PULLING together when times are tough is something our farming community is good at.
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With producers on the South Coast struggling with a difficult season, last week the team at Lawsons Angus demonstrated that generosity of farming spirit when they put on three, free drought strategy workshops at Albany, Esperance and Jerdacuttup.
The workshops covered topics including ration formulation, early weaning, animal health and reproduction issues in a drought, the role of genetics and its impact, rehabilitating paddocks affected by wind erosion, boosting pasture production and crop grazing.
Lawsons Angus principal Harry Lawson said it was a great week for all who attended, including Lawsons Angus WA clients and staff who have been battling hard all year.
“We’ve have a lot of really positive feedback from attendees following the workshops,” Mr Lawson said.
“We wanted to keep the content of the workshops informative and practical and those who attended had lots of questions so it was really interactive.”
More than 50 people attended the Albany workshop on-property at Youngs Siding, while about a dozen people attended each of the workshops in Jerdacuttup and at Esperance.
Mr Lawson said there was a good mix of attendees from different operational setups, not all being Lawsons clients.
“We were pleased with the turnout of people who wanted to come along and talk about ideas for dealing with tough seasons,” he said.
“And I guess it makes you realise there’s a bit of a void when it comes to producers getting support during seasons like this.
“So we were glad to be able to offer these workshops because we’re in the same position as the people who attended – we’re facing the same issues.”
Mr Lawson said going along to a drought strategy workshop was a really good process to go through.
“It can be tough when you’re working really hard and not getting much for your efforts, so it’s good to know that you’re not alone and there are strategies you can put in place to manage the conditions that come with a tough season,” he said.
“One example is we had lots of questions during the workshops around using early weaning as a management strategy so we went into a lot of detail and examples of how and when we can make that work.
“Other main concerns we addressed were basic feed requirements, pasture management and getting cows pregnant in a season like this, as well as plenty of other topics.”
Producer feedback on the drought strategy workshops was positive, with attendees saying the information provided was very helpful even for managing a good season.
