On lookout for value-adds
THERE’S a rocky outcrop on the Paech family’s 300ha sheep and cropping farm at Walla Walla, in southern NSW, called Morgan’s Lookout.
“It’s named after the bushranger Dan Morgan who used it as a vantage point,” Ashley Paech said.
“On a busy day up to 30 cars can drive up the road and climb the lookout.”
Even though the lookout is on their farm, Walla Park, rather than seeing the visitors as an impediment, the Paech family instead sees it as an opportunity.
In a partnership with the local council, they have fenced around the lookout, installed stairs, as well as history boards and picnic tables, but do not charge an entry fee.
“We’re now doing an agribusiness course through Murray Valley Tourism to look at developing camping for groups of up to 20 people by the end of this year, with campfire cooking, farm tours and with a goal to start value-adding our lamb by 2020,” the 35-year-old said.
MORE ON FARM
It’s this kind of attitude that Ashley brings to all his farm management decisions.
He said given the property is small, at 300ha, his focus since returning home five years ago has been on better using the asset, from incorporating drone technology, to improving grazing management and increasing stock numbers.
“It’s either get bigger or get smarter and so until we’re in a position to buy more land, we have to make the most of what we’ve got,” said Ashley, who works alongside his parents, Russell and Janet, wife Sheena and three young children.
GRAIN AND GRAZE
WALLA Park has 750 ewes, including 150 merinos and 500 first-cross ewes, joined to border leicester, white suffolk and poll dorset rams.
Merinos shear at 20 micron and crossbreeds 25.
About 900 lambs are being grown out to a target 55kg liveweight and sold through the Corowa saleyards.
In addition, the property has 100ha of dual-purpose dryland grain and fodder crops: grazing wheat (yielding four tonnes/ha, a variety called kittyhawk), grazing canola (two tonnes/ha), and matika oats (three tonnes/ha).
With his key focus on making the most of the 300ha, Ashley has focused on improving grazing management and soil fertility, as well as increasing stock numbers, with larger mobs on smaller paddocks.
Before he returned to Walla Park, his father farmed 600 ewes across 10 paddocks.
Ashley said there were now 22 paddocks, with the aim to get up to 1200 sheep (having already achieved 900 but numbers dropping because of last year’s dry conditions).
Previously, a set-stock system would see smaller mobs graze in one paddock for six months, before moving to the next paddock.
Now, they are larger mobs grazed for up to four weeks during the growing season, before moving on.
“The change has seen less stock impacts on pastures, less tracks and camps under trees,” Ashley said.
“If they’re in there too long they kill out pastures, so the aim now is to manage ground cover and keep pastures in active growing stage for as long as possible.
“The flock goes in when pastures are about 15cm in length and come out at about 5cm.
“We are getting far more growth out of pastures because of the rest period. It’s a significantly longer growing season, especially with new varieties.”
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
ASHLEY last year renovated 100ha of pasture to annual ryegrass, also sowing clover.
Never needing to buy in supplementary feed, his choice of dual-purpose crops has proved an equal boon. Last year, the Paechs fed ewes from January until August on oats stored in 2016, for example.
“My approach is to always think at least three months ahead,” Ashley said.
“So in September I was thinking ahead to January. With 900 lambs to finish we couldn’t afford to go into summer with a failed harvest and an empty hay shed and so the canola was cut for silage.
“We could see the canola was not going to make it, so we made the decision early and made good-quality silage, storing more than 200 tonnes in an above ground bunker, chopped to 20mm and averaging 10ME to last until June.”
A 40ha area of lucerne – with oats and silage – is used to finish lambs weaned in October, to keep them on green feed as long as possible before selling.
Soil is granitic and average annual rainfall is 650mm, although in the past year they only received about 400mm.
Three years ago Ashley introduced drone technology to create weed maps in crops and pastures, and computer programs for paddock planning and record keeping.
Ashley attributed his farm management philosophy to his career.
After studying agricultural science and business in Melbourne, he worked for the Department of Primary Industries for nine years around Victoria in agribusiness, export development and meat and wool extension work.
He returned to Walla Park five years ago as part of the succession plan, but still works part-time off-farm for Landcare groups and also manages neighbouring properties.
“The value of my career so far has been in networking with farmers. Farmers teaching farmers is the best way to spread the knowledge.”