Innovative grazing boosts stocking rates and sustainability

Graham Finlayson’s innovative rotational grazing methods in north-west NSW are boosting stocking rates improving soil health and enhancing biodiversity.

Bokhara Plains, Bokhara Plains, Brewarrina, NSW, will have 300-400 paddocks so country is only grazed ever eight to 12 months.

In the big farming expanses of north-west NSW, Graham Finlayson’s methods of grazing management stand out.

Massive paddocks might be the norm in the Brewarrina district where the annual rainfall is officially just 385mm.

Yet the family’s 9200 hectare Bokhara Plains will eventually be fenced into up to 400 paddocks of around 30 hectares, with the goal of only grazing country once every 12 to 18 months.

It’s an ambitious goal that raises eyebrows, but Graham is convinced it’s the best way to boost stocking rates and profitability alongside soil health and biodiversity.

A student of rotational grazing guru Alan Savory and the RCS program, Graham bought Bokhara Plains from a family partnership in 1999, and with it found a freedom to experiment with that ownership.

That freedom has seen a revamp of fencing and water to allow the Finlaysons to pursue their ethos of running livestock.

The premise is relatively simple: run high numbers of stock to graze a small area for a short period of time - preferably just a day - and then give that country time to recover - preferably a year.

“Even when it doesn’t rain, we have a lot of fresh paddocks ahead of us for the mob,” Graham said.

“And we also know what amount of feed we have, even if the quality deteriorates a little, and we can make decisions accordingly as to whether to sell or not.”

There are trigger points, too, built into the management program which allow some stock to be sold off if there hasn’t been rain and the stocking rate looks likely to exceed carrying capacity.

INNOVATIVE GRAZING

“Recently, we drafted off a mob of 20 per cent of our breeding cows, that perhaps were not quite up to the standard of the rest,” Graham said.

“It means that if it doesn’t rain by a certain date and we are looking like we might run short of feed, they can be the first to go.

“We can see what feed we have for the nine months ahead and plan accordingly.”

Many can accept the small paddocks and regular moves are a good idea, but the naysayers will raise issues of fencing and water points as barriers to its adoption.

Graham said it was possible, and not necessarily expensive, and when the lifts in productivity were factored in, the establishment costs were well and truly covered.

And with a doubling in stocking rates, costs of production halved.

“We don’t necessarily push the stocking rate though and rather think about it more in terms of building a drought buffer ahead of us,” Graham said.

“Currently a one day graze of a paddock takes little more than a ‘normal year’s’ worth of graze days’ per hectare off the vegetation, and then there is a long time, between eight and 12 months before we need to return to that paddock.

“It is ‘intensive management’ but efficient use of labour.

“We don’t just set and forget, so it would be more expensive per hectare, but I’ve no doubt we produce more per hectare.”

The original fencing when the rotational grazing started was three wires, with a top, a bottom and an electric hot wire in the middle.

“We have now got it down to one electric wire with a steel post every 30-40 metres, which the cattle respect,” he said.

There are about 20 water points that service the grazing areas, and of those water points, 10,000 litre cup and saucer water troughs can be accessed by a large number of paddocks, which are built around the trough like sections of a pie.

“There are a few challenges around the water system, especially in hot weather, and you have to make sure that your monitoring and management is good,” Graham said.

“When you are moving your cattle daily, you are always out there at least once a day and it’s not much more to just check the water at the same time.”

The cattle, a mob of Angus cross cows and calves, number up to 900 and using low stress handling methods have contributed to the way they cope with the system.

That low stress includes allowing young heifers to remain with the herd and not be weaned.

Moves from one paddock to the other take as little as around 15-30 minutes, and while the cattle know they are getting a new paddock, Graham said they shouldn’t be so hungry they are looking for it and bellowing.

“They soon work it out - the moving and the fresh paddocks,” he said.

“It does take manpower but the bigger requirement is the desire to do it.”

The stock are certainly benefiting from the regular change in paddocks.

The most recent crop of steers was turned off at 280kg liveweight at 10 months, all done without supplementary feeding of either cows or weaners and all off native country. They made $1250. Cattle are usually sold through AuctionsPlus or direct to other producers and occasionally are offered through the Dubbo saleyards.

It’s not only the stock that are doing better.

The vegetation the cattle graze has also benefited from different management, with species emerging that hadn’t been seen in the district for decades.

The mix includes a range of saltbush varieties including Old Man and bladder, as well as summer perennials including Mitchell grass, Queensland blue grass and native millet. Winter herbages are also seen and Graham said no plant was wasted.

And even trees are coming back - areas which were almost treeless are now seeing the return of dog wood and white wood in the paddocks.

SUSTAINABLE PRACTICES

Graham acknowledges he is an outlier in the farming community, and while he welcomes interest and is happy to share what he knows, doesn’t feel the need to be evangelistic about his methods.

“I’ve become reconciled to the fact that you can’t share a solution to those who don’t see they have a problem,” he said.

“There’s no one really else doing this around here apart from my brother and brother in law, and that’s OK.

“We have lifted our stocking rate, and we have been able to run more stock without buying more land.

“For us, there is no better return on the land you own than spending money on wire and water.”

The respect for the land they are farming is extended to the respect for their finances, and making sure there is never a drought in those finances.

“We can’t do much about the weather but we can do something about how we prepare for dry times, which are an inevitable part of farming life in the rangeland.” Graham says.

He’s even philosophical about the impacts of drought on his prized herd of Pharo Angus blood Angus-infused cows.

“If there can be anything good about a drought, it is the opportunity to target animals which are not doing as well,” Graham said.

“It’s that classic bell curve - you take off the under performers and you push that bell curve to the right so you are always improving the standard.”

LAND TRANSFORMATION

Graham is also passionate about attracting young people back into the industry.

“Our daughter works in our business, and her partner Chad who is a builder also has a part time paid role,” he said.

“I’ve always maintained that if we had a profitable and sustainable family business on every 20-30,000 acres in the district then it would be a completely different and more vibrant community and more attractive to keeping youth out here.

“Depopulation is a bigger threat I think than drought.”