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Late break lambing field day attendance exceeds expectations

A FIELD Day on Tuesday – ‘Managing the late break’ - was expecting attendance of about 40 farmers, but 350 showed up, an astonishing 775 per cent over the estimation.

The topic clearly had a high degree of relevance for farmers, with the extraordinarily dry autumn causing livestock producers significant stress in the run-up to lambing; the afternoon event was held at Richard and Sardie Edgar’s property, West Cuyuac at Nareen.

Organised by Glenelg Grass Growers Best Wool Best Lamb Group (BWBL) and coordinated by Pigeon Ponds prime lamb producer, Tim Leeming, the Field Day was focussed on how sheep farmers could cope with an exceptionally difficult season.

The Field Day was supported by the Farm Business Resilience Program (FBRP) and Agriculture Victoria.

The FBRP is jointly funded through the Australian Government’s Future Drought Fund and the Victorian Government’s Future Agriculture Skills Capacity Fund.

Agriculture Victoria is delivering the FBRP to farmers across all agricultural sectors.

The field day covered accelerated feed production, ewe health and feed budgeting in pregnancy and lambing, access to purchased fodder and grain, sheep containment (feedlotting), early weaning strategies and farmer mental health.

The dearth of rainfall in the second half of summer and throughout this autumn has put sheep producers into drought settings.

The sheep containment facilities at West Cuyuac are extensive and the Edgars’ sheep looked well.

Containment of sheep and their feeding with hay, straw and grains has the advantages not only of maintaining flock condition but also protecting paddocks from overly close grazing, where the crowns of perennial grasses are eaten out and the plant dies.

In addition, the risks of ryegrass and phalaris staggers and phalaris sudden death syndrome are associated with close grazing in a cold dry autumn.

The final speaker of the day was Naracoorte based farm consultant, Ken Solly, who addressed farmer mental health in his section entitled Looking after Yourself and Managing the Mental Load.

This was an appropriate choice of topic for a field day focussed on a real and present crisis and where the mood was not remotely light-hearted.

One Harrow district grazier, who wished to remain anonymous, commented to The Spectator about the high attendance and the dry conditions; “They were expecting only 40 people.  It’s not good, people are s****ing themselves.”

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