OUR COMMITMENT TO THE PLANET
We take many innovative approaches to re-wilding modern agriculture. Through the application of regenerative agricultural principles and natural conservation processes we enable our farm and our business to achieve and maintain environmental responsibility. Calico Pastoral maintains ongoing participation in many local initiatives and groups, to promote environmentally conscious communities.
Our Commitment
We love working with groups such as Koala Action Gympie Region, Mary River Catchment Co-ordinating Committee, Land for Wildlife and Gympie Landcare just to name a few. Complimentary to our goal of rehabilitating degraded ecosystems, we are also committed to reducing agriculture’s impact on the environment by avoiding, reducing, reusing, re-routing, and recycling waste in all forms.
Calico’s Practices
Calico Pastoral are also strong supporters of renewable energies to power our operations. We work tirelessly to promote a happier and healthier planet so that everyone can survive and thrive in an everchanging environment.
While we actively avoid unnecessary application of chemicals on our animals as well as the rest of our farm, we take a strategic preventative and targeted approach to animal health and welfare. We believe our enterprise is a very small part in a broader whole of ecosystem and thus allowing nature to run its course builds resilience and robustness in both our animals and our business. This then translates to a healthier and superior product to our valued clients as well as lowering our carbon footprint. Furthermore, this improves the sustainability of modern agriculture and food production.
Our approach to organic agriculture
Although we are not “certified organic” we do firmly believe in a beyond-organic and wholistic approach to livestock production, health, welfare, and management.
At Calico Pastoral
all our animals have unrestricted access to clean fresh water, supplemental vitamins and minerals and diverse pastures, ensuring a pasture based, healthy and nutrient dense diet. All our livestock are supplemented where needed with the highest quality organic and restricted animal material (RAM) free diets we can find. However, even though our livestock are all organically fed and pasture raised, we cannot be certified organic as we do immunise our livestock for preventable diseases.
Where animal welfare & husbandry are concerned, we will never allow our livestock to endure undue suffering from easily preventable diseases just to maintain an organic certification.
We are always 100% transparent in what and how we produce our livestock and crops. Calico Pastoral uses minimal tillage, minimal to no herbicides, pesticides, fungicides, insecticides, or synthetic fertilisers. We will always reach for the ecological, biological, physical, and chemical-free solution first, every time. Chemicals used are strictly as a last resort and of the lowest effective concentration necessary to achieve the desired outcome.
They are only ever used once all other non-chemical solutions or avenues have been exhausted and failed and thus without them would render our operation economically unviable. In the case where a chemical solution has been implemented, we will always be transparent about its use.
holistic management
Calico Pastoral follows many holistic management principles and implements and Integrated Pest Management (IPM) system to effectively manage our livestock, farm, and ecosystem. We take a comprehensive and multifaceted approach to livestock and farm management to ensure our operations are environmentally conscious and as close to organic as possible. Some of these practices include:
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✔ Rotational grazing, thus avoiding increasing the pest burden of each paddock.
✔ Encouragement and conservation of natural predators to manage pests, parasites, and weeds, naturally.
✔ Rehabilitating native ecosystems – a healthy environment is more resilient to pest plants and animals.
✔ Continual improvement of the health of our soils – healthy soils healthy environment.
✔ Diversification of farming enterprises and systems – no monocultures here!
✔ Selective breeding of livestock for superior genetic performance. Focusing on parasite tolerance and resistance, exceptional conformation, productivity (fertility, growth rate, feed efficiency, and longevity) and environmental hardiness.
✔ Ensuring our livestock are not only happy and sufficiently enriched but also adequately supplemented with unrestricted access to vitamins, minerals, and nutrients. Happy and healthy animals are more fit to take on disease and parasites themself without our intervention.
✔ By supporting and working harmoniously with our environment, mother nature will happily take on most of the workload and help us maintain equilibrium naturally.
We have many ways in which we attempt to reduce our environmental impact. If you would like to know more please don’t hesitate to contact the friendly team at Calico Pastoral, we will happily talk your ear off about our agri-ecological practices.
Affiliations and accreditations
Calico Pastoral is a recognised sheep breeder with both the Australian Stud Sheep Breeders Association (ASSBA™) and Australian Wiltshire Horn Sheepbreeders Association (AWHSA™). In line with our responsibility to our animals, customers, and industry we also follow various biosecurity accreditation schemes. Calico Pastoral is registered with Meat and livestock Australia (MLA™) and is part of the National Livestock Identification Scheme (NLIS™). We actively participate in the Ovine Brucellosis accreditation scheme as well as Market Assurance Programs (MAPs) under the National Johne’s Disease Project (NJDP).
To continuously improve our livestock, we integrate into LAMBPLAN™ and BREEDPLAN™ databases, genetically test for genomic analysis and are muscle scan with Stockscan™. We also utilise Bullcheck® (or Veterinary Bull Breeding Soundness Evaluation - VBBSE) to comprehensively test the fertility and completeness of our bulls. Calico Pastoral is working toward integration into the MateSel™ program to enable our clients with efficient selection of animals.
