Kirby

Kirby is 740 hectares of connected landscape providing a platform for sheep and cattle research.

About Kirby

Managed as a commercial sheep and cattle property, Kirby provides the research platform for genomic technologies in sheep.

The MLA Resource Flock provides phenotypic and genomic information for the sheep industry to increase the accuracy of Australian Sheep Breeding Values and accelerate genetic gain, especially in hard to measure traits such as sheep meat eating quality and methane emissions.

On-farm connectivity comprises the latest and emerging methods with the networks linked to the outside world via fibre, fixed wireless and satellite national broadband network, and the AARNet national fibre network. The SMART Farm Innovation Centre is used to evaluate and inform innovations in practice and new technologies in a working farm environment.

A collaboration with DLF Seeds (Australia) has seen approximately 100ha of Kirby sown down to high performance pastures for rotational grazing. Data on pasture growth and production, stock utilisation and productivity are being collected to inform grazing decisions and demonstrate the use of these systems in the New England region. An Optiweigh in paddock weighing system is used to monitor cattle and sheep weights in the paddock in real time.

The SMART Farms are an ideal environment for innovation in areas including: spatially-enabled livestock management; earth observation systems monitoring feed base and land use sustainability; livestock and pasture datasets, weather; and data integration to assess the effectiveness of management decisions and optimise planning of new infrastructure. Kirby provides a base for research in all of these areas but also serves as an education and outreach facility to connect researchers with students, producers, industry and the community.