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