A Far North Queensland grazier has gone against the grain and diversified into sheep alongside an established cattle operation.
Kerry Kelly breeds Australian White sheep on her Topaz property located in the Atherton Tablelands region.
The producer branched into sheep production six years ago purchasing five ewes and a ram of the Aussie breed. The Australian White was developed from four different breeds as a primarily meat sheep.
The Kelly family had since built the herd up to 30 breeding ewes, which roam the paddocks alongside their cattle.
Ms Kelly said the animal was a low maintenance breed adaptable to both hot and cold climates.
"Because of the amount of rain and wet ground here we need to keep a good eye on their feet and to clip their hooves twice a year,'' she said.
"We also need to be careful about worms, so we have six sheep paddocks and we rotate our sheep around them."
The Kelly's Australian Whites were the first ever sheep to be exhibited at the local Malanda Show in 2021 and were again exhibited this year with a set of newly-born twins.
Ms Kelly said her main production markets were for meat and breeding purposes.
"I sell to abattoirs and individuals for eating and breeding," she said.
"Most of our ewes are due to lamb in the next month or so.
"It'll be 12-weeks before I wean them. In September or October, we'll have lambs for sale again.
"There are quite a few other farms with small flocks - from Ravenshoe to Julatten and Eacham.
"You've got to put some effort in to make it work up here, but it's worth it."
The graziers were working with natural resource management group Terrain NRM to improve soil health on their property as part of a free mentoring program.
The 'Digging Deeper' program included a soil test, workshops on soil science and soil test interpretation, farm visits by the group and one-on-one farm management guidance over a six-month period.
Ms Kelly said to increase and improve her flock, their current focus was on the land beneath their hooves.
"We want more pasture diversity, and improving the pastures starts with the soil," she said.
"I hadn't tested soil on the farm before and soil chemistry wasn't something I knew a lot about.
"Now that we've discovered our soils are too acidic, we are applying lime, and I'll be testing and assessing the soil on a six-monthly or yearly basis."
Ms Kelly said she'd also be working on getting a greater diversity of plants into their pastures.
"Understanding soil testing has been a real benefit," she said.
"It's great to have a baseline and be able to see the improvements."
Terrain NRM's Sally Fields said participants in this year's program had come from the Tully, Atherton Tablelands and Cairns regions with produce ranging from the more traditional cane and cattle to fish, achacha and sheep.
"The common ground here is the soil," she said.
"It has been great to see landholders getting fired-up to build up their soil structure, and to help them gain a deeper understanding of exactly why they would want to do this."
The Terrain NRM free soil mentoring program was funded by the Australian government.
Zoe Thomas
Northern based journalist at North Queensland Register and Queensland Country Life.
Northern based journalist at North Queensland Register and Queensland Country Life.
