Guides for new acreage owners

Your first 90 days on a new acreage

What actually needs doing, in the order to do it — from the week you get the keys.

Bushfire Attack Level (BAL), explained

What your BAL rating means, how it's worked out, and what it changes for you.

Seasonal task planning

What each season asks of a small property, and when to get ahead of it.

Setting up Acreage Guardian

Getting your property, animals and working days in so the weekly plan fits you.

Just moved onto acres with a couple of horses: the first 90 days

What to check in the first week, what to set up in the first month, and what to watch for by the end of the first season — for someone whose horses have just moved onto their own place for the first time.

Just moved onto acres with goats: the first 90 days

Fencing, water, worms, feet and the plants that hurt them — the first three months for someone who has just brought goats onto their own place.

Just moved onto acres with chooks: the first 90 days

Predators, water, heat, mites and the quiet signs of a sick bird — the first three months for someone who has just set up chickens on a new place.

Just moved onto acres with a few cattle: the first 90 days

Water, yards, ticks, tags and the plants that kill — the first three months for someone who has taken on a handful of cattle on a new place.

Just moved onto acres with sheep or alpacas: the first 90 days

Shearing, flies, feet, worms and dogs — the first three months for someone who has taken on a few sheep or alpacas on a new place.

Acres, kids, and the first pony: the first 90 days

Grass, fences, helmets and the rules that keep small people safe around a small horse — the first three months for a family that has just added a pony to a new place.

You've bought the acres. Before the animals arrive.

What to sort out in the weeks before the first animals come home — water, fencing, shelter, paperwork, a vet and a walk for poison plants — for someone who has just bought a few acres and wants animals on them.