Cropping on mine land
WHEN mustering some paddocks, Steve Erbacher can watch big trucks as part of the operations in the pit at New Acland Mine.
That’s because the experienced mixed-enterprise farm manager oversees Acland Pastoral Company’s cattle and cropping, some of which is undertaken on rehabilitated mine land right up against the functioning coal mine north-west of Oakey.
This week the Rural Weekly caught up with the Acland Pastoral Company manager to get a snapshot into the company’s cropping business.
Mr Erbacher, who started his role with Acland Pastoral Company in December last year, said he has been greeted with good seasonal conditions so far.
“We have had a reasonable summer, it was a late start to the summer, with below average rain in January and February. It was below average, but it was a lot better than a lot of other places,” he said. “In March we had 230mm for the month, which is above average and a bit out of season, hence the late summer.
“That has put us in a great shape for the winter, we are carrying a good body of feed – we will have no problem getting through the winter without any additional rainfall.”
With a team of two station hands, the bulk of Mr Erbacher’s daily task involves stock work.
“The vast majority of the operation is cattle, and we have a small amount of cropping,” he said. “The cropping is only silage and, hay production as well as forage cropping for cattle to graze on.”
Recently, Mr Erbacher and his team shifted 800 weaners on to an oats crop that was planted in April. Last year about 4300 tonnes of barley and corn was harvested. The bulk of what’s cropped is used for Acland’s cattle, but some is sold off to local farmers.
“We grew 780 tonnes of silage corn under the pivot, which is a 25 hectare pivot, in the summer just gone,” he said. “That was planted in mid-December, and we harvested at the end of March. 180 tonnes went to a local dairy farmers.”
New Acland Pastoral Company uses water, which is all pumped through a 47km pipeline constructed by the company from Wetalla Wastewater Reclamation ❚ In 2016 APC farmed and produced 3,500 tonnes of barley silage, 416 bales of barley hay, and 242 tonnes of wheat grain. In previous years APC has farmed chick peas, mung beans and sorghum.
❚ Crops are used for APC cattle and sold to other local farmers.
❚ New Hope buys an allocated amount of recycled Wetalla wastewater (from Toowoomba Regional Council).
❚ Majority of this water is used by the mine, a smaller portion is used by APC.
Facility.
“The water is primarily used as the sole source of process water for the New Acland Mine” he said.
Mr Erbacher has managed large mixed enterprise properties before, looking after Tarcoola and Marline, Anna Park and Rockdale which covered about 13,000 hectares, but he admitted he had never had a mine site as a neighbour.
“We can see the mine and see the pit, it doesn’t affect our business at all.”