marcus Flanagan, Brian and Julie Crockhart from Agribusiness Solutions and the farm team: Pat and Jo Kelly, Kurt Simpson, Tom Isdale, Ellen Bouman, Jason Narisma, Alexis Berthereau, Lucie Lecanteur and Claire Flanagan.