Delegate breaks new ground

EXTENSIVE research and trial and error have enabled a farming operation to move into new territory.

John Jeffreys

EXTENSIVE research and trial and error have enabled a farming operation to move into new territory.

EXTENSIVE research and trial and error have enabled a farming operation to move into new territory.

Delegate Station in NSW's Snowy River country has its own place in history.

And today, descendants of the original owners, brothers John and Will Jeffreys, are creating their own unique story.

The Jeffreys have developed an almost year-round cropping operation, on a scale not seen in the Monaro.

They integrate cropping with a high production lamb breeding and trading business.

John and his wife, Jen, live on the farm at Delegate, near the Victorian border, and oversee the 3700ha operation that also includes land at Bombala.

Will and his wife, Meg, are in Sydney where he works in the meat industry and handles most of the lamb marketing.

Last season they turned off 7500 lambs. They now run about 5400 self-replacing composite ewes - a number they want to build on.

Delegate Station was selected by Robert Campbell in the late 1820s. His daughter, Sophia, was later the first woman in NSW to own land in her right.

John and Will's father, Peter, inherited only a small part of the original farm but built it up and ran it as a traditional sheep and cattle operation until his sons took over in 2006.

They first planted crops in 1997 to establish ground cover after severe drought in the mid 1990s. But since 2006 they have increased cropping, learning by trial and error about what works in the southern Monaro.

"We were very green when we first started planting crops and we are still learning because it's in a very new climate and area (for cropping)," John said.

He said Monaro Farming Systems, a farmer-funded group which facilitates research and extension in the region, had worked with CSIRO and the Grains Research Development Corporation to develop better research and varieties.

"It's only really been since the development of new genetics that suit our environment in wheat and, more recently, canola that (cropping in this area) has been able to develop," John said.

"Here in the Monaro we want to grow winter (varieties) but there are not many winter-type crops available in Australia."

Originally, the Jeffreys cropped to grow forage and add value to their stock business, but now they focus equally on grain and livestock.

They do this by including a perennial pasture rotation, aiming to have a three to six-year cropping phase followed by a six to eight-year pasture phase.

"We are really focused on getting that grain yield at the end, which is the main profit driver in our cropping system," John said.

"But the lambs contribute 30 to 40 per cent of the crop turnover, which improves profitability and reduces risk in the system."

This year the Jeffreys planted about 2000ha of crops, 400ha of which is share farmed, and they expect to harvest about 1650ha with the remainder predominantly summer forage for lambs.

Of the crops they harvest, about 1200ha is grazed before it's locked up, which John said reduces the risk profile of the cropping operation.

And while they want to maximise grain yields with winter varieties, John said was not a sustainable model for weed control, so they also planted spring varieties.

"Our winter-type crops will out-yield our spring varieties by about 30 per cent, plus we get the grazing benefit, but it can also create weed problems, which is one of our main concerns," John said.

In recent years the Jeffreys have focused on better weed and disease management to improve grain production and have increased wheat yields by 30 per cent. They generally aim to yield 4-5 tonnes/ha for wheat and 2-2.5 tonnes/ha for canola, depending on seasonal conditions.

This year they planted about 848ha of wheat, 632ha of canola, 93ha of barley, 30ha of triticale and 180ha of forage rape. They have planted late-maturing winter variety Mackellar wheat for about five years and Wedgetail on their drier country. They grow spring wheat feed-variety Preston, which has a longer flowering and maturity period and has some frost resistance, and hard wheat Bolac.

Canola is a relatively new crop for the Jeffreys and this year they planted conventional winter hybrid Hyola 930 and several triazine-tolerant varieties, Hyola 656, Thumper and Gem plus and a clearfield variety.

Another challenge faced by cropping in the Monaro was getting it to market. The Jeffreys' canola is sent almost 500km to Melbourne for crushing, the wheat is sold mostly into the dairy industry, with some milling wheat used for export container trade.

The Jeffreys have a very busy and intensive system to integrate the sowing, grazing and harvesting of crops with their lamb business.

They start sowing at the end of February and continue until the start of June for winter varieties and then plant spring varieties from July until August, with spraying and harvest on top of this. "Due to our climate we have a range of sowing dates and varieties we can use, which helps to spread workload throughout the year," John said.

The Jeffreys graze about 30 lambs per hectare on summer crops and 15-20 lambs/ha on winter crops.

Their composite ewes and maternal sires are sourced from sheep genetics company Lambpro, so all the lambs are second cross.

Lambs are turned off from Christmas to the following September and about 30 per cent are from traded stock they bought locally.

Will handles the meat trading, including both domestic and export over-the-hook contracts.

"Knowing the market and knowing when to lock-in prices is critical, his skill set is a big asset to our business," John said.

The brothers are focused on genetics gain from their ewe flock and in the next few years hope to increase their efficiency.

"We join all our ewe lambs, we are not running any dry sheep, and we try to make our ewes more efficient in terms of kilos of lamb weaned," John said.

They also have a unique business structure with grain production, ewe breeding and lamb finishing all established as distinct entities and tracked separately within their operation.

Delegate Station in NSW's Snowy River country has its own place in history.

And today, descendants of the original owners, brothers John and Will Jeffreys, are creating their own unique story.

The Jeffreys have developed an almost year-round cropping operation, on a scale not seen in the Monaro.

They integrate cropping with a high production lamb breeding and trading business.

John and his wife, Jen, live on the farm at Delegate, near the Victorian border, and oversee the 3700ha operation that also includes land at Bombala.

Will and his wife, Meg, are in Sydney where he works in the meat industry and handles most of the lamb marketing.

Last season they turned off 7500 lambs. They now run about 5400 self-replacing composite ewes - a number they want to build on.

Delegate Station was selected by Robert Campbell in the late 1820s. His daughter, Sophia, was later the first woman in NSW to own land in her right.

John and Will's father, Peter, inherited only a small part of the original farm but built it up and ran it as a traditional sheep and cattle operation until his sons took over in 2006.

They first planted crops in 1997 to establish ground cover after severe drought in the mid 1990s. But since 2006 they have increased cropping, learning by trial and error about what works in the southern Monaro.

"We were very green when we first started planting crops and we are still learning because it's in a very new climate and area (for cropping)," John said.

He said Monaro Farming Systems, a farmer-funded group which facilitates research and extension in the region, had worked with CSIRO and the Grains Research Development Corporation to develop better research and varieties.

"It's only really been since the development of new genetics that suit our environment in wheat and, more recently, canola that (cropping in this area) has been able to develop," John said.

"Here in the Monaro we want to grow winter (varieties) but there are not many winter-type crops available in Australia."

Originally, the Jeffreys cropped to grow forage and add value to their stock business, but now they focus equally on grain and livestock.

They do this by including a perennial pasture rotation, aiming to have a three to six-year cropping phase followed by a six to eight-year pasture phase.

"We are really focused on getting that grain yield at the end, which is the main profit driver in our cropping system," John said.

"But the lambs contribute 30 to 40 per cent of the crop turnover, which improves profitability and reduces risk in the system."

This year the Jeffreys planted about 2000ha of crops, 400ha of which is share farmed, and they expect to harvest about 1650ha with the remainder predominantly summer forage for lambs.

Of the crops they harvest, about 1200ha is grazed before it's locked up, which John said reduces the risk profile of the cropping operation.

And while they want to maximise grain yields with winter varieties, John said was not a sustainable model for weed control, so they also planted spring varieties.

"Our winter-type crops will out-yield our spring varieties by about 30 per cent, plus we get the grazing benefit, but it can also create weed problems, which is one of our main concerns," John said.

In recent years the Jeffreys have focused on better weed and disease management to improve grain production and have increased wheat yields by 30 per cent. They generally aim to yield 4-5 tonnes/ha for wheat and 2-2.5 tonnes/ha for canola, depending on seasonal conditions.

This year they planted about 848ha of wheat, 632ha of canola, 93ha of barley, 30ha of triticale and 180ha of forage rape. They have planted late-maturing winter variety Mackellar wheat for about five years and Wedgetail on their drier country. They grow spring wheat feed-variety Preston, which has a longer flowering and maturity period and has some frost resistance, and hard wheat Bolac.

Canola is a relatively new crop for the Jeffreys and this year they planted conventional winter hybrid Hyola 930 and several triazine-tolerant varieties, Hyola 656, Thumper and Gem plus and a clearfield variety.

Another challenge faced by cropping in the Monaro was getting it to market. The Jeffreys' canola is sent almost 500km to Melbourne for crushing, the wheat is sold mostly into the dairy industry, with some milling wheat used for export container trade.

The Jeffreys have a very busy and intensive system to integrate the sowing, grazing and harvesting of crops with their lamb business.

They start sowing at the end of February and continue until the start of June for winter varieties and then plant spring varieties from July until August, with spraying and harvest on top of this. "Due to our climate we have a range of sowing dates and varieties we can use, which helps to spread workload throughout the year," John said.

The Jeffreys graze about 30 lambs per hectare on summer crops and 15-20 lambs/ha on winter crops.

Their composite ewes and maternal sires are sourced from sheep genetics company Lambpro, so all the lambs are second cross.

Lambs are turned off from Christmas to the following September and about 30 per cent are from traded stock they bought locally.

Will handles the meat trading, including both domestic and export over-the-hook contracts.

"Knowing the market and knowing when to lock-in prices is critical, his skill set is a big asset to our business," John said.

The brothers are focused on genetics gain from their ewe flock and in the next few years hope to increase their efficiency.

"We join all our ewe lambs, we are not running any dry sheep, and we try to make our ewes more efficient in terms of kilos of lamb weaned," John said.

They also have a unique business structure with grain production, ewe breeding and lamb finishing all established as distinct entities and tracked separately within their operation.