GOOD grass to grow class. That’s Jarrod Andrews’ simple strategy for his prime lamb operation and it’s proving successful – but it’s thinking outside the square that really makes it work.
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Mr Andrews, with his parents Jeff and Jenny, and uncle Peter Cherry, run the 1000-hectare “Carnbrae”, at Blighty, between Deniliquin and Finley.
It is an intensive operation, with 4000 ewes and 700ha of cropping. Crops are stored on farm and fed back through a feedlot.
Unusually for the irrigation-focused southern Riverina district, the Andrewses sold their water licences to expand their landholdings to focus on cropping and prime lamb production.
Previously, the family grazed sheep and grew feed crops with their irrigation water.
“If we were just pure grazing there is no way we could run 4000 ewes on this country without irrigation. We might be able to graze about 1000 ewes,” Jarrod Andrews said.
“We sold the water to buy more land. We bought one 260ha block four years ago and another one, the same size, last year,” he said.
“We wanted to boost the profitability of our operation. It was a tough decision to make and everybody thought we were mad and said it wasn’t the right thing to do.
“But there was really good money on offer (for the water licences).”
Selling the water was the best decision the Andrewses have made, Jarrod said.
“Once you have sold the water, you don’t have to pay for it. But when you have a licence, even if you aren’t getting any water that season, then you still have to pay for it.”
Mr Andrews said the “Carnbrae” business model had the family highly leveraged, in terms of time and money.
“We have outlaid a lot of capital and we are very busy feeding all the time.
“But we like being busy, so it suits us.
“Also, the overdraft facility required to buy in all these sheep is big.
“That is why we don’t buy bigger lambs at the higher end of the store job, which might mean paying $20 to $30 more per beast.”
Mr Andrews said they relied on the quality of their feed to maximise profits.
“We are quite confident we can background the lambs on our stubbles and then once they hit a weight, we can use all our own feed.
“You have to put a price on your own feed, but you can grow it a lot cheaper than you can buy it for a feedlot situation.
“We reckon we feed our lambs for about 25 cents each a day.
“If they are in a feedlot for 100 days that is about $25 a head for the feed that we are putting into them.”
The Andrewses don’t regularly buy lambs in large numbers, and are able to rely on the progeny of their ewes.
“But this year we got in early and bought 3500 lambs at under a $50 average.
“It should work out really well for us. We bought at the smaller end of the market, and they have turned out really well.”
Mr Andrews said prices of $100 a head and above provided good margins.
However, the current market holds potential for greater gains, with prices hovering at about 600 cents a kilogram carcase weight.
“We would sell lambs at about a 22 kilogram average, so the price per skin is $132. That would deliver really good profits.”
Progressive ideas key at Blighty
Prime lamb producer Jarrod Andrews, “Carnbrae”, near Deniliquin, said progress comes from a progressive philosophy.
“You have to farm smarter and open your mind up more these days,” Mr Andrews said.
Mr Andrews (pictured) runs a prime lamb operation on the 1000-hectare Riverina property with his parents and uncle.
About 700ha is devoted to cropping.
“We are focusing on crop rotations and improving the soil biology,” Mr Andrews said.
“We grow oats for feed grain, with three or four of our bigger paddocks devoted to that.
“Every fourth season or so we put in a crop of vetch for hay.
“On some of our paddocks we rotate with grazing barley and clover. On these paddocks we are able to irrigate, typically in spring.
“We use a grazing brassica as a rotation and we also have some paddocks of dryland lucerne in the mix too.”
The cropping is purely to feed prime lambs.
“We have a couple of big hay sheds and we need to make sure they are full,” Mr Andrews said.
The family switched from traditional granular fertilisers and have been using liquid products since 2005.
“Even before then we were using an organic product,” he said.
“We haven’t used urea or DAP or so on for more than 10 years.
“Our focus is to improve the soil biology. We have had great results. There are lots of worms living in the soil, it is soft and friable.
“It just smells and looks good and we don’t seem to get rust on our crops, or insects.”
Mike Foley
Senior journalist for The Land.
Senior journalist for The Land.
