A BUSINESS venture breeding Wiltshire Horns and exporting the cut and packed lamb to Taiwan is putting theory into practice for Slade and Marjolein Beard at Harcourt.
Mr Beard is writing a PhD thesis looking at systems and situations in which people, processes and technology interact to respond to changes.
His research was prompted when, as part of the incident management response team for the 2003 NSW and ACT bushfires, Mr Beard realised the organisations and systems involved couldn't adapt quickly enough to changing situations.
He has developed a systems-based analysis framework, which he has used to design hospitals and other environments in which complex decision making is done with rapidly changing information.
Mr Beard and consultancy business Ecothought have also worked with State and Federal government bodies as well as major companies.
He wanted to start his own business to prove that his theories could be used to build a resilient and sustainable – both economically and environmentally – agribusiness.
Agriculture needs to react quickly to changes including in the environment, biosecurity, markets, input costs and government policy, he said.
For Mr Beard, an agribusiness venture was always going to involve lamb as his family produced lamb for five generations in South Australia and before that in Scotland.
The decision to produce high value protein and target the restaurant trade in Taiwan and in Australia stemmed from a relationship with people who were running cafes and restaurants in Melbourne who had moved back to Taiwan.
The Beards had already bought a small property in Harcourt and were researching lamb production when a friend who had a flock of Wiltshire Horns passed away, so they bought his 17 ewes.
"Wiltshire Horns are bred to do well in poor country, so they have the ability to do well in poor conditions but also respond with a high quality product in good conditions," he said.
"Their meat is flavoursome, as is desired by the Taiwan market."
That they are self-shedding also appealed to the husband and wife team.
They run a stud herd of 17 ewes, and a commercial herd of about 50 ewes.
The Beards also buy Wiltshire Horn wethers from other breeders and finish them.
One of the challenges of breeding Wiltshire Horns is the limited gene pool in Australia.
Not ones to shy away from a challenge, the Beards are working with other members of the Australian Wiltshire Horn Sheep Breeders Association to explore ways of deepening that genetic pool including by sourcing genetics from New Zealand and maybe other countries.
The first shipment of 25 cut and packed Wiltshire Horn lambs to Taiwan is planned for November.
The final hurdle is getting a Taiwan-export accredited abattoir because it is a small but growing market, Mr Beard said, but he is in talks to address that issue.
After 11 months on the project, they are in the final stages of setting up distribution facility in Taiwan.
The Beards have plans to up-scale the venture at Harcourt, but have to work through getting stock properly finished for market to maintain a high quality.
They are working with landholders in Harcourt Valley for agistment that fits into the sustainable business philosophy, so are putting in place agreements to improve the land – much of which has not been used for many years including former orchards – during agistment.
The Beards are also entering contracts to forward-buy fodder produced in the valley, to help strengthen the local farming community.
Using technology to strengthen systems is also demonstrated in the operation, with the couple planning to establish a private wi-fi network that can be used to monitor radio-frequency identification (RFID) tag-fitted high-value stock and to remotely access farm records and other information.
