Wrotham Park cattle station – Sam’s home – is 1.3 million acres in size. That the same size as Belgium!
Being east of the Great Dividing Mountain Range the ground is gently undulating with creeks (rivers) criss crossing the landscape. In winter (May-October) most of these will dry out completely. Dams are built in the dry season to store enough water from the wet season onwards.
The optimum ratio is 1 x cow to 60 acres. What does this tell you about the land?
The soil is very poor in this area meaning the little vegetation that grows here is not particularly nutritious. This means a very extensive farming technique is being used to raise cattle.
Suggested learning activities:
- Using an atlas, see if you can work out how many times your country fits into Wrotham Park Station – or visa versa as the case may be. Draw a map showing the relative sizes of both with the smallest drawn inside the largest of the two.
- List three main differences between intensive and extensive farming.
- Can you think of why dams would be an effective way of storing water in this area. Can you think of any disadvantages?