The choices were put to four Victorian graziers participating in a study designed to assist farmers in handling dry conditions.
Three of the four producers destock seasonally, selling about a third of the flock each year, irrespective of drought.
The focus is on keeping the best breeding stock and trimming around the edges.
Reproductive culling (removing the empties) dominates, and then the lesser-performing animals are removed.
As noted by one producer: “Culling a third is most profitable and sustainable. We are able to regenerate pasture growth with this strategy.”
When experiencing climatic extremes (bushfire, drought), containment feeding was a priority.
Most producers had accessed government drought funding to ensure containment pens were set up.
“We’ve never approached a drought with the strategy of selling excess sheep or selling any sheep,” the producer said.
“We focus on building and maintaining our good genetics, so it’s better to feed and look after the stock we’ve got.”
This comment was echoed by other producers, with most discussing how difficult it was to replace “precious and high-quality ewes”.
Consultants had mixed views regarding culling, with one beef/sheep adviser favouring containment feeding for livestock during drought: “… in the last drought, my advice was that there was adequate evidence to suggest that there was greater financial reward from retaining livestock relative to culling them”.
In contrast, another beef/sheep adviser advocated for more targeted/aggressive culling during drought.
However, one producer expressed concerns regarding profit-focused motivations: “Most producers who are profit-driven risk running the business into the ground — they mine it until there is nothing left at the end.”
Given the small scale of most farms, soil was identified as an important asset to be protected. Sustainable farming and succession planning were identified as important motivators by all producers interviewed in Victoria.
The Decide and Thrive project, which is being delivered by the University of New England, CQUniversity and CSIRO through funding from the Federal Government’s Future Drought Fund, is assisting graziers by developing innovative and regionally relevant livestock ranking strategies.
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