Brett and Sandy Findlay

When cattle producers Brett and Sandy Findlay first came to Evansdale, near Narrabri, more than 15 years ago, the task of rejuvenating and developing two rundown adjoining farms surrounded by national park lay ahead.

Over the years, with the help of several landcare courses, including NSW Department of Primary Industries’ (NSW DPI) Prograze®, and through maintaining strong links with other producers participating, the Findlays have made significant changes and headway and are now managing a sustainable and profitable beef cattle enterprise.

‘During our time here we’ve been in a very big development phase and are just nearing the end now,’ Brett explained. ‘We’re a fair way down the track of planting out old cropping country and replacing it with perennial summer grasses.

‘We attended Prograze, and in one fell swoop it ripped those rose-coloured glasses off our faces,’ he said.

 ‘The biggest thing for me was learning how to assess our pastures and livestock objectively. We can now look at our groundcover, the quality and quantity of the pasture, and make decisions based on our objective assessment, which has given us flexibility and the capability to plan ahead.’

With a strong landcare ethic, the Findlays were well aware of the importance of combining environmental practices with business management if their operation was to have long-term profitability and sustainability.  One of the most challenging times was around 2002 during severe drought.

‘The lesson of the drought was not to carry too many cattle,’ Brett said. ‘In an average season we can carry around 300 head, but now, while still experiencing fairly dry times and growing our summer perennials to help fill the autumn period, we’ve lowered the number to about 170 and will grow the calves out to feedlot weight. We also trade steers and heifers, depending on the markets and our projected feed availability.’

Brett said gaining a better understanding of how to supplement cattle and how to access premium markets had also been a valuable learning experience.

‘Knowing when to supplement has made a big difference as well as knowing where the cattle should be at a certain time,’ he added.

He said another vital aspect that came from Prograze was the group dynamic.

‘Most of our group (about 10 properties) has kept on. Now, as a benchmarking group, we meet four times a year and have developed a very strong peer support group. As a result, we’ve branched out into other things and even address our business structures, including the gross margins.

‘That group has really helped me personally, particularly during those bad years around 2002. We’ve been able to compare problems and share ideas about what works and what doesn’t.

‘We’ve also kept in touch with the DPI people who ran the course and have got to know and trust them - and respect their information.

‘At times, some of the work has been a bit of a battle, particularly some of the measuring, but by taking away the concepts of Prograze, we’ve been able to choose the areas for improvement that were a priority for our needs, and it has all been worthwhile.’

Prograze is based on established principles of pasture and livestock production and is presented to groups over eight half-day field days about three to four weeks apart. The course is designed to help producers develop practical and relevant pasture and livestock assessment skills in order to improve profitability and sustainability of their grazing systems.

Producers can learn how to visually assess pasture quality and quantity and will gain an understanding of how this impacts on animal production. Fat scoring, fodder budgeting, supplementary feeding decisions, marketing, using grazing management as a means of worm control and learning how to recognise pasture species are also covered.