Maximum output and sustainability are vital
Shift from California to northwest NSW to farm with more freedom
ACHIEVING the maximum output from what’s available, while being sustainable, is the Kahl family’s farming mantra.
Their business, Merced Farming, operates across seven properties totalling 7500ha around Wee Waa in the Namoi Valley of northwest NSW s – 3500ha is irrigated, 800ha used for dryland cropping and 2200ha for grazing.
The Kahl family first started farming their property, Glencoe, in the 1960s when Paul Kahl, along with his family, moved from California to farm with more freedom.
The first cotton crop of 26ha was planted in 1961 and harvested the following year. And they have been farming there ever since.
Paul passed on the management of the business to his sons, Robert and James, in 1976, and they have now been joined in the business by James’s sons Daniel, as business manager, and Sam, as cropping manager.
While cotton is the primary crop, with a record 1720ha planted last year, the Kahls also produce wheat, mung beans, corn, and they run 300 angus breeding cows.
In a full production year, they produce 20,000 bales of cotton, with yields of more than 12 bales a hectare, well above the 3.7 bales/ha they produced from their first crop in 1961.
SPOILED FOR CHOICE
DANIEL said in any given year they grew cotton on half of the irrigation area, providing they had full water availability, with wheat, mung beans or corn grown on the remainder.
The calves of the angus cattle are sold as weaners, at about 350kg, directly to the saleyards, where feedlots usually purchase them.
“Our primary operation is growing cotton, but we want a diverse rotation so we can spread risk, improve soil heath, change the chemicals we use to prevent resistance and, given the season, make the most of the water we have,” Daniel said.
He said they made decisions based on five key things: land, water, people, equipment and capital.
The mission at Merced Farming is to use these five key factors to get the best output.
“Our decision making is based firstly on what we have the least of,” Daniel said. “So this year, plus most other years, that is water and we want to work out what the best return per megalitre of water is rather than the best return per hectare.”
While Daniel said they also took into consideration returns based on the other key inputs, it was often about how they could be most efficient with water. They bank on about six to seven megalitres of water to grow 1ha of cotton.
“If water is available we look at how we use that the best within the hectares we have available as well as considering what we can grow with the available staff and equipment we have.”
MARGIN CALL
WHILE yield is still important, Daniel said they were a “bit different” in that they grew crops more for margin than yield. Again this comes down to using water more efficiently.
“We are looking to see how we much we can make the plant work to get a good outcome,” he said.
In years where their was limited water, Daniel said they looked at whether they could plant double the amount of crop and stretch the watering out.
“We don’t have a lot of consistent water availability, so we’ve found ways to adapt that are relatively simple,” he said. “We are trying to get the most yield out of the inputs we have but doing so in a way that manages our risk.”
Daniel said their workforce was an important factor in being able to operate at full production.
Merced Farming employs between 20 and 23 permanent staff, including workshop and administration staff, with an assistant farm manager on each property, responsible for looking after things such as irrigation and farm hygiene.
Daniel, a 2017 Nuffield Scholarship recipient looking into where the next generation of farm managers will come from and how quality candidates can be attracted to a career in farming, said this was where his inspiration came from.
“We can find people to fill those labour jobs, but we find it hard to fill those middle management, skilled roles,” he said.
“As farming advances the need for just labour becomes less important. We are going to need skilled people who can use technology and make decisions as well.”
He said he didn’t find a “silver bullet” during his studies, but part of it was creating better pathways for those not from farms, advocating for careers in agriculture at the school level, and providing more structured training.