The Sheep Producer Welcome

Peter Sommerville
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The Sheep Producer Newsletter June 2015
The Sheep Producer
a quarterly newsletter from your peak sheep industry bodies
Photo by Barb Woolford
Welcome
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Welcome to the June edition of our joint newsletter.
In this edition we discuss a range of issues that impact on-farm
productivity and profitability, including:
•
Study showing the dollar value of on-farm health conditions
•
Messages from both Presidents, Jeff Murray on the SISP and Richard
Halliday on animal activism
•
Ewe nutrition and lamb survival
•
The 'Farm Trespass'Bill
•
Articles on Footrot, including information on a new strain specific
vaccination approach
•
Systems improving carcase feedback
•
Ag Vet Chemicals update
•
NLIS update
We'll also hear from Directors and include a feature on a young achiever.
There are also links to video, extension information and full text of
articles.
We are planning for the next newsletter months in advance,
and welcome your input and request for content: click here
What is the dollar value of health
conditions on-farm?
MLA have recently released a comprehensive report into priority
conditions and diseases for the red meat industries. The economic
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impact of birth-related conditions for sheep are considerable – over five
hundred and million dollars annually in losses for the national flock,
having a huge impact on sheep numbers.
Significant investment is going into mitigating the risk of neo -natal
mortality, and as the report points out, it is unrealistic to prevent every
single death but changing some management practices will improve
survival rates. Industry is investing in programs and extension to
address these losses and some are outlined below in this
newsletter. Click here for the report
The report is detailed - it shows the major conditions and their cost
impact per sheep (the report also includes beef cattle).
WPA President's Message
Richard Halliday
The wool industry has been in the sights of animal activist groups again
recently and there is much talk about industry needing to be on ‘the
front foot’.
It is frustrating when the hard work that livestock producers conduct day
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in day out to ensure the wellbeing of their animals is criticised by people
who know very little about livestock, the practices that are undertaken
and the reasons why they must be done.
Looking at social media and speaking to producers, there is a lot of
frustration and anger over these constant, ill-informed campaigns. It’s
hard not to seem defensive when we know that the vast majority of wool
growers and their employees do the right thing. Sometimes even the
right thing can be cast in a bad light given current technology and
worldwide connectivity.
There are two separate issues that activists capitalise on – the first being
people doing the wrong thing and not respecting the livestock they are in
charge of. The second is about the husbandry practices we perform to
maintain and promote the health and welfare of sheep. More discussion
here.
Lifetime Ewe
Management
(LTEM)
photo: Mardi Remond
LTEM is a course that has been
SCA and WPA highly recommend
developed to assist producers whose
producers being involved in this
goal is to improve productivity. Sheep
program which was developed by
producers learn to best match the
producers for producers.
energy requirements of animals with
pasture production and
LTEM has been delivered to about
supplementary feeding to maximise
2,000 producers managing about 7.6
production and animal welfare.
million breeding ewes or almost 20%
of the National ewe flock between
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LTEM looks at the management of
2006/07 and 2013/14.
ewes, their reproduction, nutrition,
condition scoring and stocking
LTEM participants improved the
rates. The program runs over two
number of lambs weaned per hectare
breeding cycles, generally starting
by 30%. This was achieved through a
around weaning, and lends much of
15% increase in ewe stocking rate, a
its success to the fact it is held in
50% reduction ewe mortality and a
small groups, is hands-on and run
15% increase in weaning.
under the guidance of a skilled local
facilitator.
More information here, including
course details
If you have an i-Phone you can go to the app store and
download the LTEM app at no cost
Click here to watch a short video of producers talking about LTEM,
with more lambs on the ground and healthier ewes
Young Talent - Kayla Kopp & Friends
Story by Kayla Kopp
Put four country girls together, set them a challenge and what you get
is winners. Charles Sturt University students demonstrated the future
of the sheep and wool industry is in good hands by taking out the team
event at the National Merino Challenge recently held in Adelaide.
Charles Sturt University took 22 students to Adelaide recently to
compete in the National Merino Challenge to showcase their talents in
the Merino and wool industry. Students trained prior to the challenge in
order to boost their knowledge, with some students prior to training
having never worked with Merino sheep but all willing to learn and
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engage with people in the industry.
The winning team of Kayla Kopp, Peak Hill; Nyssa Belton-Liddy,
Koonoomoo; Brooke Cowan, Blayney and Zoe Lynch, Cooma
demonstrated that understanding sheep and wool proved to be a winning
tool. Nyssa was also awarded third overall in the tertiary section and top
performer in the wool section. Read on here.
L-R Nyssa Belton-Liddy, Brooke Cowan, Kayla Kopp & Zoe Lynch
'Farm Trespass Bill'
Submissions to the Inquiry on Chris Back's Animal Protection Bill
Debate between animal activists and the livestock sector continued
recently as Senator Chris Back’s private member’s Bill was debated in the
Senate Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport Legislation Committee
inquiry into the Criminal Code Amendment (Animal Protection) Bill
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2015.
Both WoolProducers and Sheepmeat Council made submissions to the
Inquiry supporting the intents and purposes of the Bill. Early reporting
of the acts of cruelty which were shown in an online video last year
could have prevented much of the cruelty shown. Using footage for
political purposes does not allow the sheep industries to act in good faith,
or allow the relevant authorities to assess the evidence and charge
individuals if appropriate to the state laws under which the acts were
committed. Full story here
Strain specific
vaccination for
Footrot
A new targeted, strain-specific vaccine
against footrot should be available
before the end of 2015 that has
already been extensively trialled by
plan to maximise the chances of
the University of Sydney, with
eradication.
excellent results. This vaccine will be
used to assist in eradication without
A maximum of two strains can be
the need to cull the whole flock.
included in the vaccine at a time. If
more than two strains of footrot are
There are numerous strains of footrot
identified on a particular farm, a
and not every property has the same
further round of vaccination is
strain. Therefore the first step is for
required. However, there is generally
testing to take place whereby
a marked decrease in the prevalence
individual strains on the property are
and severity of footrot after even one
identified. This is done via a number
round of vaccination, irrespective of
of swabs from active cases of footrot
whether total eradication of footrot is
being sent to a laboratory for analysis
achieved at that time or not.
and the vaccine is then customised to
the strain or strains on your
For further information about testing
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property. Two doses of vaccine are
procedures or supply of vaccine
given, a month apart and used in
contact 02 9674 1488 or email here
conjunction with a biosecurity and
management
Profile Jim McKenzie
Jim has been involved in the sheep
and wool industries all his life. He
became actively involved in AgForce
after moving to Cunnamulla in 2001
with his wife Trish and children, Amy,
Sally and Ben. James was elected to
the Sheep and Wool board of AgForce
in 2006 to represent the South West
and appointed to WPA executive in
Jim McKenzie, Vice President WPA
September 2010.
Photo: Dave Robinson
Ewe nutrition
critical to lamb
survival
Birth weight and the first 48 hours of
a lamb's life are critical for survival,
as is ewe nutrition in the preceding
90 days.
The use of pregnancy scanning can
3. Pregnancy scanning to manage
allow producers to more effectively
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manage nutritional requirements for
nutrition requirements
single or multiple pregnancy ewes,
particularly in the last six weeks of
4. Paddock allocation and mob size for
pregnancy.
lambing to reduce losses from
exposure and mis-mothering
Work from the 'Making More from
Sheep' and 'Lifetime Ewe
5. Time of lambing to match feed
Management' programs has identified
supply, weather conditions, target
a number of key tips for lifting lamb
markets and labour resources
survival rates:
1. Proactive management of ewe
condition score
Click here for 'Making More From
Sheep - Wean More Lambs'
2. Tight joining period of six weeks or
less to assist with tailoring nutrition
for the entire mob
SCA President's Message
Jeff Murray, SCA President
Over the past two months I have had a number of opportunities to meet
with producers in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and my home
state of Western Australia. It has been a great chance to hear from more
producers about the issues that are affecting their businesses. There is
great excitement in the industry about continued growing demand for
Australian lamb and mutton. However, there are a number of challenges
the industry must address if it is to remain profitable and competitive.
Current SCA Priorities include:
•
Progressing trade agreements, including the Trans Pacific Partnership
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and with emerging markets such as India.
•
Supporting a strong live sheep export industry through improving
market access in the Middle East, North Africa and other markets.
SCA is supporting work to strengthen quality assurance programs,
which operate across the livestock export supply chain.
•
Improving SCA’s producer representation, including working with our
members and the National Farmers’ Federation to develop a more
effective farmer representation model.
•
Improving feedback to producers, including abattoir monitoring
through the Livestock Data Link pilot project, to improve on-farm
profitability (see article below).
For more information click here
Improving Abattoir Feedback to Sheep Producers
Two new industry initiatives will provide producers with valuable
feedback to assist them make informed decisions about on-farm animal
health management and meeting market specifications.
A new electronic carcase feedback system has been launched by Meat &
Livestock Australia (MLA), which has the potential to save Australian
sheep producers millions of dollars each year.
MLA’s Livestock Data Link (LDL) program links slaughter data from the
NLIS and Meat Standards Australia (MSA) databases with analytical
tools and benchmarking reports for producers.
LDL will work in conjunction with the Livestock Production Conditions
(LPC), which was developed by Animal Health Australia in conjunction
with SCA and WPA. The LPC is aimed at reducing the financial impacts
of endemic diseases and other production conditions on farm and supply
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chain productivity in Australia.
For more detail on these projects click here
Improving access to AgVetChemicals
SCA and WPA are currently working with the Federal Government, levy
service providers and animal health companies to help improve access to
agricultural chemicals and veterinary medicines (agvet chemicals). Read
more
Priority chemicals and issues include the following:
•
Securing an Export Slaughter Interval (ESI) for pain relief products
•
Gaining access to new nematode drench products
•
Gaining access to a strain specific footrot vaccine
Profile Mark Murphy runs ‘Karbullah Poll
Mark Murphy
Merino Stud’ north of Goondiwindi,
with his wife Vicki. Mark joined the
AgForce Sheep & Wool Board in 2008
SCA Director
and became of Director of Sheepmeat
Council in 2010.
Mark and Vicki run a program
breeding Merinos that have a dual
purpose, with strong emphasis on
carcase, wool and survivability
characteristics.
Mark is very passionate about the
sheep and wool industry, and he takes
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this passion to the national stage by
representing AgForce on the
Sheepmeat Council of Australia.
NLIS Update
Livestock traceability is a critical component of market access with the
NLIS helping to underpin Australia’s reputation as a reliable producer of
safe and high quality product.
While the current system provides traceability for food safety and
prepares Australia for cases of disease investigation, the sheep industry is
always looking for improvements.
SCA and WPA are currently working with government and industry
stakeholders to investigate options for improving the current visual mobbased system.
SCA and WPA support the voluntary use of electronic identification
devices (EID), recognising the potential benefits of that EID may provide
some enterprises as a management tool. The decision to implement EID
on-farm is a business decision for individual producers.
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'Pastoral Profit' - MLA and AWI have developed 'Pastoral Profit' a
new initiative with resources and tools to assist producers in
pastoral zones. Next webinar is the 14th July.
Click here for more
information.
Footrot Across the States
Virulent footrot left uncontrolled can have a terrible impact on your flock
and in NSW, WA, Victoria and SA it is a notifiable disease meaning it
must be reported to the relevant Department.
Depending on the state and its own Department of Agriculture policies,
programs either aim to control (SA, WA) or eradicate (NSW) footrot. In
Tasmania, it is not notifiable and no control programs are in place. Some
states quarantine, others do not. From looking at just this small snippet
of information about footrot, the national management of footrot and
potential trade between states is full of complications.
As part of the Livestock Production Conditions Project there is a
specialist group that consists of grower representatives and state
department reps looking at footrot from a national level to see if some
consistency can be negotiated. WPA and SCA recommend that when you
buy stock either from interstate or locally that you request a Sheep
Health Statement
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