Farm News

What's been happening?

Since the last newsletter it seems like so much has happened. With the world thrown into chaos and the School and Farm courses drastically disrupted, things are still a little confusing on the work site for staff and students. Staff have continued to work on the farm during the holidays and following weeks with limited students because as we know, Agriculture doesn’t just stop, the dairy continues to trade twenty-four hours a day providing the produce to the population in Western Australia, sheep and cattle still need feeding and looking after and the fodder crops still had to be sown into wet soil.

Dairy

Firstly, I would like to advise that Dairy Training Officer Ms Kylie Quilty is leaving Denmark soon to accept a new role in animal breeding in Bunbury. We all agree that Ms Quilty is an extremely valued staff member and trainer and will be greatly missed. I would like to wish Ms Quilty the very best in her new role and future. In recent months the dairy herd has been calving with sixty-eight new additions filling the calf shed. I would like to acknowledge that during this period Ms Quilty worked tirelessly to keep calf losses to nil. A great result due to her dedication and effort. 

The dairy and beef herds are now being strip grazed on the early planted crops using electric fences to rotationally graze new seasons feed.

Seeding

With 108 millimetres of rain in March and 157 in April, the seeding of the feed and fodder crops hit full swing. With a small seeding unit, hours in the seat were required and several staff and students worked long shifts and weekends to get the seed in the ground. Many hours of additional work were carried out cultivating previously un-cropped ground where we used several different machines and methods to try and prepare an adequate seed bed.

At the time students gained tractor hours on offset disc ploughs, rotary hoes along with the spraying, rolling and seeding operations. This preparation work was critical for plant establishment penetrating the traditional Kikuyu pastures and allowing the expensive rye grass varieties to germinate well. As a result, four weeks later the early fodder crops are being grazed and the feed on offer is very pleasing.

Sheep

Ewes have now been fully prepared for the upcoming lambing season. They have been given pre-lambing long acting worming and disease protection vaccinations. Mr Schulz and students have spent time and much effort crutching all wool ewes and trail feeding some grain to keep their nutrition up during late gestation. Mr Bain has been baiting foxes in preparation for the lamb arrivals and to date has had forty baits taken.

Beef Cattle

Calving was well underway in early February with the first drop of artificially inseminated Simmental, Limousin and Angus calves hitting the ground. We did face some challenges with big calves in the young heifers and spent some evenings in the yards assisting the deliveries. Recently the herd has been artificially inseminated once again using quality Angus, Limousin and Simmental sires. A second round of AI will be carried out later this month followed by the herd bulls to complete the joining.

New Truck

We were pleased to be able to purchase a second hand Mitsubishi Canter 4X4 truck recently and what’s more here in Denmark. With the Regional travel restrictions we could not travel to other areas and purchase a vehicle. The truck was funded by the Agricultural Trust and will be used on Farm and on Forestry operations.

Horticulture

Production has been in full swing with a strong demand locally during the recent Covid19 pandemic situation. Mr Thomas has erected netting shelters over most beds to protect them from the birds damaging produce. The avocados are growing extremely well and an additional thirteen trees planted to bring the grove total to two hundred.

Firewood and Cow Manure

Public sales for firewood and cow manure have returned to normal and orders can be made through the front office by phoning 9848 0200.