You are never too old to learn, and I am currently working through a Regenerative Farming Course at Southern Cross University. Regenerative Farming is becoming increasingly important in Agriculture as soil health, water, and sustainability shape our approach to farming and land management.
My aim, as I’ve said here before, is to run Laurel View Farm in the best shape that it’s ever been, with fertile paddocks supporting healthy animals long-term. We’ve recently had a group out at the farm to measure the quality of our soil with a refractometer, to give us an indication of plant sugar, mineral and vitamin content and the results showed us where we need to focus this year.
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- Abundant feed for 2024
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- Auger with Robertson red soil
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- Pippa keeping an eye on the Herd
We are also delving further into cell-grazing this year and I have begun halving my paddock sizes and will halve them again in the coming months using temporary fencing. Cell-grazing means our livestock are contained in one paddock for a short period of 1 to 2 days, eating the grass and naturally fertilising the ground before rotating to the next – this leads to much stronger and better quality growth in the paddock as it recovers from use.
I’m also looking at further fencing for the creeks and streams in parts to keep the stock away from waterways as well as planting new trees to encourage native wildlife such as Koala’s onto the property and provide shade for our cattle and sheep.
It’s been a heck of a soggy start to the year but this has meant we have an abundance of quality pasture and the livestock are thriving. Here’s to a great year ahead!
JM
Read more about John and & Laurel View Farm here.