Farmers in south west Victoria are being offered an exciting new mixed farming program in 2019.
The program brings together various parts of the Grain and Graze Program into a whole farm package that addresses the management and matching of different feed sources with animal requirements. It recognises that getting the balance right between grazing and crop yields to optimise profit can be challenging.
Led by experienced deliverers Cam Nicholson, Simon Falkiner and Southern Farming Systems, the 12-month program includes six workshop sessions over the year along with 15 hours of personal consulting time for each farm business.
The one-to-one consulting time enables the knowledge and tools from the workshop sessions to be customised to each individual farm.
The program explores what has been learnt about grazing crops, assessing the grazing value in stubbles, when and where to use short term pastures in crop rotations for weed control, nitrogen and soil improvement, as well as understanding the risk and volatility in your mixed farming system.
A range of simple tools will be use to compare the value of grazing a crop against possible grain yield loss, understanding how bringing short term pasture into a crop rotation affects overall profitability and risk and the use of approaches to assist in making tough decisions.
An important part of the program is identifying critical decision points and contingencies for when things don’t go according to plan.
The cost is $1800 per farming business (up to three people per business) which includes the six workshop sessions and individual consulting time.
It is supported by the GRDC and MLA through their Profitable Grazing Systems Program, which takes a whole-of-farm business approach and focusing on key profit drivers and business performance improvement. There is a strong focus on understanding the financial implications of making decisions.
More information on the program and how to register interest can be found on the Southern Farming Systems website www.sfs.org.au
