Bonavaree – Glen Erin House Paddock (November)

Glen Erin was being spelled from grazing at my last visit (19th November). The mob of cull ewes and their twin lambs that were being grazed here last time are being grazed elsewhere and were to return on the 20th November. The rotation length was 34 days for this round. You can see that in … Read more

Bonavaree – North Face (November)

North Face was direct drilled on the 17th October in perfect sowing conditions. You can see in the photos below the slight dust coming off the back of the drill indicates that the soil tilth is perfect for maintaining seed to soil contact through the use of the chain harrows behind the drill. Maintaining good … Read more

Glen Erin House Paddock – Bonavaree Mix

Fraser and Doug have got the cull ewes and their lambs grazing on Glen Erin at the moment, plus a handful of Friesian bulls. The paddock is currently split into two with an electrified break-fence. The Avery’s are developing their stock water system to increase trough numbers, so that they can subdivide paddocks by break … Read more

Bonavaree – Establishing Bonavaree Mix Paddock from Omaka Barley

The journey to a new paddock of Bonavaree mix (Prairie Grass, Lucerne, Plantain) is well under way now. We visited the North Face paddock again last week, and it was looking vastly  different to last time, see photos below. From this to this Plans for this paddock from our last visit went according to schedule … Read more

Soil fertility and dry matter yields

Hi, This reply has been posted in response to questions John posted on the blog Monday: Doug has supplied the 2012 soil test results (below) from ‘Bonavaree’ (0-7.5 cm soil depth). For ease the results have been averaged from 8 paddocks which were individually tested. Any fertilisers to be applied will meet requirements of the individual paddock. … Read more

Bonavaree – Lambing onto Lucerne (Jeffries Front Flat)

Lambing in Jeffries Front Flat has now finished. It is certainly not a normal season at Bonavaree. Having had the total annual rainfall in only 8 months (200 mm since lambing started) has delayed a few things. The lightly set stocked ewes on this paddock, and many others, would usually be mobbed up into larger mobs … Read more