Farm Details

Historically Tocal has had a reputation as a progressive and innovative farm. Current management aims are to maintain the strong reputation of the property by adopting best practice property management for livestock as well as land use practices.

Industry & Investment NSW and the CB Alexander Foundation manage the farms under the same environmental and market conditions as other local farmers. All management decisions for Tocal enterprises take into consideration implications on the whole farm.

Beef

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Moving cattle around the property

The Beef section of the College uses 1500 hectares of Tocal land to graze 500 Brahman cross Angus cows. The area comprises heavily timbered country, native/naturalised pasture, improved pasture and degraded improved pasture. The beef enterprise centres on a breeding herd of around 500 females, a total of up to 1200 head can be on hand at Tocal when calves, heifers and bulls are included. The breeding program involves the use of Brahman, Brangus and Angus bulls to maintain a crossbred herd. Charolais bulls are used as terminal sires. Each year approximately 450 calves are born and are weaned at 9 months. The major market focus is for vealers as well as store cattle (cattle that are sold to be fattened by someone else). Sometimes steers can be fattened for the European Union market if conditions on the property are suitable.

The beef section has attained Cattlecare and European Union accreditation. It employs both the Prograze system of pasture management as well as Landcare principles. Since the introduction of Cattlecare the practice of hot iron branding has stopped as this damages the hide and reduces its value. Tocal cattle are now ear marked, management tagged and NLIS (National Livestock Identification Scheme) tagged. These NLIS tags are scanned to assist in the recording of weights and other performance measures.

Student training is carried out on the herd as part of the day-to-day husbandry operations and each year the College students operate a feedlot as part of their studies. Selected young animals are broken in each year for showing at local heifer and steer competitions.

Stock horses

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A selection of Tocal horses

Australian Stock Horses are bred at Tocal for student training and stock work. Over twenty broodmares are joined each year to performance sires of the Australian Stock Horse breed to provide top quality stock for use in student training and on the farm. At any one stage Tocal can have over one hundred horses on the property from young foals, yearlings, breakers, work plant horses and broodmares. Foaling begins around August. The foals are weaned and handled at 5 months. They are broken in and trained by students at 2 years. After basic training the horses are ready for more advanced training and work on the farm. The horses have successfully competed at local Royal Agricultural Society shows as well as the Eastern Branch Stock horse show.

Each year the students from the Horse Breeding certificate compete in our Stock Horse Challenge where students demonstrate the results achieved with their young horses which they break-in in May and train throughout the year.

Horses are also prepared for shows (both led and ridden) as well as for sales by the students. On-site sales of Australian Stock Horses are planned for the first Sunday in November each year.

Dairy

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Tocal students gain valuable experience working in the dairy

The dairy farm has a milking herd averaging 220 mostly Holstein-Friesians with some Illawarras and representatives of other breeds. With dry cows, heifers and calves the dairy herd is about 360 head at any time throughout the year. Cows are milked twice a day and the average production per cow is 25 litres per day. Total milk production for the year is approximately 1,950,000 litres. The milking herd is 100% artificially bred with the semen being purchased from USA, Canada and Australia. Herd recording is undertaken once a month to monitor individual animal performance and assist in management decision making. The NLIS tag, in each animal’s ear, is scanned to assist in this process. Our Herd records are also maintained electronically using EasyDairy software.

The dairy is based on permanent, irrigated kikuyu pastures with annual over sowing of rye grass and clovers. Pastures are managed using the “Managing Pastures for Profit” system devised by the Dairy Pathways project. Additional concentrate feeding occurs during milking and on a feed pad as required. Depending on seasonal conditions about 500 tonnes of silage is made from surplus pasture each year and is fed out to the cattle when needed.

The dairy is both Cattlecare and HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point) accredited. The finances of the Dairy business are monitored and reviewed using the MilkBiz program.

Bona Vista (sheep)

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Shearing at Bona Vista

Sheep are run on a 100ha farm known as Bona Vista. The flock at Tocal is managed along commercial lines although it’s size and the humid climate in this area is not ideal for profitable sheep production. The flock of 250 breeding ewes is run for both meat and wool. About 250 lambs are sold for meat and 1,200kg of wool is produced each year. Lambs are sold from 16 weeks of age, the premium lambs being sold to local butchers. Our annual shearing and wool classing is carried out by students. A wool classing course is run each year in our shearing shed.

The flock is grazed on both introduced and native pastures with some areas also irrigated.

The Tocal flock is guarded by Maremma dogs (Maresha and Duneedoo). The first Maremma, Marshall, was introduced to the flock in 1997 following several dog attacks during lambing.

Numeralla (chickens)

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Student assisting at Numeralla

Numeralla, the chicken farm operated by the CB Alexander Foundation, produces 6 batches of chickens per year - totalling over 1,000,000 birds - in 5 sheds. Numeralla is contracted to Baiada who own the chickens and supply feed, medication and technical assistance throughout the process. The sheds are all insulated and tunnel ventilated. Conditions in the sheds are controlled by computers which adjust air flow from tunnel fans, turn heaters on or off and operate the evaporative coolers (water walls).

The chickens arrive at the sheds when they are one day old and are grown for 5-8 weeks during which time they go from approximately 45 grams to a pick up weight of anywhere between 1.7 and 3.0 kilograms depending on market demand.

At 3 weeks of age each chicken generates the same heat as a 100 watt light globe!