IT IS easy to forget the conveniences of living close to a major town centre.

Forgetting to pick up that roll of wire or drench for the cattle is annoying and means another trip into town that afternoon or the next day.

    AT A GLANCE
  • Who: Darren and Tracey Joiner
  • What: beef
  • Why: living with isolation
  • Where: Genoa, Victoria

But it certainly wouldn't result in days or weeks of waiting, as is the case for many farmers in remote parts of East Gippsland.

It is worth sparing a thought for these families who have to drive up to 2 1/2 hours to get supplies for several weeks in advance, or otherwise have goods freighted in at extra cost.

Fuel costs have only added to the management pressure and logistical juggle.

Darren Joiner and his wife, Tracey, run a beef farm for his parents, Dawn and Max, at Genoa in far East Gippsland in Victoria.

Darren said the isolation made farming difficult.

"Our biggest issue is the remoteness," he said. "To get trucks so we can sell our cattle is hard because we are so far away and it takes them six hours to come from Bairnsdale and get back again.

"It also means our cattle for the fat markets are at least 24 hours off feed before they are sold, whereas those close to town can send stock in later in the afternoon."

Even to get the farm fertilised requires local farmers to pool together to share freight costs.

"The freight on fertiliser up here is unbelievable," Darren said.

But for all its logistical difficulties, farming at Genoa has its benefits as can be seen by the knee-high green grass when the rest of East and Central Gippsland is in dire straits season-wise.

Darren pointed out that the district rainfall was still well below its 900mm average and water levels in the Genoa River were the lowest he has seen.

In fact, rainfall in the traditionally secure region has been unpredictable for the past five years, with spring and autumn conditions varying widely.

The change in seasonal conditions, combined with rising farm costs, has resulted in a few management changes on the Joiner's farm over the past few years. The 33ha farm, mostly on the Genoa River flats, has been owned by the family since 1968.

Originally, they produced cows and calves but swung over to steer and heifer trading where they made more of a profit turning over and fattening 120 head each year.

The calves were bought from store cattle markets at Bega, in southern NSW - a two-hour drive from Genoa - and were sold at Bairnsdale prime market - a three-hour journey.

They bought European cross heifers and steers as well as Angus and black baldies, taking them on as nine-month-old weaners and selling heifers six to nine months later and steers after nine to 12 months.

They were normally grown to milk-teeth stage or 380 to 400kg plus.

Darren has always used a rotational-grazing system to maximise pasture production and efficiency and also likes to make 100 to 150 bales of silage each year, weather permitting.

Due to the tough seasons, this figure has dropped back to 70 bales for the past two years and fattening stock numbers have been reduced to 80 to 100 head.

As margins for prime cattle came back even further, the Joiners switched back to a breeding enterprise running 40 cows and selling calves to the vealer market.

"We move with the times and because we are a little operation we can adjust to what the market wants," Darren said. "We are now making more from the vealers because we have less expenses associated with buying cattle and freight in and freight out."

The breeding herd is Angus and Angus-Friesian cross and the Joiners prefer to use Charolais or Limousin bulls for superior yields.

Calves are sold as milk vealers at nine to 10 months and weigh from 380 to 450kg.

The Joiners now run less stock than they did before when trading cattle and are instead focusing on soil health.

"Having that many numbers on for all those years took a bit from the soil so now we work on resting the paddocks once calves have been sold and cows are once again ready to calve," Darren said.

"We understand it is not how many cattle you turn off but the kilos per hectare you produce.

"If the soil is nutrient poor or locked up you can't keep taking from it - you've got to unlock the nutrients."

That is what the Joiners are doing now with the help of an aerator, which they have been using for the past 12 months to improve soil structure.

The aerator also contains a seedbox and a set of chains which allows for oversowing without too much soil disturbance.

The results are already speaking for themselves.

"The water is not running off and lying in the gullies as much anymore," Darren said. "One of our paddocks used to be like rock from compaction but now it is spongy - we can't believe the difference."

The aeration process allows oxygen to penetrate the soil and fosters worm populations, beneficial bacteria and fungi, which help encourage deeper root growth and unlocks nutrients vital to healthy soils.

"We get soil tests and plant tissue tests and depending on the results, we fertilise up to three times a year and break that up so there is no leaching," he said.