At Rhynie Pastoral, conservation and production are always front of mind and are never seen as mutually exclusive. This mentality has led to several changes within the enterprise in the past 5 years, centred around slashing input costs and enhancing the health and resilience of the overall farm system.

Nestled between the Ararat Hills and The Grampians in Western Victoria, Rhynie Pastoral is a sheep and cropping enterprise run by Jack and Celia Tucker. The pair have been farming together at Willaura North for about 15 years. Having farmed alongside Jack's parents and brother for the first decade, a successful succession in 2019 led to Jack and Celia formally going into partnership together as standalone owners and managers of a subsection of the original family business.

Jack and Celia Tucker, Rhynie Pastoral, Willaura North.

Jack and Celia decided they wanted to take a more regenerative approach to farming. They'd read 'Call of the Reed Warbler' by southern New South Wales farmer Charles Massey (who they later met through their local Landcare group), which explores holistic approaches to land management and farm productivity. The Tuckers also attended a soil health day held in Mount Gambier, hosted by Resource Consulting Services founding director Terry McCosker. 'They were the 2 things that made us realise that while our system was working fine, it wasn't going to be fine forever, and we needed to move away from a high-input system,' Jack says.

Jack and Celia decided to focus on the livestock side of the enterprise for the first 3 years before switching to the cropping side. Managing 2,000 ha in total, the Tuckers split their enterprise roughly half-and-half between livestock and cropping, with 1,000 ha allocated to each.

A growth mindset has been pivotal to the Tuckers' success with their management changes across the past 5 years. 'We're prepared to be curious, and we're willing to take calculated risks, but we aren't silly about it because you cannot afford to be reckless,' Celia says.

Snapshot

Farm/Enterprise Name: Rhynie Pastoral

Farm/Enterprise Location: Willaura North, Victoria

Type of Enterprise: Meat sheep and cropping

Primary Markets Served: Sheep: Domestic processors and some live export by air. Cropping: Export

Staffing: 4 (3 full-time, 1 part-time)

Property Size: 2,000ha owned and leased

Property Elevation: 340-500m

Average Annual Rainfall: 550mm

Climate: Temperate

Soil Types: Predominantly grey and red loams

Website: www.rhyniepastoral.com.au

Challenge: Feed availability for livestock

Sheep / Time-Controlled Grazing / Multi-Species Forage Cropping

Traditionally, the Tuckers had continuously grazed their sheep on unimproved paddocks containing Phalaris and clover, with infrequent spelling periods. However, they needed reliable rainfall for this system to provide consistent feed all year. Rather than hoping that rainfall tallies would suffice, Jack and Celia looked for ways to reliably and sustainably shore up their feed supply without running their paddocks into the ground.

Solution: Timed rotational grazing on improved pastures

The Tuckers decided to switch to timed rotational grazing, a practice that involves animals intensely grazing one paddock, then being moved to the next on a planned schedule, allowing each paddock to rest and recover. Having a number of rested paddocks ahead of them allows for a reliable, predictable food supply.

Their first step towards timed rotational grazing was dividing their existing paddocks into smaller areas. This was to ensure their sheep would graze areas intensely, meaning pasture would be eaten down evenly (allowing for uniform regrowth during the rest period) rather than selectively grazed. This would also ensure any weeds were stamped out. Across 2019 and 2020, the Tuckers built 40 km of new fencing and installed 40 new water troughs, creating 45 grazing paddocks out of the original 11. Livestock paddock size decreased from an average of 50 ha to 8-15 ha.

Since 2019, the Tuckers have sown the multi-species mix on 50% of their livestock paddocks.

As the Tuckers split their paddocks up, they also began systematically renovating their pastures, sowing a multi-species perennial pasture mix on unimproved country. The mix consists of 7 species, varying in root architecture, plant height and growth timelines. 'We wanted the mix to be varied enough so that rain on any day of the year would benefit at least one of the species, helping us towards our overall goal of year-round groundcover on those improved areas,' Jack says. Since 2019, the Tuckers have sown the multi-species mix on 50% of their livestock paddocks.

The multispecies pasture is made up of seven different species.

While Jack and Celia are still in the process of sowing the multi-species mix, they have enough renovated pastures to start rotationally grazing their stock. Their sheep flock is split into large mobs, grazing on both the multi-species pastures and unimproved country. Each mob grazes its allocated paddock at a 200-500 DSE/ha stocking rate, depending on pasture availability and quality. Mobs are moved to new paddocks at a frequency ranging from daily to weekly, based on grass growth rate. Specifically, sheep are moved before the grazed pasture starts to regrow and before grazing of that regrowth can occur. The minimum rest for each paddock is 30 days; however, this period is often much longer. Actual rest time varies based on time of year, feed requirements and other available feed.

The Tuckers rotationally graze their stock year-round, except during lambing in early autumn, when they set stock for the entire period. Early lambing also allows lambs to grow to a sufficient weight in time for spring selling and before feed dries up over summer.

Jack and Celia also use parts of their 1,000-ha cropping area for livestock feed. They have started dividing large cropping areas into smaller sections and grazing their sheep on these during winter as needed, ensuring the crop isn't grazed in a way that would reduce end-of-season yield. Cropping stubbles are also used for grazing during summer, as required.

Outcome: Consistent and known feedbase options

By being more strategic and in control of their feed options, Jack and Celia always know what feed is ahead of them and can plan accordingly. In July this year, they had nearly 65 rested paddocks ahead of them. 'It's been a really dry start to this year, and while there aren't crazy amounts of feed around, we do have good groundcover,' Celia says. So far this year, the Tuckers haven't had to supplementary feed their flock, leading to a significant saving to the hip pocket.

The timed rotational grazing aspect of managing feed has 2 further benefits.

Drenching requirement slashed: Since starting timed rotational grazing, the Tuckers have seen a significant drop in worm and parasite burdens. Moving sheep to fresh grass ensures that the prior paddock's rest period usually eliminates most worm larvae. As a result, drenching, based on faecal egg counts, has been reduced to once or twice a year or even skipped in some years. Similarly, no chemicals are needed for fly or lice issues.

Easy-to-manage sheep: As the main breeding flock has become used to being frequently moved from paddock to paddock, they have become easier to handle. 'People often think Dorpers are hard to manage, but with regular handling and good fences, we don't have any major problems,' Celia says.

Challenge: Reducing chemical use

Input Reduction / Cropping / Fertiliser / Testing & Analysis

The Tuckers wanted to move away from a high-input cropping system and, specifically, reduce their reliance on synthetic inputs. In doing so, they wanted to save on costs and improve long-term soil health, building an overall more resilient system.

Solution: Sap testing and tailored fertiliser applications

Rhynie Pastoral cropping manager Taylor Leeson collecting samples for a sap test.

The Tuckers have tailored their fertiliser application in the foliar stage. Starting in 2022, the approach involves regular sap testing of crop plants during the growing season, also known as an NU-Test (nutrient uptake test) to identify nutrient deficiencies. This allows them to apply targeted foliar sprays based on results rather than using a uniform blanket application.

Jack and Celia have always done preseason soil testing to address major constraints like acidity but decided, through research, that soil testing doesn't accurately reflect plant conditions during the season. This is what gave rise to testing the plants themselves. 'Even if a soil test finds a nutrient to be in adequate supply in the soil, there could be soil constraints that prevent plant uptake of particular nutrients,' Jack says.

Generally, the Tuckers sap test their crops every 3 weeks throughout the growing season, from the 2-leaf stage onwards. While there is some crop-to-crop variation, the basic methodology used is to select about 50 plants from a crop and break off the oldest and youngest leaf from each of the selected plants. The leaves are placed into separate bags, labelled, sealed and sent to Tasmanian-based laboratory testing service AgVita Analytical. The results are then sent to and interpreted by the Tuckers' agronomist, who communicates the information to Jack and Celia.

Based on the results, Jack and Celia then blend their own liquid fertiliser. This homemade product has a base mix of urea, ammonium sulphate, molasses and fulvic acid, with extra ingredients added based on deficiencies identified in the sap test. On average, each crop receives 5-6 tailored liquid fertiliser sprays each season.

On average, each crop receives 5-6 tailored liquid fertiliser sprays each season.

'When there is a problem in the plant, rather than getting a prescription from our agronomist about how to fix the problem, such as applying fungicide if rust is present, we look at what has caused that problem in the first place and try to address that root cause by fixing it through nutrition,' Jack says. 'It's not too different to a holistic approach to human health, where you focus on having a healthy and resilient body rather than going to the doctor and getting prescribed antibiotics every time there's a problem.'

Aside from sap testing, the Tuckers have reduced reliance on chemical and synthetic inputs by:

  • switching to biological seed dressing rather than using synthetic ones
  • installing a liquid system on their air seeder, which applies liquid compost extract in the furrow during seeding
  • reducing row spacing from 300 mm to 166 mm to create weed competition and encourage early canopy closure, with the shading inhibiting weed growth and, therefore, reducing reliance on pre-emergent herbicides.

Outcome: Inputs slashed

Before 2022, the Tuckers were using fungicides at conventional rates. But for the past 3 years, they haven't had to use fungicides at all, which they put down to robust plant health. Insecticides are also no longer used. Nitrogen application has also been slashed, with a 66% reduction in urea use in its basic form. 'A standard application rate for the area would be 300 kg/ha; on average, we're now using 100 kg/ha, but we're diluting that as part of our foliar blend and getting 100% uptake,' Jack says. The exceptionally high uptake rate of nitrogen, as well as the other nutrients included in the tailored foliar sprays, is also leading to decreased nutrient run-off.

'Monitoring and observation is a key part of our system, and we're happy to spend that extra time in the paddock, as it leads to significant benefits elsewhere.'

While an obvious barrier to sap testing is the time and labour commitment involved in collecting samples (approximately one full morning of work for two people every 3 weeks), there is significantly less time spent in the tractor, as fungicide applications and blanket urea applications are no longer needed. 'Monitoring and observation is a key part of our system, and we're happy to spend that extra time in the paddock, as it leads to significant benefits elsewhere,' Jack says.

As Jack and Celia continue on their sap testing journey, they're identifying which nutrients routinely appear as deficient at specific crop stages. With cumulative data enhancing their understanding, they're becoming more proactive in addressing nutrient needs throughout the year and better able to prevent plant health issues rather than fix them later.

Future plans

The Tuckers will continue tweaking their system into the future, always aiming to balance conservation and production.

With both the business's livestock and cropping sides up and running under a largely regenerative system, Jack and Celia are happy to have a good base that they can continue to tweak over time. Rather than needing prescriptive inputs of feed and fertiliser year in and year out, they're seeing that work done in the previous year is having a positive impact in the next season.

Looking ahead, they will continue improving their pastures, sowing the multi-species mix in the areas that still need to be renovated. 'Putting in a perennial pasture is an expensive exercise due to the direct cost and the fact that you're taking land out of production for a year, but the benefits we're seeing is allowing us to chip away at it and do a bit more each year,' Jack says. The Tuckers are planning to increase their Dorper flock from 3,000 ewes up to 5,000 ewes, and having a greater number of improved pastures will allow for that to happen.

As they continue forward, one of their main priorities will be to connect with like-minded farmers, which they already do through the Victorian No-Till Farmers' Association. 'It's all about creating a network of peers who are doing similar things to bounce ideas off so we can all move forward as a group,' Celia says.

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