Angus beef producer joins VicNoTill board, set to broaden group's orbit

Allanvale farm manager Callum Lawson, Avenel, started with Hereford cattle before he moved to a pure Angus beef herd, with 120 breeders at his father's farm and 600 at Avenel.

He started growing multispecies in 2017 of about 24 different species of mixed-season crops, after he was inspired by a grazing school incorporating holistic management, and used its practices to maximise on-farm profitability.

"It opened my eyes to the whole picture," he said.

"I started implementing boxing mobs of cattle together and then we started doing a bit of multispecies stuff for grazing and then started getting into biological sprays."

He said he sowed 250 hectares of multispecies in autumn, and also produced about 90 per cent of the biological sprays on-farm.

"There's a lot of products out there that say they're good and they aren't and a lot of simple brews you can make yourself that are cheap and effective," he said.

"I really enjoy especially when it's warmer in summer, to get out of the sun in the shed and mix up a few brews to get them ready for autumn."

Mr Lawson manages a paddock-to-plate business with neighbour, Habbies Howe Beef, which is on an 180-hectare irrigation property, taking steers and heifers from 300 kilograms to 480kg to sell directly to butchers.

He was raised in the Strathbogie Ranges on a self-confessed hobby Merino sheep farm, before moving to cattle.

He started a career as a diesel mechanic in Melbourne before moving to the mining industry, and then returned to agriculture.

Mr Lawson started managing the Allanvale farm in 2021, where he changed the farm's calving season from autumn and spring to winter, aiming to meet feed quality and nutritional needs.

He said he decided to join the VicNoTill group after he heard former president Grant Sims speak.

"I figured if I wanted to learn off some of these guys that are doing amazing things i should join them and be a member," he said.

"When I saw the opportunity, I thought I'd love to be part of such a great organisation.

"To be able to share with them and learn from them is really special."

He said he hoped to bring a broader reach to the group.

"I'm still feeling my way into it, I'd really like to see the progression not just in the cropping space but in the broadened our whole following from more of a cropping focus to a general agricultural focus," he said.

Mr Lawson said he had a particular focus on using the practices to be profitable, and saw immediate growth since planting multispecies with a doubled weight gain in kilogram per hectare in his beef herd.

"We saw it straight away when we started doing it," he said.

"You don't like eating one plant all the time so it makes sense to me to be giving the livestock a diverse range of plants to eat so they're getting different minerals and fibres and vitamins from different types of plants.

"And doing your soil a big favour at the same time."