It is a 295 ha property with an average annual rainfall of around 750mm. Daily rainfall data has been collected since 1904 and pasture production has been measured by harvesting in the same paddocks on a monthly basis since 1999. The farm is generally summer dry with moist warm winters. The rainfall data confirms shows that the biggest challenge is the variability in when the rainfalls as over time all months show a huge variability from large totals to almost nothing – this makes having plans critical for financial stability. Traditionally, we have farmed mainly sheep and some cattle although the numbers have varied depending on the research needs and financial drivers. These days we carry a lot more trading stock to provide flexibility. As a property generally we have a large spring surplus of feed, summer is a holding pattern, autumn varies depending on when it rains relative to temperature and winter has a low but relatively reliable growth although it is influenced by the autumn growing conditions.
Previously we have done scientific research on a range of fertiliser, pasture productivity, sheep performance, meat quality and calf rearing work. In addition, we have done work on integrating different forage species into farming systems and the use of cover crops to prevent runoff losses.
