Reinvigorating pasture

We were privileged to have the McDonald family open their farm gates for the Macintyre Ag Alliance Field day, at Billa Billa. Luke started with a presentation on the rundown of the family history in the area which began when they purchased Goondooee in 1978. Luke put an emphasis on family, including everyone, and creating a positive culture for anyone working in the business. He says a happy farmer makes a happy farm, which is a credit to where they are today, with 5 properties spread over the district, with a mixed farming and cattle operation.

Luke is not afraid of failure, always willing to try something new, which was shown in the paddocks with his various trials and experiments. These included our first site on tour, which was a compacted mainly buffel grass paddock, which had a previous history of farming.  They had ripped 1 foot deep at 1m spacing, then seeding with a mix of oats, lucerne, desmanthus, medics and vetch, on top of the ripped line. The goal is to introduce legumes and biodiversity into the system and with grazing management in place should eliminate the need to rip again.

The next site showed the comparison between a disc and a tyne machine planting, which Luke was happy with both results. Planting various species including cowpeas, mung beans, millet, along with perennials such as desmanthus and digit grass, the comparison was very similar between the two and both a successful establishment. It was great to see the crew from UNE there, being involved and funding the seed for these experiments. Luke insists the need to apply higher rates of seed to get the production benefits sooner, at around the rates of 4kg/Ha of legumes, and 4kg/Ha of grass.

In conclusion it was great to hear from Luke who is very open and passionate about what he does. He’s a big picture thinker and willing to share his experiences with burnout, and mistakes along the way.  Highlighting the importance of a happy farmer is a happy farm, and the most important paddock being the top paddock is a great approach to have, and very important in this day and age.

Thank you to our event sponsors-

THIS PROJECT RECEIVED FUNDING FROM THE QUEENSLAND GOVERNMENT‘S NATURAL RESOURCES RECOVERY PROGRAM AND THE AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT‘S FUTURE DROUGHT FUND.