Family farming and building drought resilience on ‘Geandale Station’, Cobar NSW

Over the last 18 months, Cobar locals Simon and Laura Prince have been building drought resilience on their family farm.
The Princes bought ‘Geandale Station’ from Simon’s parents in 2022 and soon started a path of education and improvement to continue to improve the land.
“Dad worked hard over the last 30 years to develop the property, and did a really good job in establishing groundcover and perennial grasses,” Simon said.
“Through the RCS Soils and Landscape Drought Resilience Program, we’ve been able to improve our ability to manage groundcover through feed budgeting and the MaiaGrazing software.”
Laura also has valued the training and resources available.
“We had an idea of how we wanted to leave a paddock, but to be able to put those thoughts into numbers and forecast ahead for the future is great,” Ms Prince said.
“Even though we are in drought (late 2023), it’s very fulfilling to be able to look around at our animals and paddocks and see they are still in good condition.”
The Soils and Landscape Drought Resilience Program has also introduced Simon and Laura to a network of farmers willing to share their experiences.
“You think you're doing it the best way you can, but there's always someone doing it better,” Simon said.
“In such a short period we’ve been able to meet like-minded people who want to improve their land and management and learn from what they are doing.”
The Princes’ RCS mentor, Raymond Stacey, sees a strong future ahead for Simon and Laura.
“The Drought Resilient Soils and Landscape project is about supporting graziers to manage their country and businesses better,” Mr Stacey said.
“I see an operation here where they're working hard on their planning and putting their plans into action to leave their country, business and people in better shape.”
This project is supported by RCS, through funding from the Australian Government’s Future Drought Fund. Find out more about building drought resilience at www.rcsaustralia.com.au

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