ON FARM NATIONAL FEEDBASE f Making a lot from a little Kirk and Emma Reynolds have “When we’re in sale mode – which generally SNAPSHOT: found trading and finishing runs from late October onwards – we’re Kirk and Emma livestock is a good fit for the drafting, weighing and selling every three lifestyle they want for their young weeks,” Kirk said. Reynolds, family on their Dardanup, WA property. “We run a sale mob and we take the biggest Dardanup, WA “Paradise Creek runs right through the middle from there and send them to the abattoir.” Sl of our farm and paradise comes with a price The Reynolds’ pasture system has evolved tag,” Kirk said. with their business model but is based on the “Emma and I wanted to find a way to pay same sort of ‘systems thinking’, with different for the property without having a millstone species in different soils creating pockets of around our necks.” feed across the farm. Emma and Kirk are both from farming “Different units of feed enable us to manage backgrounds; they bought the Dardanup some risk, both seasonal and marketing. farm from Emma’s parents. Kirk’s family farm We’re able to stagger the feed over a longer Area: is at Northampton, 700km north. period and run multiple smaller mobs, which 80ha (including 40ha leased) allows more consistent marketing and easier Emma and Kirk looked at various options for animal handling and husbandry,” Kirk said. Enterprise: the 40ha block before finally deciding on “The foundation is always ryegrass and Trade cattle and lambs livestock trading. clover, with some chicory on the slopes, and Livestock: Kirk’s brother in Northampton was breeding we’ve tried a perennial rye with a perennial 100 Dorper ewes for Dorpers and sending lambs to an abattoir (Persian) clover on some of the loams. breeding; other stock 20km away from Kirk and Emma’s property. “We’ve used serradella on the hills, where numbers vary with trading “His green season was finishing when ours the growing season is short. I use the Pasture: was taking off. It made sense to bring his Pastures from Space website and monitor Predominantly annual store lambs here and finish them before they the pastures by eye, knowing that we can clovers and ryegrass; trying went to the market. It started from there and pretty much guarantee 80kg/ha in spring and perennial ryegrass and evolved,” Kirk said. 30kg/ha in winter. We adjust stock numbers chicory “Our aim is to grow as much pasture as we accordingly – you have to respond to what’s can during spring and stock accordingly. It in front of you right now, not what you Soil: ties in well with my brother. When he’s having hope to have next month or what you had Sand, gravel and clay loam a poor season, I’ve generally got grass, so he last month.” ■ Rainfall: can send more stock down. Kirk Reynolds, 800mm “We’re right next door to the abattoir and San Gervasio Grazing, Dardanup, WA deal directly with them. We’ve added a small E: krfarmingsolutions@gmail.com breeding herd of Dorpers to even out the supply when we haven’t got the numbers Kirk presented a case study on his coming from up north. business at LambEx 2018 in Perth. The next LambEx will be held in 2020 “But really, there’s always someone looking in Melbourne: lambex.com.au to off‑load stock because they’ve run out of Pastures from Space: grass. I’m building up networks to help get pasturesfromspace.csiro.au the supply side sorted.” Kirk and Emma weigh all lambs coming onto and going off the property. 36