Feeding a good idea

“It gives us options to maintain stock and keep ground cover out in the paddocks,” Tom said.

With more than a dozen farmers in attendance and representatives from Riverine Plains and Local Land Services, the field day on May 30 focused on design, nutrition and animal management.

Murray Local Land Services acting manager Garry Armstrong navigated the group around the theory behind confinement feeding livestock.

With a Masters in both Agriculture and Rural Science, he shared his knowledge on animal husbandry and feed requirements.

“We’re seeing farmers, who run sheep, cattle and crops moving towards confinement feeding in containment when the conditions require it,” Mr Armstrong said.

The attendees headed towards the action to inspect Mr Marriott’s handiwork — pens, silos, troughs and a feed system — followed by a rapid-fire succession of questions.

Mr Marriott, who has done time feeding sheep with his family on and off since the millennium drought, was up to the task of answering the inquiries and happy to pass on his lessons learnt to date.

“Since we built this in 2017, we’ve changed our induction techniques, we’ve lowered the feed tubes and we’ve changed the water levels in the troughs,” he said.

With time a limiting factor on most farms, Mr Marriott’s is no exception.

“We’re looking to make automation a priority to increase efficiencies, especially when it comes to weighing sheep,” he said.

“We’re looking at bringing in-pen weighing into the system to help with management decisions and to reduce how often we need to yard the sheep, which is better for them and better for us.”

Riverine Plains livestock project officer Sophie Hanna believes field days are a great way for farmers to discover the truth behind theories and ideas.

“It’s valuable to bring in information from expert speakers and also learn from peer farmers,” she said.

“Tom is part of Riverine Plains research advisory committee, so it’s good to have our members learning from one another.”