Greg and Lois Hose run ‘Donelle’ – a mixed cropping/livestock farm – with Greg’s son Adam and employee, Ian ‘Dave’ Batters. The farm comprises separate farming blocks at Traynor’s Lagoon, Marnoo East and Swanwater. In 2007 Greg embarked on a business venture with fellow Merino breeder, Scott Nicholson from Campbell’s Bridge who shares similar production objectives. Like many farmers, Greg and Lois admit that the work/life balance is something they’d “like to work on.”
Enterprise mix: We grow wheat, barley, lentils, faba beans, vetch hay and lucerne pasture and have 3,000 Merinos. We breed rams, keep the ewe flock and manage the wether portion according to the season.
How has this year been?
It was a tight start where we were dry sowing and feeding out heavily. It was an anxious period. However, it turned around very quickly (because of good rainfall) and the prices for wool and meat have been good. Now (as at November 25) we’re considering our grain storage options, managing fire risk during harvest and potential rain damage!
Why do you run sheep?
The sheep started as a hobby but soon became a business. In total, we have put 30 years into our sheep. They are non-mulsed accredited, Ovine Johnes Disease (OJD) accredited and we have worked hard to put the genetics together to breed true to type. We artificially inseminate (AI) in November and lamb in April, and also run an embryo transfer program each year. Our merinos are shorn three times in two years.
We enjoy working with sheep but also, it’s more profitable and reliable for us. For example, after a tough 2014, we left a few paddocks to fallow in 2015. Then this year, the crops in those paddocks got frosted.
There is a little bit more flexibility in timing the operations for sheep. For example we have the option to mark the lambs over a few weeks whereas some operations in cropping, like spraying, must be done within days.
Our employee, Dave, knows our paddocks and our sheep well and we are confident he will take care of the flocks if we are away or busy with other duties.
How do you manage business decisions?
Everyone is limited in their ability in one way or another so we work closely with other people who have the skills where we fall down. If you establish good relationships, you are rewarded with loyalty and we have found that with Scott and other partners like our grain trader and suppliers.
We’re pretty conservative and will take our time to make decisions. Lois does a lot of research. We also try to keep up with technology as much as we can and we use paddock management software to keep on top of flock and crop management.
What will you be focusing on in the future?
On the farm, we’d like to continue to improve our pastures. We have sown lucerne in the past but it struggled through the dry years of 2014 and 2015. We plan to sow more next year.
We would like to change the work/life balance and get away more than we currently do. Lois has grandchildren in Melbourne and we’re members of the St Kilda Football Club.
What good farming advice have you been given?
- It is better to give 100 per cent effort and get a 90 per cent result, than give a 90 per cent effort and get less.
- Always have a 10 year plan.
