Autumn 2023 Update from the Farm

Farm Happenings: Autumn

A lot goes on behind the scenes to ensure you get delicious food on your plate. A farmer's work is never done. We are passionate about continuous land regeneration and caring for our animals so that we can create food that is not only tasty but also wholesome and nutritious. We are enjoying the cooler weather and getting lots of jobs done.

Fencing

This year has been big for fence repairs after last year's flood damage. Our pro fencer, Ed, has also been helping us split up a few more paddocks to rotate our animals easier and focus on creating longer recovery times. We've also been fencing our dams off and the trees planted here by Gympie Landcare. The young trees have been fenced off with a single-wire electric to protect them from the stock as they grow.

Winter Crops

At this time of year, we like to plant some cover crops and pasture species to have green feed ready for the cattle when Spring comes. Our cover crop blend from Kandanga Farm Store is a mix of;

• Oats
• Triticale
• Ryegrass
• Ryecorn
• Forage Rape
• Tillage Radish
• Vetch
• Field Peas
• Lupins
• Crimson Clover

And we've also added Kikuyu pasture seed to that mix as we've found that to be one of the best pasture species for the chicken area. And by planting it now, it can be protected by the winter cover crop and ready for when the warmer spring weather arrives.

Pigs

The pigs are doing their thing, including helping to prepare our veggie garden! In just a week, they flipped the entire garden eating all the grasses and left-over sweet potatoes and generally digging around so that it was ready to add straw and compost before planting our winter crop.

Four of our sows are with the boars being joined, and the other four are in the paddock having babies - known as farrowing in the pig world. 

We have also been updating the fencing in our pig laneway. Pigs have dreadful vision and often don't see the steel wire fencing as it is difficult to see; this can lead to issues when moving them as they resist going through. To manage this, we are working on redesigning our pig laneway; we are considering using the Kiwitech semi-permanent system with their white electric wire so it will be easier for them to see and hopefully easier to manage.

Meat Chickens

The chickens are delighted as we've developed a new grower house. It's a greenhouse that we have customised with metal skids underneath for easy mobility and hanging feeders and waterers. It is a bigger design than our old houses, with our batch fitting all in one house instead of four. It also has better airflow for the chickens and extra room for them to roam around. Plus, it's also better for us because it is taller and can be stood up in, making managing birds easier.

We are also in the process of building a new, bigger brooder shed in a repurposed shipping container, but more on that in the next farm update when it's complete.

Laying Chickens

Keeping up with the demand for our delicious eggs has been a challenge, but our good little birds continue to lay under the watchful eyes of our protective Maremma dogs.

The chooks are all healthy and doing great over the Autumn. Right now, we've been washing their houses, completing maintenance and setting up the paddock so it's ready for the new flock of birds arriving in early winter.

Cattle

We decided to sell most of our cattle in Autumn as they weren't the right ones for us and our breeding objectives. But we have had a new bull join us, though. He has a smaller frame and is easier to finish on grass. The team at PCA Bulls are breeding animals that are exactly what we are after, with the ability to finish easier on grass. They focus on the breeding objectives of Pharo Cattle Company in creating low-maintenance, easy-doing animals for a grass-based system.

The next step for us is to find some breeding females ready for joining later in the year that fit with our breeding objective; 

• Smaller Framed
• Good temperament
• Fertile
• Able to handle the coastal conditions (heat, external parasites, less palatable plants)
• Good ability to hold condition and finish on grass - low-maintenance animals

Keep watching out as we talk more about building our herd.

Life on the farm is never dull! If you want to learn more about where your food comes from and see Forage Farms in action, sign up for our next farm tour.