Glenthompson Pastoral: The Mann family’s productive approach
For this father-daughter duo, tending to the varied enterprises of their Merino and Angus operation is more than just a vocation.
Like the branches of an oak tree, the many and varied enterprises of Glenthompson Pastoral Company grow steady and sure, under the careful cultivation of the Mann family.
Father-and-daughter team Ted and Louise carefully nurture their mixed sheep and cattle operation in Victoria’s Western District, discerningly pruning the business back when needed, and encouraging growth at the right time.
It’s a strategy that has increased production in the past five years, freeing up the family to focus more broadly on the direction they’d like to take their enterprise in the future.
The Mann family has farmed at Glenthompson since 1936, with the operation on their 3200ha property, Brie Brie, 85 per cent sheep – a mix of Merinos and a first-cross flock – and 15 per cent Aberdeen Angus cattle.
The enterprise is managed by Louise, Ted and farm manager Dan McArthur.
Louise, who has a particular passion for genetics, said everyone had their purpose and role in how everything works.
A number of properties fall under the Glenthompson Pastoral banner, including land near Derrinallum and Gheringhap.
While Brie Brie has traditionally been dedicated to sheep, in recent years family patriarch Ted has turned his attention to what his daughter calls his “true passion”: an oak plantation with more than 20,000 oaks of different varieties.
While there are plans to monetise the plantation, Louise said it was an example of the family being encouraged to pursue their passions on farm, in hopes of preserving the business in the future.
Acting as shelter belts for livestock and helping areas of erosion, the family is also considering selling mature trees or timber in the future.
In the past, the Glenthompson team turned their hands to other farming enterprises, such as a stint in dairying, along with running a herd of Belted Galloway cattle.
But Louise said maintaining a sustainable, profitable farming business involved plenty of assessment, and not being afraid to make changes when necessary, such as identifying when dairying and the Galloways were no longer viable for the Glenthompson Pastoral business.
“Pruning the dead wood. It’s something you just have to do,” Louise said.
“Farming is tricky, you get sentimentally attached. It’s a constant balancing act. I’m so passionate about genetics, and our top-line Border Leicesters.
“You want to enjoy what you do, but it has to be profitable.”
ANGUS OPPORTUNITY
Brie Brie is home to about 350 breeding Angus cows, with genetics sourced from nearby Banquet stud, as well as NSW operationsMillah Murrah and Bannaby in the past.
“Five years ago we were fortunate to purchase 60 top-quality cows from a friend in NSW, Bannaby background genetics, during the drought,” Louise said. “They came to us on agistment and due to the ongoing drought.”
Eventually purchasing the cattle, the Mann family used the Aberdeen Angus as a springboard to build their herd.
“We have been herd-building for the past five years and have just reached the number that we feel works well for our operation,” Louise said.
Cattle are selected for conformation, type and temperament, with a move towards larger-framed cattle with sound feet, and strong fertility and maternal traits.
Cattle are joined about October and November each year, over eight weeks, with no artificial insemination and one bull per 40-50 heifers.
Heifers are joined at about 12-14 months old, with an in-calf rate of about 95 per cent overall for cows and heifers.
Calves are then weaned about February.
“We don’t rush this, we give them time on their mothers and time being weaned so that they are quiet when they go into the paddock once weaned,” Louise said.
“Low stress livestock handling is important to our organisation.”
Louise said about 90 per cent of the top female calves were retained for future breeding, as Glenthompson had been actively herd-building for the past five years.
“Now that our numbers are at about our target, we will sell a slightly larger percentage and will be drafting out some older cows,” Louise said.
Cattle are grown out to about 450-550kg, depending on the market and demand, Louise said, with weaners sold some years, usually through the saleyards at Ballarat.
Louise said by moving away from the Belted Galloway cattle to Angus, they had increased productivity: Angus steers weighed 50kg more on average than the Belted Galloways.
“Of course Belted Galloways have their place, being a rare breed, marketable niche product, slow growth, and added taste … but for our current operation the Angus breed are more consistent, efficient, better ease of calving … they are significantly more profitable for our current farming mode.”
FLOCK FOCUS
Sheep are the main focus at Glenthompson, with about 12,000 breeding ewes, and up to 23,000 sheep at certain times of the year: 40 per cent first-cross ewes, 60 per cent Merinos (70 per cent of those Merinos are joined to Border Leicester rams, and 30 per cent to Merinos).
“Hence, we have a self-replacing flock … we do not introduce any external sheep aside from stud rams, and commercial Poll Dorsets,” Louise said.
Two top-line flocks for Glenthompson Pastoral purposes are run, encompassing 300 Merino ewes, and a 300-ewe Border Leicester flock, which Louise said were run “in order to breed our own rams”.
A number of Border Leicester rams are sold each year.
Genetics in the flock include Ellingerrin, Walker, Narreeb and, more recently, the addition of South Park Stud genetics.
Ewes are joined at the beginning of November for the first-cross flock, and in January for the Merinos.
Louise said lambing percentages depended on the breed, with the crossbred stock yielding higher than the Merinos, but generally sitting at about 100-110 per cent on average.
Lambs are then weaned at about three to five months of age, depending on the season, and the markets, “as sometimes it’s better to sell as suckers straight off mothers,” Louise said.
“First-cross ewe lambs and Merinos are weaned on to lucerne and a summer crop.”
Lambs are turned off at about four months.
With a move slowly away from mulesing, Louise said the second and first-cross stock weren’t mulesed.
The first-cross ewes are tail stripped, while Merino lambs are mulesed with pain relief, “but we do have a plan to breed for a tighter breach, combined with drafting for it. We don’t want to throw the baby out with the bathwater, it’s a real balancing act as you don’t want to lose the quality and quantity of wool produced, the structure, feet … it is a process that we would like to embrace in the future, but it must be done slowly and carefully,” Louise said.
Shearing takes place between February and March.
“We had a target five years ago to cut an extra 2kg of wool per ewe,” Louise said.
“We have come close to this, we have certainly increased our fleece weight as well as our quality, through genetics and drafting … we would like to continue to improve.”
Merinos yield about 18.5 to 19.5-micron fleece, while the first-cross ewes produce about a 24 to 25-micron fleece.
Wool prices have crept back from the highs of recent years, Louise said.
“The larger concern are the costs of shearing and crutching, and availability of reliable and professional teams. The costs around harvesting of wool are just so high and have increased this year to levels we haven’t experienced before.”
TEAMWORK PAYS
Labour pressures aside, Louise is buoyant when it comes to praising the efforts of the Glenthompson team of five workers, who she credits as an essential part of the sprawling enterprise.
“The team is amazing, we’ve got the most fantastic group working here at the moment,” Louise said. “We all bring different strengths.”
Beef prices in the past four months have also slowed, however this is off the back of significant improvements in the past four years, Louise said.
“We believe mixed farming is the best option for our operation. We don’t like having all our eggs in one basket. For years, cattle were not overly profitable … but beef cattle, in particular Angus, have been extremely profitable over the past five years.”
The first-cross ewe flock, producing second-cross lambs, had been “very strong in terms of cash flow and lower inputs” when compared to the Merinos, Louise said.
“But we are very passionate about wool, and need to produce Merinos to remain self-replacing. So it all works at present. We must continue to assess the ‘tree’, and balance between pruning the dead branches, and what we retain for sentimental reasons or what we are passionate about.”
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