WARATAH EXCLUSION FENCING TO IMPROVE BIOSECURITY AND GRAZING YIELDS

Feral animals rank high on the list of threats that can affect your biosecurity, animal health and grazing pressures. One of the most cost-effective of dealing with these issues and reducing threats to your property is a good fencing system.

Animal Health Australia identifies diseases such as Foot and Mouth and Lumpy Skin Disease as current threats to Australia. Without properly monitoring for their presence in Australia and maintaining a good biosecurity plan for your farm, potential outbreaks can occur, which could cost you, and your neighbours.

Waratah’s premium, Australian-made exclusion fencing has boosted the biosecurity and grazing yields of Victorian cattle producer Ken O’Brien’s property near Barham, preventing hundreds of kangaroos from destroying his 32 hectares of irrigated clover and rye grass.

“It wasn’t unusual to see 300-400 kangaroos in a night, and they would strip my valuable irrigated pasture bare. Even if there was remaining pasture, the cattle still wouldn’t eat it as there would be kangaroo faeces and urine stains all through the grass which also had the potential to be a biosecurity risk.” Mr O’Brien said.

Many farmers are finding that Waratah exclusion fences are providing increased productivity through improved weaning rates or increased production by reducing grazing pressure from feral animals on pastures and or cropping country, whilst also providing farmers with peace of mind by lowering the risk of disease in a livestock population.

“Since installing the 2.2km Waratah exclusion fence, I’ve only ever seen two kangaroos in the block and they jumped over the cattle grid to get in. We’ve now been able to increase our stocking rate by one-third, and the fencing has improved our farming operation dramatically in a number of ways.”

Lower labour costs and maintenance are key benefits being realised once an effective exclusion fencing system is in place.

“Using Waratah fencing products was an investment that will yield savings in the long term, due to its ease of installation,” Mr O’Brien said.

“Initially it might be more expensive, but in the end, the benefits far outweigh the costs. We had the fence rolled out and put up in under two days, which is three times faster than what it would typically take to complete.” Waratah has an extensive range of exclusion fencing solutions and products to suit a wide range of feral animal issues.

Have a chat with your local AIRR Member Store to help you find the right solutions for your farming enterprise.