Third generation organic beef and lamb pastoralist Ellen Litchfield knows ‘boom and bust’ seasons are a fact of life on Wilpoorinna Station.
But climate change poses a threat to her future on the station, south of Marree, in the state’s far north.
Bureau of Meteorology data confirms the rainfall is becoming more variable and there have also been many more days above 45 degrees during summer months.
Dr Litchfield was recently awarded a 2019 Nuffield scholarship, supported by Westpac, to investigate how red meat producers in arid and semi-arid areas can best meet these production challenges.
“Climate change is not defined by a few dry years, as we expect that because of where we live, but the consistent trends identified by climate scientists of increasing climatic variability,” she said.
“I hope to identify techniques to allow us to be resilient to these changes and ensure that we are not negatively impacting the natural resources we rely on.”
Her travels will take her to Sub-Saharan Africa, which has a similar climate to northern SA, to look at their grazing strategies.
Dr Litchfield – a qualified veterinarian – made the move back to Wilpoorinna about 18 months ago to help run the property with her parents Gordon and Lyn.
Her fiancee Blake Ward lives on the station and helps in his time off from the Olympic Dam mine.
Wilpoorinna, which was first taken up by the Litchfields in the 1970s, is part of the Litchfield Pastoral Company, with Peter and Janine Litchfield at Mundowdna and Ellen’s brother Adam and wife Kate Litchfield at Mt Lyndhurst.
Across the three properties they run about 5000 cattle, mainly Angus but also Senepols for their heat tolerance. They also run about 10,000 Dorpers.
The majority of their organic beef and lamb is sold to Thomas Foods International.
In 2017, Wilpoorinna Station had 152 millimetres, of which 77m fell in January, but this year the Litchfields have had 37mm.
“We have still got a lot of dry feed and we have still got water but all the dams are drying up and we will only have one dam left if it doesn’t rain by summer,” she said.
“We are putting our younger cattle into the feedlots earlier and at the second round of mustering we will need to offload more.”
Dr Litchfield says pastoral areas are a natural fit for organic certification, which they gained nearly a decade ago.
“A lot of work has been looking at the different nutritional composition of grassfed beef versus grainfed and the grassfed result is really promising for the stations around us,” she said.
Marree Nuffield scholar to explore sustainable future for red meat
Improved on-farm transparency is the key to maintaining consumer confidence in red meat production, according to 2019 Nuffield scholar Ellen Litchfield.
“We must address the growing disconnect between consumers and producers and ensure they can trace it from the supermarket or butcher back to the paddock,” she said.
Her travels will take her to the United States, which she says is at the forefront of this, as well as Brazil and New Zealand looking at best practice production for organic beef and lamb.
Dr Litchfield also wants to gather more information on the amount of carbon sequestration in extensive rangeland systems, which she hopes to link with the Australian Beef Industry Sustainability Framework.
“We might find that we are producing a product which is not having the environmental footprint some thought it could be with perennial plants capable of storing plenty of carbon compared to crops.”
“At the same time we need to be taking a holistic approach and match our stocking (rates) with the seasons.”
Last month’s Nuffield conference in Melbourne was a fantastic experience for Dr Litchfield, meeting the alumni of innovative producers and the 2019 scholars – including three others from SA.
Dr Litchfield says she realised that they were all facing similar issues.
“Ensuring sustainability within the supply chain is not unique to only one agricultural industry,” she said.
“If we are to increase food production to feed nine billion people by 2030 we will have to become better at what we do but also change some consumer ideologies.”