Issue 4 2024 - Farm Manager

Farm Manager

Kevin Marshall

After such a challenging start to the winter season the farm is finally starting to grow some quality feed. Maintaining and feeding the livestock has been very difficult and having to buy in additional feed hay, straw and grain supplements has been a very costly exercise. However, we got through and maintained our breeding herds and even kept up our milk production. With the days getting longer and adequate rainfall, the pastures are growing well. Many of the cultivated pastures are being grazed for the second time and the rye grass is beginning to thicken up and increase food on offer. Livestock are improving in condition and calves and lambs  are growing quite well.

Livestock numbers strategies going forward have to be considered. Being such a late season, we will test for cattle pregnancies this week and then evaluate female numbers based on the projected feed we can produce and conserve. We think the prices for any hay, grain and straw will be very high later in the year, so we need to be self sufficient with the conserved feed available. This may mean reducing livestock numbers to allow the farm to get through another summer with enough stored fodder.

Sheep numbers and lamb selling strategies have to be evaluated as well. Lambs are growing well but we will need to wean early to give the mothers some rest before being joined again. We have been preparing lambs on a grain supplement to prepare them for the shock of being shorn and weaned from their mothers. By being prepared on a grain pellet prior to weaning, we hope the adjustment period is less and their growth can continue placing them into an airfreight or domestic market as soon as possible. This disposal of lambs allows us to put the food on offer into the mothers during joining and get good conception rates.

The Dairy cattle have survived the tough season well. While most young stock are not holding the condition that we are used to, they are still holding well and now starting to improve. Dry cows are due to calve in two weeks and condition wise are looking good. They begin getting an additional grain supplement prior to calving to boost calcium and various other desirable trace element levels. This enables them to transition straight into the milking system with minimal problems and encourages milk production.

We recently had a catastrophic event at the dairy where the robots failed to milk. This happened the night before Open Day when an electrical fault stopped milking. Farm Staff were on call and co-ordinated technicians to deliver parts from Bunbury during the early hours of the morning and then farm staff got the overdue cows through to be milked. This unfortunately caused the dairy to have no milking demonstrations during the morning of Open day but the cows welfare had to take priority.

Many thanks to farm staff who worked through the night and then all weekend to maintain the flow of cows through, along with get all the strip fences put into place ready for the next wave of grazing.

Other areas of the farm have also been very busy. In the vineyard Mr Cosby has been busy pruning vines and training all year groups with those skills. We seemed to have an early bud-burst on some varieties so the pressure was on to get the pruning done.

Mr Thomas has grown a lot of produce in the horticulture gardens. Along with the normal kitchen supplies, lots of veggies were sold during Open Day.

The new spring varieties of seedlings are all now being planted for the season and looking forward to the invasion of Diamond Back Moth to arrive soon.

In the workshop students have been working on a variety of machinery which includes rebuilding the bushes on the New Holland 6020 front end loader and removing a blown motor from the Kawasaki mule. Both things are unfortunately going to hit the farm maintenance budget fairly hard.

In the abattoir Mr Skipper has been preparing large quantities of farm produce for the regular kitchen supply. He also provided a lot of produce for the Open Day. The quality of the meat supplied was once again excellent and enjoyed by all participants.

Thank you very much to farm staff and students who dedicated an entire week to prepare the farm for Open Day. It is a huge effort and the results were pleasing, especially being blessed with a mild spring days weather. Thanks again.

Kevin Marshall
Farm Manager
WACOA - Denmark