John Ive
Farm: Talaheni
Region: Yass Valley, NSW
Commodity: Ultrafine wool, Angus cattle, farm forestry
Farming area: 250 hectares
Rainfall: 625–650 mm rainfall per year
Email: talaheni@webone.com.au
Phone: 02 6258 2661, 0401 390 639
A farm operation is a complex system. You have to be aware of what your weakest link is at the time and adjust your management accordingly. You also have to be opportunistic without being exploitative.
See what John has to say about:
- Farming ultrafine wool and cattle
- Missing out on summer and winter rains at Talaheni
- Changing rainfall in the Yass Valley
- Using mixed pastures to take advantage of variable rainfall
- Making stocking decisions depending on the rainfall outlook
- Working with your farm’s specific conditions to improve productivity
- Using 30 years of rainfall, salinity and temperature records
- Finding a niche market that appeals to green credentials
Farming ultrafine wool and cattle
I’m a partner in the family farm here at Talaheni, which is in the Yass Valley area of New South Wales, on the Southern Tablelands. I was raised in the Western District of Victoria on a family farm.
We chose a bit of a challenge when we picked this farm to work over 30 years ago, and that’s reflected in the name, Talaheni. It means ‘wait-a-while’, in recognition that despite our best efforts things weren’t going to change overnight, but they were definitely going to happen.
Our farm is focused on producing ultrafine wool, along with some cattle and a small farm forestry operation.
While this area is renowned for the production of superfine wool, our ultrafine flock is at the finest end of the spectrum. Our flock has an average fibre diameter of 14 microns.
Missing out on summer and winter rains at Talaheni
For the first 15 years we were here, we were averaging 720–750 mm of rainfall a year, but there’s been a dramatic decline in the past decade. Our long-term average has dropped to 625–650 mm of rainfall a year.
This area can either be winter-dominant rain or summer-dominant rain. It’s unusual to get both in the one year. The last time it happened was in 1989. But in more recent times we’ve missed out on both good summer and winter rain.
Winters are notorious for their cold conditions. It’s not unusual to get frosts down to –7°C for up to 10 days in a row, and that can be pretty harsh. Our summers tend to have some hot periods—we get over 40°C for a few days at a time.
Changing rainfall in the Yass Valley
We now have 30 years of rainfall records. Our rainfall has trended downwards over that period by about 5 mm per year.
It doesn’t sound like much, but over 30 years that’s 150 mm (or 6 inches) less of rain. That can be the difference between having a good spring and a very, very average spring.
As well, in recent times when we have rainfall events, they tend to be further apart and when they come you get quite heavy falls. For instance, in January 2009 we hadn’t had rain for a couple of months, then we had 37 mm and it probably fell in about 37 minutes—and with no follow-up.
It’s very difficult to manage that sort of rainfall event and make good use of it. You get a lot of run-off if there is little ground cover following a poor spring.
Using mixed pastures to take advantage of variable rainfall
One of the most critical things in our operation is maximising and then using soil moisture. We have pretty shallow, rocky, poor-quality soils. They hold only about 60 mm of moisture, compared to most cropping country which holds from 150 to 240 mm.
First of all, we have to retain as much as possible so we minimise the amount of run-off. Then we have to make sure the pastures are set up to make maximum use of the soil moisture that is available.
We need a mix of pasture systems so that we have pastures that will respond to the summer rain, and others that will respond to the winter rain. It’s unusual to have the same pasture species growing at all times throughout the year.
Microlaena stipoides—a native, perennial pasture—is actually pretty good at producing any time in the year. We’re now looking at getting some alternative pasture species and varieties that will be more tolerant of drier and slightly shorter seasons.
Making stocking decisions depending on the rainfall outlook
The major decisions for us centre around making decisions on our stock numbers in February/March, depending on the current and predicted conditions.
That is the critical time when we sit down and work out how many stock we’ll look to join, how many stock we’re going to carry through to shearing and how many stock we’ll off-load.
That coincides with our most vulnerable period. If we don’t get rain in autumn, then we’re in for a pretty bleak season.
A farm operation is a complex system. You have to be aware of what your weakest link is at the time and adjust your management accordingly. You also have to be opportunistic without being exploitative.
For example, one of the biggest problems we inherited was dryland salinity. But we couldn’t just concentrate on reducing salinity. We needed to work on a lot of other things at the time—such as re-fencing and establishing pastures—while being mindful of the salinity issue. As soon as the salinity risk was reduced, these other things came into their own.
Working with your farm’s specific conditions to improve productivity
Over the last 30 years we’ve done a number of things to improve our productivity. But along with that, you have to acknowledge the environmental conditions on your place, otherwise you’ll struggle.
When we had dryland salinity, we had lots of bare ground and erosion. We put in a series of contour banks to slow the movement of the run-off down through the landscape.
We also re-fenced the place based on soil type and slope, so we could plant pastures that were best suited for each paddock, and then manage their grazing accordingly.
Using 30 years of rainfall, salinity and temperature records
I’ve always kept an eye on climate and weather parameters. The main thing to do is measure rainfall, which we’ve done here on Talaheni for 30 years.
I also measure temperatures, and not just in one place. I have series of thermometers across our place and we’ve worked out the frost risk across our paddocks. That’s helped change how we manage our pastures.
To check the salinity, we have measured the depth of the water table each week for 22 years now. We also measure the salinity levels of the groundwater and the dams. We’ve seen a marked improvement in the quality of the water and a lowering of the watertable.
My point is that if you don’t measure something, you can’t manage it. Alternatively, there’s no point in measuring things if it’s not going to have a role in your management.
We track our progress on the things we’re trying to change.
Finding a niche market that appeals to green credentials
We’ve found a niche market, which is producing ultrafine wool, and we do it in a very clean and green way. Certain sections of the industry that are taking the ‘clean and green’ route have picked up on our activities.
For some buyers, there is a very strong focus on environmental credentials already. In some industries, if you don’t have environmentally friendly production processes, you’ve already ‘got lead in the saddlebag’, so to speak.
Interview date: 22 July 2010
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