Resource Management Group - Articles 
Choose the beef enterprise that’s right for you
Many options confront you as a beef producer when deciding on your enterprise:
Breeding? Fattening? Calf rearing? Vealer production? Backgrounding for feedlots?
What is the target market?
The right beef enterprise for you will be:
- appropriate for your farm
- suitable for your region
- matching your lifestyle needs
- capable of being profitable
- positive in its impact on the environment
- personally satisfying
- sustainable
RMG will help you choose the right enterprise and clearly define your target market, taking into account the different seasons, pasture growth rates, animal requirements, and the labour involved.
Develop highly productive and sustainable pastures
- Soil structure and fertility. RMG will help you develop a long term plan for improved soil structure and fertility. This will include strategies for optimising microbial activity (including aeration if necessary), and a targeted fertilizer program.
- Pasture species composition. A decision may have to be made whether paddocks can be made highly productive with better management and introduction of desirable species, or if a total pasture renovation is needed.
- Grazing management for sustainable production. Good grazing management involves grazing at the appropriate stage (2 ½ - 3 leaf stage for rye grass), and then allowing a rest period for re-growth. This results in:
- better pasture utilisation
- encouragement of desirable species
- avoidance of over-grazing
- building of soil organic matter
- maintenance of pasture quality and quantity
- better cattle performance
- better pasture utilisation
RMG will help you develop highly productive and sustainable pastures.
Improve soil health and fertility
- Building soil is the basis of sustainable productivity.
Soils are a renewable resource. RMG has demonstrated that depth of topsoil can be increased by approx 8mm annually with good pasture management and aeration if required.
- Compaction: Compaction can be corrected by appropriate fertiliser use, aeration, rotational grazing and adjustment of Calcium : Magnesium ratio in the soil.
- Soil Organic matter: RMG believes this is our most valuable resource. Good Soil Organic Matter content improves fertility, soil structure and increases water holding capacity. (Pastures stay greener for longer in summer)
- Building or maintaining Soil Organic Matter is essential for sustainability. This is achieved by:
- No bare ground, summer or winter
- Growing more pasture (more root mass)
- Good grazing practice (rotational grazing)
- Avoiding over-use of nitrogenous fertilizers eg urea, MAP, DAP
- Encouraging microbial activity by:
- pH (in water) 5.8 – 6
- available Calcium 2000- 3000ppm (most soils)
- avoiding unnecessary use of chemicals
- Nutrient levels
RMG will help you develop a fertiliser program with a long term plan, and a short term strategy to address immediate limiting factors. The plan will be cost-effective and sustainable, working towards nutrients at optimum levels, in correct balance.
To become one of the top 5% of beef producers, you will:
Have a stocking rate that is at least 50% above local average, achieved by:
- developing highly productive pastures
- utilising up to 80% of grass grown, by use of good grazing practices (Gippsland average utilisation is 40%)
- matching animal consumption to pasture availability
- reduce dependence on hay or silage
- keep costs down
- operate sustainably and have a positive impact on the environment
RMG team members are in the top 5% of beef producers and will help you with these strategies.
Keep costs down
RMG believes low cost of production is essential for operating a profitable beef enterprise.
- Fodder conservation is expensive, time consuming, wasteful, and an inefficient use of pasture. It is often cheaper to buy hay than to make it.
- Fertiliser costs are another major expense and applications need to be carefully targeted to address the limiting factor/s.
- Pasture grown but not consumed is a major cost. With good grazing management, 80% of pasture grown can be consumed directly by the animals.(Gippsland average is 40%)
- Cattle health costs can be reduced by using specific management strategies to avoid common cattle health problems.
Avoid common cattle health problems
RMG can assist you in developing specific preventative health management strategies to help avoid cattle health problems such as bloat, milk fever, grass tetany, foot problems, eye problems, calving difficulties, clostridial disease, leptospirosis, and parasites.
Become a carbon farmer
There are a lot of initiatives from federal, state and local governments aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
However these programs ignore the potential for farmers to reduce carbon dioxide levels in the air by building organic carbon levels in the soils.
The use of farm forestry is often discussed as part of the carbon equation, but simply practising good pasture management can be more effective, and you as a beef producer can be a carbon farmer.
To build organic carbon in soil, you will need to:
- develop highly productive pastures with deep rooted perennial species
- use rotational grazing
- encourage activity of micro-organisms in the soil
- avoid bare ground
- minimise use of nitrogenous fertilisers
At the same time, the benefits to you will be:
- improved soil health
- better soil structure
- improved fertility and water retention
- increased productivity
- reduced fertiliser costs
- reduced erosion and salinity
Many believe that in the future, farmers will be paid in the form of carbon credits for increased soil carbon levels.
Become a carbon farmer!
Increase productivity and at the same time become an environmental hero of our age.
Interesting websites:
www.amazingcarbon.com
www.carboncoalition.com.au
www.casmgs.colostate.edu
“Engaging RMG was the best thing I ever did”
150 ha, Gippsland
“I want my farm to look like yours”
100 ha West Gippsland