Droughtproof help for Manypeaks farm
The driest year ever on WA’s south coast prompted a local beef business to droughtproof its property, with help from a Coles Nurture fund grant.
Kim Lester, who farms at Manypeaks, provides premium grass-fed beef to Coles in WA under the Graze brand, but in 2018 he received just over half his average annual rainfall, resulting in a lack of adequate pastures to feed cattle while other suitable feed was in short supply.
Mr Lester applied for and received $318,000 from the $5 million Coles Nurture fund to establish two gully dams, two solar pumps and a hay shed, and also purchase a pivot irrigator to help produce the grass-fed beef year round.
The droughtproofing will enable the family to grow more grass, save water and store fodder.
“Providing these droughtproofing measures gives us the security we need,” Mr Lester said.
“The dry and challenging year in 2018 led us to these droughtproofing measures so we can be prepared in future.”
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