DANNI Wilson from Tamaleuca Merino and Poll Merino stud at Ouyen doesn’t mind admitting she makes some “different” decisions about the things she does.
This includes buying 2000 acres of Mallee land five or six years ago to try her hand at cropping on top of the pure sheep operation that is Tamaleuca.
“I didn’t know much about cropping and am still learning lot of things, and am always open to that,” Ms Wilson said.
“Initially I was using contractors, but they’re never available for everyone when the weeds come up, so I thought to myself ‘I can do this’ and went out and bought a good little tractor and a sprayer.
“But I quickly found out it’s a lot harder than you think when you don’t know what you’re doing.
“I guess not many people my age are doing what I’m doing, and yes, I could probably make more leasing the land than farming it myself, but hey, I’ve always liked being independent and having a go.”
Ms Wilson said she started getting involved with Birchip Cropping Group when she got into cropping and also when her daughter Zoe landed a job there as a research agronomist.
“And the trials review day was a really good opportunity for me to have a look at all the varieties going around, see and hear what is going well and learn about new breeds and what they bring in yield, disease resistance and other benefits,” she added.
“I am growing wheat and feed barley mostly across 2000 acres on a few blocks – it’s not huge but it’s not a hobby farm either.
“And sheep, you have to run sheep with cropping out here, we have horrible weeds here in the Mallee and you need the sheep to clean up the paddocks.”
Not surprisingly the Merino ewes Ms Wilson runs are pure Tamaleuca blood. Surprisingly, she actually purchased them from a longtime ram client “because they were available and were such a nice, straight line”.
They are crossed with a White Suffolk ram to give her early access to the fat lamb market, where she must be doing something right because her heavy-cutting sheep sell very well.
Last year Ms Wilson turned off 250 lambs and topped the Ouyen market, something she does regularly.
“I went along to the BCG review day, and I thought the information I got about new barley and wheat breeds was the best thing I got from the day,” she said.
“But I also got a fair bit from the financial talk, which was great – when it comes to managing your finances size doesn’t matter and that presentation got a lot of interest.
“I also loved the SwarmBot, and the chance to get up close and have a look, and while I doubt I will be getting one, all this technology is being embraced and it is the way things are moving – we are in a changing society and if that’s the future, well I will stick at it as long as I can.”
Ms Wilson said she has been learning so much about things such as spray rates, sowing rates and varieties which will, and won’t, perform in her type of country.
She is a mixture of sowing to the calendar, but always with an eye out for the break, but said you can’t just keep hanging on for that or you might never get a crop in the ground.
“So I guess I am more calendar, and on the back of the 150-plus millimetres we got at harvest, well that was tough but that moisture is still in the soil,” Ms Wilson said.
“I always try to be positive but one thing you learn is never think you are cruising, the rain was bad, but the frost was much worse.
“However, although I don’t have that many sheep I still haven’t had to do any feeding out, they have grazed right through summer, which has been a real plus.”
