Hello, advice welcome

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Thu, 12/27/2012 - 13:09 #1

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11 years 10 months
Shannon
Last seen: 05/13/2018 - 20:47
Joined: 12/27/2012 - 12:34

Hello, advice welcome

Hello everyone,

My partner and I have just bought 100 acres in the Darling Downs region of QLD. We plan to have beef cattle and to start with we will buy weaners then fatten them up and sell them. Down the track we may look into breeding.

A bit about our property: In the past 70% of it has been cultivated with 30% being the natural environment. The cultivated area is all fenced off with not a tree in it or any water. It currently has oats stuble in it which we will need to change to improved pasture (any ideas of what would be best for cattle and our area? also how do we get rid of the stuble?) We also need to provide water for the cattle and our first choice is for a bore (does anyone have a preference of pumps/windmills?) Our other priority is to plant some fast growing tress for shelter and shade for the cattle (any ideas?).

I grew up on a sheep farm in Victoria, so hopefully some of my knowledge will be helpfull yet there are so many differences with the environment and also with cattle.

All advice is welcome

Regards

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Tue, 01/01/2013 - 20:55 #2
barb
Last seen: 09/17/2019 - 18:07
Joined: 11/23/2011 - 09:38

hi there and welcome.

In answer to your question about how to get rid of the oat stubble. Many graziers I know let the cattle into the paddock for a while to reduce crop stubble.  Meanwhile, have a soil test done to check if any fertiliser or lime and so on needs to be added to correct any imbalances or lacks in the soil. When you are ready to plant  scarify the ground to break the soil a little ( you only need to break it about 5cm deep as deep conventional ploughing can cause clay pans) and add any needed fertiliser etc and sow seeds suitable for your area and soil type. You can fertilise and add seeds at the same time. It is usual to keep cattle out of the new pasture for about 18 months to give time for it to seed at least twice. This allows the seed bank in the soil to build up so that you do not need to replant for several years.

Regarding seed, I always use coated seed which has a small amount of fertiliser and lime coating  on the outside. I also have the seed company add some ant deterent to the coating to protect the seed as ants can be a real problem in Qld. A grazier I know sowed coated legume seed (coloured blue for identification) and when the seed didn't come up he checked the paddock and found piles of blue seed on top of the ant hills all over the it- he had forgotten to have the ant deterent added to the coating. If seed isn't coated most of them wil be taken by ants. Coated seed is dearer but much more succesful in Qld. I always sow a mixture of grasses and legumes- because in my area of coastal SE Qld I have sandy soil,  I sow Secca Stylo and Rhodes grass. Secca is high protein and because of the nodulating bacteria on its roots adds large amounts of nitrogen to the soil thus saving a lot of money on urea fertiliser. If using phosphate fertiliser it is best to use single natural phosphate.

Before you put in a bore you will need to obtain a licence: phone 132523 at Qld Primary industries  and they will put you throught to the correct dept. There are several types of pumping systems available and probably the least expensive would be a solar system. Not as romantic as the old fashioned windmill type but a lot less expensive. However, If you are having a contractor do the bore for you he will usually arrange for the licence to be issued.

Other members may have some more ideas also.

Good luck with your new farm and I wish you every sucess for the new year.

regards,

Barb

 

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Fri, 01/04/2013 - 12:25 #3
rmcpb
Last seen: 03/08/2018 - 21:05
Joined: 10/22/2012 - 11:13

First, welcome to the forum Laughing

Now to the questions.

At the moment I would not be too worried about the stubble as it will be protecting your ground and could be used as rough feed or a nursery "crop" to get some pasture species going by direct drilling into the stubble. Have a look a Pasturepicker for some options in your area. Also it may be worth using pasture crops in much of your place till you get some actual pasture established, its a good option to consider.

Of course water is the prime concern, without it you cannot run any stock. A bore is a good option and I would personally opt for a solar pump. They don't have the iconic charm of a mill but they are cheaper and ongoing maintenance is MUCH easier, I have spent too much time up mills fixing them as they get older. The other option is at least one dam with a solar pump and tank. Is there anywhere suitable on the farm for this option as well?

The other thing needed on a cattle place is a set of good handling yards. You can handle sheep easily in almost any yard but cattle are a bit more robust. I have seen some nasty "accidents" on places without good yards.

Cheers and keep us posted
Rob.

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Sun, 01/06/2013 - 22:35 #4
charlie
Last seen: 12/26/2018 - 09:21
Joined: 05/31/2011 - 09:44

Hi Shannon,

Welcome to Farmstyle.

Oat stubble tends to break down very quickly when compared to other crop stubbles. If you don't have any livestock on hand to eat the stubble, try running some harrows over it. One way and then back the opposite direction. This will get the stubble onto the ground, speeding up the breakdown process. It will also provide the soil with good layer of insulation.

Barb is spot one with her information regarding tropical grasses, they are excellent pastures for cattle and will do well in your environment. The best time for planting is September to December as the soil temperature warms up.

Look forward to hearing of your progress.

Charlie 

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Wed, 07/24/2013 - 19:46 #5
PeterBriant
Last seen: 03/08/2018 - 21:05
Joined: 07/23/2013 - 18:26

Buy some soil microbes that have at least 5 billion CFU per mil/gram and turn your oat stubble into compost in your soil. Make sure the microbes have Trichderma. From there you can grow almost anything.

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