When buying a property it is easy to make the mistake of assuming that any water is good water. Unfortunately dam and bore water can have hidden quality problems including salinity, hard water and high or low pH, which make it unsuitable for some applications, and its impossible to know this just by looking at the water.
Many small producers or livestock owners are unaware of the importance of biosecurity on their property. If you run livestock, whether on a small scale or commercially, you need a biosecurity plan.
A biosecurity plan should cover the steps you would take when bringing animals onto your property (e.g.
Business planning doesn’t have to be an arduous, drawn out task — it can be a simple, straightforward process that has the potential to turn your enterprise into a more profitable success.
As I’ve written previously, secure water on your small farm is one of the most important inputs no matter if you just want a small vegetable garden or to keep livestock as well.
While I like to use electric fencing for quick temporary fences, I do think its important to have a strong permanent fence for the boundary, around the house yard and, on a larger property, other fences to divide the property into paddocks.
If you are interested in growing anything on your small farm, whether its just a vegetable garden, an orchard, or you want to keep some animals, you’re going to need to organise a source of water.
A member recently contacted Farmstyle to tell us she had been visited by representatives from the Australian Communication and Media Authority in Canberra. The ACMA had received a complaint about television and radio interference and our reader’s electric fences were thought to be to blame.
Rural crime is on the increase. This is mostly due to the isolation and ease of access to farms and the portable nature and high value of its livestock and farming equipment. Hobby farms in particular are at high risk of theft as owners are often absent while such farms are usually located within close proximity to towns or cities.
