Building resilience in a mixed farming business

Snapshot

Owners: Wayne and Jody Pech

Farm location: 380 kilometres south-east of Perth

Property: The business encompasses 13,000 hectares over four properties in a triangle from Gnowangerup to Cranbrook and North Stirlings

Area cropped: 6500 hectares

Average annual rainfall: 350 millimetres

Soil types: variable sand to duplex soils, sand over gravel or clay, red clay and
grey clay

Topography: flat to undulating

Soil pH range (calcium chloride): 4.8 to 6.5

Enterprises: crops and sheep

Crops: wheat, barley, canola, faba beans, lupins

Typical crop sequence: wheat/barley/canola/pulse

Tried-and-true methods together with carefully assessed new practices are bringing production and economic resilience to a Western Australian mixed farming business in the face of changing climate and markets

Sustainable production of food and fibre is central for Wayne and Jody Pech’s mixed farming business, ‘North Stirling Downs’, in Western Australia’s Great Southern.

Having operated the property since 1961, Wayne says that he and Jody have a ‘farm
for the future’ ethos. This means they use tried-and-true production methods and work with a network of experts to carefully assess and adopt new methods to enhance the business’s sustainability.

The enterprise is a mixed operation comprising 13,000 hectares over four properties. Situated four hours’ travel time south-east of Perth, it receives average annual rainfall of 350 millimetres.

Wayne says there are three main constraints that they are addressing through their approach to building business resilience.

“The amount of rainfall we receive together with lack of groundwater makes water conservation strategies imperative when farming in a changing climate,” he says.

“And, of course, the spatial variability of our soils requires the application of customised soil management strategies.”

Production resilience

The Pechs carefully manage their natural assets and have shifted the business emphasis from 50:50 crop:stock to 60:40 in recent years as stubble was running out as a source of stockfeed over summer. The increase in the cropping proportion, which is creating more stubble, is now benefiting the livestock and the Pechs can maintain numbers by turning stock off earlier. Stock numbers total 30,000 head.

“While we don’t get the big income peaks from 100 per cent cropping, we don’t get the big losses either,” Wayne says.

Permanent pastures are often maintained in paddocks that are not conducive to cropping due to soil type or topography.

Balancing cropping and livestock requires a lot of planning and flexibility, with a heavy dependence on seasonal conditions. “The break of the season around autumn and spring can be pinch points,” Wayne says.

Wayne’s team of seven staff use an operations calendar to prevent clashes between key tasks, although the enterprise’s size and trained staff allow two or even three large tasks to be undertaken simultaneously when required.

Crop/pasture mix

Legumes play an essential role in cropping and pasture phases, improving soil fertility. Pastures comprise a variety of species, including ryegrass, clover, lucerne, seradella, tagasaste and vetch.

“We remove stock before biomass gets too low and use confined feeding pens to hold livestock during dry periods,” Wayne says.

He also uses a remote sensing service, Cibo Labs, to monitor pasture health without the need for frequent physical checks.

The crop types and varieties Wayne selects are influenced by their ability to complement his livestock system.

“Wheat, barley, canola, faba beans and lupins dominate, as they contribute significantly to income, nitrogen fixation and weed control,” he says.

The farm has been using minimum tillage for more than 35 years, which has helped conserve soil structure and moisture.

Crop sowing times have been progressively moved earlier to dry sow and capitalise on stored water and rainfall events.

Wayne Pech on his mixed farm with his dogs. Photo: Evan Collis

Inputs management

“We use variable-rate technology for nutrient application, lime spreading and green-on-green and green-on-brown weed control technology to improve both the efficacy and to reduce costs,” Wayne says.

Careful selection of crop types, such as herbicide-tolerant barley (for example, Maximus CL barley), allows them to use herbicides judiciously in the cropping sequences. In 2023, urease inhibitors were used to improve nitrogen efficiency.

Managing soil erosion and compaction is another challenge in areas grazed by sheep.

“We try very hard not to overgraze paddocks. This is achieved through visual and remote monitoring and calculating stocking rates based on historical rainfall data,” Wayne says.

During extended dry periods, confined feeding pens are used to minimise soil damage.

The Pechs also retain barley, lupins and hay to ensure there is enough feed on hand for up to two years. They leverage the CBH system to store unsold feed barley and have developed strong relationships with local pellet suppliers to maintain livestock feed security during tough seasons.

Smart tools play a big role on the Pechs’ farm, particularly for water management. Remote monitoring systems for water points allow them to address problems immediately. For cropping, minimum tillage, soil moisture sensors and weather forecasts help the Pechs to make informed decisions about nutrient application.

Biodiversity and water resources

Although the enterprise is based on crops and pastures, biodiversity is important and managed through the conservation of remnant native vegetation and tree-planting programs.

Livestock are excluded from remnant native vegetation and new tree plantings.

Pest management is also handled strategically to minimise environmental harm. Foxes and kangaroos are controlled through shooting and baiting, while rabbits are managed through a combination of shooting, baiting and disease release.

When it comes to monitoring soil organic matter and carbon sequestration, Wayne says they do not focus on it closely but understand that better management practices and rainfall naturally increase these metrics.

For water conservation, the enterprise relies on dams and catchment management. In 2024, $50,000 was spent on renovating catchments, equating to $2 per head of livestock.

With sustainability issues top of mind, in 2018 the Pechs started carbon auditing, working with Toowoomba-based Integrity Ag. This enables them to benchmark and track what they are doing to improve the farm’s sustainability and learn more to achieve carbon neutrality.

The Pechs have a tree-planting program that has the potential to be a future income stream.

Economic resilience

For the moment, Wayne has no plans to alter the crop:stock ratio, pointing out that any increase in the cropping percentage would require either more working capital or an increased reliance on contractors.

Two seeders and three headers are the current machinery limit, with contractors used if needed.

Looking to the future, Wayne notes the current discussion about the future of sheep but is positive they will remain a stable income stream. “But, like all things, this will continue to be evaluated.”

Along with maintaining production resilience, building the business’s intellectual assets is also considered essential for its economic resilience. Skill development and sourcing expert advice are fundamental in this respect. Wayne periodically takes short courses to upgrade his knowledge and, in late 2024, he took the opportunity to be a keynote speaker at the GRDC-supported 21st Agronomy Conference.

“It was an opportunity to reflect on our business and network with Australia’s leading agronomists,” he says.

The Pechs also run on-farm trials with support from agronomists to gather data on pertinent issues to be better informed when making cropping decisions.