COUPLE LEAD THE WAY

ELIZABETH ANDERSON - Western Magazine

Andrew and Megan Mosely are leading the way for the western areas.

For the past 10 years the couple have been changing their management, and their way of thinking, to best work in with the harsh environment on ‘Etiwanda Station’ at Cobar.

Now they have been recognised for their work as finalists in the NSW Farmer of the Year awards. Mrs Mosely said with their changes they found they could still operate in a profit within the tough surroundings. “We’re operating in a fairly challenging environment,” she said. However, it is their environmental outcomes that they are most proud of. “We’re making huge environmental outcomes in an area where it doesn’t rain very often,”she said.

They operate on a planned grazing system, maximising the number of days rest each grazing paddock has. They aim for a 180-day rest period, finding it gives their pastures the greatest chance to recover. They are currently sitting at 150 days but hope to increase that as infrastructure comes into place. “Out here, 180 days seems to be a benchmark we’ve found,” Mrs Mosely said. “It’s been a case of trial and error to find this.”

They also run Santa Gertrudis/shorthorn cross cows, Boer goats and a white dorper stud and have found the three species complement their aims. “They are three different animals that all graze slightly differently, with different impacts, and that helps our environmental outcomes,” she said. “The goats are extremely good at scrub control.” With the number of rangeland goats running free around the western division, Mrs Mosely said the decision to incorporate goats was easy. “It was an obvious step to manage them,” she said. “We capture and sell a large percentage of these each year and keep back the best nannies for our own breeding program. “It helps keep them under control.” It was also an obvious decision to go down the path of a dorper sheep stud.

They developed their stud in 1999 as part of their change in decision-making. “They’re a low impact breed - like a little beef animal to manage,” she said. “Not a lot of money goes into them with no shearing or chemical outlays. And they just thrive out here in the western areas.” Now, the Moselys are helping others by sharing the benefits they’ve discovered in their management system. In the past six months they have hosted three field days to share the latest information available. “A lot of people are definitely starting to question what they do, and looking and thinking about what they can do,” she said