Confinement feeding lots grow in popularity as sheep producers plan ahead

Graeme Ross, Willow Glen, Bathurst, runs about 2000 breeding ewes on his 809 hectare property.

His principle was to maintain 100 per cent ground cover on his property and decided to build a confinement lot during wet years in a bid to be prepared when the next drought hit.

The site was selected for its accessibility and already trees lining three sides of the paddock, and he planned to plant more to give as much shade as possible.

The paddock was about 12 hectares and would be split into four pens that could hold between 400 and 500 head in each.

One pen would be kept empty to make it easier when trail feeding grain, which would either be barley or wheat depending on price and availability.

"I'd be worried about how stock do in it - it'll be all a learning curve," Mr Ross said.

"We're super grateful that we've had two or three wet years and haven't had to worry about it - if it goes on for another 10 or 20 it'd be bloody good."

The property was currently operating close to carbon neutral, but he noted this would not be the case if he was required to feed grain.

Using feed additives to reduce methane production would be considered when prices became commercially viable, he said.

Michael Payten, Alfalfa, Canowindra, said his paddocks turned to dust during the drought and he refused to let it happen again.

"Anything has to be better than what we were doing," he said.

He began establishing confinement lots in 2020, which cost about $20,000 with $5000 in funding.

While he had lot fed lambs before, the process of having ewes in confinement lots was new territory.

The use of eID made it easy to identify poor-doers, which could then be taken out and put in a mob with greater access to feed, he said.

Brett Littler, Local Land Services, Mudgee, said there had been a big increase in the number of sheep producers building confinement feeding spaces in the last 10 years.

He said there were some essentials that needed to be considered when selecting a site, including access to clean, fresh water.

Trough space and the number of animals also needed to be monitored and managed.

He encouraged producers to keep stock confined long enough to allow the pasture to sufficiently recover even when droughts broke.

READ MORE: