Matching enterprise with environment
Ed Archer Landfall Angus / Greenhythe Pastoral
27 July 2018
Who and where?
• Greenhythe Pastoral
• Tamar Valley – 40km north of Launceston on the Tamar River
• 650mm annual rainfall (increasingly variable)
• Fully integrated with Landfall
2003 vs 2018
• 280 registered Angus cows• 1500 Merino ewes• 3000 Merino wethers• 1350 ha – 800 effective• 20 ha irrigated• Retaining all replacements • Targeting finished markets• Estimated growing 6500kg
DM/ha utilising 3500kg
• 800 registered Angus cows• 3200 composite ewes• NIL Merino wethers• 1350 ha – 1000 effective• 40 ha irrigated• Targeting store markets• Estimated growing 7000kg
DM/ha utilising 5500kg
Why change?
• Early decisions made with heart rather than head. • Succession planning – five-year plan.• Planning process – an opportunity to re-assess our
business, enterprises and identified our purpose.• Identified inefficiencies in our grazing management
and enterprises.• Overly reliant on expensive fodder. • Limited water availability. • Simply…we are in the business of growing grass.
How
• Efficiencies with scale – treating both properties as one.
• Identified natural dry matter growth pattern.
MLA MBFP Tasmanian daily dry matter growth rates
How
• Adjusted enterprises. • Upskill personnel – rotational grazing
Cattle
Cattle
• Early August calving – eight weeks. • Wean during February.• Two-thirds of calves trucked off the property. • Replacements trucked in.• Run in large mobs. • Efficiencies gained with the adoption of technology.
Sheep
Sheep
• Composite ewe flock.• Mobbed according to condition score.• No terminals. • Mid-August lambing (30 days).• Wean during early December. • On-property store lamb sale early January. • Focus on stocking rate and number of lambs weaned• Minimal to zero fodder.
Top three take home messages
1. Focus on return per hectare rather than per head.
2. Utilise the dry matter you are already growing.
3. Upskill in the areas that will make a difference.
Tools, resources and training
• Lifetime Ewe Management • Pasture Principles • External advice
Matching enterprise with environment
Ed ArcherLandfall Angus / Greenhythe Pastoral
Contact details - 0417 337 144