The Making More from Sheep event recently held in Merredin was run by Fiona Brayshaw (Wheatbelt NRM), Dean Revell (Revell Science) and Phill Barrett-Lennard (Agvivo).
The interactive style of presentations and tailored workshops allowed attendees to share information and knowledge about their own farm management systems while seeing the potential for using perennial shrubs and pastures to improve their farm livestock plans.
The attendees, who were mainly mixed sheep and crop producers, identified the following as critical times on their farms for providing sheep with feed:
| October – December | annual pasture quality declines very quickly |
| April – June | lambing time when stubble has run out |
| Break of the season | deferred grazing of growing pastures* can boost pasture production significantly. |
* even for only two weeks
The majority of attendees expressed excitement in their plans to increase perennial pastures and/or forage on their farms to cover these feed gaps.
This event was possible thanks to funding from the Australian Government's National Landcare Programme with support from Wheatbelt NRM and Meat and Livestock Australia.