Peter & Jennifer operate a small self-replacing merino enterprise in the ACT.  They normally run their flock on a 150Ha land parcel and have access to a number of lease hold areas that are managed for conservation purposes. These reserves have high conservation values and are managed to ensure long term sustainability of local native species in the reserves and leasehold land.   

The Ipkendanz’s merino flock is a fine wool enterprise, joining in March to lamb in August with shearing in October.  Lambs are weaned in December and surplus sheep are sold through the SELX yards in Yass. 

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Peter & Jennifer operate a small self-replacing merino enterprise in the ACT.  They normally run their flock on a 150Ha land parcel and have access to a number of lease hold areas that are managed for conservation purposes. These reserves have high conservation values and are managed to ensure long term sustainability of local native species in the reserves and leasehold land.    

The Ipkendanz’s merino flock is a fine wool enterprise, joining in March to lamb in August with shearing in October.  Lambs are weaned in December and surplus sheep are sold through the SELX yards in Yass. 

Peter & Jennifer’s use of the AFM commenced almost as soon as the tool was launched in November 2022.  Peter describes their approach as being one of using as much objective data as possible in order to inform and assist their management of high conservation value land areas in a sustainable manner.  Peter utilises a range of objective information including soil and rainfall monitors as well as the AFM to build a comprehensive data set of soil, pasture, and water status across the land he manages.  His focus is not only to have an effective grazing program, but to manage and monitor his carbon capture and storage along with maintaining conservation values.   

Peter sees the objective and repeatable measurement of biomass through the AFM as integral to his decisions.  Peter actively measures pasture biomass through visual observation combined with pasture cuts and use of a falling plate meter.  However, the advent of the AFM has offered a timelier method of assessing biomass and provided greater certainty to his observations. 

The data Peter & Jennifer obtain from the AFM is used as part of a range of decision-making opportunities.  Peter uses AFM data as an input into the MLA Feed Demand Calculator and describes that as a very good way of matching his grazing decisions with the season as well as looking back to past years to assess the effectiveness of previous strategies.   

Key lessons from the AFM to date have centred around understanding the variation in total biomass that occurs between land parcels managed by Peter & Jennifer.  Managing native pastures has presented some unusual variations and peter is keen to look into the causes of the variation and conduct calibrations of pasture through cutting and weighing to determine if the bulk of dead standing material at certain times of the year has contributed to the variation shown in the AFM. 

Peter is very enthusiastic about the AFM data and will continue to look for ways to integrate the data with his monitoring of carbon emissions and building benchmarks for his conservation management process. 

At this stage the AFM has not significantly altered the management strategies of the Ipkendez program.  However, the data on offer through the AFM has significantly increased the confidence and efficiency bought to management decisions.  Peter has expanded the number of postcodes on his MyMLA portal in order to see the regional TSDM trends in his region as part of a longer-term planning and preparedness outlook for his program. 

1. The AFM offers Peter & Jennifer significant time savings and additional accuracy in their decisions and information gathering process.
2. The data has contributed to Peter & Jennifer’s understanding of their carbon emissions and sequestration which is an important outcome for their business goals. 
3. As users of data to make informed decisions the AFM is a key part of their information gathering and has enhanced their ability to use tools such as the MLA Feed Demand Calculator to project seasonal decisions and to learn from past experiences.