Ideas aplenty on Burdekin trip

This was what NQ Dry Tropics coordinator Lisa Hutchinson pondered, and then hit on the big idea: a bus, women graziers and a trip around the Burdekin.

And this is exactly what happened a fortnight ago, when almost 40 women from as far south as Brisbane, as far north as Mt Garnet and as far west as Hughenden met in Ayr.

“We have had trouble with engagement in Burkedin, Bowen and Bogie area, and people were reluctant to come because of previous experience with the ERMP (environmental risk management plans),” Ms Hutchinson explained.

“I was looking around for different option and thought of a bus, but a bus of women only was actually my supervisor’s idea as she did this in Mt Isa.”

The Women in Grazing Burdekin Bus Tour resulted in an information-packed day from leading pastoral women sharing their knowledge on Best Management Practices.

As the bus meandered through the Lower Burdekin towards its first stop at DeSalis Station, Gumlu, Sarah Streeter presented on animal production and how to select for genetic traits.

Ms Streeter is vice-chair of the producer advisory committee to the Queensland Government’s research station, Spyglass, and sits on the North Queensland Beef Research Committee.

She also manages her family’s property, White Kangaroo Station, in the Bowen/Collinsville area.

One of her strong messages – to build up a fertile herd focus on the bulls rather than culling your cows.

“Only four to five years ago we were told age of puberty was an important trait and predicted fertility,” she explained.

However, it has been discovered that it is the ability for a cow to cycle while lactating that is the most important fertility trait.

“This is a highly heritable trait – 60 per cent – she is genetically programmed to cycle or not – and this is not reliant on nutrition.”

This new-found knowledge was now being used in bull selection, and although the Brahman breed was still catching up on collecting this data, there were ways to detect these fertile bulls, she said.

“What we can do is look at bulls in their environment,” Ms Streeter said.

Ask about the vendor’s management structure that the bull grows up in, whether the cows are producing calves under low nutrition “and you are moving in the right direction”.

Ms Streeter also explained how her family have used genetics to breed polled traits into their Brahman stud herd.

The second speaker for the day was Kellie Dobe, who went from tomato growing in Bowen to beef production at De Salis.

Ms Dobe explained how she and her husband Wayne decided to breed their own Brangus herd and looked at new ways to bring in consistency.

“We started embryo transfer rather than the traditional way, which would mean four to five years before we had bulls.

“This way, we would have calves on the ground in one year.”

Ms Dobe told the group of avid listeners how she and her husband selected their heifer, flushed her, had five A-grade embryos and within 12 months had five calves.

“We also decided to go for American genetics rather than Australian because the Brahman content is less.”

And rather than culling cows with less-than-desirable traits – a twisted nose, brindled etc – they use these as recipient cows.

“They are good mothers and it saves us money rather than buying a Charbray cow, for example.

Currently, the Dobes have 58 embryos ready to go and have a tank with straws from three bulls.

Ms Dobe also described how the family had take the holistic approach, which looks at financial, social and grazing management, under the guidance of Roger Savory.

It was back on the bus after a quick morning tea, and next up was Natalie Williams, who spoke on the importance of soil health.

Ms Williams won a Nuffield Scholarship, and in 2012 travelled through Europe and both Americas to learn more about soil carbon, but discovered Australia was leading the way.

She is now undertaking an executive MBA in order to pursue this interest, along with running Granville, Jericho, a 7600 hectare beef cattle enterprise with her husband Glen.

The couple bought Granville as a rundown property with 150 dying cows in the early 90s, completed a grazing for profit course and began “intelligent management”.

After fencing the property, which originally was divided into two paddocks made up of red ant hill country covered in spinifex, putting in watering points and undertaking more study, they operated with the motto “finance not romance”.

Since then, they have more than doubled the carrying capacity, and the improved pastures have seen most of the spinifex disappear.

“We started benchmarking against our own area, then Queensland and then nationally since 2000.

“If you want to know how you are going, you need to partake in this.”

It was also at this time that Ms Williams took an interest in the soil, and was measuring the crude protein levels of the pasture.

“When we looked at the digestibility, we started looking at soil carbon – to look at the grass you have to look at what is below.”

Next stop was Glenalpine Station, Collinsville, to listen to Leanne O’Sullivan explain the changes she and her husband Barry have made since buying the place in 2003.

Through NQ Dry Tropics, they fenced according to soil type and moved into rotational grazing to avoid the cattle from flogging the same areas.

“With rotational grazing, we have noticed the native plants coming back, there are more of them and they respond quickly after rain,” Ms O’Sullivan said.

While it was important to rest pastures, she said they found it also needed some activity as it responded better after the wet season than pasture that had no activity.

“When we first came, we said we were beef producers, then we realised we needed to grow pasture first, and then we realised we need to have healthy soil.

“By managing the gazing land, it’s good for the environment, we’ve increased our weaning weights without pulling the cows down, and it has brought our supplement use down.”

The O’Sullivans heard Roger Savory speak at a field day, and asked whether holistic management would work in northern Australia.

NQ Dry Tropics put forward a project with Mr Savory and the O’Sullivans were one of three successful applicants.

“We have an electric fence, which we move across the paddock in a grid-like pattern. The cattle are camping around the watering points, and now they distribute their urine and dung around the paddock.”

Ms O’Sullivan said it was labour-intensive, but it allows them to now carry more cattle, which means more profitability, and grass has gone from two species to 29.

It was back on the bus for a Q&A, and then lunch at Mt Pleasant, between Bowen and Collinsville, and a talk from owner Garlone Moulin.

Her husband Jamie’s family, the Gordons, are getting ready to celebrate 100 years of being on that land in 2017, and in that time management practices have changed.

By the 1970s, the native pasture of bluegrass, kangaroo, golden beard, native legumes had been overtaken by Indian couch due to patch grazing and the over-use of fire as a management tool, Ms Moulin said.

Since the early 2000s, the family moved from continuous grazing to a mix of rotational and cell grazing, and the country has not looked back.

Soil structure, permeability and biology have all improved, responding better after rain, native and introduced pasture have begun to dominate the Indian couch, and this has led to a 25 per cent increase in carrying capacity and a 30 per cent increase in weight gains.

Flexibility in their approach is key.

“This is what suits us now, but down the track it might change,” Ms Moulin said.

What they have seen so far is an increased return of native animals, birds and plants.

After lunch, it was again back on the bus and the crowd was entertained by Kylie Stretton, founder of “Ask and Aussie Farmer”, one of the four finalists in this year’s Rural Women of the Year Awards and co-owner with her husband Shane of Northern Livestock Services, Charters Towers.

She had everyone in stitches, describing the moment she met her husband; it involved a small plane, a long flight to the middle of nowhere, air sickness and vomiting on boots.

However, there was no laughter when she described the impact of the Gillard-government’s ban on live export.

“I went to Charters Towers sale, everything was looking up, and Joe Ludwig announced a ban on live export.

“Grown men were crying,” she said.

After the shock, she became very angry.

“The things people said about producers. I decided to locate a group of people to set up Ask an Aussie Farmer.”

At the end of 2011, Meat and Live Stock Australia called, explaining they had run a competition for schools and the prize was for a farmer to visit – and Ms Stretton was it.

So it was off to the city.

“I went to a school, and the kids came to school as ‘dress as a farmer’ day. One kid even had a stick hanging out of his mouth.

“He said, ‘Farmer Kylie, do you chew on a stick?’ I said, ‘Nah, my dog might have peed on it.’”

After the chuckles, Ms Stretton explained how she was invited to visit Vietnam, where she toured slaughter facilities and was constantly photographed as she was the first woman – and a European at that – to enter some of these places.

The hour passed so quickly, and before anyone realised, it was the next stop to meet Del Norman, who is the co-owner and manager of a 2000-head beef cattle operation and a 4000 tree mango plantation at Mt Aberdeen Station.

Her presentation was on the importance of business management, and she explained how they ran both the mango and the beef operation.

“Once upon a time we could all be hard workers and be on the land. But this changed about 20 years ago – we have marginal country, a mountain in the middle of our country, rivers and country that is easy to erode.”

Ms Norman said the key to their operation was planning and managing.

“We plan how to protect our natural resources – it gives us direction and goal to work towards, we can make better decisions and define clear roles.”

At Aberdeen Station, it is about meticulous record-keeping; every time cattle are processed in the yards, this is recorded in the paddock books.

They also have a 10-year plan and five-year property plan, and because they run two businesses, they need to have tight management.

It was back on the bus, the long drive back to Ayr and then time to meet again over dinner – with drinks kindly sponsored by AgForce.

The talk-fest was not yet over, and Darlene Wray, general manager of Obe Organic Beef Group, spoke about how the business is now partnering with Grazing BMP.

She also explained the journey Obe Organics had made since it started with a roomful of graziers in Thargamindah over 20 years ago – not dissimiliar to this group.

“I want to let you know that you can do this – and not be price takers, but be price makers.”

Her other message was that farmers needed to be investment-ready.

“You don’t know what is going to happen. Have you paid that fined, is your paperwork up-to-date? It is all about corporate governance.

“Obe is doing this. Obe is a group of famers and we have had to work hard on corporate governance,” Ms Wray explained.

She finished off suggesting that graziers apply for their organic certification – and make sure it is US certification - as part of a suite of tools.

It took three years and while farmers may not decide to go down this path, it was handy to have just in case, she said.

After an intense, enjoyable and educational day, the tour was over.