Farm Management Plan - colacotway.vic.gov.au

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EnProve Ag & Environment PO Box 817 Warrnambool Victoria 3280 www.enprove.com.au phone: 0448 866 205

Farm Management Plan

Andrew Burns 697 Nalangil Road, Corunnun

Breeding, Rotational Grazing, and Growout of Beef Cattle

Report Prepared by Dean Suckling Enprove Pty Ltd

Report Date: 6th October 2020

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Contents PLAN OBJECTIVE: .................................................................................................................................. 3

PROPERTY DETAILS: ............................................................................................................................ 3

PROPOSAL OVERVIEW: ........................................................................................................................ 4

SITE LOCATION AND PROPERTY MAPS: .......................................................................................... 6

FARMING FACTORS: ........................................................................................................................... 11 Site Description and Topography: ............................................................................................................11 Climate:...................................................................................................................................................11 Water Supply: .........................................................................................................................................11 Weed and Pest Management: .................................................................................................................11 Fire Management: ...................................................................................................................................11 Adverse impacts on adjacent land: ..........................................................................................................12 Adverse impacts from adjacent land: ....................................................................................................12 Allowance for possible future expansion: .............................................................................................12 Opportunity Cost: ..................................................................................................................................12 Paddock Layout: ........................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined. Soils: .......................................................................................................................................................13 Pastoral Improvement: ............................................................................................................................14 Livestock: ................................................................................................................................................14

Infrastructure and Management: ...............................................................................................................15 Required Infrastructure: ..........................................................................................................................15 Development Timeline: ...........................................................................................................................15 Required resources (Human and Economic): ...........................................................................................15 Allowance for possible future expansion: ................................................................................................15

FINANCIAL PROJECTIONS: ............................................................................................................... 16

ENVIRONMENTALLY SENSITIVE AREAS: ...................................................................................... 17 Natural Resource Management: ..............................................................................................................17 Erosion and Compaction: ........................................................................................................................17 Groundwater:..........................................................................................................................................17 Drainage: ................................................................................................................................................17

ANIMAL WELFARE AND BIOSECURITY: ........................................................................................ 18 Site Images: .............................................................................................................................................19

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Plan Objective: This Farm Management Plan is drawn to provide an assessment of current agricultural activities and identify future improvements that will benefit the agricultural production values of the property at 697 Nalangil Road and identify the benefits of the proposed dwelling at 697 Nalangil Road, Corunnun.

This plan is for the provision of intensive animal husbandry and improved Grazing Animal Production at the property, specifically breeding and grow-out of beef calves for sale.

Property Details:

Address: 697 Nalangil Road Corunnun

Property Description: Lot 1 TP78681 and Lot 2 TP78681

Area: 14.0 Hectares

Local Authority: Colac Otway

Zones / Overlays: Farming Zone Schedule to Farming Zone Environmental Significance Overlay Environmental Significance Overlay (Schedule 1)

Current Use: Grazing Animal Production

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Proposal Overview:

Andrew Burns was born and bred in this area, and finally, he has secured his own piece of land here. His property is 14 hectares, and his father owns the adjoining property. Andrew is already managing that farm for his dad, and his grandmother owns a farm a bit further north which Andrew is managing as well. He spends a lot of time there, especially during calving. And he doesn’t even have a house in the area. He often visits 3-4 times a day.

Living on the property will allow him to manage all three properties more effectively, increase the number of cattle he can breed and implement a rotational grazing strategy to increase the amount of homegrown feed.

All the pregnant cattle will be held on his property where he can monitor them during their pregnancy and most particularly during their calving. They lost 2 calves and a mother last season, and that is about a $7,000 loss. Calving season is quite tight (for bull bred beef) but still occurs over 2-3 months. Calves have to be regularly monitored for 2-3 months after birth until they are weaned.

The family already has a good herd of Angus cows (and a bull), and that number will increase when Andrew lives there. The property is currently used for open paddock grazing which is at the lower end of the agricultural capability of the land. The proposed move to rotational grazing will increase grass production and increase the productive output of the land and the intensity of the farming operation.

This application proposes a dwelling which would allow the increase in the breeding herd size from 30 to 40 cows. All of the intensive animal husbandry involved in maintaining the breeding herd will occur on this property. The young calves and dry cows will be agisted locally using rotational grazing on Andrew’s father’s land at 695 Nalangil Road and his grandmother’s land at 825 Nalangil Road. Once the calves are of weight, they will be returned to the property for sale.

The high rotation grazing model involves moving the cattle every 7 days between paddocks in a rotational system, allowing for optimal grass production and potentially fodder production from excess growth.

The property is currently used for open paddock grazing. The pastoral production is currently estimated to be 2 tonnes of plant dry matter per hectare per annum, and this proposal aims to increase this capacity to 3.5 tonnes through the high rotation. This would increase production from its current level of about 25 calves per year to up to 40 calves.

Siting a dwelling on the property means that the property can be confidently improved, knowing that those improvements can be effectively utilised to increase production value. A resident also means that stock, and particularly young calves, can be monitored for health and welfare and regularly rotated through the paddocks to ensure maximum feed utilisation.

After the initial development period, the agricultural return from the cattle produced on the property is expected to average $67,000 a year in cattle sales.

This enterprise is seen as an excellent example of high-value grazing animal production contained within the Farming Zone.

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The justifications for a dwelling on a small lot farm are the same as justifications for a big farm. The management times and tasks can be similar:

Bio-security: New nationally mandated bio-security requirements mean all visitors, vehicles and new stock to the property should be screened and, if necessary, disinfected. This needs to be monitored constantly.

Calf rearing: Young calves need to be fed twice a day with milk replacer, which needs to be made up fresh. Calves need to be monitored while drinking to ensure even sharing.

Monitor Animal welfare: (typical daily routine) listen and watch the stock for illness and lameness, identify downed stock and identify the issue, check for broken legs or injuries (calves are boisterous and this happens often), birthing complications (any time of the day or night), milk fever or grass tetany (needs quick treatment or death will result), staggers, scours (scours in calves spreads in hours if the animal is not isolated and treated or culled), animals trapped in fences, gates, feeders bullying.

Security and prevention of Theft: Thousands of cows and sheep are being stolen as they are now valuable and can be disposed of readily interstate due to tag issues. The site is isolated, and cattle are valuable. At any one time between $100,000 and $150,000 worth of stock will be on site.

Road safety: stock escape, young stock are particularly good at this. Monitoring stock and identifying and relocating potential rogues will prevent this and may save a passing motorists life.

Daily Farm management routine: check water, check fences, feed stock, check pasture availability, fix things (say 10 hours a week for a resident without the corrective works).

Agricultural Improvement: Remotely operated farms are always understocked and undermanaged as the above tasks cannot be completed promptly. This level of activity is near impossible to manage remotely, in winter when it’s dark more than 12 hours a day, and this means monitoring will not occur for over half the time.

Pastoral use maximisation: Paddocks can be constantly monitored for growth rates, fertiliser requirement, pest attacks, growth rates, and animals relocated as required.

A dwelling on a farm is a lot more than a place where people reside. It is the administrative centre, office, meeting room, first aid shed, pharmacy, security and bio-security checkpoint, tea room and monitoring post for a 24 hour a day, 365 days a year business.

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Site Location and Property Maps:

Map 1: Property Location

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Map 2: Property Dimensions and Layout

Source: mapshare/maps.vic.gov.au

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Map 3: Existing layout

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Map 4: Proposed site map

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Map 4: Proposed site layout

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Farming Factors:

Site Description and Topography:

The site is rectangle bordered by Nalangil Road to the east and neighbouring farms to the north, south, and west. The site is gently undulating and slightly elevated to the west, falling no more than 10 metres to the east.

There are several small rocky outcrops on the site but no major topological features.

Climate: Corunnun climate statistics:

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Ann

Mean Max (°C) 25.7 26.0 23.5 19.3 15.8 13.1 12.5 13.7 15.8 18.3 20.8 23.4 19.0

Mean Min (°C) 10.7 11.2 10.1 8.0 6.2 4.5 3.9 4.5 5.8 6.8 8.3 9.4 7.4

Mean Rain (mm) 32.4 31.0 35.9 45.6 51.8 54.9 58.2 64.5 60.5 57.3 47.7 39.6 583.4

Mean Rain Days 5.0 4.3 5.8 8.0 10.7 11.9 12.8 13.5 11.9 10.4 8.0 6.5 108.8

Climate BOM Colac 090147; Rainfall BOM Warrion 090080

The climate is the typical Mediterranean type of warm, dry summers and cool, wet winters. The climate is well suited for the chosen agricultural activity.

Water Supply: Water is well managed at the property. There is an existing bore and windmill at the proposed dwelling site used for stock watering. The dwelling will rely on tank water harvested from the house roof into 2x 25,000-litre tanks.

Weed and Pest Management: There is a localised stand of African Boxthorn along a disused stone wall on the northeast of the property which will be removed by machine excavation.

Aside from this, the property is not subject to any major pest and weed issues. It will be subject to common agricultural weeds which will be controlled through standard farm management practices.

Fire Management: The land use is not seen to contribute any fire risk to the area. The land is in a designated bushfire prone area although not of any greater risk than normal farmland. Fire management plans should be drawn for the property. Firewater supply is available from tanks attached to the house and proposed to be attached to the arena roof with minimum water supply held as per recommended conditions.

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Adverse impacts on adjacent land: The property is neighboured by farms to the south, east and north and the township of Corunnun commences 1.03 km to the east. There is not expected to be any major change to the amenity of the adjacent land from the agricultural enterprise. It may be from time to time that some animal odour or noise may be generated but the same as any agricultural enterprise. Truck transport would need to access the property from time to time which would be less than once a week.

Adverse impacts from adjacent land: The enterprise is not expected to be impacted by any of the neighbouring activities.

Allowance for possible future expansion: There is limited growth opportunity on the property itself beyond the production improvements, and any future growth would require the addition of land by lease or purchase.

Opportunity Cost: The property is currently underused and is unlikely to be included in another agricultural enterprise due to connectivity issues and land value. The presented agricultural activity is considered a high-value agricultural use.

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Soils: The property land class is typical of the region, productive well-structured sandy clay loam. The soils may be prone to waterlogging during wet periods and drying and cracking during dry periods but generally retain productivity.

Soil Test Observations: (soil test at rear): Low pH CaCl2 (4.6); indicating soil acidity. Adequate phosphorus levels (Olsen P 16.1 mg/Kg ) Elevated potassium levels (274 mg/Kg) Low sulphur levels (6.0 mg/Kg) Good Organic Carbon (4.0 %) Very good nitrogen levels (at time of testing, nitrogen is seasonably variable) Low copper levels (maintaining copper is important for calf health) Very low zinc levels (zinc is important for animal health and plant growth) Fair boron levels, boron is important for plant growth and protein synthesis Good iron levels (naturally occurring, can’t be altered, iron can reduce the availability of

phosphorus) Good manganese levels (important for animal health more than pastoral growth) Cation levels (indicating soil structure) are of fair balance with slightly low exchangeable

calcium levels, elevated exchangeable magnesium levels and elevated exchangeable aluminium.

Elevated aluminium levels. Aluminium reduces pasture coverage and persistence and encourages weeds.

No salinity (conductivity) or sodicity (exchangeable sodium) issues indicating land is not salt-affected.

Recommendations: An agronomy program will be created to improve soil fertility and condition. This typically takes place over several years as soil improvement takes time.

The major issue here is the very low calcium levels in soils. This is causing the acidity issue and should be corrected with agricultural lime. Poor calcium can also create soil structure issues, and correcting this will offer resistance to erosion as well. Acidity in soils releases aluminium which is toxic to most agricultural grasses and encourages weeds. Low calcium in soils reduces the calcium in plants and indirectly in stock, which reduces plant growth and can impact animal health and growth.

Phosphorus levels are also slightly low, and this will be impacting on grass growth. For the improvement program, a significant investment in phosphorus fertiliser will be required.

For fodder production, potassium, sulphur and nitrogen fertiliser are required to maximise yield.

Trace elements benefit plant growth but are even more important for stock health. Copper and zinc levels are very low. Trace elements can be corrected by spraying them on paddocks or cattle can have these minerals supplemented in their feed.

Ongoing soil testing should be conducted regularly to ensure that soil chemical parameters are maintained in the optimum range for production values.

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Pastoral Improvement: For small lot beef grazing, a mixture of grass species is often the best way forward. A section of species which have activity at different times of the year can allow for the constant grazing required. It should also contain a high ryegrass content to allow for the production of hay at springtime. A mixture of 70% perennial ryegrass (e.g. Vic rye and AR150), 15% fescue (or similar) and 15% clover is ideal.

For hay production 100 kilograms of nitrogen fertiliser (or fodder boosta) applied during growth will ensure maximum yield.

Another consideration could be the use of a summer crop (typically a brassica) which produces a very high plant weight but requires an annual sowing investment.

Improving pasture production is important as it will allow for stock to grow quickly and allow the production of fodder for feed out in the drier months. Fodder production areas will need to be secured to exclude stock during spring.

Livestock: The chosen livestock is Black Angus beef cattle which currently has very strong marketability. Black cattle continually attract the highest sale price for both meat processing and breeding stock.

There are currently 30 breeding cows on the farm, and this number will be increased to 40 as part of this proposal. This will be done by keeping the best female calves.

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Infrastructure and Management:

Required Infrastructure: Much of the required infrastructure is already in place. There is shared farm shedding, a reliable water supply, external fencing is very good, and there are stock handling yards.

A new internal fence will be required, and a new stock movement laneway created. Two new watering troughs will also be required.

Currently, this investment rests on the approval of a dwelling. A resident in dwelling is considered necessary to monitor the well being of calves which need to be fed regularly and are subject to diseases and illnesses which can kill them quickly.

Fencing should be suitable for containment of calves and constructed of materials that contain no toxic materials due to their propensity to chew fencing materials, although electric fences can be installed to stop this occurring.

An all-weather track will be constructed of extracted material to the house site to allow access in all weather conditions. Formed tracks will be constructed to the paddocks allowing suitable access.

Development Timeline: This model is one of ongoing improvement. All proposed works are anticipated to be completed within a 3 year of permit approval and the enterprise operating at full capacity in the same time frame.

Required resources (Human and Economic): The management of the farm calls for one person to manage the farm (in this case, the presence of a resident and property owner assisted by his family), as with any stock rearing the requirement for someone to be nearby to monitor audible and visual signs of animal distress for animal health and welfare is very important.

As with these types of enterprises, they contribute to the local economy by utilising local contractors for construction work, farm maintenance, transport industries and agricultural support industries.

Allowance for possible future expansion: The activity is intensive in nature, and there is limited scope for any major increase in the activity beyond the proposed productivity changes. There is adjoining and suitable land which may come up for purchase.

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Financial Projections:

The proposal calls for the investment in farm infrastructure and pastoral improvement of $5,000 and the investment in a dwelling of over $300,000.

After the initial development period, the enterprise return is expected to be over $67,000 a year in cattle sales. The true value of the enterprise is the increase in the herd asset, and it is expected that the breeding herd value will be increased to $100,000.

The indicative budget assumes that cattle are sold for meat only. Closing the herd like this creates a valuable breeding herd and the offspring are often in demand as breeders and become significantly more valuable than meat animals (creating a stud).

Indicative Farm Profit/Loss (excluding land, dwelling, infrastructure and machinery costs and not adjusted for CPI):

Income/Cost Item Current Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5+ Cattle Sales S (375 kgs @$4.50 kg) $35,000 $67,500 $67,500 $67,500 $67,500 $67,500

Cattle Maintenance (Vet, medications etc.)

-$2,000 -$2,000 -$2,000 -$2,000 -$2,000 -$2,000

Pasture Costs -$3,000 -$1,000 -$1,000 -$1,000 -$1,000 -$1,000 Rates, Insurances Utilities -$3,000 -$3,000 -$3,000 -$3,000 -$3,000 -$3,000 Infrastructure Maintenance -$2,000 -$2,000 -$2,000 -$2,000 -$2,000 -$2,000

Gross Profit $25,000 $59,500 $59,500 $59,500 $59,500 $59,500

Herd Asset Value (assumes keeping all female calves as breeders until year 5):

Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5+ Cattle Value (Breeding Herd) $ 75,000 87,500 100,000 100,000 100,000

These values are conservative in approach and could be termed natural growth, an aggressive expansion program could be adopted, which would require higher investment in stock.

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Environmentally Sensitive Areas: Natural Resource Management: The property is rated fully degraded with no major natural resources, including trees and waterways. It is near the Corangamite Lake, which is an important natural resource and is fenced to exclude stock entering that area and the foreshore.

It is also recommended to plant some vegetation shelterbelts on the property to provide protection for livestock from both heat and cold winds which reduce productive growth of animals. There is often government financial assistance for these types of works. Vegetation endemic to the region should be selected for shelterbelts and lists of those plants are available from DEWLP offices or their website.

Erosion and Compaction: The property has a low risk of erosion, although some wind erosion could occur in drier periods if sound vegetation cover is not maintained. Water erosion is unlikely due to the relatively small collection areas and the flat landscape.

Compaction of soils in the paddocks will occur in areas where the animals camp or traffic such as gateways, troughs, fencelines and shelter. Heavy vehicle traffic should be confined to constructed tracks, particularly during wetter seasons.

Groundwater: Groundwater is at a minimum depth of 5-10 metres and is a low risk from exposure from any form of nutrients infiltrating from the surface. Maintaining plant coverage will assist in keeping soil nutrient levels lower to further minimise any risk.

Drainage: The property has no formal constructed drainage network relying on soil infiltration and plant uptake. There is no apparent run-on or run-off waters other than minimal stormwater.

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Animal Welfare and Biosecurity: Animal welfare, in this instance, will be very good. The practice of calf rearing and cattle grow out is almost entirely about animal welfare in that it closely monitors animals and provides constant and ongoing care. A list of best practice animal welfare guidelines is available from http://animalwelfarestandards.net.au/. This a comprehensive and generally common-sense approach to caring for farm animals driven largely by the buyer’s expectations and contagious disease control and prevention. Biosecurity is about preventing and containing any disease and negative issues which could impact both the farm and agriculture generally.

Recommended Procedures for Biosecurity

The farm should have a documented Farm Biosecurity Plan All livestock movements onto the farm have known health status (e.g. Livestock Health

Statement/Declaration or equivalent) All introduced livestock are inspected for signs of ill health or disease on arrival at the property and

kept in isolation for a period Livestock are inspected regularly for ill health and disease, and appropriate action is undertaken

where necessary. The risk of livestock straying onto or from the property is minimised. There are systems in place to notify a veterinary practitioner or animal health officer if unusual

disease, illness or mortality is observed. Where reasonable and practical, the movement of people, vehicles and equipment entering the

property are controlled and, where possible movements recorded. Any other procedures or practices that contribute to minimising the risk or spread of disease.

The property has the required Property Identification Code (PIC).

I certify that all the above statements are true and correct to the best of my abilities.

Dean Suckling

Agricultural and Environmental Consultant

Attached: soil test results.

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Site Images:

Image 1: Aerial image of the property looking northwest

Image 2: Nalangil Road property frontage

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Image 3: Aerial image of the property looking east southeast

Image 4: Proposed dwelling site, power pole and windmill visible

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Image 5: Current use of low-density grazing

Image 6: Boxthorn, to be removed via excavation

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Image 7: Existing ground cover

Image 8: Example of a rocky outcrop on site

Customer:Sample Date: 21/07/20Paddock Name: PaddockLab. No. YFS20016Test Type:

Test Depth (centimetres) 0-10Soil Colour BKGravel Content (%) 0Texture Clay Loam

Unit Level Found Desired RangePhosphorus Olsen mg/Kg 16.1 14 - 25Phosphorus Colwell mg/Kg 47 40 - 63Potassium Colwell mg/Kg 274 120 - 250Sulphur mg/Kg 6.0 10 - 20Organic Carbon % 4.0 3.0 - 6.0

Ammonium Nitrogen mg/Kg 20Nitrate Nitrogen mg/Kg 32

Conductivity dS/m 0.13 < 2.0pH Level (H2O) pH 5.6 5.6 - 6.5pH Level (CaCl2) pH 4.6 5.0 - 6.0Aluminium (CaCl2) mg/Kg 0.9 < 2.0

DTPA Copper mg/Kg 1.3 > 2.0DTPA Iron mg/Kg 341 100 - 400DTPA Manganese mg/Kg 38 > 20DTPA Zinc mg/Kg 1.6 > 5.0Boron Hot (CaCl2) mg/Kg 1.1 > 1.5

Cations Unit Level Found Desired LevelsCation Exchange Capacity meq/100g 19.8 10 - 20Exchangeable Calcium meq/100g 13.1

BSP % 66.0 70 - 85Exchangeable Magnesium meq/100g 4.76

BSP % 24.1 10 - 20Exchangeable Potassium meq/100g 0.76

BSP % 3.8 3 - 8Exchangeable Sodium meq/100g 0.84

BSP % 4.2 < 5Exchangeable Aluminium meq/100g 0.37

BSP % 1.87 < 1

0448 866 205www.enprove.com.ausoil testing effluent managementwater testing farm mappingAll tests are conducted in a laboratory with ASPAC accreditation.

Soil Test Results

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Soil Analysis Grazing - Comprehensive

Andrew Burns

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Farm Management Plan - colacotway.vic.gov.au