Opposite Ends of the Spectrum

Lima Park

Lawson Angus 

     We started off this morning from the small town of Seymour and went to the Lawson Angus farm. This visit was significant to our group because they have a partnership with Gardiner Angus Ranch back in Kansas which is the family farm of Grant on of the students with us on the trip. Their work with genetics proved to be similar to the states as expected with their connections to Kansas.They were also very on top of AI and embryo work within their herd. He also told us about the large fires that they had in the area in recent years and about their impact on the local farmers and how many cattle/farms were lost. After our visit we went to Mandala, a well known vineyard for biscuits and coffee or tea and got to browse around and sample some of the local wines. We then moved on to Bonnie Doon and had a quick lunch before moving on again. 

Some of the fire damage

Our next stop, Lima Park was the polar opposite of the first farm. They do all natural breeding for their Herefords and have a much more lax standard on what they expect for weights, average daily gains, and things such as EPD’s. The main focus and profit at this farm was the sheep portion of the operation. It was very interesting to see the shearing barn and hear about how much the wool contributes to the farms profits as well as the meat. He also told us about his main herding dog, which interestingly enough is a three legged Kelpie. It was very interesting to compare the opposite approaches to running their cattle farms. We worked our way North to Albury where we will spend one night before moving again to Waga Waga tomorrow. This evening we were able to go out and see a bit of the night life of Albury as well as get a decent steak dinner. there is no better way to close a day! I’m really looking forward to touring the Emu farm tomorrow afternoon as well as the Cargill arbitrator.

One of the owners of Lima Park