Fairy ring fungi boost pasture growth and palatability
For pasture enthusiasts fairy rings present an insight into the power of soil biology to influence pasture plant growth.
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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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Producing more food from less land
On current trends, the area of land under conservation or protected from commercial uses will exceed that allocated to grazing by the year 2045. By then, both grazing and conservation will each command around 35% of the Australian land area.
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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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Live sheep exports – Where is evidence WA sheep farmers rely on it for business survival?
The history of sheep farming in WA since 1990 demonstrates farmers have the capacity to find alternative enterprises to live sheep trading.
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Beef cattle farming supporting small holder livelihoods – a case study
In Indonesia the successful GGL/small holder farmer model feeding pineapple and other food processing wastes with multiple livestock options to allow full participation at all levels within the community is simply miraculous.
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Agroforestry systems may play vital role in mitigating climate change
There is a tendency to treat agriculture and forestry separately when addressing natural-resource concerns, but agroforestry offers a set of conservation and production technologies that can help to integrate forestry and agriculture efforts beyond carbon cycles, such as water quality and biological diversity.
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Recognizing the soil carbon sponge to counter global warming
In the soil, the decomposition of living things forms the soil carbon sponge, which can resiliently sustain plant life, affect the earth’s hydrology and heat balance, and may give humans the near-term leverage we need to avert catastrophic climate change, restore hydrologic function, maintain our economies and civilizations, and maintain and enhance human health.
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The history of farm land management in Australia – there are two different versions
In this essay David Smith contends that the message that agricultural scientists have promoted for decades and the core of the courses in land management they have taught, is acceptable, and a recognition of the work of the agricultural science/natural resource management profession.
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World livestock an asset not a threat to human food availability
A world analysis of the feed consumption of all livestock classes shows that the bulk of their diets are supplied by pasture, browse, food processing wastes and bi-products. Just 13% is supplied by grains that could be used for human food production.
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Agroforestry delivers holistic outcomes for Kenyan farmers
The Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD) program trains farmers in agroforestry techniques that increase their resilience and food security in the face of hotter, drier growing conditions.
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Tapping the ‘plant microbiome’ to improve farming and plant health
Study of the mostly microscopic soil food web has been going on for decades but is now attracting more interest from researchers looking for environmentally benign methods to improve agriculture.
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Call of the Reed Warbler book review
I would not recommend this book to most farmers, they have many other more balanced publications and knowledge sources to help them understand and adopt a holistic approach to decision making.
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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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Working with nature for sustainable beef farming – has application across all livestock grazing enterprises
Michael Lyons’ Nuffield report recommendations provide an excellent blue print for any livestock business to operate under or at the very least consider seriously.
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There is more to farming than yields, and more to forests than trees
In balancing conservation concerns and agricultural aims, there are other factors to consider, including what farmers want and what happens to crops growing near forests.
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Optimism needed – let’s study climate resilience
The latest CSIRO Biodiversity Knowledge Project seems premised on agriculture being a negative force. In reality farmers have some really positive stories of land use and climate resilience, which we should be sharing and learning from.
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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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Yellowheaded pasture cockchafers – ally or enemy?
Vigorous pastures species managed for resilience to variable rainfall will be able to accommodate a range of insects such as Yellowheaded cockchafer larvae, field crickets and red legged earth mites. They become part of the soil food web rather than a problem.
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Livestock farming tips for beginners
Small and absentee landowners need to consider a wide range of animal welfare, environmental, infrastructure, technology, cost and time issues when deciding on which type of livestock to buy for their farms.
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Environment improving but some scientists reluctant to admit it
Many Australian farmers have dramatically improved the state of the environment over the past decade, however, while these improvements are noted in the State of the Environment report released in March 2017, the authors persisted in painting a gloomy picture of the future.,
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Natural 1080 protecting plants and wildlife from predators
Many people are unaware that poison 1080 is the most environmentally sensitive and target-specific poison available to protect Australia’s vulnerable wildlife and ecosystems from feral animals, because it occurs naturally in over 30 species of native plants.
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Exclusion fencing brings multiple outcomes to landcare farming
After 30 years of landcare farming practice change, greater emphasis should be put on protecting the enhanced environments built up across participating farms. It’s time for more dollars being allocated to exclusion fencing for its long-term benefits in protecting farm ecosystem functions and livelihoods.
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Livestock farming review may help put brakes on “maverick” grazing businesses
Given the Animal Industries Advisory Committee failed to understand what constitutes best practice grazing management which protects ecosystem functions, and the Victorian state government supported virtually all its recommendations it is unlikely that the changes to be made to planning procedures for livestock enterprises will make a significant difference.
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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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Live export animal welfare needs feedback mechanism to farmers
The recent statement by Animals Australia that farmers who are involved in the live export trade are being “kept in the dark” over the treatment of their stock seems to be correct. This situation can be easily changed to give farmers knowledge about what happens to their livestock overseas.
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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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Phosphorus source comparison trial has flawed methodology
The Wongwibinda, Northern Tablelands NSW fertiliser trial was established through local farmer interest in composts as an alternative source of phosphorus and other plant nutrients. Unfortunately the trial has produced biased results.
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Sledge hammer killing another reason to question live exports future
The latest expose showing killing cattle with a sledge hammer in a Vietnamese abattoir highlights the inability of the Australian government’s Exporter Supply Chain Assurance System (ESCAS) to prevent animal cruelty.
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Considerations in buying and applying lime
By Lisa Miller. Soil monitoring through the Corangamite soil monitoring program and trial sites shows soil acidification issues are not limited to the topsoil (0-10cm) but commonly extend to 10-20cm in all soils types, indicating our liming practices are not keeping pace with acidification rates.
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Livestock farming on pasture is a responsibility not a right
Patrick Francis summarises the key points in his submission to the Victorian government’s Animal Industries Advisory committee’s review into a presumed intensification of livestock farming.
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Phosphorus for pastures –
Comment by Patrick Francis. I am continually challenged by how conventional agricultural science has simplified phosphorus fertiliser applications for maintaining or increasing plant production in an incredibly complex soil medium where interactions are only partly understood.
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Mulesing under pressure from Merino wool value chain players
The marketability of wool from mulesed sheep where the operation is undertaken without pain relief is declining and the same may not be far off for Merino wool from sheep mulesed with pain relief. By Patrick Francis
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Pasture trials with lime plus organic and inorganic fertilisers
Farmers should be monitoring soil test data as well as paddock carrying capacity per hectare and per 100 mm of rainfall.
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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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The “should” of sheep welfare inappropriate for 21st century farming
New animal welfare standards for sheep will still result in people not being legally liable for many undesirable sheep husbandry and handling practices.
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Lime trial review Woady Yaloak
Results of a three year liming trial on grazing and cropping farms to help farmers make more informed decisions on lime applications.
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Media confusing climate change belief with successfully managing climate variability
By Patrick Francis Coinciding with the COP 21 Climate Change conference in Paris has been an increase in the number
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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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