July 7, 2010
Hey Everybody!
It was pretty busy today; not much time between some operations we saw and when we headed out. Still, from the time we left Coffs Harbor to meet up with Lee Freeman, driving up the mountain face was fun enough (for a second time) and we went to three places with the local agronomist. The first was a full blood Wagyu operation which ran about 450 head on 2000 acres. From pictures and videos I could tell they weren't the best looking animals and seeing some up close only drove that home! Also, Lee mentioned that after they were backgrounded on pasture typically Wagyu operations then grain feed for about 400+ days...Lots of input on these guys, but it makes more sense when they sell for around $4 - $5 per kilo vs. regular beef at $1.30.
Another interesting fact is the land formation. It's so hilly and wet, with annual precipitation close to the 80 inch mark that vehicles besides the tractor, bulldozer, and other machinery to till, seed, and fertilize are not very functional. On the other hand, there was an awesome waterfall where the water for irrigation and stock water is pulled from. Anyway, that was a pretty cool place even though I wouldn't want to be the driver to pick that bunch of cows up, due to the winding roads. After that we went to a boer goat operation which were the best I've ever seen! As well as a completely family owned and operated dairy of about 145 Holstein and jersey cows. It truly stumps me (coming from home) how they manage their fields so they can jsut do a rotational schedule between their paddocks. On the dairy, the guide told us they rotate the cows about every week and that until a fortnight (approximately 21 days) has passed and they have a base of rye, legume, and maybe 2 other grasses that they mainly use. Guess it's nice when you can get 160 round bales that are around 1500 pounds of silage off of 11 acres...
Anyway after running around there we packed up and headed back to Coffs Harbor.
Catch you 'round like a rissole;!
Brogan
Well today we had another exciting day of touring around some different agriculture sites, my favorite one was a goat farm. Usually, I do not think much of goats, but after seeing the industry and its possibilities... WOW! Goats were first brought to Australia when mining towns used to be big out west, but after the miners left they just let their goats go wild. Now there are huge populations, and station owners harvest 20 million wild goats each year to help offset costs. Because of this and other reasons, the goat industry is the fastest growing industry in Australia right now. The place we went to this afternoon raised boer goats. You may think these are the goats that are raised in the states and we see in all the fairs and shows, but these are superior quality. These goats have only been in Australia for 15 years and for the last five years they have been used for the meat industry. The boer goat has attributes that make it unique. The boer goat's fetus does 80% of its growing in the last month of gestation, and after that it does 50% of its growth in the first 5 months postnatally. Additionally, goats require more roughage in their diet to stay alive. Finally, in comparison to cattle, 1 breeding cow = 10 goats when grazing on a pasture. With all this in mind it is really clear that the goat industry could be a potentially good business adventure, especially as people learn the health benefits of goat, and the flavor due to increased marbling in comparison to lamb. I look forward to seeing what the goat industry has in store for the future.
Till next time,
Chris
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Research and Angus Bull Stud
July 6, 2010
G'day Mates!
Today was an interesting day. We spent the morning at the Glen Innes Research Station. There we met the beef research head, Jason. Jason also lined up presentations from the head sheep guy, and two of the agronomists. It was really interesting to talk with all of them. We had lots of discussion with each speaker about the differences between how we run agricultural operations and why. We also learned that they don't have many invasive weeds, or very many plants that are poisonous to livestock. They also have insane stocking rates compared to what we are used to. At the station they were running a cow to every acre, which they admitted was overstocked, but not too bad.
This afternoon, we went and toured Greg Chappell's place. He runs a majority of angus, but has a few Bonsmara and Belmont Reds. The bonsmara and belmont reds really didn't do much for me. They had too much leather and were too round in the hip, but they were good in their own regards I suppose. However, he had some amazing Angus bulls. They are having a bull sale in 3 weeks, and from what we heard they usually average $5,000 to $6,000. Every bull also has EBVs (Estimated Breeding Values), the same things as our EPDs. Tonight we ate Italian pizza and stayed in the Formule 1 hotel again. Pretty good day!
Have a good one,
Jaymes
After another breakfast at trusty old McDs we headed out to a CRC (Cooperative Research Center). Orginally we were going to go out and have a look at some of the paddocks and animals... however, the weather didn't cooperate with us. So instead we had some presentations by the head of the sheep research station and some agronomists. We learned that many pastures in Australia are seeded... a practice that allows them to have a lot of grass even throughout the winter. Lunch was at an excellent little bakery with awesome meat pies! We then headed out to Shannon Vale, an Angus stud ranch. We got to look at a variety of bulls and push the vat out of several different fields! We then drove down the coast to Coffs Harbour. We stayed in Lander's favorite motel Formule 1, where Becky and I were intruded to the joys of cockroaches... in our bathroom! Fun time! Tomorrow we head out to see some more farms.
Cheers!
Jessi
G'day Mates!
Today was an interesting day. We spent the morning at the Glen Innes Research Station. There we met the beef research head, Jason. Jason also lined up presentations from the head sheep guy, and two of the agronomists. It was really interesting to talk with all of them. We had lots of discussion with each speaker about the differences between how we run agricultural operations and why. We also learned that they don't have many invasive weeds, or very many plants that are poisonous to livestock. They also have insane stocking rates compared to what we are used to. At the station they were running a cow to every acre, which they admitted was overstocked, but not too bad.
This afternoon, we went and toured Greg Chappell's place. He runs a majority of angus, but has a few Bonsmara and Belmont Reds. The bonsmara and belmont reds really didn't do much for me. They had too much leather and were too round in the hip, but they were good in their own regards I suppose. However, he had some amazing Angus bulls. They are having a bull sale in 3 weeks, and from what we heard they usually average $5,000 to $6,000. Every bull also has EBVs (Estimated Breeding Values), the same things as our EPDs. Tonight we ate Italian pizza and stayed in the Formule 1 hotel again. Pretty good day!
Have a good one,
Jaymes
After another breakfast at trusty old McDs we headed out to a CRC (Cooperative Research Center). Orginally we were going to go out and have a look at some of the paddocks and animals... however, the weather didn't cooperate with us. So instead we had some presentations by the head of the sheep research station and some agronomists. We learned that many pastures in Australia are seeded... a practice that allows them to have a lot of grass even throughout the winter. Lunch was at an excellent little bakery with awesome meat pies! We then headed out to Shannon Vale, an Angus stud ranch. We got to look at a variety of bulls and push the vat out of several different fields! We then drove down the coast to Coffs Harbour. We stayed in Lander's favorite motel Formule 1, where Becky and I were intruded to the joys of cockroaches... in our bathroom! Fun time! Tomorrow we head out to see some more farms.Cheers!
Jessi
Monday, July 5, 2010
A New Wool Sweater and a Wagyu Steak to go with it
July 5, 2010
We left Duval College in Armidale today. Our first stop was 25 km east of Armidale, to a family farm. It was amazing! They had 20,000 acres, 12,500 head of Merino ewes with a total of 20,000+ sheep on the place, and 800 head of angus cows on the side. We learned a lot about wool there! They produce wool anywhere from 13 to 17 microns, which if you knew wool that is very fine! They had two shearing barns one was 100 years old and the newest one was built in 2002. They made some improvements that made shearing easier and cleaner for everyone!
All the ewes are ultrasounded and sorted whether they have twins, a single or are dry. From there, they feed them accordingly. The ewes also all have two tags, an electronic tag & a regular tag. The regular tags are different colors depending on the range of their wool fibers. On the electronic tag, they record sires, birth weights, birthing difficulty, microns, etc.
It was all quite interesting!
More to come,
Becky
As Becky mentioned we left Armidale today to continue taking tours of the ag industry. After lunch we headed north towards Glen Innes and Rangers Valley Cattle Station. This is a 12,000 acre station/farm/feedlot operation. Gram "Grub" Mabbott gave us a tour of the feedlot section of the place. They are currently feeding 22,000 head of stears; mostly angus with some Wagyu - holstein crosses. The angus spend about 270 days on feed while some of the Wagyus spend up to 450 days on feed! They source all of their cattle from the southern part of New South Wales and don't buy any cattle from a sale yard.
Besides the cattle they have in the feedlot. They grow about 3,000 steers on pasture until they are ready to go on feed. of the 12,000 acres, they farm about 5,000 acres raising various crops including corn. This is the first station I've seen that raised corn. They are able to produce about 50% of their own corn silage. One silage pit we saw was 133 meters long and 35 wide!
Several things are different over here from how we do it in the states. The first is that they mix all feed in "batch boxes" instead of in the feed truck. This helps make feeding faster because a ration is usually waiting to be loaded whenever a truck pulls up to get it. The next thing is that it is the feedlot's responsibility to wash the cattle before they are shipped to slaughter. This is very time consuming as they can usually only wash about 120 head per day, sometimes less if they are really dirty.
Although we only met "Grub", Rangers Valley employs 42 people including millers, mechanics, pen riders, and pen cleaners. We got to climb a tower on site and got some really good pictures of the feed lot.
I could keep going into detail but then this blog would be more like a book. Tomorrow we are headed to tour a research station, another station with a bull raising operation, but you'll have to log on tomorrow to see how that went.
Wade
We left Duval College in Armidale today. Our first stop was 25 km east of Armidale, to a family farm. It was amazing! They had 20,000 acres, 12,500 head of Merino ewes with a total of 20,000+ sheep on the place, and 800 head of angus cows on the side. We learned a lot about wool there! They produce wool anywhere from 13 to 17 microns, which if you knew wool that is very fine! They had two shearing barns one was 100 years old and the newest one was built in 2002. They made some improvements that made shearing easier and cleaner for everyone!
It was all quite interesting!
More to come,
Becky
As Becky mentioned we left Armidale today to continue taking tours of the ag industry. After lunch we headed north towards Glen Innes and Rangers Valley Cattle Station. This is a 12,000 acre station/farm/feedlot operation. Gram "Grub" Mabbott gave us a tour of the feedlot section of the place. They are currently feeding 22,000 head of stears; mostly angus with some Wagyu - holstein crosses. The angus spend about 270 days on feed while some of the Wagyus spend up to 450 days on feed! They source all of their cattle from the southern part of New South Wales and don't buy any cattle from a sale yard.
Besides the cattle they have in the feedlot. They grow about 3,000 steers on pasture until they are ready to go on feed. of the 12,000 acres, they farm about 5,000 acres raising various crops including corn. This is the first station I've seen that raised corn. They are able to produce about 50% of their own corn silage. One silage pit we saw was 133 meters long and 35 wide!
Several things are different over here from how we do it in the states. The first is that they mix all feed in "batch boxes" instead of in the feed truck. This helps make feeding faster because a ration is usually waiting to be loaded whenever a truck pulls up to get it. The next thing is that it is the feedlot's responsibility to wash the cattle before they are shipped to slaughter. This is very time consuming as they can usually only wash about 120 head per day, sometimes less if they are really dirty.Although we only met "Grub", Rangers Valley employs 42 people including millers, mechanics, pen riders, and pen cleaners. We got to climb a tower on site and got some really good pictures of the feed lot.
I could keep going into detail but then this blog would be more like a book. Tomorrow we are headed to tour a research station, another station with a bull raising operation, but you'll have to log on tomorrow to see how that went.
Wade
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Wollomombi!!!
July 4, 2010
Today we went to Point Lookout and Wollomombi Falls... Breathtaking is one way to describe it, although that wouldn't get it done! The pictures we took here are worth more than a thousand words! We headed out this afternoon, after saying bye to all of our new-found friends from Murdoch and other Universities that attended the competition, which seemed like the hardest thing all week!
We spent the afternoon walking through trails and looking out across the land finding the odd plant and animal (including an echidna that was burying itself next to a tree). After seeing the waterfall, canyon, and the dog fence (constructed to help contain wild dogs and dingos) we headed back to UNE for our last night at Duval. That's when we truly felt like a bit of the trip was gone since Big, Medium, and Little Pete as well as the rest of the Murdoch crew were already most of the way home. Either way, it gave us a chance to get some laundry and long-needed rest.
Catch you 'round like a rissole'
Brogan
Happy 4th! Today we had a relaxing day compared to the last week. We started off by getting very little sleep and then it was off to say goodbye to Murdoch. The exciting part of the day was when we drove east of Armidale to look at a canyon. This place was crazy! It looked like someone took an ice cream scoop and took a scoop out of the ground. We were at one of the highest places in Australia, and the canyon dropped a third of the way to sea level. It also had a waterfall that was really tall, but I could only imagine what it would be like during the rainy season. We then walked around and found other vantage points to look at the canyon. Someone found an echidna (porcupine looking thing). It was walking around but when it say us it dug into the ground. In all the canyon was a neat stop on our journey and I look forward to what's ahead.
Chris
We spent the afternoon walking through trails and looking out across the land finding the odd plant and animal (including an echidna that was burying itself next to a tree). After seeing the waterfall, canyon, and the dog fence (constructed to help contain wild dogs and dingos) we headed back to UNE for our last night at Duval. That's when we truly felt like a bit of the trip was gone since Big, Medium, and Little Pete as well as the rest of the Murdoch crew were already most of the way home. Either way, it gave us a chance to get some laundry and long-needed rest.
Catch you 'round like a rissole'
Brogan
Happy 4th! Today we had a relaxing day compared to the last week. We started off by getting very little sleep and then it was off to say goodbye to Murdoch. The exciting part of the day was when we drove east of Armidale to look at a canyon. This place was crazy! It looked like someone took an ice cream scoop and took a scoop out of the ground. We were at one of the highest places in Australia, and the canyon dropped a third of the way to sea level. It also had a waterfall that was really tall, but I could only imagine what it would be like during the rainy season. We then walked around and found other vantage points to look at the canyon. Someone found an echidna (porcupine looking thing). It was walking around but when it say us it dug into the ground. In all the canyon was a neat stop on our journey and I look forward to what's ahead.Chris
Saturday, July 3, 2010
The Big Day!
July 3, 2010
'Ow ya going'? We're doing great here. Today was a really long day we got up at around 4 to get ready to head to the Cargill plant which was an hour long bus ride. They must not have heaters on their buses, because that was the coldest most miserable ride of my life! To make matters worse the air vent above me was broken, and cold air conditioning air blew on me the whole way. We tried to look at the positive side of the frigid bus ride... The cooler could feel warm. We were dead wrong, DEAD WRONG! Not only were the coolers colder they had huge chiller fans running. It was like being in Wyoming at ten below, with 20 mph winds and 90% humidity. It went straight to our bones! The fans had enough force that people were losing papers off their clipboards all day. They also have a lot more strict regulations down here. We had to wear masks, in order to keep from getting Q-Fever, safety glasses, and weren't allowed to wear gloves.
All in all, it was a pretty good 21st birthday! We went to banquet, Brogan and Wade got their name called a few times for individual awards. Murdoch University, the team we traveled with won, with our team in a very close second. It was a good day, and we are really enjoying ourselves. Hope you are all doing well.
Cheers,
Jaymes
Got up nice and early and headed to Tamworth for the Beef Judging part of the contest. The bus ride was the coldest bus ride I've ever experienced... Everyone down here thinks we must not be cold here because it doesn't get even close to as cold as back home, which is very true. However, as I pointed out on the bus, we believe very strongly in things like bus heat, blankets on your bed and COATS! I'm pretty sure the bus actually had the A.C. on! Anyways, we made it to the plant and had a bit of time to warm up before we headed to the chillers (Aussie talk for coolers). Two Australian girls passed out, it was so cold. Despite the cold it was one of the most enjoyable contests for me. After finishing up the contest in late afternoon, we headed back to the college, where we had our banquet dinner. We had a great meal of rib steak, mushrooms and potatoes! We were randomly seated with other students and Becky and I sat a table with some students who wanted to know what we thought about Obama! So, we got to have a good politic discussion. After dinner we had the presentation of awards. As a team we won lamb judging, reasons/questions, and retail and primal identification. Winning lamb judging was especially exciting as we have always struggled with it. Overall a pretty successful day!
Jessi
'Ow ya going'? We're doing great here. Today was a really long day we got up at around 4 to get ready to head to the Cargill plant which was an hour long bus ride. They must not have heaters on their buses, because that was the coldest most miserable ride of my life! To make matters worse the air vent above me was broken, and cold air conditioning air blew on me the whole way. We tried to look at the positive side of the frigid bus ride... The cooler could feel warm. We were dead wrong, DEAD WRONG! Not only were the coolers colder they had huge chiller fans running. It was like being in Wyoming at ten below, with 20 mph winds and 90% humidity. It went straight to our bones! The fans had enough force that people were losing papers off their clipboards all day. They also have a lot more strict regulations down here. We had to wear masks, in order to keep from getting Q-Fever, safety glasses, and weren't allowed to wear gloves.All in all, it was a pretty good 21st birthday! We went to banquet, Brogan and Wade got their name called a few times for individual awards. Murdoch University, the team we traveled with won, with our team in a very close second. It was a good day, and we are really enjoying ourselves. Hope you are all doing well.
Cheers,
Jaymes
Got up nice and early and headed to Tamworth for the Beef Judging part of the contest. The bus ride was the coldest bus ride I've ever experienced... Everyone down here thinks we must not be cold here because it doesn't get even close to as cold as back home, which is very true. However, as I pointed out on the bus, we believe very strongly in things like bus heat, blankets on your bed and COATS! I'm pretty sure the bus actually had the A.C. on! Anyways, we made it to the plant and had a bit of time to warm up before we headed to the chillers (Aussie talk for coolers). Two Australian girls passed out, it was so cold. Despite the cold it was one of the most enjoyable contests for me. After finishing up the contest in late afternoon, we headed back to the college, where we had our banquet dinner. We had a great meal of rib steak, mushrooms and potatoes! We were randomly seated with other students and Becky and I sat a table with some students who wanted to know what we thought about Obama! So, we got to have a good politic discussion. After dinner we had the presentation of awards. As a team we won lamb judging, reasons/questions, and retail and primal identification. Winning lamb judging was especially exciting as we have always struggled with it. Overall a pretty successful day!Jessi
Friday, July 2, 2010
Round One!
We woke up to a little rain today; not bad but just kind of misty all day. We listened to a few speakers this morning, attended a career fair, and then it was time to start the long awaited contest. We judged pork, lamb, and retail cuts today and so far we feel good about it. Tomorrow we finish with beef back Cargill in Tamworth.
We continue to meet and make new friends and I am finding it easier and easier to understand these Aussies; not only is the accent strong but the slang they use is hilarious. I think I need to start making a traveler's dictionary.
Wade
"How you goin'" - An Aussie Greeting
Another early morning, chilly as it has been every morning. We heard about Japanese Black Cattle or as we know it Wagyu. I found this presentation very interesting and took a lot of notes. There was also a talk given by Lander and Kelcey on Wyoming Beef and Cowboy Meat Judging. The Aussies were shocked at how cold Wyoming is and how much we practice for judging. They were surprised that we had time to spare. Then we listened to another presentation on career advice. Although it seems like we hear this information time and time again, I always seem to pick up a few extra tips each time. Next, we were off to morning tea (a regular occurance) and the career fair. There were about 7 businesses there trying to recruit young, innovative minds.
We had lunch and then off to the 1st part of the contest. While half of the group was judging the other half listened to a very interesting talk on value added products. It was mind-boggling. There is so much being done in research and development for value-added products! WOW!
Cheers!
Becky
Thursday, July 1, 2010
DINK = Double Income No Kids
More lectures and presentations today... Some good and some that weren't exactly the most exciting. The highlight was easily a man named Peter Trefort with his explanation of meeting his consumers needs by identifying their demographics. He's an older bloke who frequently cracked jokes to keep your attention. His enthusiasm rubbed off on all the students and it was easy to tell that he was passionate about the co-op he represented. Unlike yesterday, we had a speaker after dinner which was "interesting" to say the least. Other than that there isn't too much else to say besides the contest starts tomorrow!
Catch you 'round like a rissole'!
Brogan
Hey everyone!
Today we had another day of great lectures in the morning and afternoon. We heard from a representative with AACO, Australian Agricultural Company, they are Australia's oldest agricultural company formed in 1824. They manage 600,000+ head of cattle and own 1% of Australia's land mass, about equivalent to West Virginia! WOW! We also heard from Peter Trefort on the sheep processing sector and he gave us an enjoyable insight into sheep processing. After dinner we had a sobering lecture on the cattle producers prospective. It is sad to see the Australian producers struggling and now wanting to change their old practices. On the upside, it is good to see the U.S. not following in this train of thought and is continually moving forward. Now for the rest of the night we will study and get ready for the start of the contest.
Till next time,
Chris
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