Environmental

Environmental stewardship is a key priority at The Willows. Our approach focuses on building long-term sustainability through practices that enhance productivity while caring for the landscape we operate within.

Our key initiatives include:

  • Carbon sequestration through strategic tree planting and pasture management

  • Reducing emission intensity, particularly methane output per kilogram of lamb produced

  • Maintaining pasture groundcover year-round to prevent erosion and support soil health

  • Containment feeding during challenging seasons to preserve perennial pastures and groundcover

  • Utilising perennial species to reduce nutrient leaching, improve organic matter, and increase carbon storage

  • Selecting high-fertility genetics to improve efficiency — producing more kilograms of lamb per kilogram of methane emitted

  • Breeding moderate-frame ewes to optimise productivity and feed efficiency

  • Establishing carbon and methane baselines to enable accurate on-farm offsetting through sequestration

Social

Strong rural communities are the backbone of agriculture, and we’re proud to play an active role in supporting and strengthening ours.

At Willows, we look for meaningful ways to contribute — from sharing knowledge that helps improve on-farm performance, to supporting the people and organisations that make up our regional network.

We have a long-standing connection with country rugby, with our manager Dan Dowsan, along with Clare and George, all actively involved as players. We’re proud supporters of the Wallabies and long-term sponsors of local rugby, continuing a family tradition of backing the game and the community around it.

We’re also actively involved in industry education days facilitated by JM Livestock, SheepMetrix and the Gundagai Meat Processors (GMP) team. These sessions provide local prime lamb producers with valuable insights into using genetics to improve profitability, sustainability and eating quality across their enterprises.

We maintain a family-friendly workplace and a skilled, diverse team with a balance of men and women. We also regularly welcome work-experience and university placement students, offering hands-on experience in both seedstock and commercial prime lamb operations.

Governance

We believe that strong performance starts with integrity, accountability, and responsible management across all areas of the business.

We are committed to animal welfare, traceability, and transparency, ensuring that every decision made aligns with both industry standards and our own values.

Our governance focus includes:

  • Transparency — providing clear, accurate information about our animals and operations

  • Integrity in sales — a fair, honest, and client-focused approach to ram selection and service

  • Continuous improvement — welcoming feedback and adapting breeding and genetic selection in response

  • Staff training and development — investing in people to maintain best-practice operations

  • Data accuracy — ensuring the highest standards of recording, traceability, and accountability

  • Animal welfare — consistent use of pain relief at lamb marking and attentive individual animal management

  • Responsible care — rearing mismothered lambs rather than leaving them, reflecting our commitment to ethical stock management