Farmers wanting to capitalise from growing sheep in their farm businesses are encouraged to attend an event at the Nhill Golf Club on Wednesday 29 March from 12.30pm.
Supported by Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA) and Agriculture Victoria, sheep producers will have the opportunity to hear from two peers on how they successfully integrate sheep into their farming system.
Hamilton producer Sam Eagle will share the intricacies of how sheep fit within his controlled traffic farming operation including sowing cereals for grazing and undersowing with legumes, weed seed set, cutting grazed crops for hay and managing stubbles.
Pigeon Ponds producer Tim Leeming will wear multiple hats on the day; his MLA Southern Australia Meat Research Council (SAMRC) hat where he will talk about MLA research priorities and on-farm opportunities; his Lifetime Ewe presenters hat talking on late pregnancy physiology and meeting nutritional needs; and his Paradoo Prime producers hat discussing his stringent lambing program, land acquisition and a productive pasture focus.
Farmers will then hear from BCG research staff about the GRDC-funded Grain and Graze program, which encompassed more than a decade of research and extension and provided key resources and applicable outcomes for sheep producers.
BCG livestock systems officer Alison Frischke said that the event will be a good summation of Grain and Graze research for farmers in the Wimmera and surrounding areas.
“The Grain and Graze program further developed on successfully grazing crops, grazing and row spacing effects on barley, oat agronomy for feed and hay including gibberellic acid grazing in oats and grazing management opportunities,”
Ms Frischke further stated that successful livestock integration into a cropping enterprise can be tricky, but we have seen many farmers undertake this transition that has resulted in reduced farm business risk and increased profit.
This BCG event is free to attend and a BBQ lunch at 12.30pm will be available for attendees. For more information and to please RSVP (for catering purposes) visit www.bcg.org.au or phone the BCG office on 03 5492 2787.
Have a listen to Mr Leeming’s presentation from the 2016 BCG Sheep Management Showcase below.
https://soundcloud.com/bcg-birchip/bcg-sheep-management-showcase-2016-tim-leeming-paradoo-primewav
