Change in practices provides great results at Stubbo

When Kain Rafferty and Alana Wade purchased the 121 hectare (300 acre) Wallani to begin their own Simmental stud at Stubbo, near Gulgong, there was barely any grass on it after out-dated farming practices had run the soil out of nutrients.

Mr Rafferty and Miss Wade also run a 30-head commercial herd which due to the lack of pasture they were supplementary feeding constantly.

After a soil test had come back showing the soil was deficient in pretty much everything, Mr Rafferty and Miss Wade knew that to make a go of their enterprise, they needed to move away from old farming practices and move towards a more regenerative outlook.

These practices include minimal tillage, a grazing program which helps pastures recover faster and stronger, and using grasses which combine well.

They now have high, thick pastures in areas which were bare dirt nine months ago.

While the pair have a regenerative focus, they use all the tools at their disposal.

"We had to deep rip a section of the property because it was so hard," Mr Rafferty said.

"There was no organic matter in the soil anyway so it wasn't hurting anything.

"We spoke to John Tink and came up with a mixture that we thought would work for us which included Digit grass, a very drought tolerant species, Rhodes grass and fescue.

"Then we played around with the the percentages of the mix.

"The Digit is probably more prominent in some of the lighter areas and then the heavier areas we ended up with the fescue coming through. We also planted some cow peas with it as well, just to add a bit of nitrogen to the soil."

Miss Wade said an important part of the mix was to establish good ground cover.

"Even when it is grazed, we still have good coverage which stops the soil from baking and getting hard again," she said.

"It's very important in keeping the soil healthy."

Mr Rafferty said he has a very welcome problem with the success of his pastures.

"I've got a problem on my hands, which is not necessarily a bad thing, but the summer grass grows faster so I've got to rush to top it faster," he said.

"There are obviously different species to what we had originally and some of those species will grow faster, but the summer grass seems to have really taken off.

"Now I have to top it so the other grasses can get established. It's not a bad problem."

When deciding how to best restore life to their soil, Kain Rafferty and Alana Wade also had to keep in mind that they wanted to feed their cattle off their own pastures as well.

Working their grazing program in to benefit their newly grown pastures was a key factor for the pair.

"Essentially the method was we got it all sown down, let it get established enough that we could get grazing on it and then we graze it one acre at a time with strip grazing," Mr Rafferty said.

"The cattle get moved every single day.

"Essentially it's high intensity grazing, but for an extremely short period of time in a small area.

"If you've got 500 head, that might be 10 acres at a time, but if you've got 30 head like we do, then it's an acre at a time."

Miss Wade said the results have been better than expected.

"We've had fantastic results with strip grazing," she said.

"You can see the difference in how fast it is already coming back.

"And importantly, the cattle have been putting good weight on doing it that way as well."

Mr Rafferty believes it is important to stick with the program.

"As long as you're moving them, the cattle will do well," he said.

"Obviously if you get held up on a job, because I'm a contractor, then I'll just move them in the morning. If you've got your as much dry matter we have, that acre seems to be about perfect for 30 head."