![Dorper cross lambs on "Ellamatta" Mangoplah Dorper cross lambs on "Ellamatta" Mangoplah](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-agfeed/2086923.jpg/r0_0_1024_678_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
TIM Sides is a fifth generation farmer who grew up on a wool-growing property in the western Riverina near Gunbar.
Subscribe now for unlimited access to all our agricultural news
across the nation
or signup to continue reading
But when the drought forced his family to rethink their priorities his parents decided to retire to live in Griffith, and Mr Sides, with his wife Camille, and sons Henry and Oliver, moved to suburban Wagga Wagga.
However, the draw of the land was too strong.
The Sides began "looking for a new challenge", and purchased "Ellamatta" - a 250-hectare property near Mangoplah.
"We really love coming out here", Mrs Sides said.
"Recently we were lambmarking, and the boys couldn't wait to get involved."
With Mr Sides working fulltime, they wanted to run a flock "that was pretty well low maintenance".
The Dorper breed appealed because of its ability to shed, alleviating the need for shearing and reducing susceptibility to fly strike.
In 2013, they purchased their first flock of ewes that had a cross of Damara, and joined them to White Dorper rams purchased from Mango stud, operated by Scott and Cynthia Callaghan on the northern side of Mangoplah.
They now have upwards of 680 ewes, and intend to build numbers, with all ewes scanned and any not in-lamb culled.
In the most recent scanning, 87 per cent of ewes were scanned pregnant, with an expectation of 120pc lambing from those ewes.
"We are a small operation, so we are looking to maximise production,"?Mr Sides said.
This has led them to three lambings every two years, with breeding ewes run in one mob and rotationally grazed to maintain ground cover.
It is a holistic approach, he admits and he has "taken all the best ideas", in his opinion, out of the various methods, and adapted them to his property.
Regularly moving the sheep on to fresh paddocks alleviates the worm burden, to some extent, and the sheep become accustomed to being handled.
Mr Sides does not use dogs around his sheep, nor does he muster with bikes.
In this stress-free environment, he is able to do so because the property is small, and his sons enjoy running behind the sheep.
Mr and Mrs Sides are in the business of meat production but they also see themselves as custodians of their farm's natural resources.
They are looking to maximise agricultural production, and at the same time, retain soil moisture as best as possible by maintaining good ground cover and preserving native grass species.
They have also observed the Dorpers graze non-selectively, and by regularly moving the sheep, they are promoting biodiversity on their small farm.
Because the property has not had superphosphate applied for some years, native species are returning to the paddocks, but it is expected there will always be a certain amount of residual ryegrass and sub-clover in the pasture mix.
They have no need to supplementary feed their sheep because of the continual moving around the paddocks, which means the pasture is given a chance to respond, no matter how light the rainfall might be.