Day 4

Grampians - morning stop at Dunkeld

The group started the morning off at Dunkeld and we got to take pictures of the Grampians Mountain Range.

After that, the group went to the Hopkins River Beef which runs approximately six thousand hectares. The group sat down with Sandy and Claire Maconchie, and discussed their operation and how they have begun transitioning to the next generation. The Maconchies participate in “paddock to plate”, meaning that Hopkins River Beef both participates in raising cow calf and beef feedlot. Moreover, they participate in the meat side of the industry, where they supply Cole’s, one of the largest grocery stores in Australia, with the majority of their premium beef. Along with producing beef for export, they breed 1,100 Angus cows per year across ten different farms. In addition, they finish 2,500 steers through their various feedlot operations, where some of the feedlots give the steers the option to eat both grass and ration at any given time on three of their feedlot operations. 

 Ingredients in the ration fed to the feedlot steers (Lentils)

Ingredients in the ration fed to the feedlot steers (Almonds/Almond Hulls)

The rations that the steers are fed on the feedlot consist of barley, lentils, lupens, canola meal, almonds, almonds hulls, and they previously used molasses but are transitioning to using alcohol. Sandy (the owner) has developed the ration over the last ten years. The students were given the opportunity to see one of the feedlot/grass operations, along with the ration storage and working facility. The steers are held in cohorts of 50 steers in 15 acre paddocks. Their working facility has been completely built using wood products and only metal gates as an effort to reduce the stress placed on the cattle. The working shed has been modelled after Temple Grandin’s teaching of low stress handling. They typically run a single load of cattle out every day, with a single load of cattle being approximately 70 cows. 

Their watering system for their feedlot animals is using a well system that is both pressurized and gravity fed. The water is pressurized out of the ground, and ran up the hill to the highest water tank, and, from there, the water is fed down via gravity to the other water tanks. However, the water can be pressurized to push water to a water tank if necessary as well. Moreover, the Maconchies have taken the water shortages to heart with both their home and working shed as well. They now have large collection tanks where they can collect the rain water that falls onto the roof, and then have the opportunity to reuse the water rather than pulling water from the well. 

Steers on grass/ration feedlot

People looking out at the Hopkins River Beef cattle/feedlot 

Raspberry Pastry served for dessert at the Blue Duck

The group then traveled for lunch for a delicious meal at the Blue Duck in Ararat, where students got the opportunity to have either fish and chips (fried fish and french fries), chicken schnitzel, or turkey and fixings. In addition, students were given the option of apple crumble or raspberry pastry as well.

Fish and chips served for lunch at the Blue Duck

The students then traveled for the next two hours to Bendigo. Along the way, students got to hear about Bill’s (the tour guide) background. Bill and his family originally started farming in Eastern Australian, and then later moved to Western Australia after they received two different parcels of land from the government. From there, they cleared both of the properties and attempted to run sheep and cattle on the operation. However, by clearing the properties, they caused major erosion of the top soil and caused something similar to the dust bowl in the United States. They brought the land back, and were able to put livestock on the land again. Moreover, Bill has been a major driving force within the Charolais industry in Australia. He raised a bull that in 1995 won both the major cattle shows in Sydney and Brisbane. The bull’s name was the Up Two The Vegemite Kid. In addition, Bill has had the opportunity of being able to send a live bull to the United States. To put that into perspective, only two live bulls have been sent to the United States from Australia.



Ashley, Jackie & Kathryn