18 September 2015

Liz Manchee, from Narrabri in New South Wales, has received a Nuffield Australia Farming Scholarship supported by Meat and Livestock Australia.

She will focus on the performance and profitability of producing ‘natural’ lotfed beef, considering genetics and traceability claims.

18 September 2015

Garry Kadwell is the epitome of the organised farmer. The seed potato grower, prime lamb producer and fodder trader operates in the challenging climate of Crookwell in the southern NSW Tablelands.

In this series where producers share their current challenges and the strategies to manage and grow their business, Garry shares how he makes the most of his 800mm annual winter/spring dominant rainfall to fill substantial feed gaps.

18 September 2015

Producers can beef up their business by matching cattle to customer specifications, rather than taking a ‘shot gun’ approach.

This is the message from Jarrod Lees, Meat Standards Australia (MSA) Producer Engagement Officer (Eating Quality), who will take South Australian producers through strategies to get the most out of their carcase feedback sheets when he speaks at two Pastoral Profit events at Craddock and Blinman on 28 and 29 September 2015.

18 September 2015

The legislation needed to implement the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement (ChAFTA) was introduced into Federal Parliament this week by Trade and Investment Minister Andrew Robb.

The agreement includes the following benefits for Australian red meat:

Lambs

Lamb consignments throughout NSW remained similar, week-on-week, for a total of 112,595 head.

New season trade weight lambs trended $9 to $10 cheaper, making from $80 to $141/head, or an average price from 536¢ to 538¢/kg cwt.

Trade weight older lambs slipped $13 to $14, ranging from $78 to $130/head and attained an average price from 469¢ to 498¢/kg cwt.

Almost all of the country received no rain this week with falls of 1-25mm restricted to the southern extremities of Victoria and Western Australia and most of Tasmania, with only light showers of up to 1mm recorded on the South Australian coastline. The Northern tablelands and south-east corner of Queensland measured similar light rain of mostly 1-5mm with isolated tops of 10-15mm, which extended to scattered showers on the Queensland coastline.

17 September 2015

The Review of MLA process for registering and determining voting entitlements was undertaken by MLA at the request of the peak industry councils to investigate the most effective way to identify levy payers and calculate voting entitlements.

This project looked at the current process for MLA member registration and AGM voting entitlements and made recommendations on how best to achieve an increased level of accuracy in identification of levy payers and transparency around this process. The project also took into account the potential for MLA to move towards an electronic voting system.

 This year Sheep Genetics Regional Forums were recorded to allow for revision and access for breeders unable to attend. There is a series of ten videos, covering all of the topics that were covered. Please feel to view at your leisure.

11 September 2015

September and October generally offer the peak pasture production period for much of southern Australia, but the true benefit of that growth is only realised when matched with the right stocking rates.

Here are some tools to help you plan for and manage that production for optimum productivity:

11 September 2015

North Coast Local Land Services Senior Livestock Officer Nathan Jennings says the four areas to consider when buying bulls are:

“Other people may change the order of importance of these factors, but this is the order I like to consider them in,” Nathan said.