{"id":7475,"date":"2022-06-28T10:29:10","date_gmt":"2022-06-28T10:29:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/terrain.org.au\/grazing-changes-improve-pastures-copy\/"},"modified":"2022-06-28T22:27:40","modified_gmt":"2022-06-28T22:27:40","slug":"sheep-farmer-improves-soil-health","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/terrain.org.au\/sheep-farmer-improves-soil-health\/","title":{"rendered":"Improving soil and sheep health"},"content":{"rendered":"[mk_page_section bg_image=”https:\/\/terrain.org.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/soilslider2.jpg” bg_position=”center center” bg_repeat=”no-repeat” bg_stretch=”true” enable_3d=”true” min_height=”500″ js_vertical_centered=”true” padding_top=”” padding_bottom=”” section_id=”donate” el_class=”donate-1″ sidebar=”sidebar-1″][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”70px”][mk_fancy_title font_family=”none” align=”center”]DIGGING DEEPER SOIL HEALTH COURSE STORIES[\/mk_fancy_title][mk_padding_divider size=”67″][\/vc_column][\/mk_page_section][mk_page_section section_id=”great-1″ sidebar=”sidebar-1″][vc_column width=”1\/2″ css=”.vc_custom_1563789112768{padding-right: 36px !important;padding-left: 0px !important;}” el_class=”great_header_left”][mk_padding_divider size=”100″ visibility=”hidden-nb”][mk_padding_divider size=”15″ visibility=”visible-sm”][mk_padding_divider visibility=”visible-tl”][mk_fancy_title size=”28″ letter_spacing=”4″ margin_bottom=”0″ font_family=”none” el_class=”terrain-title-2″]IMPROVING SOIL AND SHEEP HEALTH[\/mk_fancy_title][mk_padding_divider size=”60″ visibility=”hidden-nb”][mk_padding_divider size=”20″ visibility=”visible-nb”][vc_column_text el_class=”sub-head” css=”.vc_custom_1656412199825{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”]26 JUNE 2022[\/vc_column_text][mk_padding_divider size=”5″][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1656412542051{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”]Topaz\u2019s Kerry Kelly is breeding sheep on her family farm \u2013 in a break with tradition for Far North Queensland.<\/p>\n

The Kelly family branched into sheep farming six years ago, buying five Australian White ewes and a ram, and they\u2019ve since built the herd up to 30 breeding ewes which roam the paddocks alongside cattle.<\/p>\n

The ‘wagyu of the sheep world’<\/strong><\/p>\n

Marketed as \u201cthe wagyu of the sheep world\u201d, Australian Whites were developed from four breeds of sheep to be a self-replacing, low maintenance breed that\u2019s adaptable to both cold and hot climates and has meat known for the low melting point of its fat.<\/p>\n

Nowhere has their adaptability to rain been quite so well tested as in Topaz.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause of the amount of rain and wet ground here we need to keep a good eye of their feet, and to clip their hooves twice a year,\u2019\u2019 Ms Kelly said. \u201cWe also need to be careful about worms, so we have six sheep paddocks and we rotate our sheep around them.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said there had been interest from others since her Australian whites became the first sheep to be exhibited at the Malanda Show last year. She brought sheep to the show again on the weekend, including newly-born twins.<\/p>\n

\u201cI sell to abattoirs and individuals for eating and breeding. Most of our ewes are due to lamb in the next month or so. It\u2019ll be 12 weeks before I wean them. In September or October, we\u2019ll have lambs for sale again.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are quite a few other farms with small flocks \u2013 from Ravenshoe to Julatten and Eacham. \u201cYou\u2019ve got to put some effort in to make it work up here but it\u2019s worth it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Focusing on the land beneath the hooves<\/strong><\/p>\n

To increase and improve her flock, Kerry\u2019s current focus is the land beneath their hooves. Hers is one of 10 farming families \u2013 ranging from graziers and cane growers to tropical fruit farmers \u2013 in the latest \u2018Digging Deeper\u2019 soil health program run by Terrain NRM as a free mentoring program.<\/p>\n

Funded by the Australian Government, it includes a soil test, workshops on soil science and soil test interpretation, farm visits by the group and one-on-one farm management guidance over a six-month period.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″ css=”.vc_custom_1563789122720{padding-right: 0px !important;padding-left: 34px !important;}” el_class=”great_header_right”][mk_padding_divider size=”206″ visibility=”hidden-sm”][mk_padding_divider size=”50″ visibility=”hidden-sm”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1656412760150{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”]\"\"[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1656455253462{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”]\u201cWe want more pasture diversity and improving the pastures starts with the soil,\u2019\u2019 Ms Kelly said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hadn\u2019t tested it on the farm before and soil chemistry wasn\u2019t something I knew a lot about. Now that we\u2019ve discovered our soils are too acidic, we are applying lime. And I\u2019ll be testing and assessing the soil on a six-monthly or yearly basis.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnderstanding soil testing has been a real benefit. It’s great to have a baseline and be able to see the improvements.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pasture diversity<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll also be working on getting a greater diversity of plants into our pastures.\u201d<\/p>\n

Terrain NRM\u2019s Sally Fields said participants came from the Tully, the Atherton Tablelands and Cairns regions, with produce ranging from the more traditional cane and cattle to fish, achacha and sheep.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe common ground here is the soil. It has been great to see landholders getting fired-up to build up their soil structure, and helping them gain a deeper understanding of exactly why they would want to do this,\u2019\u2019 she said.<\/p>\n

Soil health videos for the Wet Tropics<\/strong><\/p>\n

For more on soil health, see a series of Wet Tropics-specific soil health videos at www.youtube.com\/user\/terrainnrm<\/a><\/strong>[\/vc_column_text][vc_separator][\/vc_column][\/mk_page_section][mk_page_section el_class=”grean-btn-sec” sidebar=”sidebar-1″][vc_column][mk_padding_divider size=”47″ visibility=”hidden-sm”][mk_button dimension=”outline” url=”https:\/\/terrain.org.au\/soil-health\/” align=”right” el_class=”green-btn” outline_skin=”custom” outline_active_color=”#175137″ outline_active_text_color=”#ffffff” outline_hover_bg_color=”#175137″ outline_hover_color=”#ffffff”]Read More[\/mk_button][mk_padding_divider size=”100″ visibility=”hidden-sm”][\/vc_column][\/mk_page_section][mk_page_section section_id=”great-1-blog” sidebar=”sidebar-1″][vc_column][mk_padding_divider size=”105″ visibility=”hidden-sm”][mk_fancy_title size=”28″ letter_spacing=”4″ margin_bottom=”0″ font_family=”none” align=”right” el_class=”terrain-title”]RELATED NEWS[\/mk_fancy_title][mk_padding_divider visibility=”hidden-sm”][\/vc_column][\/mk_page_section][vc_row fullwidth=”true” fullwidth_content=”false” id=”post_grid_filter_1″][vc_column][vc_column_text el_class=”grid_greate_3″ css=”.vc_custom_1598408950187{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”]\n

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