How a five year old clover herb pasture impacts lamb growth
Diversified clover herb ryegrass pastures need specific management to maintain composition, livestock performance and lower methane emissions.
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Our Farm
Lambs, pastures, wildlife a 2023 spring bonanza
Winter spring 2023 has produced exciting results with wildlife, pastures and Wiltipoll flock performance.
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Record rain and lamb growth highlights for spring 2022
By Patrick Francis It’s been a spring like no other ever experienced with four consecutive months rainfall above 100mm. It
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36 year wait ends in road kill
Wildlife taking advantage of improving natural capital on Moffitts Farm are being killed by vehicles on surrounding roads.
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Carbon neutral shedding ewe lambs on AuctionsPlus
Moffitts Farm is now selling Wiltipoll ewe lambs and prime lambs with carbon neutral credentials.
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More emphasis on pasture quality and lower methane emissions – Spring update November 2021
By managing pasture species and mass we are able to minimise our sheep flock’s methane emissions as well as improve growth rates. Plus interesting developments with bull ants and echidnas.
Read More2020 spring update: pasture and lamb bonanza
2020 rainfall has been consistently close to or above average each month ensuring optimum pasture growth and ewe fertility ensuring a record high lamb marking and weaning percentage.
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Summer/autumn rain brings pasture fungi bonanza
Summer/autumn 2020 received the highest rainfall for the period since 2012. The consequences for biodiversity and pastures were enormous.
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Seasonal Update Spring 2019
Our phase two pasture renovation program currently in place is producing pastures which are providing us with significantly improved pasture quantity and quality year round, lower ruminant greenhouse gas emissions, higher lamb meat eating quality, and outstanding biodiversity habitat, under a trend for lower spring and autumn rainfall over the last 20 years.
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Dry summer and chain of ponds
All mixed species perennial pasture paddocks on Moffitts Farm carry a high load of pasture dry matter which when combined with high soil organic carbon (4 – 5% soil organic carbon) means all rainfall (except in extreme rainfall events – over 50mm in 24 hours) is absorbed by the soil sponge. When enough rainfall is absorbed it takes days or weeks to move by sub-surface drainage to replenish the creek ponds (springs).
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Pasture story – sowing multiple perennial species
Multi-species perennial grasses, herbs and legumes are being planted on Moffitts Farm to produce year round green, high quality, and persistent pastures.
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2018 Lambing Images
The 2018 lambing season ended with 143% lambs marked. This result is similar to our experience over the last three years. Our emphasis is on providing ewes with optimum nutrition and lambs with wind chill protection using bulky perennial pastures.
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Seasonal update August 2018
A late autumn break had implications for pasture growth and subsequently the lamb numbers available for Meat Smith. Despite the late break ewe condition was maintained on pastures through mating and pregnancy without supplementary feeding.
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Spring 2017 update: Prolific pasture key to new born lamb welfare
By working with nature farm productivity is rewarded with optimum lamb and ewe welfare, optimum lambing percentage, and optimum pasture growth to support ewe milk production and lamb growth rate. Applying some simple pasture management techniques supports natural sheep reproduction cycles, pasture growth and paddock ecosystem functions.
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Brassica makes lamb finishing difference
Brassica has been demonstrated as the most cost effective pasture species for finishing heavy trade lambs over summer, autumn and winter on Moffitts Farm. The alternatives such as supplementary feeding lambs with pasture silage, lucerne silage or pellets are in our experience more expensive per kg dry matter fed, more labour time consuming and result in more variable lamb growth rate performance.
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Wiltipoll ewe joining and lambing management on Moffitts Farm
On Moffitts Farm near Romsey, Victoria a ram joining management program is reducing the lambing period to about three weeks. Coupled with attention to high pasture herbage levels in lambing paddocks for avoiding bad wind chill impacts and ensuring high levels of ewe nutrition, lamb marking percentage is keeping above 130% .
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Moffitts Farm Spring 2016 Update
Seasonal rainfall conditions changed dramatically between May and September 2016. After 30 months of below average monthly rainfall, above average rainfall has made a significant impact.
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Moffitts Farm seasonal update March 2016
In early March 2016 the two years of lower than average rainfall set a milestone for Moffitts Farm, all surface water had evaporated.
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Basics – Sheep
At Moffitts Farm we breed a type of sheep known as a Wiltipoll, they have no horns and they shed their wool in spring, so they have a short coat for the summer – no shearing is required.
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Moffitts Farm lamb scoops a Fine Food award
Moffitts Farm Wiltipoll sheep meat has won a silver medal in the 2015 Royal Melbourne Fine Food Awards.
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Frequently Asked Questions – Moffitts Farm
SIZE AND LOCATION Moffitts is a 50 ha farm in the Macedon Ranges shire, near the town of Romsey.
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Holistic grazing ensures ecosystem resilience
The nine months from 1 July 2014 to 1 April 2015 have been unprecedented in terms of low rainfall and frequency of falls since we started our holistic grazing program in 2000.
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Getting started with comfortable farming
By Patrick Francis After our December 2014 Comfortable Farming presentation and walk in conjunction with Adam Logan from Melbourne Water,
Read More2014 lambing roundup – tails not an issue for hogget ewes
This year Moffitts Farm lambed down its first flock of hogget ewes. Results have been excellent.
Read MoreWarmest lambs
Photos of 5 to 7 days old lambs on a frosty morning in September 2014 demonstrate just how comfortable our system is for the livestock.
Read MoreLambs and rainfall – challenges and successes over summer and autumn
An update on Moffitts Farm in May 2014. Our “comfortable farming” system demonstrated resilience under the lowest summer rainfall we have experienced since we started it in 2000.
Read MorePasture additives trial produces no surprises
Every so often we like to trial some fertilisers, soil ameliorants and soil biological stimulants. Whether organic or inorganic, soil health and pasture growth additives come with recommendations to add more every year. I have never seen a manufacturer recommend not to add a product because it might not be needed in healthy soils.
Read More2013 lambing highlights benefits of prolific pastures
The 178% lamb marking achieved this spring highlights the important connection between high year round pasture mass and livestock nutrition, ewe fecundity, ewe health, lamb birth weight and lamb welfare.
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Evolution of Comfortable Farming on Moffitts Farm
Moffitts Farm has been used for trialing pasture varieties and grazing methods since 1993. The evolution of management methods developed into the concept we call “Comfortable Farming” – farming that is comfortable for the livestock, comfortable for the biodiversity and comfortable for the family.
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Basics – Comfortable Farming
Our way of farming is comfortable for the livestock, comfortable for the environment and comfortable for the farmers – despite the increasingly variable climate.
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Basics – Water
With limited rainfall, the key at Moffitts Farm is to hold as much water as possible in the soil and vegetation, when rain does fall.
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Basics – Conservation
Conservation at Moffitts Farm is not viewed as something that occurs in a dedicated corridor or place set aside, but is occurring across the property.
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Basics – Carbon
A farm that is a net carbon sink stores more carbon from the atmosphere than it releases to the atmosphere.
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Basics – Animal Welfare
Animal welfare is important to us, and includes livestock handling, adequate nutrition, animal health and shelter.
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Ewe identification collars
At Moffitts Farm we are trialing collars as a more welfare orientated and long-term solution to breeding ewe identification.
Read MoreMoffitts Farm Wiltipoll lawn-mowing sheep
The ultimate no stress lawn mower sheep are suitable for larger yards, lane ways and storage areas such as wood and equipment yards.
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