I followed up Rodda Manning from Davilak to find out what the placard meant. It was a first for me to see a placard with “Carbon Footprint Assessed” on the Davilak Pastoral Co pens in the Corcoran and Parker run of the Wangaratta weaner sale. Cattle have their ‘carbon footprint assessed’
Running sheep drawing series#
We all take a breath for a week and the next series will start with Tasmania and the Mountains sales joining in as we head north. EU cattle prices ebbed and flowed but overall there is a definite benefit as a breeder in having an EU ticket on the pen. The separation of price between Angus and coloured cattle did start to show towards the later sales as orders filled. Prices settled as the sale series went on with the majority of the competition coming from NSW and Southern Queensland. To buy any numbers you consistently needed $2200 – $2500 steers and $1800 – $2300 heifers. Weaner sales: No market reports other than most calves were between 315 and 410kg.
I suppose the current market drives a not to wean mentality, “I am getting good money and not weaning them.” I haven’t done the calculation but if it is $50 or a $100 less for unweaned this year what does that look like if we have a dry season? My suggestion is continuing weaning– but do it properly and avoid weight loss. Yet over the next 15 years more breeders went down the path and started to reap the backgrounder and feedlot rewards. A lot more “bellow” in the yards at some locations. Weaning: Notable over the last couple of years at the annual weaner sales is the slip away from properly weaning calves. The importance of properly weaning calves The dust issue is a talking point at many undercover yards as I travel around and probably needs more focus on a solution - not putting heads in the sand. Undercover and soft flooring is a huge benefit for trucking cattle but if incorrect flooring is put in or allowed to become powdery, dust and health issues for the cattle and the agents in the yards increase. Avoidance of water pooling in outside pens of covered facilities needs drainage and doming pens, not scooping them out when cleaning. Saleyard conditionsĪ lot of rain fell early January which put the infrastructure of some saleyards under pressure and saw a rise in hoof issues and pink eye by the time cattle got home. There was “ enthusiasm, energy and urgency”, as my mentor and A grade sheep auctioneer, the late Gary Nowlan once said. Of all the sale centres, I attended the highlight was the Wangaratta sale with Justin Keen, Corcoran and Parker and Brett Shea, Elders, stacking the bids from a gallery of enthusiastic buyers. The art of reading the market is the difference between a good and poor performance on a hard day. Getting opening calls right is critical as it is very easy to back a sale off if continually calling under the going rate. Also nominating the buyer and final price is very important on a fast-moving day. Tips: A few younger auctioneers are trying to go too fast and the loss in clarity and diction made understanding the bid difficult. The standard of the agency sale teams at weaner sales was very good across all venues. Instead of fighting the traceability for biosecurity, utilize technology to help your sheep productivity. With the recent federal funding announced for traceability grants in agriculture, I expect a renewed push on EID for sheep from various state governments. As Rob Inglis from Elders livestock production says “supplementary feeding livestock to maintain weight gain costs a lot less than feeding to recover lost condition”. It’s just as easy to do with with sheep at lamb marking time.Īdd an in-paddock weighing system and your operation can really finetune performance. Imagine in two years’ time these cattle can be cross-referenced against the kill sheet showing what lines provided the best results. It’s so simple, as the electronic tag becomes a management system adding benefit to the enterprise all the way to slaughter. Simple answer, the operation now has baseline information that will allow the measurement of sire and pasture performance, livestock rotation management and a trend line that helps measure an operation year-on-year.
The question asked by one of his staff was: “What’s the point of weighing commercial calves/lambs at marking?” I took the time to help weigh 350 calves with a client before Christmas. Chris is Stockco’s business development manager. Chris Howie offers his perspective on market trends and opportunities in coming weeks and months, drawing from his own observations and from a wide contact network of producers, agents, processors, industry associates and leaders developed during his extensive career as a livestock agent.
0 kommentar(er)
