Farm Manager

It’s May already and there is plenty happening on the farm.

A dry summer period was good for dry pasture quality but of course it did run out. Supplementary feeding of all livestock is a huge undertaking with hay and silage supplies certainly reduced considerably. 

A welcome 41mls of rain for March followed with 139mls in April allowed some early seeding to germinate and get going in the warm conditions. At present, these early crops are being grazed for the first time and pasture quality is in quite good shape. Due to the dry start there is some staggered germination which is again a combination of dry conditions but also the seeding technique. We have seeded predominantly oats and rye grass combinations with 50kg/Ha oats and 25 kg/Ha ryegrass. A small quantity of Baroota Wonder wheat is planted for late equine hay supply. Fertiliser inputs will remain similar to last year with moderate to high inputs across all high production pastures. Pastures have been sprayed for broad leaf weeds and had superphosphate applied as well.

Excavator:

We recently dry hired an eight-tonne excavator from Brooks Hire Albany and built some strategic drains on the Harris block to divert the immense run off we receive from the Springdale estate roads system. The intention is to divert the runoff away from the paddocks and down the valley. We can already see the benefits to the lower parts of those paddocks. Water is also diverted from the top of the block into the tree lines which will improve pasture quality through that area as well.

We also cleaned out some dams and water ways while the excavator was on site. The cost of the machine was approximately: $300 relocation, and $60.00/per hour.

East Block Erosion:                             

Recently rehabilitation of the erosion in the Gully paddock has been completed. A bulldozer was employed to scrape back the topsoil, push in approximately 4000 cubic metres of sand and then put the topsoil back over. This was achieved quite easily and took 55 hours at a cost of $290.00/hour. A small catchment dam was also created at the top of the paddock with a contour bank coming from each side falling away from the dam for water drainage. The paddock below the dam was levelled and sown with 30kg/Ha of Rye corn and 10kg/Ha Everlast Rye grass. These species are favourable to weaker sandy soil and hopefully will create some root and stubble structure to the soil going forwards. The contour banks themselves will be fenced off and sown with Kikuyu seed to develop and provide some soil structure.

Livestock:

Livestock across the farm seem quite good. We did have an unfortunate period losing three dairy cows within a very short period but all to different ailments. We also lost one beef cow during calving.

Dairy calving went quite well with minimal losses. Early calves have been weaned and removed from the shed.

Herd health has been consistent and recent access to green grass will have an impact on production.

Generally, beef calving was very good and we recently completed a round of A.I. Quality Angus bulls have been used over most of the Angus cows this season to increase selection of heifers later in the year.

Traditional Simmental semen is very difficult to obtain with limited sires available for selection (everything is black nowadays), so we independently sourced semen from an Eastern State breeder, “Valley Creek”. Obtaining access to an imported sire from Canada was a great opportunity.  We have two quality stud bulls onsite so the herd will be split, and selected breeders joined naturally after the A.I period.

Sheep are lambing extremely well with lots of multiples. Foxes are still a problem even after a solid baiting program. Commendation to sheep ATO Mr Roger Schulz for his dedication to the sheep management and care.

Viticulture:

Harvest of the season’s grapes went off extremely well. Mr John Cosby has been very good getting the harvest done quickly and efficiently.  This year we will make a 2023 Pinot, Chardonnay and Merlot. We will also make a blended sparkling white wine to mature in a couple of years from now.

Trust Funding progress:

The fertiliser spreader and grain/ fertiliser bin tenders are being finalised and hopefully can proceed shortly. We are currently applying for the purchase of a new truck and quotes are being sought. We are also receiving quotes to build a covered roof over the sheep yards.

Harris Block Development:

Over the past two years it has been a focus to develop the Harris Block to become more productive and user friendly. This started with the construction of a quality gravel road and suitable drainage of the runoff coming from the Springdale Estate subdivision. The next stage was to plant quality pasture species into the block trying to out compete the kikuyu grass of the past. This has been quite successful with a good natural seed set and germination this year. The subdivision of the paddocks came next with the construction of fences and laneways for vehicle and livestock movement. The centre paddock will be broken into four equal paddocks of five hectares enabling rotational grazing and efficient pasture utilisation.

The fencing is currently going in, along with some additional water supplies. A pipeline was laid with Year Ten students who assisted in fitting a new tank to the solar system supply pumping from the dam. Year Eleven students have also been included in their Tuesday and Friday Skills sessions helping with erecting and tying off the ring-lock netting. 

Kevin Marshall

Farm Manager

WACOA - Denmark