Ingleby Farms Sustainability Report 2018-19

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IMPROVED LAMBING AND WOOL

The climate in Tasmania is perfect for sheep. Our sheep can graze 365 days a year on lush, green pastures. The cooler weather, compared to mainland Australia, allows our lambs to mature slowly resulting in flavourful meat.

INTEGRATED PRODUCTION In 2003, our Tasmanian sheep herd started with just 800 sheep. Today, we have about 25,000 ewes producing 33,000 lambs annually. While many farmers specialise in either sheep or crops, we believe in the benefits of having both, and our sheep production is fully integrated within the cropping system. This allows us to sustainably increase productivity on our existing land. We utilise co-products from one production to support the next, such as crop residues as feed for our sheep and animal manure as fertiliser for new

crops. In integrated systems, livestock also play a key role in energy and nutrient cycling, while rotations of crops with forage legumes improve soil fertility and reduce soil erosion. In 2018/19, we increased our production of fodder crops of chicory and clover. This is a double win - a respite for our soils while providing quality feed for our lambs.

IMPROVED LAMBING We have a continued focus on increasing our lambing percentage and keeping the body condition score of our ewes high to help increase productivity.


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