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Words: Madeleine Stuchbery
Cattle farmer turns the tables on tradition 
Drawing inspiration from the plains of Africa, Sidonia Beef producer Sam White is rearing his Angus cattle in an unusual way.
The sixth-generation farmer runs 300 Angus cattle including 150 breeders across 809ha near Kyneton, where his family has raised beef since the early 1920s.
Image: Sidonia Beef | Instagram
It was while trying to tackle various health problems across 300-odd head of cattle that White tried another style of farming.
Beef producer Sam White
Beef producer Sam White
“”
We realised trying to give 300 cattle each what they needed... wasn’t possible. I looked at organic farming after that, and that was the answer.
After learning the principals of organic farming, White turned towards regenerative agriculture, which focuses on rehabilitating topsoil and increasing biodiversity.
But perhaps the biggest change to his style of farming was to make the bold decision to run all his cattle in one mob, instead of ten to 12 smaller groups.
The move, designed to mimic the large grazing herds of the African plains, was another practice to allow pastures to regenerate and recover from years of set stocking.
His cattle now move organically throughout pastures, in an almost self-managed style of rotational grazing.
Video: Sidonia Beef | Instagram
He no longer stresses over managing multiple mobs. The health of his pastures has improved, as has the cattles'.
Image: Sidonia Beef | Instagram
Producer: Anthony Lucas
																																								

Original URL: https://www.weeklytimesnow.com.au/web-stories/free/the-weekly-times/could-this-be-the-future-of-cattle-farming