A Mallee farmer says a traditional method of fencing has helped him manage the behaviour of his White Dorper sheep, reducing their penchant for knocking fences down.
David Arbon, Wynarka, with wife Margie, son Nick, and workman Isaac Loechel, run White Dorpers on their mixed 4500-hectare property Kenarka.
The property was bought about 20 years ago.
At the time, it was running Merino sheep, but Mr Arbon struggled with managing innocent weed, which covered about 50 per cent of the property.
He chose to run White Dorpers to avoid this problem. He said the breed also required less handling than Merinos.
The White Dorper ewes were bought from NSW station country more than 10 years ago by stock agent Chris Muenster, Karoonda.
He last bought Dorper rams from Edsons Red Rock Dorper stud at Keith.
Cyclone fencing with steel droppers was the common form of fencing on the property when it was bought.
But the Dorpers kept knocking the fences down as they tried rub off their wool.
Mr Arbon introduced barbed wire to his fencing to deter the sheep.
A single barbed wire mounted on a offset bracket was run along fences still in good condition.
Barbed wire run through timber posts has been erected in new or replacement fencing.
Mr Arbon said the wire had made a difference and he found himself not having to fix fences as often.
“The sheep have learned rubbing against the barbs is painful,” Mr Arbon said.
“They have learned to respect the fence.”
He also found treated pine timber posts were more resilient than steel droppers in the property’s sandy soils.
Mr Arbon has also installed cocky gates on some of the paddocks, made with cyclone fencing, steel posts and threaded rod.
He said this design meant the gates could be re-tensioned easily if the sheep tried to knock the gates down.
Besides sheep, Mr Arbon grows a variety of crops, including lupins, canola, barley and wheat.
