Spring arrived in its familiar fashion here - reasonably dry. Thanks to winter showers, our pastures held on until early November, when the rains finally arrived. By the end of spring, conditions had shifted dramatically and our animals were enjoying a true boom season.
Cattle
With calving season behind us, the young cattle grazed through much of our stockpiled forage, creating space for fresh growth once the rain came. The herd is now back on high-quality feed, ensuring they’ll be in peak condition heading into joining season.
Pigs
As part of our commitment to continuous improvement, we’ve been fine-tuning our weaning approach for piglets. In previous seasons, we experienced significant losses due to Oedema Disease, which is often triggered by stress.
This season, we trialled a slower, gentler weaning process extending it from 4 weeks to 8 weeks. Piglets were brought into the yards with their mums and given several days to learn the routine before being separated. We also left the mothers in the neighbouring paddock for an additional two days to further reduce stress.
The results have been outstanding - not a single loss to Oedema Disease and no need for vaccination. We’re incredibly pleased with this outcome.
Chickens
Our chickens are powering along, with new flocks now well settled. The bird flu–related egg shortage has eased quickly - a reminder of just how fast the egg market can change. We’re currently juggling supply and demand, working to meet strong demand for our popular 700g eggs while finding good homes for the smaller 600g eggs. Thankfully, new markets are opening through restaurants and retail.
During weeks of surplus production, we’ve donated eggs to our long-time partner, food rescue organisation OzHarvest, who distribute them to charities supporting people in need.
Our Team
The Forage Farms team has stepped up in a big way over recent months, especially Holly, Ash and Steph. While the entire Andrews family was away at the NSW farm running a Natural Sequence Farming course and assisting with fencing, the home operation ran seamlessly.
We’re incredibly proud of the team we’ve built and their ability to manage what can often be a wild show. We might just have to head away more often!
