“The complete agricultural driveline solution”Trust only Bondioli & Pavesi and Bima for

a division of Norwood AgricultureFACTORY 3, 16-20 DINGLEY AVE., DANDENONG 3175PH. (03) 9794 5889 FAX (03) 9794 0272Email: bypy@bypy.com.au Web: www.bypy.com.auFor emergency A/H service call (03) 9794 5889

Call the professionals today for on the spot service, genuine parts and advice

b/05d04432-v8/31-11

Proudly supporting the farming

community since 1950

JUNE, 2013 486 Whitehorse Road, Surrey Hills, 3127Published since 1986

South Central andWest Gippsland

HARVESTDELIGHT PAGES 8-9

FARM TREES AND FORESTRY PAGES 18-19

Drums unMusteredLack of interest in vital recycling program frustrates consultant

VEGETABLE growers across much of the state are failing to recycle agvet chemical drums in any meaningful way, according to drumMuster’s northern Victorian consultant, John Knight.

Based at Quambatook, he manned a stand for the organisation over the two days of the recent National Vegetable Expo at Werribee, where he was disappointed in the lack of interaction he had with vegetable growers.

He said just a trickle of growers visited his stand, a strong indication of the poor agvet container recycling rate in the Werribee area.

Mr Knight said only 47 farmers around Werribee had recycled drums at the Wyndham City Council recy-cling centre,in the past 13 years.

In that time, just 5598 drums had been returned.

In comparison, Mr Knight said broadacre cropping areas had enthu-siastically engaged with drumMus-ter, to the extent the scheme had to date picked up 21.5 million returned drums at 762 sites nationwide.

“There has been a marked surge in returns in broadacre cropping areas because of the dry start to the cropping year,” he said.

At the end of last year, drum-Muster celebrated the recycling of its 20 millionth drum.

The situation is not the same with all vegetable growers in other states.

For example, at Bundaberg, Queensland, an area notable for vegetable growing, Peter Radel, known as the Dump Rat, has col-lected 151,000 used containers and 45,000 this year alone on behalf of drumMuster.

Mr Knight said if Werribee area growers were not recycling their containers, he could only assume they were burning, storing or bury-ing them.

“In an increasingly urban area – the Vegetable Expo will move to a new site in two years because this year’s site is earmarked for housing – that is pretty unfriendly behavior,” he said.

An unrelated published comment by northern NSW drumMuster consultant Phil Tucker suggests that Werribee growers might be operat-ing in a time warp.

Mr Tucker said in the early days of working for drumMuster at fi eld days, “people would walk down the rows and look at drumMuster sideways; they didn’t want anything to do with it”.

Mr Knight said other Victorian vegetable growing areas were simi-lar to Werribee.

“For example farmers east of Melbourne and Wangaratta are also poor returners of used agvet containers,” he said.

However, throughout the broada-cre cropping areas west of Wanga-ratta, return rates are excellent.

By DAVID PALMER

WAGYU ISWAY TO GODAVID Blackmore’s Wagyu herd at Alexandra is producing what could be the best beef in the world. Mr Blackmore has a long history in work-ing with the breed and believes in sticking with traditional Japanese style rations and Japanese Wagyu traditions.

See full feature storyon pages 6-7

Continued page 2

FEEDSAFEFEATURE PAGES 15-17

NEWSPage 2, Southern Farmer June, 2013

JANUARY SPECIAL

T/05

D05

753-

V2/

02-1

3

Only $28,990 Drive away

John Deere 4105 Compact Tractor & 300CX Loader “lifestyle package”

· 40.5HP diesel engine· Hydrostatic transmission· 4 wheel drive· 3 point linkage and rear PTO· Quick detach loader with 1550mm wide bucket & grille guard

f/04d04054-v3/32.12

TM

s

Eezee Shelters & StablesPh: 9449 5777. Fax: 9449 5788

Mob: 0407 545 927

www.eezeesheltersandstables.com.au

Carports, Floats, Boats, Caravans, Trucks, Stock, anything.

t/04d04075-v4/36-12

CIRCULATIONSAUDIT BOARD

cab

Level 1, Suite 103,486 Whitehorse Road,Surrey Hills, North VIC 3127Phone (03) 9888 4822Fax (03) 9888 4840Postal Address: PO Box 1523,Surrey Hills North, Vic 3127Email: sfarmer@nenews.com.au

Managing EditorJournalistAdvertising ManagerAdvertising

Livestock Co-ordinatorAccounts/Distribution

Hartley Higgins

David RizzoliPeter Brown

Rod BerrymanDavid Palmer

Cathy JohnsonThe Southern Farmer is published by Hartley Higgins for Reliance Press, a division of North East Newspapers Pty Ltd ACN 006 238 277 and is printed at 37 Rowan Street, Wangaratta, 3677.© 2012The Southern Farmer takes all care in compiling specification, prices and details but cannot accept responsibility for any errors. All prices are correct at time of printing and are subject to change without notice.No material, artwork or photos may be reproduced without the written permission of the publishers.Letters to the editor may be shortened because of space considerations. Every effort is made to preserve the context of letters.

Print Post PP 3259990028

A RELIANCE PRESS PUBLICATIONCovering Central South Victoria and West Gippsland

One reason for the perceived low return rate, according to Russell Dodemaide at rural sup-pliers EE Muir and Sons, Werribee South, was that sales of agricultural chemicals to local grow-ers, was often in fi ve and 10 litre containers, rather than the more common 20 litre containers sold in broadacre cropping areas.

However, he was un-able to guess how many agvet containers the company sold in the area in a year.

Another factor for the

seemingly poor return rate, might be the fact that the Diggers Hall Road drumMuster receival site at Werribee South, is only open from 1 to 3pm on the fi rst Wednesday of every month.

However, Mr Knight said drumMuster paid clubs and other voluntary organisations, 25c a drum for every drum they col-lected and suggested that might be an opportunity in the Werribee area.

DrumMuster collec-tion sites and the drums collected there can be seen at www.drummus-ter.com.au.

Drums ‘need mustering for environment’

From page 1

weareonline!________www.nenews.com.au

THE Victorian Gov-e r n m e n t h a s t a ke n the first step towards streamlining the state’s onerous and complex rules on clearing native vegetation.

“The reforms released recently are crucial in streamlining regulations that stifle farm produc-tivity and fail to protect high quality native vege-tation,” Victorian Farm-ers Federation president Peter Tuohey said.

“It means the major-ity of applications to clear native vegetation will follow a simplified pathway that allows landholders to clear

lower-value vegetation in return for protect-ing other vegetation or revegetating other land.

“It takes decision-making for low impact clearing out of the hands of local council officers or regional departmental bureaucrats , who’ve failed to consistently apply the rules,” Mr Tuohey said.

The Department of Environment and Pri-mary Industr ies has released maps showing most properties’ veg-etation can be cleared through obtaining a permit using a simplified online tool.

In most areas farmers will be able to clear less than 0.5ha of bushland or up to 14 trees using the simplified tool.

The tool allows farm-ers to calculate how they can protect remnant vegetation or revegetate areas of their land to offset the impact of clearing other vegeta-tion that hinders on-farm productivity.

“It’ll cut down on the need to employ expen-sive consultants to do this work, as you can do the assessment yourself using this online tool,” Mr Tuohey said.

The reforms also cre-

ate much greater flex-ibility around offsetting, which should facilitate a more effective offset market, and reduce com-pliance costs.

However, VFF Land Management committee chairman, Gerald Leach, said that farmers would not be able to use this new online tool until it was released in Sep-tember.

“We’re keen to see just how this will work on farm, given it has to be practical and cost ef-fective,” Mr Leach said of the matter.

“If this works then it will help farm produc-

tivity and protect high-value native vegetation.”

Local councils will have to adopt this simpli-fied process.

“But we’re concerned local councils could erode the value of the new rules by maintaining or extending planning overlays,” he said.

“Instead of rationalis-ing these overlays to pro-tect high-value vegetation, we’re seeing councils such as Colac-Otway looking to extend and strengthen environmental overlays without any thought for the impact on farmers and their local economies,” Mr Leach said.

Water expo wins praise

In brief

THE Water Technology Cluster Irrigation Expo was held in Shepparton recently, in which technology demonstrations and industry speakers provided updates on best practice.

The event won praise from Minister for Water, Agriculture and Food Security, Peter Walsh, who opened the annual two-day expo.

He praised the many proactive businesses and farmers.

on native clearingReforms provide greater

for farms

Bike actionis welcome

Letters to the Editor

VICTORIANS understand all too well how farm deaths and injuries can devastate families, livelihoods and entire communities.

With farmers making up just 3 per cent of the nation’s workforce, it is particularly worrying that recent research by Safe Work Australia shows they account for one-in-six of all Australian workplace deaths.

The research, compiled over an eight-year period, showed vehicles, including quad bikes and tractors, were involved in nearly three quarters of work-related fatalities on farms and three quarters of all quad bike deaths

were caused by rollovers.As a fi rm that

regularly acts for people injured in farming accidents, Slater & Gordon has been one of many voices calling for mandatory crush protection devices for quad bikes.

It is positive to see regulators now working with manufacturers and industry to address the issue, and equally positive Safe Work Australia has identifi ed the agriculture sector as a priority in its national workplace safety strategy.

For too long it has been accepted that farms are dangerous work environments and it is time for this to change.

Dan McGladeSlater & Gordon

Lawyers, Melbourne

Mill a boost for industryA NEW stockfeed

mill at Pakenham will produce more than 180,000t of feed every year.

Officially opened in mid May by Agricul-ture and Food Security Minister, Peter Walsh, he said the $12.8 mil-lion mill demonstrated Ridley AgriProducts’ confidence in the sus-tainable growth of Gippsland, in particu-lar the dairy, beef and sheep sectors.

“Last year the Gipp-sland dairy industry produced 22 per cent of the nation’s milk, or more than 2.1 billion

litres,” Mr Walsh said.“Gippsland also has

a significant grazing and meat processing industry based pre-dominantly on beef, but also wool and prime lamb produc-tion.

“For 25 years Rid-ley AgriProducts has played a key role in the growth of these industries and this million dollar invest-ment makes a positive statement about the region’s future.”

For more on stock-feed milling see our feature pages from 14 to 16.

NEWSJune, 2013 Southern Farmer, Page 3

t/05d

0547

2-v1

3/23

-13

www.agpower.com.au

Phone: (03) 9739 5006465 Maroondah Hwy, Lilydale VIC 3140

GEOFF LONG0439 109 866

MICHAEL CARLISLE 0400 422 950

3% FinanceConditions apply

3 Year

Warranty

T h e A g r i c u l t u r a l M a c h i n e r y S p e c i a l i s t

T h e A g r i c u l t u r a l M a c h i n e r y S p e c i a l i s t

T/04D04061-V5/19-13

*Offer ends 30/06/13 or earlier if stocks run out.Not valid with any other offer. Excludes fleet clients.

t/05d06095-v2/23-13

9739 5006$7,495 RIDE AWAY

SAVE $1000*465 Maroondah Highway, Lilydale 3140

ON Friday, May 10, the Old Drouin Butter Factory theatre was packed for the premiere of Gippsland Is Precious, a 20-minute documentary looking at the potential impact coal seam gas mining and fracking could have on Gippsland.

With all seats taken, latecomers were forced to sit on the fl oor for a glimpse of the independent documen-tary by Melbourne producer Pennie Brown.

The fi lm was launched by South Gippsland Shire mayor Kieran Kennedy, who said that experimental gas-mining was “one of the biggest threats to our region” and that locals should ensure their MPs were representing community concerns.

Representatives from CSG Free groups across Gippsland made the trek to Drouin for the special night, while a contingent from the community of Bacchus Marsh, which is fi ghting plans for an open cut coal mine in their market-garden town, drove three hours to see the fi lm.

The fabulous 120-year-old building looked stunning for the event – volunteers spent a day getting the thea-tre ready for the big night - and received support from

Disasters ‘dampen optimism’FLOOD, fires and

drought have curbed the confi dence of Gippsland dairy farmers over the past 12 months, according to a national annual survey.

Dairy Australia’s 2013 National Dairy Farmer Survey found 44 per cent of Gippsland respondents were positive, compared to 71 per cent last year.

Season-to-date regional milk production levels are down 6.5 per cent at the end of March 2013.

Dairy Australia senior analyst, Norm Repacholi, said: “A very wet winter and spring across south and west Gippsland resulted in increased use of fodder reserves and a signifi cantly reduced level of fodder harvest.”

“After this, overly wet conditions through winter and early spring, there was a steep-change to a dry summer, as well as bushfi res affecting some farms,” he said.

Despite the challenges of the weather, he said land values for Gippsland dairies had risen.

“Analysis of land valu-ation data compiled by the Victorian DPI as part of the Farm Monitor project suggests that values in Gippsland have increased by 4 per cent,” he said.

A moderate increase in farm business liabilities of $330,000 over the last six years has increased the cost structure and cash

flow pressure of many businesses.

Mr Repacholi noted a total of 54 per cent classed their operations as ‘expand-ing’ or ‘steady - where I want to be’.

He added there had been a 17 per cent increase in the number of respondents planning to lift output since last year’s survey.

For the Dairy 2013: Situ-ation and Outlook Report, visit www.dairyaustralia.com.au.

Mining impact fi lm premieres

local businesses to decorate the interior.

A striking red-carpet led the way to the theatre (do-nated by Benesse Carpets), while fl owers and plants (donated by the Drouin Nursery) added to the am-bience.

“The fi lm really brings the risks home to Gippsland,” said Wendy Davis from the CSG Free Poowong group, who saw the fi lm for the fi rst time at the premiere.

“It shows us just how devastating the industry has been to farmers and com-munities in Queensland and NSW and how important it is that we protect Gippsland and all of Victoria.”

The fi lm received a warm reception from the audience.

DVDs went on sale after the showing, and audience

members were urged to copy the fi lm and distribute it among friends and family.

“This documentary has no copyright,” said Ursula Alquier from the Lock the Gate Alliance.

“We want as many people to see it as possible.”

There has also been a new facebook page created at Gippsland Is Precious.

The video can be viewed online at http://vimeo.com/65780303.

To find out how you can help the campaign, or to get a copy of the DVD, contact Ursula at csgfree-poowong@hotmail.com or 0499 991 324.

For more information on experimental gas-mining, go to www.quitcoal.org.au/helplockthegate or www.lockthegate.org.au.

CAPTIVATED: The sell-out audience views the film.

NEWSPage 4, Southern Farmer June, 2013

DELLAVEDOVAFERTILISER SERVICES

SOIL AND PLANTTISSUE TESTING

Best prices and advice, large or small

E/0

4d04

303-

V2/

06-1

3

FERTILISER SUPPLY AND SPREADING SPECIALISTS “Prescription blends.

GPS Variable ApplicationRates available for all

fertilisers using accreditedspreading equipment”

Maryborough 5461 2888Shane 0427 349 088, Barry 0438 349 077

Ballarat 5338 1522Dean 0418 525 587

* Super * Lime * Gypsum* Bulk * Bagged * Spread

t/04d04315-v4/14-13

R.P. MOTORS PTY.LTDServicing

vegie

growers for

more than

40 years

t/04d03938/w

k01-12

Ph:1300 685 243Environmentally clean and

friendly recycled products.

Almond Hull is an ideal alternative cattle feed. Delivered is $128 per tonne plus GST.

Ground almond hull 10mm is ideal for composting at $150 per tonne delivered plus GST.

Pine mulch 20mm contaminant free is ideal for animal husbandry. Minimum 100 metre load

Pine chip available.

20MM HARDWOOD PRODUCT

IDEAL FOR CALVING PADS AND DAIRY CATTLE

WALKWAYS.This product has many

farming uses.A variety of coloured recycled timber mulches available. Delivery costs upon enquiry.

J/05D06200/23-13

Informative app release

In brief

LAST year APVMA released a world-first agvet mobile app, which makes information about agricultural and veterinary chemicals registered in Australia instantly accessible to people on the move.

Now it’s released an updated version, which includes access to the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority permits database.

With this new module incorporated, users can now find complete information about registered chemicals and permit approvals.

Simply visit the App Store and search for ‘APVMA’.

WITH more than 50 static exhibitors and 11 seed companies growing and showing their wares, the National Vegetable Expo marked its 50th year at Werribee early last month with record crowds.

The weather was fi ne and there were crowds of at

least 500 people each day, for the two-day, biennial occasion, mounted by the Vegetable Growers As-sociation of Victoria Inc.

VGA executive man-ager, Helena Whitman, said those fi gures were up a couple of hundred people a day on the previous event.

Victorian president, David Wallace, welcomed MPs Neale Burgess and Tim Pallas, and Wynd-ham City Council mayor Heather Marcus.

Winner of the best growing plot was Ter-ranova Seeds and the run-ner up was Lefroy Valley

with WHS given a special mention too.

Best trade display was mounted by Lepping-ton and Berwick Speedy Seedlings, which had tens of thousands of vegeta-ble seedlings, occupying every centimetre of stand display space.

MUSTER: drumMUSTER’s John Knight shows a newly released plastic housing stump, now made from recycled chemical containers.

SUSTAINABLE: DEPI irrigation officers Melly Parnd-har and Julio Vargas were promoting sustainable farming practices in the Werribee area.

Show sews seeds for top produceCrowds out in force for popular biennial event

Superior Ag Imports and Sales’ Danny and Leanne Goegan flank Shayne Os-wald Shipping Consultants’ business development manager John Dilena. Mr Goegan has more than 30 year’s expe-rience on a Werribee South vegetable farm and branched out into importing European equipment including this Caffini sprayer.

POWER: Industrial Hydraulic Ser-vices’ Hilton Ford and Will de Fegely travelled from their base in Port Melbourne to show this new 7600 series Massey Ferguson tractor to expo visitors.

NEWSJune, 2013 Southern Farmer, Page 5

ISEKI

TG5470

47hp, 12

speed,

4WD

tractor

I.H.S. MACHINERY SALES, MELBOURNE

Ph: 9645 1522, Mob: 0448 309 365

371-391 Plummer Street, Port Melbourne. t/04d

04279-v6/23-13

END OF

YEAR STOCK

RUN OUT

$24,6

50 in

c gst

While s

tock l

asts.

TG SERIES | 33hp – 60hp* 2 YEARWARRANTY

2 YEARWARRANTY

FREEtrailer with

selected

Ride Ons

The RedGum ChipperShredder quickly chips tree branches (up to 3” or 75mm) into valuable garden mulch Powered by a Commercial HONDA GX200 OHV engine. 3 Year NationwideHonda Warranty on engine.

HONDA powered log splitter! With 3000psi splitting force, horizontal and vertical splitting, powered by a Genuine HONDA GX200 engine & swing jockey! 2 Year Warranty on splitter and 3 Year Nationwide Honda Warranty on engine!

WAS $1649 NOW ONLY $1399WINTER SPECIAL $1199

RRP $2899 NOW $2199* (SAVE $700)

Be more productive, save time and effort, purchase a HONDA powered REDGUM product today

T/04D04401-V

6/23-13

(Save $700)$1149Save $250

Mower & Ride On SuperstoresPhone 1300 136 572

www.TheRedShed.com.au

THE Cranbourne Ph: 5998 4154Cheltenham Ph: 9584 5911Dandenong Ph: 9794 8121 Mitcham Ph: 9872 3132 Bunyip Ph: 5629 5199

RRPRRP $2899NOW $2199*

BONUS

Splitter

CoverFOR THESE & OTHER GREAT DEALS RUSH INTO

MZ28ZT 28Hp 61” CutRRP $11,299 SPECIAL $8,999 SAVE $2,300

EZ24T 24Hp 48” CutRRP $7,998 SPECIAL $5,999* SAVE $1999

Zero Turns

RRP $1399

*Now includes a FREE Splitter cover and $97.50 Work Table.

*Must mention Southern Farmer advert to get this extremely low price

It’s hard to go past the GX200 Honda powered splitter! With 3000psi splitting force, horizontal & vertical splitting, swing jockey! 2 Year Splitter Warranty 3 Years Honda engine warranty.

WITHFREE

CHAINSAW

Chainsaw SaleBuy a quality Husqvarna 236 chainsaw for just $249!was $399 save $150

This means you can buy a 20HP Fully Automatic LTH2038r Husqvarna with BONUS Bumper Bar and Hour Metre For just $138 per month!

Ride On Mower SaleRide On Mowers

With 2 YEARS INTEREST FREE

Just

$138 per month

‘FREE Husqvarna 236 Chainsaw with EVERY RedGum Splitter purchased this month!’

Husqvarna LT19538 Ride On Mower

Was $2999

$2299

Powered by a 19.5Hp Husqvarna Endurance Engine and with a 38” cutting deck.

On Special while stocks last

Husqvarna Winter Warm Up Deals

Simply purchase a selected Husqvarna chainsaw to receive your FREE $79 Chainsaw Carry case. Also receive up to $150 value

to spend in-store at the time of purchase.’

‘Crown dealers offer the best product selection you can find, plus comprehensive knowledge of Husqvarna products and top-quality service’

FREE $79 Chainsaw Carry Case AND up to $150 to spend in-store!

ONLY

3 LEFT

WINTER WARM UP DEALS

t/05d06079-v2/23-13

TWITTER can bring enormous benefi ts to any-one supplying restaurants, because executive chefs use it extensively to talk about how they are using different food products.

Paul Crock, a director of Gippsland Natural Meats, told a sustainability forum at Marcus Oldham Col-lege at Geelong in April that one of the chefs who use GNM products informed him of the exten-sive way chefs use Twitter.

“If you are an executive chef and you want to talk to another executive chef, you don’t have time to sit there and phone him,” he said.

“But you can usually say something in 140 characters and fl ick it and they do it all the time.

“Chefs, too, will take a photo of what they are cooking and Tweet that.”

Mr Crock said that by following all those Tweet-ing chefs, all of a sudden you have a free introduc-tion to them, because they get sent an email saying ‘Paul Crock of Gippsland Natural Meats is now fol-lowing you’.

“Then they might say ‘I’ve never heard of them (GNM) because my whole-saler would never offer me Gippsland Natural Meats’.

“Then you can use that to the betterment of the brand.”

At another new level, iPhones and QR codes are proving useful, too, in pro-moting brand awareness.

“We are very keen to put QR codes onto all our farmers’ meat, so when a piece of beef lands in a restaurant, a chef can use his smart phone to scan the QR code and up will come the story of where that beef is from,” he said.

“By working on that now, we are trying to

Twitter tops for branding

By DAVID PALMER

NATURAL MEAT: Paul Crock spoke about farm sustainability.

harness that technology to really get our point directly across to either the person cooking the meal, or to the consumer in a butcher shop,” he said.

But Mr Crock said Facebook makes him metaphorically break out in hives, because someone else can put something derogatory on your page.

NEWSPage 6, Southern Farmer June, 2013

Leaf, Twig & Stick Rake.For Ride on Mowers

ClClCllClClClCC eaeaaeaeaeae nnnnn n upupppupupupup ttttthohoohohoh seseeseses AAAAAututtututu ummmumumu nnnn leeaavvees reaaddyy for WiWiWiWiWiWiWiWiWiWiWiWiWiWiWi tttttntntntntntntntntntnteerererererererererer1800 819 493 sales@stumpmansales.com

www.stumpmansales.com

j/05d05799-v5/19-13

CONCRETE PRODUCTSFarming, Industrial and Domestic

Concrete Tanks & Troughs. Cattle

ramps, grids, troughs. Industrial interceptors, silt

traps, stormwater pits. Domestic

septics, treatment plants, pump wells,

distribution pits.

STATEWIDE CONCRETE PRODUCTS22 Kanowna St, Hastings 3915.

Ph.(03) 5979 3349. Fax (03) 5979 1504

Formerly Munckhof Concrete Products

Email: statewideconcreteproducts@ozemail.com.auwww.statewideconcreteproducts.com.au

B/04d

04096/23-12

In Business 30 years

MEDIAINDEPENDENT & AUSTRALIAN OWNED

DON’T MISS A THINGIN YOUR INDUSTRYsubscribe today:

or(08) 8369 9522

j/05d05713/40-12

AUSTRALASIAN FARMERS’ & DEALERS’ JOURNAL

Now farmers can readAustralasia’s leading farmdealers and productsmagazine

Simply go towww.afdj.com.au

For subscriptionscall Cathy on (03) 9888 4822

AUSTRALASIAN FARMERS’& DEALERS’ JOURNAL

ON LINE

t/04

d04

258/

40-1

2

WHITTLESEA PRODUCE

FREE DELIVERY

Page 4 Soilless Australia Vol 1/13 Autumn Register Online Now PCA National Conference July 28-31 2013Page 14 Soilless Australia Volume 24/ 2012 Summer

12th Biennial Conference

“Solutions For Sustainable Growth”A CONFERENCE FOR HYDROPONIC

& GREENHOUSE GROWERS

j/05d

0603

0/14

-13

July 28-31 2013Pullman Melbourne Albert Park

Contact Rick Donnan & Rosemary Viggersph (02) 4567 7685 fax (02) 8569 1064

pcaconference@westnet.com.auwww.protectedcroppingaustralia.com/event

weareonline!

________www.nenews.com.au

Guru in Wagyu swears byBy DAVID PALMER

IN Australia David Blackmore’s full blood Wagyu herd on Goulburn River fl ats at Alexandra is one of the few in the country, concentrating on producing what is probably the best beef in the world.

Most full blood Wagyu breeders are supplying bulls in the traditional stud sense and Mr Blackmore said the Wagyu he is breed-ing probably wouldn’t suit breeders selling bulls to Angus breeders.

“We’re probably the only ones using traditional Japanese style rations and chasing all the Japanese Wagyu traditions and heritage,” he said.

That dedication has resulted in Blackmore Wagyu Beef being sold to 14 countries including the US, Canada, Singapore, China, Thailand, Hong Kong, the United Arab Emirates and now the EU to the tune of about 55 carcases a month.

They will have the capacity to send up to 80 carcases a month to the EU by the end of the year, but don’t aim to exceed that.

At its Austrian head-quarters restaurant next month, Red Bull will feature Blackmore beef, cooked by a famous chef.

A fi fth generation farm-er from Mount Gambier in 1988, Mr Blackmore came across a purebred Wagyu herd at the Texas A&M University in the US, which had been built up from four bulls the Japanese sent there for research in 1976.

He reckoned there was a future in doing something with them.

“Then I heard about some purebred females leaving Japan for America

and I raced to the US and was able to exclusively obtain semen and embryos from them, even before the Americans got them.”

Wagyu cattle were only regularly exported from Japan to the US between 1992 and 1996.

Then the door slammed shut, as the result of re-criminations, about why the Japanese were export-ing their unique genetics.

Mr Blackmore said that luckily the genet-ics exported in that time pretty well represented all Japan’s major bloodlines.

Now the Blackmores have stopped selling their genetics because they are so much more advanced than what they started with from Japan.

“We’ve been quite suc-cessful increasing size and putting robustness and milk into them, without losing meat quality.

“We’re still working on it but we’ve been making some nice headway.

“I’d love to go back to Japan and get some more semen, but they’re not going to allow it,” he said.

Until about a year ago, Blackmore Wagyu beef were fi nished for 600 days in a feedlot.

Then with an eye on ani-mal welfare issues and at a cost of a couple of million dollars, the Blackmores fenced off the Goulburn River and its lagoons at Alexandra and established dozens of fi ve-acre (2ha) paddocks with feed bunks and shade.

Also, they planted about 5000 native trees.

Now the farm fi nishes 25 to 30 cattle in each 2ha paddock, mostly eating a special feed mix.

They are turned off at 33 months of age.

“We have done this because we believe our customers want us to do

SUPERIOR GENETICS: David Blackmore has spent the last quarter century fine tuning the production of top quality Wagyu beef from his Alexandra farm and elsewhere. Recently, by moving feeder cattle from a feedlot to these 2ha paddocks on the Goulburn River, he has boosted weight gains by more than 25 per cent.

it and from an animal welfare point of view, we think we should be right at the top end.

“But I’m not knocking feedlots,” Mr Blackmore said.

That means there are about 1200 cattle on the 370 acre (150ha) property on feed at any time and another 300 or so weaners on irrigated paddocks.

The payoff for moving to paddock-based fi nish-ing has been enormous, because daily weight gains have increased by about 25 per cent, under the more amenable conditions.

“We always hoped to get 0.8kg liveweight gain per day in the feedlot but never did,” he said.

“But a lot of our cattle now are doing 1.1kg/day on pasture, although the younger cattle are doing better than that: 1.2 to 1.3kg/day.”

With a much more expansive grass-based environment, health is-sues now are negligible and there are no bacterial or viral infections which are much more likely in a feedlot.

The Blackmores join females at 18 to 20 months, or about 400kg, so they can get quite a bit of body weight on them before joining.

They start inseminating 60 days after calving with only stragglers served naturally.

Calving continues year round, except for six weeks over the summer holidays, to give staff a break.

Mr Blackmore said Wagyus were much more diffi cult to raise than tra-ditional European breeds.

One of the big problems with the breed is lack of milk in the females and if they happen to calve under feed stress, they won’t do a good job of raising their calves,” he said.

“They fall away very quickly on poor feed and when they do, milk drops off fast and there is trouble with the calf.”

He said that in real-ity, they need dairy herd management techniques rather than beef.

At the time of Southern Farmer’s visit, 70 females had practically fi nished

calving to inseminations of sexed male semen, with 100 per cent male calves at foot.

Mr Blackmore said while the exercise of using male semen was more expensive, on bodyweight alone, male Wagyu calves were worth about $600 a head more to the business than females.

“On the other hand, meat from females is considered in Japan to be less coarse and therefore more tender,” he said.

By using sexed semen, conception rates can suf-fer, although fresh semen collected at Camperdown was used in the Blackmore cattle and rates were quite acceptable.

Currently, the Blackmore enterprise produces 1000 calves a year via embryo transfer.

Mr Blackmore’s involve-ment with embryo transfer programs dates back to 1979, when he was a pioneer of the technique in South Australia with vet Kim Heath – “the father of Aus-tralian embryo transfers” - who still works with Mr Blackmore.

Continued page 7

NEWSJune, 2013 Southern Farmer, Page 7

86 – 145 hp

I.H.S. MACHINERY SALES, MELBOURNE

Ph: 9645 1522

Hilton 0448 309 365

371-391 Plummer Street, Port Melbourne.

t/04d04291-v3/10-13

5400 Z10 Series The perfect bonnet shape for your new

front end loader tractor. Available

from 80hp - 110hpSuperb power-to-weight ratio for responsive performance

Outstanding technology delivers advanced manoeuvrability Unique styling for enhanced visibility on challenging terrain

New design delivers exceptional ground clearance

MASSEY FERGUSON

SUBSCRIBE TODAY AND HAVE

Mailed to you in 201The Southern Farmer dominates Central South

Victoria and West Gippsland.12 issues per year $48.20 (GST included)

Name, Mr, Mrs, Miss, Ms ..............................................................Address .......................................................................................................................... Postcode .................Phone ............................ Payment by ChequeI enclose my cheque for $A ....................................payable to:RELIANCE PRESSPayment by CREDIT CARDPlease charge my Mastercard VisaCardholders Name ......................................................................Card No .........................................................................................Signed ............................................ Expiry Date ...........................

Published by: Reliance PressSuite 103, 486 Whitehorse Road, Surrey Hill 3127

PO Box 1523, Surrey Hills North 3127Ph: (03) 9888 4822 Fax: (03) 9888 4840

ABN 65 006 238 277

t/04d03556/sfw

k-01

Tractor Implement Specialists

16 Cahill Street, Dandenong South, 3175 Phone: 03 9706 5166 www.farmimplements.com.au

* Excludes Mini Range and Trailing Pasture Topper

Pendulum Spreaders

Spinner Spreaders

Post Hole Digger

Flail Mulchers

Cement Mixer

Twin Spin Spreaders

Pasture Toppers & Multi Head Rotary Cutters

Kanga Rotary

Cutters come with

HOT DIPPED

GALVANISED decks*

Independently reviewed and

approved compliant with

the OH&S Industry Safety

Standard for Slashers

Grader BladesRotary Hoes

Kanga Rotary Cuttersa clear clean cut above

t/05

d05

996/

10-1

3

In briefJapan traditions, heritageCalves are weaned at

six months and come onto Italian ryegrass in winter and, as soon as that is ensiled in spring, irrigated millet and Hunter brassica is sown.

For the fi rst 100 days they eat a weaner ration, so they learn to eat out of a bunk and their stomach bacteria adjust to hard feed.

From nine to 12 months they remain on pasture but then get fed a back-grounder ration to achieve a weight of 330 to 350kg.

They then go onto a grower ration to take them to about 550kg to grow them as big as possible without fattening them, Mr Blackmore said.

A fi nisher ration is the fi nal dietary change and again it is mixed so that animals grow maximum muscle without fattening.

The Alexandra property is the fi nishing base for an operation which runs more than 3000 full blood Wagyu cattle, of which about 1200 are breeders, on more than 5000 acres (2000ha).

Most of the country is leased, with about 3500 acres (1500ha) running 500 to 600 cows and

calves north of Melbourne on Donnybrook Road adjacent to the Hume Freeway and about 2000 acres (800ha) around Alexandra.

There are fi ve outside staff and an offi ce manager running the operation.

Son Ben does all their overseas marketing and daughter Danielle is the IT expert, writing software to handle comprehensive progeny test and carcase data they collect.

He said present focus was on determining the genetics involved in in-creasing weight of each cut.

“If I can put an extra kilo-gram onto our strip loins and cube rolls – four kilograms per animal – that would be worth an extra $600 a head to us,” he said.

Mr Blackmore said he had only missed one kill in 15 years and that was when there were bushfi res at Alexandra three years ago and he couldn’t get off the farm.

“We have carcase data for 15 years so we know which bloodlines work,” he said.

Ultimately, he’d like to have every carcase weigh-ing 500kg plus.

“We have our marbling right but we’re still building on carcase weight.

HILL VIEW: Nearly half of the 150ha on the Goulburn River flats are irrigated.

“Our heaviest carcase has been 618kg, which is an animal going in at more than 1000kg, but that was probably too big.

“We like to think we could be consistently taking cattle out of here at 850kg,” he said.

It costs about $2000 a head to get them to that weight.

O’Connors at Pakenham kill and dissect all Black-more cattle.

But the Blackmore kills

are very different to the company’s run of the mill cattle kills, because the chain is slowed right down to produce far more cuts of meat.

Mr Blackmore said; “Most abattoirs do 12 cuts, we do 32.

“As well, the cooling down process is different because at 33 months of age, these are big carcases and they have to be cooled quickly without burning,” he said.

Ben did a business de-gree at Monash and then wanted to return to the farm.

But Mr Blackmore told him “all you can learn is what I know and that is how to produce good carcases, but I don’t know what to do with them after that”.

So Ben worked for two Japanese meat companies for about four years, to become a qualifi ed meat grader, and can knowled-gably talk beef to custom-ers at all levels.

INITIAL RATION: Weaners graze irrigated Hunter brassica at the front of the farm.

From page 6

NEWSPage 8, Southern Farmer June, 2013

*Conditions apply. See website for details. The colour ORANGE is a trademark of Tyreright.

Major credit cards accepted. Participating stores only.Fleet management & Govt. vehicles welcome.

Mon-Fri: 8:00am - 5:00pm | Sat: 8:00am - 12noon

tractor & farm tyre specialists

available for truck, tractor, earthmoving, industrial & forklift tyres

truck tyre roadside service

large range of batteries

Call into any anytime for a FREE car safety check and enjoy a FREE

FREE

Tyre repairs, advice and tips for all vehicles – in store or on farm.

254 Marine Pde, Hastings

t/05d06184/23-13

By DAVID PALMER

PHILOSOPHER: Andrew Mahoney has a well developed, low chemical impact grape production philosophy.

SOUTHERN Farmer happened to visit the Leura Park Estate at Curlewis east of Geelong on the Bellarine Peninsula on May 1, the day it ended a three-month long harvest period of its chardonnay, pinot noir, pinot gris, sau-vignon blanc, viognier and shiraz grapes.

Vineyard manager An-drew Mahoney said it had been a beautifully long ripening season, produc-ing good fl avors with only the shiraz dragging the chain a little in achieving the right levels and fl avors.

“However things have gone rather well,” he said.

The estate machine har-vests its entry level wines, just so it can get the wine on the market, $3 to $5 a bottle cheaper.

However, all premium label wines are hand har-vested, which allows the winemakers to make the wines more complex, Mr Mahoney said.

In other words, it is much easier to segregate grapes from special areas of the vineyard by hand picking, to give wine makers more options to achieve complex and spe-

cial fl avors in the winery.Grapes harvested else-

where on the Peninsula, are often snipped by hand too, simply to avoid the expense of moving the harvester to relatively small areas.

Typical cool climate Bellarine Peninsula grape producers, Leura Estate’s main vineyard, about halfway along the main road between Geelong and Portarlington, has 20ha of vine varieties mentioned above, between 15 and 18 years old.

At another site, they harvest shiraz and viog-nier and at Jack Rabbit, an associated vineyard and restaurant further on towards Portarlington, they have cabernet and pinot noir.

Mr Mahoney said it had been a good year for grape fl avors and for the vineyards as far as man-agement pressure went. He said that with some varietals, vines were still getting back into optimum balance post drought.

“That may sound silly, but vines are on a fi ve year cycle; if drought knocks a vine about this year, it takes fi ve years for it to get itself back into good balance.

‘Grape going’ as harvest brings

“There’ll be a 60 per cent recovery the next year, 80 per cent the fol-lowing year and about 95 per cent the year after that.”

Mr Mahoney said the vineyard did not advertise itself as organic, but their philosophy is one of using minimal complex chemis-try on vines and trying to use old world products.

“We combine that with

good soil care and struc-ture, to create good bal-ance from the depths of the soil, to the tops of the vines.

“We regularly win med-als for our wines but it is a team effort – the owners, the winemakers, myself and staff in the vineyard - because they are not just my decisions.”

The vineyard has an in-tegrated pest management

program, which monitors populations of insects and then minimises chemicals they use to control pests.

“You can use a lot of control agents to control light brown apple moth, that are not chemically based; micro organisms stop the moths from breed-ing,” he said.

“But this past season in-volved relatively low numbers of insect pest infestations.

“One that did appear was grape vine moth which was around all season.

“However, we decided not to use any sprays on them and allow the moths to defoliate small patches of vines and complete their life cycle there.

“So it’s been a case of letting nature do its thing and we have seen many more crows hanging round

as a result.“But if the moths come

back again next year, we might just have to consider addressing them chemi-cally, but we’ll wait and see what next year brings,” he said.

Soil in the vineyard, as it is on much of the Peninsula, is up to a metre of sandy loam over deep red clay.

NEWSJune, 2013 Southern Farmer, Page 9

DARMAC AG SALES & SERVICE249-251 Monbulk road, Silvan Ph. 9737 9255

www.darmacag.com.ausales@darmacag.com.au

MASSEY FERGUSONISEKI TG5470 47hp

Tractor and Loader

$30,500 (inc gst)

Massey Ferguson

GC1715 24.5hp

Tractor and Mower Deck

$17,500 (inc gst)

1 only

at

this p

rice

B/05d05855-v4/14-13

NO BOUNDARIES

TRADE FROM ANYWHERE IN THE

WORLD

Trading may bring you flexibility in your life, allow you to spend more time with your family and do the things that are important to you. At TradersCircle we are passionate about trading and have developed a program

that can help you achieve your goals.

We provide you with: Training from a professional trader

On-going support every step of the way

Access to all the tools and resources you need

Becoming a successful trader requires commitment and we believe that providing the right education is the

starting point.

Want to learn to trade with confidence?Register your details and receive a BONUS STOCK MARKET VIDEO COURSE, go to:

Standard Text Message Charges Apply

TradersCircle Pty Ltd - ABN 65 120 660 497 is a corporate authorised representative of OzFinancial Pty Ltd - AFSL 241 041

www.TradersCircle.com.au/sf

SMS your name, phone and email to 0427 777 761

F/05d06072/19.13

SINCE 2005, TradersCircle has been a leading options trading educator in Australia.

People want to be traders for many reasons.

However, the company says beginning trading with-out expert support and a complete understanding of the market could mean wasted time or money.

TradersCircle provides education programs and a range of resources to help beginners and experi-enced traders understand themarket.

Its education programs are thorough and focus on building hands-on capa-bilities.

By understanding how to trade live in the market, TradersCircle gives trad-ers the tools they need to approach the stock market with confi dence.

Carlo Castellano, a pro-fessional trader who runs one of the busiest options trading desks in Australia, delivers its education pro-grams and is recognised as one of the country’s leading stock market educators.

Apprentice traders learn the strategies he uses and

his systematic trading plan helps pick market directions.

A personal trainer sup-ports traders while they are learning and they then have access to all the tools and information they need in one location.

There is then ongoing insight and advice from a team of professionals and access to a range of tools and resources which are released regularly.

Bob O who was a mem-ber of TradersCircle’s Trad-ing Mastery Program in 2012 said; “I have attended many programs and Carlo’s program surpassed them all.

“He is a great motivator and pushed me in the right direction,” he said.

“In my experience Trad-ersCircle’s support during and after the program sur-passes all of their competi-tors.”

Courses are designed to benefi t complete begin-ners and those with trading experience, who are serious about becoming successful traders.

More information at www.traderscircle.com.au/sf, or send an SMS to 0427 777 767.

Support ‘great way to save time, cash’

good flavorsThe vineyard buys com-

post from Pinegrow at Wer-ribee to boost organic matter across the vines.

Mr Mahoney said they had looked at making their own compost, but decided there was not enough raw material to justify specialised machinery for it.

“We only have about 20t of mark from the pressings and we combine that with straw, using a tractor to stir it,” he said.

The vineyard uses an aerator between the rows to relieve compaction from tractors running up and down rows and to help get compost into the soil.

For weed control, a fl ock

of sheep were set free in the vineyards the day picking fi nished.

Mr Mahoney was one of four boys brought up on a mixed farm at Mansfi eld and as there wasn’t enough farm for the four, he moved on to other things and developed a passion for grapes.

“Part of that is experienc-ing the end result of what you grow, through relating directly to consumers, be it their enjoyment or criticism of the wine,” he said.

“The Sharps, owners Lyndsay and David Sharp, were happy to take on my philosophy of balance and vine nutrition to achieve fl avor and quality, so I was lucky there.

“However, the previous owner sold his grapes off the farm to a separate wine maker so didn’t have the feedback Leura Park now has.”

Leura Park now pro-duces vintage off its own vineyards, buying in a small amount of grapes in some years to keep up with volume demand.

Traditionally Leura Park has taken on trainees to have staff who are comfortable with its philosophies.

Mr Mahoney said “in the wine industry, if you want to fi nd out about something you don’t ask fi ve people because you will get fi ve different answers”.

Mr Mahoney has been at Leura for fi ve vintages.

MULTI-TASKER: Jack Rabbit wine maker Lyall Con-don communicates impressions he is making on fruits of the 2013 harvest.

Hotline for growers

In brief

AUSVEG has launched, 1800 Agronomist, a hotline for vegetable growers, which will be introduced on a national basis.

AUSVEG spokes-person, Andrew White, said the hotline would provide unparallelled access to technical agronomy information.

“This is a unique and innovative initiative for the Australian vegetable industry, that will be particularly useful for those growers who cannot afford to employ a full-time technical agronomist, or are unable to easily access technical information relevant to their circumstances, due to the remoteness of their farms,” he said.

“Growers will be provided with up-to-date information relevant to their circumstances and may also be guided to the industry’s Knowledge Management R&D database located on the AUSVEG website, for additional information,” he said.

EARLY SPRING: Last season vines breaking their winter dormancy.

NEWSPage 10, Southern Farmer June, 2013t/05d

05716-v8/23-13

EFFLUENT pumps handling livestock waste are susceptible to chokes when oversized, fibrous material gets flushed into them.

One solution is to install a cutter to chop waste material and prevent clog-ging.

Tsurumi Pump, a world leader in submersible pump development, has produced a range of cutter pumps, called the C series, designed to handle such waste.

“Tsurumi’s break-through cutter impeller chops through sewage, rawhide, plastic, alumin-ium and other materials in seconds,” said Aussie Pumps product manager Craig Bridgement.

“We’ve seen coke cans, wallets and various un-mentionables handled by these extraordinary pumps,” he said.

The C series incorpo-rates a large, open channel impeller, with a cutter mechanism.

A sintered, tungsten, carbide alloy tip is brazed on the impeller vane.

As the impeller rotates, the vane slices against the serrated edge of the suction cover, chopping fibrous matter into small

fragments that will not clog.

The three phase heavy duty pumps range from 50mm bore to 100mm.

The largest pump in the range has a capacity of 2750 litres per minute and a maximum head of 26m.

S e a r c h ‘ T s u r u m i C Series’ on YouTube for a video that shows the pump’s cutting ability.

“It’s amazing to watch what these unique pumps do; you’ll never believe it until you see it,” Mr Bridgement said.

“The demo even shows the pump swallowing nylon rope.

“Conventional sub-mersible pumps choke on fibrous materials like rope or cord; the Tsurumi cutter makes mincemeat out of it,” he said.

Like all Tsurumi sub-mersible pumps, the C series includes features that extend the life and enhance reliability.

Significant design de-tails make a big difference.

They include an anti-wicking cable entry that prevents water from enter-ing the motor, if the power lead is damaged or nicked.

A double silicon car-bide seal is standard on all models.

C-series chops up clog worries

SLICING VANE: Mr Bridgement explains the efficient cutter mechanism on the Tsurumi C-series pump to Phoebe Michaels.

Both seal surfaces are submerged in an oil chamber, away from the pumped liquid, thus ensuring lubrication and protection against ingress of foreign materials.

The mechanical seal

design features a patented Tsurumi oil lifter that increases seal longevity.

The lifter ensures both the upper and lower seals are lubricated and cooled, even if the oil level in the chamber is low.

“These features virtu-ally knock out the big-gest failure points on any submersible pump,” Mr Bridgement said.

“Better products, low-er operating costs and Tsurumi’s total qual-

ity philosophy, makes this product particularly suited to piggery waste management systems,” he said.

For more information, visit www.aussiepumps.com.au.

TOM Scanlan and his Tyreright crew at Hastings, formerly Hastings Tyre Service, has been looking after Mornington Peninsula farmers for more than 35 years.

“We have two mobile service trucks and fitters to service any tyre,” he said.

“We offer prompt, efficient, courteous service at competitive rates and can supply any tyre from those on ride-on mowers, to the largest of earthmoving tyres fitted for example to dump trucks and wheel loaders.”

For solid forklift tyres Tyreright has a mobile press truck to press forklift tyres on farm or in a distant workshop or factory.

Roadside truck tyre repairs are no problem either.

For usually the fastest service, though, those needing tyres should go to Tyreright Hastings’ large, modern workshop, which has all the latest tyre fitting and balancing equipment.

Also, there is an undercover truck bay to fit two B doubles side by side.

Right on for tyres

HERBICIDE

®

THISTLE-KILLEM® 750 ®

With pastures facing constant threats from pests, disease and weeds, farmers know they can turn to the Crop Care range of pasture products to tackle any problem.

Contact your local Crop Care distributor for further information: Customer service Australia-wide: 1800 111 454 Fax: (07) 3909 2010 www.cropcare.com.au

Home of the Range.

If your pasture is littered with Capeweed and Paterson’s Curse, it’s time to give them the Big “A”.Agtryne® MA provides powerful, effi cient control of a range of broadleaf weeds, including Capeweed and Paterson’s Curse. In no time your pastures (and your returns) will be back to A1. Agtryne® MA from Crop Care – it really makes the grade in pastures.

Agtryne is a registered trademark of Crop Care Australasia Pty Ltd. ACN 061 362 347

Give Capeweed and Paterson’s Curse the big ‘A’.

HERBICIDE

®

Winter Warmth

0418 371 995 JOHN CUNNINGHAM

HIGH IN PROTEIN AND ENERGY AVAILABLE IN TANKER LOADS 1000 LITRE IBCs GRAINS ALSO AVAILABLE WATER CARTAGE AVAILABLE

D I S T I L L E D C O N D E N S E D S Y R U P

PO BOX 365 PAKENHAM VIC, 3810cunno2@bigpond.com

GIPPSLAND LIQUID FEED

SUITABLE FOR ALL ANIMALS

B/04d

04425/06-12

MODERN DESIGN, EFFICIENT, RELIABLEWe have used our three generations of experience to design one the most efficient, environmentally

friendly wood heater ranges in Australia.

$849 $1499 $1899

$1399 $1799

DEALERS AUSTRALIA WIDELot 1 Melbourne CresSeymour, Vic, 3660

Phone: 03 5792 2388

www.scandiastoves.com.au

B/04d

04461/19-13

IN mid May, the Dairy Futures Cooperative Re-search Centre (CRC) was recognised for innovative work that has the potential to deliver more than $100 million in value to the Aus-tralian dairy industry over the next 12 years.

The Awards for Excel-lence in Innovation are conducted annually by the Cooperative Research Centres Association, with the aim of recognising outstanding examples of the transfer of CRC research results, knowledge and technologies to end-users.

Dairy Futures CRC re-ceived its award for a mas-sive research and industry collaboration, which has transformed dairy cattle breeding in Australia by making genomic technol-ogy routinely and reliably available to dairy farmers.

As a result of this work, dairy farmers can now rap-idly use cutting edge genet-ics to improve the value of their herds, through much earlier and more reliable breeding selection decisions

than have yet been possible.Dairy Futures CRC’s

work was one of the largest cattle genotyping projects undertaken anywhere in the world, bringing to-gether thousands of dairy farmers, as well as breed societies, industry service businesses, governments, industry investors and re-search providers.

Dairy farmers make bull-selection decisions based on published Australian Breed-ing Values (ABVs).

Dairy Futures CRC’s work culminated in the incorporation of genomic information in the published ABVs for the Holstein and Jersey breeds in April 2012 and August 2012 respec-tively – the key dairy breeds in Australia.

As a result, genomic in-formation can now be used in assessment of more than 90 per cent of dairy sires in Australia.

More than one million in-dividual dairy cow records, were scrutinised using ad-vanced computer technol-ogy, in order to select the

14,000 cows whose DNA would be extracted from tail hair samples contributed by dairy farmers who took part in the projects.

Dairy Futures CRC’s CEO David Nation said the award recognised a compel-ling story about innovation delivering value, for one of Australia’s major industries.

“The value of this work is giving dairy farmers more powerful tools to speed up genetic gains in their herds – making their herds more valuable, more quickly,” he said.

“Farmers who want to select breeding sires for important traits like fertility and longevity can now do so with much more confi dence.

“They can assess the merit of a young bull as a breeding sire, before that animal has sired any prog-eny at all, bringing forward the available genetic gains by as much as four years.

“We are already seeing young genomic sires popu-lating the upper levels of the Australian Profi t Ranking (APR) tables.

“In the April 2013 ABVs, 57 of the top 100 sires were young genomic sires, rather than mature bulls who have been ‘prov-en’ by their adult progeny.

“This impact shows how quickly the dairy industry has embraced genomic technology, and gives us confi dence that the pro-jected economic value of $100 million over 12 years is likely to be realised.”

Dr Nation said the work represented a whole of industry effort involving dairy farmers, genetics companies, herd improve-ment companies, breed societies, the Australian Dairy Herd Improvement Scheme.

“The CRC and its pre-decessor have brought together the entire dairy supply chain to deliver a major advance in dairy cattle breeding,” Mr Na-tion said.

“This groundbreaking work is now breeding cows that will build a more profi table dairy industry in Australia.”

BUILDING a fi re pit using Adbri Masonry’s Miniwall blocks is an easy DIY project and a keen favorite with home renovators.

Adbri Masonry and its ambassador Jason Hodges said fire pits were becoming popular as homeowners sought to use outdoor space more often and more ef-fectively.

“Fire pits are nature’s TV,” Mr Hodges said.

“They are a great focal and gathering point in a yard and can be used year round.

“We are continuing to see trends where home-owners are extending their livable areas through the creation of clever out-door rooms, which show off their personalities and styles and allow their families to take advantage of our wonderful year-round sunny Australian climate.”

He said homeowners wanted more out of their outdoor spaces.

“They want them to be an extension of their

Building blocks for creating sizzling hot outdoor furniture

ACCESSIBLE HEAT: Miniwall blocks slot together without mortar to make a durable fire pit.

internal living areas and be available both day and night,” said Adbri Ma-sonry marketing manager Karl Wood.

“We recently exhibited our Miniwall and its use in fi re pit construction at the Better Homes and Gardens LIVE Mel-bourne and had fantastic feedback from those at-tending.”

Building a fi re pit us-ing Miniwall components

is straight forward, Mr Wood said.

They stack together without mortar or glue, almost like kids’ building blocks and there are no issues with fumes.

The blocks are available in a variety of colors, no-tably charcoal, which will reduce visible soot marks.

Miniwall blocks are also available with spe-cialty capping to provide a clean fi nish.

Genotype project vital for industry

CFA hits digital ageALMOST 500 CFA

b r i g a d e s a c r o s s Victoria will be able to communicate directly with those who dispatch them to emergencies, when a state-of-the-art digital communications network is rolled out over the next 18 months.

As part of the $42.9 million Regional Radio Dispatch Service (RRDS) project, Telstra, supported by Motorola Solutions, has been chosen to build and maintain the new

infrastructure for CFA and the state’s emergency services.

CFA chief officer, Euan Ferguson, said the network wi l l provide regional brigades with direct radio communications to the dispatch operators, and a new generation of high-quality digital dispatch capabil i ty across the state.

“Members wil l also benefit from clearer radio dispatch coverage, which is currently available to

Victoria Police, MFB, A m b u l a n c e V i c t o r i a and our br igades in metropolitan Melbourne,” he said.

“It wil l also reduce the need fo r g roup communications officers to support day-to-day dispatch communications activities.

“This role, however, will remain essential for incident management communicat ions and these members w i l l continue skills training.”

“The experts in Gutter protection have been doing it right for 19 years”

www.leafbusters.com.au

1300 488 8371300 GUTTER

NO MORE MUD IN YOUR GUTTERSYour Unbeatable Guarantees:✔ 12 months money back satisfaction guarantee✔ 20 year unconditional manufacturer’s guarantee on product

Tailor made to suit ALL roof types

BEFORE AFTER

TM

“I promise

you that

Leafbusters

will work for

you too!”

Thea Groom CEO

*17.5 %OFF

Call Leafbustersfix it RIGHT the FIRST TIME!

AS SEEN ONTV

PROTECT YOUR GUTTERS FROM ALL THOSE AUTUMN LEAVES

Who you gonna

CALL?

Call LEAFBUSTERS

NOW FOR A

FREE MEASURE &

QUOTE IN ALL AREAS

AUTUMNSPECIAL

* Conditions apply: place order at time of quote and show this ad to qualify. Not valid with any other offer - Valid until June 15, 2013

t/05d

0618

2/23

-13

NOW

$1998

JUN

E 20

13

AUSTRALIAN PUMPPHONE (02) 8865 3500 N.B 5 year warranty covers faulty manufacturing or workmanship on QP & poly pump components only

Email: info@aussiepumps.com.au AVAILABLE ONLY FROM THE FOLLOWING AUSSIE PUMPS GOLD DISTRIBUTORSPRICES EX SYDNEY WAREHOUSE, GST INCLUDED. SUBJECT TO PRIOR SALE

HONDA BLASTERS ….NEW LOW PRICES...HERE TO STAY

AUSSIE FERT PUMPS … EASY CHEMICAL HANDLING

4,000 psi Honda blaster4,000 psi (6,485 EWP

with turbo) genuine Honda blaster, GX390

with 3 year engine

triplex pump.Was $2,734

4,000 psi EWP* Honda blaster … Aussie Cougar Genuine Honda GC 5HP engine, rugged frame, brass pump, great for a fast clean up.

$792FREE TURBO valued at $108

QP205SE/GX160 QPT205SLT/GX270

AUSSIE FIRE PUMPS…. END OF SUMMER SIZZLERSFIRE CHIEF...

Honda 5.5HP75 metre head

primes from 7.6mFREE Skids & anti vib mountsVIEW VIDEO ONLINE

Diesel Fire Chief Safer to refuel, more economical to run,Yanmar 4.8HP diesel, 60m head,

full gal frame.normally $3,616

QP205SE/L48 Pictured

NOW

$880

BIG TWIN … Aussie Mr T Fire Pump Outstanding performance.Max head 95m,

genuine Honda, 9HP only $1,894 or 13HP $2,197. Electric start options avail. NOW

$2298

Aussie Mr T Twin Impeller DieselOutstanding performance … outstanding value. Yanmar 10HP diesel with

full frame with anti vib mountsNormally $6,551

$4,387

SAVE

$2167PRICE SLASHED

QPT205SLT/L100E

SAVE UP TO

$919

PRICES SLASHED

NOWSAVE $168

BONUS FREE TURBO

valued at $352(CTN350-030)

FREE hose reel kit with 30m hp hose valued at $762

SAVE $200

(4,785 psi EWP with optional turbo) slow speed contractor machines for continuous cleaning applications …. Genuine Honda GX390 13 HP engine, 3,000 psi Bertolini triplex pump, Pro accessoriesmust clear

NOW

$2940ABBSC350/GX390 ABULTRAGX630

3,000 psi pro blaster

SAVE $1158

HONDA TRANSFER PUMPS …. MUST CLEAR

QP207/GX120 Honda 4HP, 30m head,

Genuine Honda 5.5HP engine with 3 year warranty,

max head 32 m, full frame with anti vib mounts

2” Transfer Pumps 3” Transfer Pumps

QP303/GX160FF

Aussie Ultralites … powered by Honda

protection or diesel fuel transfer. Max

210 lpm, 1 & 1 ½”

from

$519QP1/GX25

Honda 4” Gusher Clearance huge 1800 Lpm … move water fast, 28m head, Honda 8HP, normally $2,365

Honda 13HP, NOW $3,077

SLASHED T0

$1998

QP402/GX240

SAVE $$$$

NOW

$998NOW

$748QP154SXPictured

Aussie Fire Chief60m head,

Kubota 6HP air cooleddiesel enginewas $4,054NOW $2,988

Kubota 9.5HP oilcooled diesel electric start,

was $5,773NOW $3,944

Aussie 3” transfer pumpKubota 6 HP oilcooled diesel with electric start, 30m max head,

was $4,835NOW $3,575

Aussie 4” transferpumpKubota 9.5HP oilcooled diesel with electric start, 28m max head,

was $7,072NOW $5,688

Aussie 4” tanker pump specialKubota 9.5HP oil cooled diesel with stop/start solenoid,

NOW $5,498

QP205SL/AC60 QP303/OC95E QP402/OC95E

AUSSIE KUBOTA DIESEL PUMPS DELIVER

SAVE $1260

SAVE $1384

SAVE $1830

FAST FILLSAVE

$2316

NOW

$2198

FAST FARM CLEAN-UP3,000 psi Honda blaster, GX270 with 3 year engine

triplex pump.Was $2,486

4,000 psi with massive 20 lpm

Genuine Honda 23HP electric start engine with 3 year warranty,

NEW Scud Ultra ...THE BIG ONE!

ONLY

$6270

AUSSIE YANMAR PUMPS … SAVE FUEL, SAVE MONEYMASSIVE 6” pumps

to 6,000 lpm, Honda, Yanmar and Deutz options

3” & 4” diesel gushers. Move water fast! Yanmar QP303/L48, 4.8 HP,1050 Lpm,30m head Now $2,980

QP402/L100, 10 HP 28m head, 1800 Lpm, high volume transfer.Now $6,318

FROM

$2980

QP402/L100 QP602/GX390E

NEW Aussie Brigade Boss3” High PressureTransfer PumpYanmar diesel 10HP engine with electric start & two year engine warranty, 70m head, 700 Lpm

protection pump.

QP3310SX/L100E Pictured

$6986

NEW

2” & 3” Yanmar trash pumpsmove dirty water fast27m head, 650

genuine Yanmar diesel engine

QP300T/L48

NOW

$4180PRICES FROM

$9768

Pumpscorrosion resistant, portable, single & 3 phase, 1½” to 3” bore

TSURUMI SUBMERSIBLES2” Automatic Dewatering Pumpportable, single phase,

Japan’s leading manufacturer

HSZ2.4S

$490

high head poly, Viton seals, suits tractor or sprayers

HYDRAULIC DRIVE POLY2” & 3

FROM

$1863

2” single phase, 2.2kW motor, EPDM seals for ag chem transfer, 3 phase option avail

Electric drive poly pumps

RSE2BRL/2.2/240

AB32COM/GX270

2” polys, 6.5HP Honda, EPDM seals, ideal for most ag chemicals.Electric drive option available

Aussie Polys... 2” & 3” Fertiliser & Ag Chem Pumps

Aussie Smart Pumps handle

a wide range of corrosive

liquids including fertilisers, ag

chems, diesel, salt water,

send for FREE chemical

compatibility chart

RSE2BRL/GX200

$435FROMNOW

$998

AUSSIE PUMPS AUSSIE PUMPS

NOW

$998

*When used with turbo AB42COM/GX390

BACCHUS MARSH ........Bacchus Marsh Farm Supplies ................... (03) 5367 3066CASTLEMAINE ..............Statewide Irrigation ................................... (03) 5472 1135COBURG ......................Australian Mower Supply ........................... (03) 9350 1668CRANBOURNE ..............Foords Mower Mart ................................... (03) 5995 1133DEER PARK ..................Squires Mowers & Machinery .................... (03) 8390 5656GEELONG .....................Mowers Galore ......................................... (03) 5272 1066GROVEDALE .................Mowers Galore .......................................... (03) 5244 0620HASTINGS ....................Hastings Mowers ....................................... (03) 5979 1382

HOPPERS CROSSING ....Mowers Galore ......................................... (03) 8360 8109KEILOR ........................Keilor Mowers ........................................... (03) 9336 7727KENSINGTON ................Symonds Industrial Engines ...................... (03) 9376 4333PAKENHAM .................Pakenham Plumbing & Pumps ................... (03) 5941 1810SOUTH MELBOURNE .....Rotary Mower Service Pty Ltd .................... (03) 9699 8088WHITTLESEA ................Godings ..................................................... (03) 9716 2468YARRA GLEN ................Yarra Glen Mower & Tractor ...................... (03) 9730 1988 Dealer enquiries welcome

t/12d10143-v26/23-13

SFMCA FEEDSAFEJune, 2013 Southern Farmer, Page 15

www.jamesstockfeed.com.auPH: (03) 5866 2771

t/05d06192/23-13

FEED is one of the most significant costs in livestock production.

But farmers should make sure they buy feed that is correctly labelled and comes from a Feed-Safe accredited feed man-ufacturer.

The following points are provided as a guide for livestock producers to as-sist in the area of feed use.

FeedSafe Accredita-tion

Since 2003 Australia has had a quality assurance accreditation program for stock feed manufacturers.

This is called FeedSafe and accredited mills meet the standards endorsed by chief veterinarians in each state.

Mills that are accredited must pass an annual audit completed by independent food safety auditors.

The majority of feed mills are FeedSafe ac-credited and are listed on the industry website www.sfmca.com.au - look under Accredited Feed Suppliers.

Check to make sure the feed you use comes from a FeedSafe accredited feed mill.

If your current feed supplier is not accredited, why should you take the risk of buying their feed?

Feed storageThe area you store feed

within needs to be weather proof and cleaned regular-ly to prevent accumulation of dirt, dust or spilt feed.

Feed should never be stored in direct sunlight as it increases the rate of deterioration and is detrimental to essential nutrients such as vitamins.

Don’t store feed against the western wall of a shed due to higher tempera-tures.

Keep feed off the ground or floor as it will draw in moisture.

Bagged feed stored on

timber slates is ideal to allow air circulation.

In humid areas, also ensure the storage area is ventilated to prevent condensation.

Where feed is stored in silos, regularly inspect to ensure it remains weather proof.

The silo should have ventilation to allow con-densation release.

The feed silo should also be routinely emptied to ensure there is no build-up of older stale feed.

Feed hygieneControl vermin such as

rats, mice and wild birds. Once bags are opened,

keep feed secure by plac-ing in a storage bin with a lid, or tie-off the remain-ing feed in the bag.

Do not use feed that has become wet and mouldy.

Mouldy feed can con-tain mycotoxins that are detrimental to animal health and performance, and young animals and breeding stock are more sensitive to mycotoxins.

Keep feeders and feed troughs clean and re-move spoilt feed resi-dues.

Ensure feed is kept fresh and avoid over ordering.

When buying bagged feeds, question your supplier’s stock rotation policy.

Operate on a first in first out (FIFO) system, ie use up your oldest bags of feed before mov-ing onto new stock.

Feed labelsTake note of the feed

label information, in-cluding:

1. The label must identify the purpose for use, this can either be within the feed name e.g. Chick starter or an additional statement for the product eg for feed-ing to chickens from day old to eight weeks.

QUALITY ASSURED: FeedSafe accreditation means stock feed mills like this Coprice one at Cobden, are bound to produce feed of an assured quality.

Quality feed fuels healthy livestock

Good practice vital for ongoing success

2. Feed ingredients should be listed.

3. Where additives are included these are to be listed.

4. A nutrient analysis should be shown provid-ing protein, fat and fibre levels.

Many suppliers will provide more informa-tion.

5. It is a legal require-ment the feed is labelled with respect to the con-tent of restricted animal material.

6. For feeds contain-ing animal proteins such as meat meal, blood meal and fish meal the required statement is:

‘This product contains restricted animal material — do not feed to cattle, sheep, goats deer or other ruminants’.

For all states except Queensland, when the feed does not contain ani-mal protein, the required statement is:

‘This product does not contain restricted animal material.

Never feed ruminants with feeds that contain re-stricted animal material.

7. Net weight.8. Supplier’s name and

contact details.Feed useOnly use feeds for

intended purpose.

Chick starter and pullet feeds should not be fed to laying hens, because they have different nutrient requirements.

This especially applies to the inclusion of adequate calcium levels for egg pro-duction.

Never purchase feed sold in plain bags or bags that are not adequately labelled.

Though some produce stores rebag feeds and sell smaller quantities, these bags must be fully labelled.

Provided by the Stock Feed Manufacturers’ Coun-cil of Australia

More detai ls (03) 9769 7170, or contact@sfmca.com.au.

Concentrate consumption doubles in dairy industry

In brief

EXCLUDING pasture, hay and silage, livestock on Victorian farms consume 3.6 million tonnes of stockfeed annually.

The dairy industry uses most, followed by poultry for meat, pigs, hens and beef cattle.

Victorian dairy farmers now buy much more dairy concentrates to lift milk production.

In 1999 the average dairy farm used 140t of dairy concentrates for their milking herds, by 2012 this use had increased to 370t.

This increase is a function of larger herd size and increased feeding rates per cow.

With the decline in the number of Victorian dairy farmers, total milk production has been retained through the increase in the average dairy herd size and the use of dairy concentrate feeding to lift milk production per cow.

Farm stocking density has increased, with the use of dairy feeds providing the means for farmers, to run more cows and lift production.

More than 60 per cent of dairy concentrates used in Victoria come from commercial feed mills, the remainder is mixed on farm.

Dairy concentrates from feed-milling companies are supplied as mash or pelleted feeds, as well as some in liquid form.

WITH the closing of a local feed mill in Cohuna and freight costs from elsewhere adding to the cost of production, five Cohuna and district pig farmers decided to build a species specific feed mill to supply their stock feed requirements.

So Pentagon Feeds Pty Ltd was formed in 2009, with the aim of using freight savings to pay off the capital cost.

Being species specific and purpose built, Pentagon Feeds has been able to purchase the most up-to-date and highly automated equipment.

In 2010, the company started production, and is currently producing around 900t per week, predominately for its shareholder owners.

The company has found significant benefits in terms of controlling feed costs for its shareholders, as well as being able to establish good relationships with local grain farmers, who supply most of the

company’s needs.All farmers involved

have marketing arrangements that require quality assurance programs to be in place.

APIQ, the pig industry quality assurance program, requires that all feed produced for livestock has a quality assurance program in place.

At Pentagon, the logical choice of a program was Feedsafe.

It has all the elements required for end-users, as well as giving good guidance for responsible manufacturing.

The benefits to the business of having Feedsafe accreditation are that an inbuilt range of systems in the process, not only assures the quality of the products being produced, but also highlights the need for staff-training and appropriate maintenance procedures.

Species specificplan real winner

SFMCA FEEDSAFEPage 16, Southern Farmer June, 2013

“The Professional Approach to Feeding”

DA

IRY

PIG

PO

ULT

RY

BE

EF

1300 331 425www.reidstockfeeds.com.au

COBDEN COLBINABBIN TRAFALGAR

T/05D06193/23-13

ByJOHN LYNEDairytech dairy production specialist

Slack research to prove costlyMore data needed on impact of milk urea nitrogen levels

I AM astounded that research in Australian grazing based dairy farming on the impact of milk urea nitrogen levels on milk production has escaped any serious consideration.

There is signifi cant overseas research data about it and it is an issue of daily nutritional moni-toring in northern hemisphere dairying, where feeds unlike pasture do not contain very high levels of soluble protein.

Equally, I am surprised the environmental lobby has not picked up on MUN data, to measure nitrogen excretion from grazing dairy cattle, as there is a direct correlation.

By defi nition, MUN is a measure of urea in milk and is equal to urine urea and blood urea.

It is also a measure of feed protein effi ciency, and this is where our problem comes into the equation.

Through most of the grazing season, our pastures are running between 30 and 39 per cent crude protein.

Our cows have no chance of utilising such high protein lev-els, particularly when much of it is rumen degradable protein (as opposed to by-pass protein).

This excess rumen pro-tein can also induce acidosis witnessed in loose blackish manure.

The pathway starts with high pasture nitrogen content and is mostly rumen degradable.

The surplus must be removed from the cow, so the liver con-verts this surplus ammonia to urea, by joining two ammonia molecules together to form a urea molecule and that enters the blood stream.

It is then passed to other body fl uids, particularly milk and urine, for excretion from the cow’s body.

Unfortunately, there is a high

energy cost in this conversion of ammonia to urea, effectively robbing us of the potential for it to be converted to milk.

It costs us in milk production to deal with excessive pasture protein.

However, this is not the fi nal word on cost to farm economics.

We suffer frequently in early lactation from negative energy balance, simply by our inability to feed suffi cient energy to our cow, to meet her energy need for milk production.

This energy defi ciency, is met from body fat reserves at varying degrees, dependent on how successful we are in feed-ing our cows.

Negative energy balance has ample data correlating

it with infertility. When we increase the

demand on limited energy available to the cow, by the energy-expensive conversion of excess rumen ammonia from high pasture soluble protein, we only increase the fertility problem.

Low milk protein percent-ages bear testimony to this and signal probable fertility problems.

Tragically this is not the end of the MUN/infertility story.

There is another factor reducing fertility that occurs because of high MUN values typically seen throughout the whole season, not just while we graze abundant pasture.

Two published research pa-pers on the association between

fertility and MUN levels (Jour-nal of Animal Science – Butler et al 1996 & Elrod et al 1993) both point to this connection.

The fi rst, and I quote, “We conclude that excess degra-dable protein, acts through some undefi ned mechanism, to decrease uterine pH during the luteal (joining) phase, which may play a role in the observed reduction of fertility.”

The conclusion of the second paper: “MUN concentrations greater than 19mg/dL (deca-Litre), were associated with approximately a 20 percentage point decrease in pregnancy rate after AI, in lactating dairy cattle.”

It is believed the decreased uterine pH affects implanta-tion of the newly fertilised egg

and other processes due to an altered and unfavorable uterine environment.

There are another 10 studies verifying this effect.

The matter of loose blackish manure has bothered me for many years, and having read many US articles and papers on MUN over the last 10 years, we purchased a machine for measuring MUN last year and began trial work with products that claimed to improve this scenario.

We regularly recorded MUN readings of 24mg/dL to 28mg/dL with some even higher.

Based on the research cited above, where readings of 19mg/dL reduced fertility by 20 per cent, we became alarmed at the possible impact

on fertility with readings of 28mg/dL.

Under “OFF/ON” trial protocol, using a natural plant product, we could reduce MUN from 28 to 16mg/dL.

This was a massive shift, but still not at the recommended 12mg/dL for good fertility and cow health/productivity.

At this same time last year we were also running trial work to verify yeast culture’s production data in grazing based systems.

In several herds we ran both trials simultaneously and recorded far greater responses from both products: higher milk yields plus MUN read-ings of the desired 12mg/dL and lower.

I contacted a friend in the US, whom I knew had been involved in research on both products, to ask if there was a possible synergy between the two.

He confi rmed that this was the case and gave a lengthy explanation as to why (beyond the space in this article).

One of these herds at the time of both products being in the grain mix, was conducting their usual basic synchronisa-tion and one insemination program (150 cows) to kick off calving for the next season.

This had been a regular practice on this farm for sev-eral years.

Traditionally, a 30 per cent conception rate was achieved.

Under the feeding of both products a 50 per cent concep-tion rate, based on return to service data, resulted.

This is a massive increase in conception rate and confi rmed by my researcher-friend in the US and the papers cited above.

Reducing the MUN of this herd to 12mg/dL, plus the synergy with yeast culture increasing milk response, has provoked us to blend both products into one, and rightly name it Rumen Calm.

John Lyne is a dairy produc-tion specialist with Dairytech Nutrition at Timboon.

johnlyne@dairytechnutri-tion, admin/sales: Tina 0400 991 814.

ADDITIVE SOLUTION: Milk urea nitrogen levels in a cow can be kept at productive levels with natural feed additives.

A NEW economic analy-sis shows that increasing grain-based concentrate feeds for dairy cattle gener-ates more income for milk producers.

The Dairy Stockfeed Economic Analysis, from consultants GHD, reports that concentrates allow producers to increase stock-ing rates, as well as lift milk production per cow.

Analysis of data from a fi ve-year Victorian bench-marking project shows one kilogram of concentrates equates to an increase in milk production of 1.8L per cow.

A diet incorporating an average four to fi ve kilo-grams of grain concentrates across the Victorian industry as a whole generates 1.046 billion litres of milk and 78 million kilograms of milk solids, increasing farm in-come by $435 million.

Gippsland’s Grant Wil-liams is among those dairy farmers taking part in the Victorian farm benchmark-ing project and says high production alone does not ensure profi tability.

When milk prices fall and the profi t margin between a kilogram of feed and a litre

of milk blurs, it can be hard to justify the higher feed costs in order to maintain higher production levels.

“But my long-term focus is on maintaining the con-dition of the cows and on fertility, making sure they are ‘fully fed’.

“Cows in good condition are easier to get in calf, they calve better and produce more milk more quickly than cows that are hungry,” Mr Williams said.

He milks 440 cows on his 220ha property at Hallora, south of Drouin, and pro-vides six to seven kilograms

of concentrate per cow per day, that is in addition to pasture and silage.

The cows average 7700 litres and 550 kilograms of milk solids a year.

He has gradually in-creased production per cow and stocking rates over the past decade, while also increasing the level of con-centrate feeding, which was only two to three kilograms per cow fi ve years ago.

“There is no way I could maintain this level of pro-duction, or a profitable business, on pasture alone,” he said.

Grain-based concentrate equals dollars, study shows

t/05d06180/23-13

FARM TREES & FORESTRYPage 18, Southern Farmer June, 2013

With the chainsaw-driven portable sawmills from Logosol Sweden you can turn logs of any size and shape into useful timber with great dimensional accuracy. With the PH260 you can dress the sawn timber into an endless variety of profilesincluding T&G flooring,decking, skirting boards, wall panels and more.

NEWopportunities

TOUGHTIMES

Visit www.swedex.com.au, ask for a free DVDor make an appointment to visit our demo facilities.Contact: Sven-Erik Bredenbergmob 0411 258 454 seb@swedex.com.au

j/05d

0619

6/23

-13

Logosol TimberjigLogosol Big Mill SystemLogosol M8 portable sawmillMX34 Lumbermate Bandsaw millLogosol Laks 500 Framesaw millPH260 4-sided planer-moulderSH230 combi planer-moulder ripsawSmart-Splitter (manual firewood splitter)Smart-Holder (alternative saw horse)

www.tajfun.com.au t/05d

0619

8/23

-13

NEW MACHINERY IN STOCK FOR IMMEDIATE DELIVERYJOY 400..... RCA 380..... RCA 320

TYPHOON FIREWOOD TECHNOLOGIES7 Stanlake Rise, Lower Templestowe, VIC

Ph: (03) 9852 0254 Mb: 0420 513 883 Email: info@tajfun.com.au

BIG BROTHER 400The Big Brother Joy 400 voted not only the best new firewood processing machine in 2011, 2012 by the firewood producers as the most safe, productive and reliable firewood processor on the market.

TYPHOON FIREWOOD TECHNOLOGIES

BARE root hazelnut trees (known as whips) are best planted in July and August.

Therefore, those farmers wishing to plant this winter should place orders now to avoid missing out.

Hazelnut Nursery Propa-gators (HNP) is the main hazelnut tree propagation nursery in Australia and is situated in Gembrook.

It was established in the early 1990s in Megalong in the central west of NSW.

In 2010, all nursery op-erations were obtained by Truffi culture Pty Ltd and moved to Victoria to de-velop the hazelnut industry in this state.

Many regions in Victoria with warm summers and a moist, cool winter climate are perfect to develop suc-cessful sustainable hazelnut production farms.

The Yarra Valley, includ-ing the Dandenong Ranges, Trentham, Daylesford and down through Gippsland, are some of these regions.

Hazelnut Nursery Propa-gators was formed to pro-duce true to variety planting material for the developing Australian and southern hemisphere hazelnut in-dustry.

Extensive research into the Oregon hazelnut in-dustry was conducted and true to name varieties of

hazelnuts were imported. The imported varieties

were subjected to intensive screening for pests and diseases by the Austral-ian Quarantine Inspection Service (AQIS), over a 16 month period in Sydney, before AQIS released them for propagation.

Nursery propagation practices were adopted from the system used by Oregon State University (OSU), where a scientifi c approach was used to de-velop a range of suitable pollinisers and main varie-ties are matched to provide excellent pollination of all trees.

HNP provides all the cultural advice on growing the varieties and a plant-ing pattern design for the orchard.

Stock in the form of whips is available for plant-ing from July to September.

Full instructions for planting will be given with stock.

The hazelnut industry in Australia shows enormous growth potential.

The Australian industry grows and produces only about 200t of hazelnuts but imports around 2000t.

The general public is now recognising the nutri-tional and health benefi ts of fresh hazelnuts.

Often imported nuts can

NUTTING IT OUT: Colin Carter and son Nathan check hazelnut tree numbers.

‘Tis the season to whip up for nuts

be several months old and don’t have the same sweet fl avor of freshly grown lo-cal product.

Hazelnuts are rich in fi bre, vitamins, minerals and other nutrients, contain no cholesterol and are an excellent source of mono unsaturated and poly un-saturated fats.

The main issue or im-pediment to the expansion of the industry, has been the lack of suitably matched polliniser varieties, to max-imise yields.

This has now been solved through develop-mental trials conducted by OSU and excellent yields are now likely.

For ordering of trees for this coming season,

email:info@truffi culture.com.au for an order-pricelist.

Or phone Colin on 0409 717 401, or visit www.hazelnuts.com.au

HNP also has starter packs of suitable matched varieties for those inter-ested in trying hazelnuts.

TRUFFLES WITH HAZELNUTS

Truffi culture is a large grower of truffl e colo-nised trees.

It produces the famous French black truffl e as well as a white truffl e called Bianchetto.

These are colonised mainly on oak varieties as well as hazelnuts.

See www.truffi culture.com.au.

Portable mill an easy-to-use, clever option for enthusiasts

Not time to cool your heels on guarding against frosts

LOGOSOL’S M8 port-able sawmill claims to be an affordable saw milling solution, for those who want to turn logs into us-able timber on a part-time basis.

Logosol’s Sven-Erik Bredenberg said even those with little previous experience can quickly produce high-class planks and boards, in the length and dimensions of their choice.

“Accuracy is impres-sive, no matter if you are sawing boards for panel-ling or squared logs for building log houses, the M8 can cut all sorts of

wood both from the forest and the garden,” he said.

The Logosol M8, is an upgraded version of the M7 model that after decades of successful service, was allowed to retire last year.

Built from strong, ano-dised aluminium profi les, it is strong and rigid enough to take large-diameter logs.

At the same time, it is rustproof and so light that it can be moved by hand.

Also, the coating of the sawmill gives a fi ne and dirt-repellent surface and is almost maintenance free.

Mr Bredenberg said using the mill meant users

were standing or walking with their backs straight the whole time.

A chainsaw is used to cut logs as the operator turns a feed line crank and cut boards come off at an eas-ily accessible waist level, making them easy to lift from the sawmill.

An instructive video is posted on the Logosol website, see below.

There are bandsaw and log-house moulder options for the mill, too, for those who want to build log cabins.

Visit seb@swedex.com.au, www.logosol.com.au.

BUDGET MILLER: Logosol’s portable M8 will mill most types of timber on site.

EVERY year there are crop losses due to frosts in Australia, and damage running into hundreds of millions of dollars is not rare.

It is impossible at this stage to predict the severity of the late frost problem in the coming spring.

However, there is usually a close cor-relation between frost damage and soil mois-ture.

Dry soil is more prone to frosts, and crops under drought

stress are slightly more susceptible.

It should be pointed out that there is no 100 per cent guaranteed method to eliminate frost damage and hard frosts late in the spring are hardest to address.

But a good strategy will save most of a crop in most frosts down to -5 degrees.

Besides frost dam-age, crops often suffer chilling setbacks be-cause below a certain temperature, which is different for each crop and varies between cultivars, growth es-sentially stops.

The plant has suf-fi cient nutrient, mois-ture and sunlight, but a gene expression stops it growing.

Most talked about is “pasture does not grow when the plant tem-perature drops below 5 degrees”.

It is well known that applying liquid seaweed and some plant growth regulators and/or trigger com-pounds can reduce the temperature at which growth stops.

Most of the research has focused on pasture and glycine betaine and liquid seaweed.

By COLIN YOUNG

FARM TREES & FORESTRYJune, 2013 Southern Farmer, Page 19j/04d04465/23-13

www.hazelnuts.com.au

Ph: (03) 5968 1092 info@trufficulture.com.au

Australia’s Largest Specialist Hazelnut Nursery

HNP is a division of Trufficulture Pty.Ltd. Trufficulture grows and supplies truffle inoculated trees.

See the website at www.trufficulture.com.au

For a free brochure and information on Root Stock contact:

Now Available ORCHARD PACKS for small properties

Use our WEBSITEsubmission form for quick replies

www.hazelnuts.com.au

GEMBROOK VICTORIAHAZELNUT NURSERY PROPAGATORS

Establishing and managing trees on farms for;

➧ High Quality Timber➧ Animal Shelter and enhanced production

➧ Enhancement of lifestyle and property values

➧ Native revegetation (for shelter, habitat and amenity)

➧ Environmental Weed Spraying

Contact John Woodley

Ph. (03) 5774 7393

Mob. 0427 747 393252 Thornton Road, Taggerty 3714.

www.farmforestry.com.au www.revegetators.com.au

t/05d06199/23-13

LPA assists compliance

In brief

TO assist red meat producers fulfil their food safety responsibilities, the Livestock Production Assurance (LPA) program has produced two new resources.

LPA is the Australian livestock industry’s on-farm food safety program introduced seven years ago.

It underpins the LPA National Vendor Declaration which all LPA-accredited producers are required to sign when selling livestock.

A new four-minute video explains the basics of the LPA program, including the five elements producers need to consider in order to meet food safety requirements.

The video can be accessed via the LPA website (www.mla.com.au/lpa) or YouTube.

LPA has produced a booklet of templates to support producers in keeping records to the required level.

EMOTIONAL super-annuation: what is it and what is its relevance to growing trees?

I consider emotional superannuation to be investing in one’s life in ways that create a state of mind, where one’s sense of wellbeing improves over time.

Because how one lives, and particularly what one creates, im-proves the emotional quality of life.

As with financial superannuation, where one usually expects to get back more than one puts in, so it is with emotional superannua-tion where one tends to get back more in terms of feelings of wellbeing, than one puts in.

Tree growing and farm forestry has the capacity to increase one’s sense of wellbeing over time, as the tree or trees grow from small seedlings to giants.

Few people who get involved with planting and nurturing trees ever lose interest in trees.

The simple act of planting a tree, whether in a planned landscape or a random planting, tends to provide great enjoyment as one ex-periences the growth of the tree and the various changes that happen to the surrounding land-scape.

There is shade where before there may have been none.

There is somewhere for birds to sit and sing, and perhaps even nest and set up home; there is the sound of wind through the leaves and branches; insects and other animals may set up home and both humans and animals can enjoy the shade and aesthetics of the trees as seasons change.

I describe this re-alisation of change and acknowledgement of landscape change, usu-ally for the better, as emotional superannua-tion.

Until trees become too big and need to be trimmed or harvested, there is nearly always a certain amount of pleas-ure for those who com-missioned the planting and experienced the resulting landscape and environmental change.

Tree growers and farm foresters know about this and while they may not have considered they are receiving emotional superannuation through their tree growing ac-tivities, they nearly always feel good about what they do with trees.

John Evelyn, author of Sylva or a Discourse of Forest Trees, wrote in 1664; “Men rarely plant trees until they become wise, this is till they grow old and

fi nd, by experience, the prudence and necessity of it.”

I journeyed through life in aircraft engineer-ing with the RNZAF from school, then world championship level mo-torcycle road racing to silviculture and tree growing.

I was working with trees from the age of 31 and the die was cast.

The meaning of life?It is through tree

growing and farm for-estry that I have found my place and the mean-ing of life, which is happiness through one’s work.

The New Zealand Farm Forestry Associa-tion and its members do much towards creating happier lives for mem-bers, through encour-aging the growing and nurturing of trees.

The New Zealand group is well ahead of Australians in terms of the scale of farm for-estry and the marketing of farm grown timber.

Children who are lucky enough to be exposed to tree plant-ing and nurturing by their parents start their emotional superannua-tion early and often unknowingly.

They are usually just enjoying planting and playing with trees.

Every child who is exposed to this activity remembers it when they grow older.

We have a small but dedicated group of tree growers here in Aus-tralia, who are having an important impact on both the landscape and people who notice what they are doing with trees.

Real wealth?I started planting my

own forests because I wanted to become fi nancially rich.

However, being rich from proceeds of my tree growing seems a far distant dream, especially when recent commercial thinnings of two of my eucalypt joint ventures, netted $2 per tonne after ex-penses.

A cheque for $1500 for 750t of pulpwood is my fi rst real income from my forests.

Not particularly en-couraging so far as financial superannua-tion goes.

In reality, my emo-tional superannuation is growing beautifully and the more I continue to help my clients estab-lish and manage their trees and plantations, the more my overall happiness goes up.

I suspect that this is how it is for most Farm forestry growers and advisers/consultants anywhere in the world.

John Woodley runs Farm Forestry Services at 252 Thornton Road, Taggerty, www.farm-forestry.com.au.

Green investment in wellbeingBy JOHN WOODLEY

weareonline!________www.nenews.com.au

GREEN AND CLEAN: Plenty of trees can create a calming atmosphere.

FAIR RETURN: A healthy state of mind is a valuable asset, one which can be improved on over time.

HORTICULTUREPage 20, Southern Farmer June, 2013

Every project is custom-built to

your specifications and engineered

for clear spans of up to 60 meters.

W W W . C V S H E D S . C O M . A U

Central Vic Sheds use a range of advanced techniques and

materials to create a building of unrivalled quality. Features include:

hot dipped galv UB columns, large clear span openings, choice of

bay spacings, combining enclosed workshop with open storage

space, fully managed design, manufacture and install, and our

rapid erection technique.

Central Vic ShedsPhone: (03) 5422 6644Fax: (03) 5422 2720

Web: www.cvsheds.com.au

Email: sales@cvsheds.com.au

8 Hoyle Crt, Kyneton VIC 3444

FARM SHEDS

STORAGE SHEDS

B/05d

05794/49-12

THE Federal Govern-ment is now targeting horticulturalists, tree farmers and sugar pro-ducers.

The government is now into its second phase of extending the reach of the carbon farming initiative (CFI).

The CFI’s aim is to help farmers reduce their emissions, lower their costs and gain a second income stream.

An extension and out-reach program in the CFI funds programs to deliver clear, credible and consistent informa-tion and support carbon farming activities.

Under the first phase of the initiative, 24 pro-jects shared in more than $21 million.

The government said these were high quality

applications.They said it was posi-

tive to see so many organisations looking to share the new oppor-tunities carbon farming provides.

I t now wants this second phase to com-plement the projects already funded by sup-porting extension ser-vices through providers like agri-advisers and agronomists.

Applications for the extension and outreach program are open until April 2016, while funds remain.

To be included in the second assessment phase, applications are due by 5pm AEST, June 12, 2013.

For further informa-tion, please phone 1800 283 940.

THE 12th biennial Protected Cropping Australia conference will run in Melbourne from Sunday, July 28, to Wednesday, July 31.

It was previously known as the Australian Hydroponic and Green-house Conference.

The venue will be the Pullman Melbourne Albert Park Conference and Events Centre, 65 Queens Road, Albert Park.

Part of this complex are the Pullman and Mercure hotels.

Technical lectures, trade show, farm and market tours as well as social events are or-ganised specifi cally for commercial greenhouse, hydroponic and aqua-ponic growers.

The trade exhibition of 50 stands of Australian and overseas suppliers is open to the general industry on the Sunday afternoon and reserved for delegates throughout Monday and Tuesday.

Technical lectures and practical workshops will run throughout Monday and Tuesday.

These will be concur-rent sessions, with some repeated according to demand, giving delegates a maximum choice of topics.

A listing of the speak-ers follows.

If you wish to attend the 2013 PCA Conference, please register online at www.protectedcroppin-gaustralia.com/delegate.

Solutions for Sustain-able Growth conference.

ProgramSunday, July 28 –

Trade exhibition.Trade exhibition open

- 1 to 5pm.Protected Cropping

Australia AGM - 6pm.Welcome function

(sponsored by Moraitis) - 7pm.

Monday, July 29 – plenary sessions.

Official opening – 9am.

Commercial Protected Cropping Application of Light & Optics - Jurgen Kleinwachter, Germany.

Australia’s Economic Future - senior NAB economist.

What the supermar-kets want from protected cropping - Daniel Wil-liam, Coles.

Monday afternoon, July 29 – Four concur-rent sessions (four pres-entations per session).

The effectiveness of foliar feeding - Sophie Parkes, NSW DPI.

Biochar as a soilless media - Nick Savidov, Canada.

Getting the best out of your crop protec-tion application - Scott Mathews, Syngenta.

Consequences of climate differences in greenhouses - Ben van Onna, Netherlands.

Fundamental man-agement of hydroponic systems - Rick Donnan, Growool.

Precision growing for sustainable greenhouse production - Andy Lee, Grodan, UK.

New greenhouse air handling systems for Australia - Ben van Onna, Netherlands.

Managing sustain-ability performance - Stuart Lambie, Grodan, UK.

Options for recycling rockwool slabs - Tony Bundock, Chisholm TAFE.

Climate control with plant temperature cam-eras - Frits Veenman, Royal Brinkman, Neth-erlands.

What screens do for your plants - Ton Habraken, Svensson, Netherlands.

Drain control weigh scales and disinfection

with electro chemical activated water - Frits Veenman.

Green roofs - John Rayner.

Sustainable growth in a farm enterprise - Jeremy Badgery-Parker, Primary Principles.

Monday evening, July 29 – conference dinner.

Pre-dinner drinks – 7pm.

Conference banquet dinner – 7.30pm.

Tuesday, July 30 – two concurrent sessions (four presentations per session).

The effectiveness of foliar feeding - Sophie Parkes, NSW DPI.

Biochar as a soilless media - Nick Savidov, Canada.

Getting the best out of your crop protec-tion application - Scott Mathews, Syngenta.

Consequences of climate differences in greenhouses - Ben van Onna, Netherlands.

New greenhouse air handling systems for Australia - Ben van Onna, Netherlands.

Climate control with plant temperature cam-era - Frits Veenman, Royal Brinkman.

What screens do for your plants – Ton Habraken, Svensson, Netherlands.

Tuesday morning/afternoon, July 30 – spe-cialist sessions.

Fruit and vegetablesAlternative green-

house vegetable crops - Mike Nichols, Massey Uni, New Zealand.

Practical IPM - How it works at Bellarine Hydroponics – Daryl Wilson, Bellarine Hy-droponics.

Realities of upgrading greenhouse technology - Grower stories - Ian Mortlock, John Murphy, Chris Millis.

Irrigation strategy in

substrates - Herman Ei-jkleboom, Netherlands, Andy Lee, Grodan UK.

Cut fl owersIPM for Cut Flowers

- Paul Horne.Quarantine issues for

fl ower imports – AQIS representative.

Nutrient deficiency in fl oricultural crops - Herman Eijkleboom, Netherlands.

Plant physiology for flowers (temp, water & CO2) - Wim van der Ende, Netherlands.

Flower Q & A forum – panel - Eijkelboom, van der Ende, Roskam, Mann, Tesoriero.

Leafy greens (lettuce, herbs, Asian greens)

Propagation plugs for NFT Systems - Rene van der Meche, BVB.

Biological control of pythium root rot in hy-droponic coriander - Len Tesoriero, DPI.

NFT solution tem-perature management - Brian Ellis.

IPM for leafy greens – Paul Horne.

Plant factories for production and nursery - Mike Nichols, Massey Uni, New Zealand.

AquaponicsCommercial aqua-

ponics in Canada - Nick Savidov, Canada.

Aquaponics - a grow-er perspective - Hogan Gleeson, UEA.

Aquaponics - an in-vestor perspective - Greg Dutton, UEA.

Aquaponics - Truth, Realities and Fallacies !- Wilson Leonard.

Australian aquapon-ics - What every grower needs to know! - Paul van der Werf.

Wednesday, July 31 – all day farm tours.

Farm tours - optional extra – strictly confer-ence delegates only.

Buses return to Mel-bourne airport no later than 4.30 pm.

Lectures, showsto please growers

Carbon Fibre planextends its reachBOLT for

biosecurity

In brief

EVERY beekeeper, commercial or hobbyist, can boost Australia’s defences against the incursion of the devastating Varroa mite, with resources and training freely available online to raise awareness and understanding.

Chair of the Pollination R&D Committee, Gerald Martin, said PHA’s free Biosecurity Online Training (BOLT) sytem provides all beekeepers with knowledge to detect bee pests early and minimise the spread of potential pest incursions.

“Good biosecurity practices are vital,” he said.

For access to BOLT, visit www.planthealthaustralia.com.au/training.

BUILDING, REBUILDING & RENOVATIONSJune, 2013 Southern Farmer, Page 21

Central Vic Sheds are your local

experts in customised farm

buildings. When we embark on your

building project, we are committed

to attention to every detail.

W W W . C V S H E D S . C O M . A U

Call (03) 5422 6644 now for a FREE consultation and quote on

your next hay shed, machinery shed, barn, or storage shed. There’s

just no substitute for quality workmanship and personal service.

Build a robust and functional new asset

HAY SHEDS

MACHINERY SHEDS

B/05d

05795/49-12

AT the top end of the scale, Central Victoria Sheds can build UB/Gal web truss design sheds, to span up to 60m.

Three frame types are available including UB/Gal web truss, RHS or purlin frame and it tops those off with more bolts per connection than com-petitors to fi nish your shed frame.

Fully engineered, de-signed and installed to withstand the harsh Australian climate, to terrain category ratings at the top end of the scale, the company’s 12-month workmanship guarantee means customers are fully covered if anything does go wrong.

CVS handles building permits, terrain clas-sifications and many other technical issues in designing and produc-ing fully engineered plans that meet all local requirements.

The company uses only heavy, structural-grade Australian steel and its fabrication carries a five-year structural guarantee.

We have the full range of Colorbond cladding and options to choose from, as well as the fl exibility to include the fi xtures you need.

We can include roller/sliding doors, windows, mezzanine fl oors, inter-nal partitions, natural

light, insulation, ventila-tors and much more.

A comprehensive range of hay sheds, storage sheds, machinery sheds, milking sheds, barns, workshops and shearing sheds in stand-ard sizes with a wide range of standard options is available.

As a fully registered builder, CVS can plan, design, and build a cus-tom shed in an odd size or shape with unusual fi xtures, exactly to a cus-tomer’s specifi cations.

End-to-end project management and free consultation is just part of the service.

Customer Arnold Diss, a Langley gra-

zier, said: “I recently purchased a shed from Central Vic Sheds at Kyneton, which I had built as a shearing shed.

“I found their as-sistance in design and product knowledge ex-cellent and the construc-tion was completed to an extremely high level of skill and expertise.

“I would have no hesi-tation in recommending both the company and the shed product,” he said.

From planning, design and building permits, to supply and install, including concrete slabs and co-ordination of tradespersons, CVS wants customers to be 100 per cent satisfi ed.

Cyclone steeled sheds for a stronger future

IN March 2006, Cy-clone Larry struck in North Queensland, caus-ing considerable damage to many structures includ-ing steel sheds.

A report provided by the James Cook Uni-versity Cyclone Testing Station at Townsville had the following findings for sheds, assessed by its team.

clone Larry wind speeds near Innisfail was 200 to 240kmh (low cyclone, category 4) which was not a designed wind event;

30 per cent of cold formed sheds from loss of clad-ding through to collapse;

were related to design standards not being met: inappropriate design (to-

pography, internal pres-sure), missing or corroded connections, etc;

doors, soffits, etc led to additional building dam-age; and

tures designed to de-signed codes performed well.

Cyclone Larry fol-lowed other non-cy-clonic storm events in many states, including a major storm at Emerald, Queensland, which saw the catastrophic failure of numerous steel sheds.

As a result, govern-ment regulators and building certifiers called on the Australian Steel Institute to facilitate improved standards by the steel shed industry for sheds in all regions

of Australia.In response to these

requests, the ASI Steel Shed Design Guide for Portal Frame Sheds and Garages was developed and launched in 2008.

The design guide pro-vided guidance for en-gineers and designers in the correct application of design codes for steel sheds.

It sought to encourage effi cient design of sheds that are able to withstand the weather conditions for which they are designed.

Not unreasonably ac-cording to the Steel Institute, buyers of steel sheds should have confi-dence the shed they are purchasing will keep not only the contents of the building safe but also be a safe structure.

TOP DOWN: Central Vic Sheds builds from the top down. As in this picture, to start the build, uprights are placed flat on the ground and bolted to the perimeter of the roof. Then they can swing into a verti-cal position to support the finished roof, when a crane elevates it.

No job too tough: Victoria Central Workmanship guarantee provides some peace of mind for customers

Comments still being sought for sheep and cattle welfareAUSTRALIAN, state

and territory governments have extended the consul-tation period for public comment on the draft Aus-tralian Animal Welfare Standards and Guidelines for Cattle and for Sheep.

The extension means the period for comment will now close on Monday, August 5.

The decision was made by ministers of primary industries at a recent meet-

ing and follows industry and stakeholder calls for an extension.

Animal Health Austral-ia is conducting the public consultation on behalf of its members.

Mike Bond, AHA CEO, said he was surprised and pleased by the late rush of submissions responding to the draft standards.

“We’ve now received more than 150 substan-tial submissions, more

than 2300 online surveys and many thousands of additional comments by email,” Dr Bond said.

“I would like to thank all those individuals and organisations who have so far taken the time to send us their views.”

He said judging by the number and detail of sub-missions, it is clear they address signifi cant issues for Australian livestock producers and the broader

community.Visit www.animalwel-

farestandards.net.au for further details on how to make a submission and to download the relevant documents.

Email cattle submis-sions to publicconscattle@animalwelfarestandards.net.au.

Email sheep submis-sions to publicconssheep@animalwelfarestandards.net.au.

Smells justdisappear!

Ecocare Activatorwill solve all yourwaste treatmentproblems -we guarantee it

Clean upand savebig withActivator

CL

SEPTICSSORTED,SMELLS

DESTROYED

...or yourmoney back!

Freecall 1800 633 866

Mr/Mrs/Miss/Ms

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

t/12d10910-v4/w

k23-12

Mr/Mrs/Miss/Ms .......................................................................................Address .......................................................................................................................................................................................................................State ................................ Postcode ......................................................... Telephone ..................................................................................................

Or go to our website www.insight-environmental.com.au SFX

June, 2013 BEEF Southern Farmer, Page 23

WHITTLESEA34 Beech St

(03) 9716 9000

ROCKBANK2129 Western Hwy

(03) 9747 1359

MANSFIELD7 Chenery St

(03) 5779 1555

$35,900 Inc GST

200065 – Kubota M110, 110hp, 4wd, powershift trans, standard bucket, 4700hrs

6822 – Mc Cormick CX85max, 4wd, air-con cabin, 5200hrs, 85hp, new tyres – sacrificed at

6826 – Landini Globus 55, 4wd, 6000hrs, 55hp, stay dry this winter

6865 – Kubota B3030hd, 30hp, 4 cylinder, hydrostatic trans, mid pto, kubota fel, 130hrs

200157 – Massey ferguson 275, 2wd, 66hp, great slashing tractor

200164- International 485, 2wd, 50hp, get in before the slashing season

6737 – Kubota B1750, 4wd, mid mount deck, hydrostatic transmission. 2 Available from

6644 – Kubota BX1800, 18hp, 4wd, hydrostatic trans, 54” mid deck, power steering, great little work horse, at mansfield

$25,000 Inc GST $23,900 Inc GST $22,495 Inc GST

$7,500 Inc GST $4,000 Inc GST $5,600 Inc GST $9,900 Inc GST

t/05d06195/23-13

Whittlesea End of Financial YearUsed Clearance‘Like’ us on Facebook

for the chance to win great giveaways. sales@godings.com.au

Prices Slashed... Prices Slashed... Prices Slashed... Prices Slashed... Prices Slashed... Prices Slashed... Prices Slashed... Prices Slashed...

VICTORIAN beef cattle studs made a clean sweep of the National Beef 2013 – Bendigo on May 19, fi lling all the interbreed champion-ships, including supreme interbreed exhibit and all reserve championships.

To the forefront were three Southern Farmer region studs, Alan and Jill Furborough’s Buchanan Park Welsh Black Stud at Bunyip, David and Marion Spencer’s Australian Short-horn Stud, and Shorthorn Stud at Yuroke and Mrs D Halliday’s Waterford Stud at Mount Macedon

The Furboroughs took out the major award, the supreme interbreed exhibit.

Their winning entry was Buchanan Park Nicole, a 23 months old cow, with calf at foot.

Nicole also won the senior interbreed champion cow or heifer award.

Spencer Family Yogi, a 24 months Australian Shorthorn bull weighing in at 942kg, with an eye

Victorian cattle studs prevail at interbreed championships

WINNING STREAK: Alan and Jill Furborough with their supreme interbreed exhibit, 23 months old Buchanan Park Nicole and her calf. Laurie O’Bree (right), represented the award’s sponsors, Santons of Bendigo.

muscle area (EMA) of 130 square centimetres, won the reserve supreme interbreed exhibit.

PJT & L McLachlan’s PJ Cattle Co, Darlington, stood an eight months old Angus heifer PJ Dream H27 to win junior interbreed champion with the reserve junior interbreed champion going to Airlie Stonehut Hie, a nine months old heifer from the Allednaw Charolais Stud, Kerang.

Junior interbreed bull came from the Waterford Charolais Stud, Macedon, with Waterford Gibraltar, an 18 months old weighing 888kg and with an EMA of 120 square centimetres.

Reserve junior inter-breed bull came from the Bolton Girls Red Angus Stud of Aimee Bolton, Congupna, with Bolton Girls Grenade, a 19 months old bull weighing 945kg and with an EMA of 130 square centimetres.

Senior interbreed cham-pion cow or heifer was

Buchanan Park Nicole (pictured right), while the reserve senior interbreed cow or heifer ribbon went to Spencer Family Sprys Patient Fancy Pants, a 25 months old cow.

Spencer Family Yogi won senior interbreed champion bull (see above) while re-serve senior interbreed champion bull was stood by Ray Brook’s Eloora Shorthorn Stud, Cavendish, with Eloora Bluechip G02, which weighed 1118kg, had an EMA of 142 square centimetres and was 22 months old.

The Furboroughs fin-ished off a highly success-ful National Beef 2013 – Bendigo, by winning the interbreed group of three (Welsh Black) with Ray Brook taking reserve interbreed group of three (Shorthorn).

Full results of the Breed Championships at National Beef 2013 - Bendigo will be published in the July Southern Farmer.

END OF FINANCIAL YEAR BUYER’S GUIDE

Page 24, Southern Farmer June, 2013END OF FINANCIAL YEAR BUYER’S GUIDE

FOR SALES, SERVICE, SPARES AND A HUGE RANGE OF AGRICULTURAL EQUIPMENT

411 Princes Highway, Officer VIC 3809 Ph: Leon or Jeff 5943 2460

t/05d06179/23-13

Specialists in Second Hand Farm MachineryPRESTON RD, RIPPLEBROOK (via Drouin)

Ph 5627 6317 Fax 5627 6385

St Leger Machinery

t/05d05831-v6/23-13TRADE-INS ACCEPTED. DELIVERY AND FINANCE EASILY ARRANGED.

LOADERSFORD 550 industrial fel, extra high lift, extra large bucket, ideal sawdust Chook manure, etc. Fwd/rev shuttleFORD 5640 2wd, powerstar sl, challenge fel, a/c cab, new clutch, remotes,3Pl, 75 hp.BULLDOZERINTERNATIONAL TD500, 3pl, canopy, blade, good tracks, starts and runs well,Tidy.TRACTORS CASE 585, 2wd, rops, pwr steer.CASE INTERNATIONAL 4240, fwa, fel, reco engine and clutch, 90hp.DEUTZ DX90, 4wd, a/c cab, 3pl, power steer, 4500 hrs, good condition.FORD 3000, rops canopy, pwr steering, 3pl, remotes.FORD 4000, rops, 3pl, runs well.FORD 6700, a/c cab, 3pl, 77hp, 2wd.FORD 8210, fwa, a/c cab, 3pl, remotes, tidy tractor, 3000 hours,110 hpFIAT 580, 2wd, a/c cab, 3pl, pwr steer, 58hp.GREY FERGUSON, diesel, rops, tidy.INTERNATIONAL 584, 2wd, 4 post rops canopy, low hours, pwr steer, 70hp..ISEKI 6000, fwa, rops, 3pl, pwr steering.JOHN DEERE 1140 4wd, rops, good condition.JOHN DEERE 2250, 4wd, rops canopy, as traded.KUBOTA 3750, 4wd, rops, pwr steer, 3pl, 45hp.LEYLAND 253, pwr steer, rops, 50hp.MASSEY FERGUSON 135, rops ,very tidy, 44hp.MASSEY FERGUSON 148, rops.MASSEY FERGUSON 175, rops canopy, pwr steer, tidy, 67hp.

Loader available to fit.SAME SILVER 100.6, Agroshift, fwa, a/c cab, new rear tyres,103hp. Excellent unit.RIMS & TYRESNEW FERGUSON 16” and 19” front rims.NEW 19” tyres for fergy.VINTAGE MC DONALD 35hp hot bulb engine. IMPLEMENTS MASSEY fel, wick wiper, new holland 69 square baler, 3pl 7 tyned. Deep ripper, rau 2.5 Mtr rotary harrow & roller, krone 3mtr rotary harrow & Roller, lely 3pl super spreader, 3pl toolbar with cultivators, post hole. Auger, 200ltr 12volt fuel transfer tank, hardi 1200 ltr trailing spray unit with 10 mtr boom and hand reel, 4ft rotary hoe, 6ft 6 rotary hoe with hyds, 6Ft port multi grader blade, 4 in 1 fel bucket suit 60hp,front end loader suit ford 4000 etc, connor shea 24 plate hydraulic trailing discs, grizzly. 24 Plate hydraulic wheeled offset discs, 8ft bracken roller, front end loader buckets, carryalls , 6ft slasher, harrows, 3pl & trailing super spreaders, 3pl hyd bale grab, assorted tractor weights and weight framesWANTED Fiat 450 or 500, ford 8401,fw and tw any condition, good quality. Late model tractors, massey ferguson 240 or 250 with pwr steer, ford county 6Cyl tractor, fendt vinyard tractors..260V, 270v, 280v, any condition..Also Bulldog any condition.

FOR its end of year financial sale, Agrison has reduced the price of its 75hp Ultra four wheel drive tractor by $4000.

Normal list price is $33,990 and until the end of this month it will be $29,990.

The tractor comes with a front end loader, a four in one bucket, ROPS and canopy, power steering, agricultural tyres, a 1.8m wide slasher and a five year warranty.

More information on 1300 651 830.

Agrison cut prices of 4WD tractors

NATIONAL Farm-ers’ Federation president Duncan Fraser said Mr Hockey’s speech, the Fed-eral Budget reply, failed to recognise the critical role farmers play in Australia’s economy.

“While we certainly wel-come a number of promis-ing commitments from the Coalition – namely axing the carbon tax, cutting red tape and putting in place fairer and more flexible workplace laws – we are disappointed that there has been no mention of agri-culture and its importance to the nation’s future,” Mr Fraser said.

“We are pleased to see that the Coalition has in-cluded agricultural exports as one of its five ‘national economy pillars’ in its Real Solutions for all Australians plan, which is why we are surprised that agriculture did not rate a mention in either of the post-budget speeches.

“This is perhaps even more surprising, as it was at the NFF’s National Con-gress in October that Mr Abbott said that farming is a ‘critical part of our national economy’ and, even more so, ‘part of our soul’.”

He said: ‘an Australia without a vibrant, dy-namic, growing farm sector wouldn’t be the country that we all know and love.

So it’s important that the farm sector be supported and encouraged by govern-ment, not hindered by it.’

Australia’s 130,000 farms not only own, man-age and care for 60 per cent of Australia’s landmass, but also contribute $46 billion to the Australian economy at farm gate, including $37 billion in exports.

And when the rest of the agricultural supply chain is added in, agriculture employs 1.6 million people and creates 12 per cent of Australia’s GDP – making it a vitally important industry

in terms of jobs, the environ-ment and the economy.

Mr Fraser said; “In his Congress address Mr Abbott said ‘it was only because of growth in the agricultural sector that we avoided going into reces-sion as part of the global financial crisis’.

“All this, and from a sec-tor that receives the lowest level of taxpayer subsidy of any agriculture sector in the world,” he said.

“Yet when he stood in Parliament last week to respond to the budget, Mr Abbott mentioned mining and manufacturing, but not once did he mention the critical role that agriculture plays in this country.

“And, Mr Hockey did the same.

“Our nation’s farmers deserve to be recognised for the enormous contribution they make – and our sec-tor needs to be considered a national priority by our political leaders.”

Fraser slams budget reply

Not enough focus on agriculture, despite promise to end carbon tax

Advocate welcomed

In brief

THE NFF has welcomed the Federal Government’s announcement of a ‘Food and Beverage Supplier Advocate’ to assist Australian agricultural business access to new markets.

CLARK Equipment has launched a number of promotions for farm tractors, Bobcat skidsteers, excavators and truck mounted fork lifts.

Six tractor models, from the $17,990 22hp CT22 to the $32,990 50hp CT450, are offered as tractor and loader/bucket packages with hydrostatic transmissions and $1000 of a Dakenag implement of the buyer’s choice, if ordered before June 30.

Prices include GST.With Bobcat skiddies,

the company is offering a $2500 rebate from the price of the 61hp S160, as long as stocks last.

But it emphasises there are special prices available on other selected skiddies and excavators.

On a range of specific Doosan equipment sold by Clark, but mainly excavators, the company is passing on unspecified manufacturers’ rebates.

Again, orders must be in by June 30.

On its remaining Kinglifter truck-mounted forklifts, Clark has cut $10,000 to $15,000 from list prices for each of its demonstrator models.

They will now retail for $29,990 each.

Deals to entice

AWASUM PTY LTDWAREHOUSE: 1/48 Lara Way Campbellfield, Victoria 3061

Phone: 1800 253 672Email: awasum@live.com.au www.awasum.com.au

Parts and Labour Australia Wide

MASSEY FERGUSON MF 360

MASSEY FERGUSON MF 260 MASSEY FERGUSON MF 360 4WD

MASSEY FERGUSON MF 375 MASSEY FERGUSON MF 385 4WD

NEW HOLLAND 55-56 – LIFTOMATIC

NEW HOLLAND 60-56 – LIFTOMATIC

NEW HOLLAND FIAT 640S NEW HOLLAND 70-56 – LIFTOMATIC 4WD

MASSEY FERGUSON MF 240

2WD – Max Lift Capacity 1,415KG

50HP – 3 Cylinders Perkins Engine / AD 3.152

2WD – Max Lift Capacity 2,145KG

60HP - 3 Cylinders Perkins Engine / AD 3.152 Turbo

Charged

2WD – Max Lift Capacity 2,145KG

75HP - 4 Cylinders Perkins Engine 4.41

55 HP – 3 Cylinders FIAT MOTOR 8035.05

2WD - Lift Capacity 1450KG

85 HP – 4 Cylinders FIAT MOTOR 8045.05

2WD - Lift Capacity 2150KG

2WD – Max Lift Capacity 2,145KG

60HP - 3 Cylinders Perkins Engine / AD 3.152 Turbo

Charged

4WD – Max Lift Capacity 2,145KG

60HP - 3 Cylinders Perkins Engine / AD 3.152 Turbo

Charged

4WD – Max Lift Capacity 2,145KG

85HP - 4 Cylinders Perkins Engine 4.41

65 HP – 3 Cylinders FIAT MOTOR 8035.05

2WD - Lift Capacity 1650KG

85 HP – 4 Cylinders FIAT MOTOR 8045.05

4WD - Lift Capacity 2150KG

Price $16,500 Incl GST With 4 in 1 Loader: $21,500.00

Price $21,500 Incl GST With 4 in 1 Loader: $27,000

Price $20,700 Incl GST With 4 in 1 Loader: $26,250

Price $20,500 Incl GST With 4 in 1 Loader: $26,500

Options: HIGH CLEARANCE TO OR LOW CLEARANCE

Price $17,500 Incl GST With 4 in 1 Loader: $22,500

Options: HIGH CLEARANCE TO OR LOW CLEARANCE

t/04d04466/23-13

Price $17,500 Incl GST With 4 in 1 Loader: $23,000

Price $16,500 Incl GST With 4 in 1 Loader: $21,500

Options: HIGH CLEARANCE TO OR LOW CLEARANCE

Price $30,000 Incl GST With 4 in 1 Loader: $37,000.00

Options: HIGH CLEARANCE TO OR LOW CLEAREANCE

Price $32,000 Incl GST With 4 in 1 Loader: $37,200

Price $17,800 Incl GST With 4 in 1 Loader: $23,200

Page 26, Southern Farmer June, 2013END OF FINANCIAL YEAR BUYER’S GUIDE

Lixion Evolutionintroducing the all new

For more information:email admin@pellenc.com.auor call 08 8244 7700

www.pellenc.com.au

NEW

Reduced price - Now RRP $2280+GST

New breathable mesh ergonomic harness offering

better battery protection in harsh conditions

New blade wear guide

Ergonomic rubber hand-piece grip

t/04d04459-v2/23-13

AGRISON AGRISON Call 1300 651 830

60hp 60hp

* Conditions apply, see your local dealer for more details. While stocks last. Prices do not include freight.

Approved finance customers must be an ABN holder. Pictures are for illustration purposes only.

ONLY $28,990

Inc. GST

ONLY $28,990

Inc. GST

BIGGER TRACTOR, BETTER ENGINEERING & BEST VALUE By Agrison

ULTRA G3

TOP DEAL

t/04d04463/23-13

Tough tractor

Series boasts lower running costs,

TO meet ever-demand-ing exhaust emission reg-ulations, Argo Tractors has developed the X70 series tractors, which not only comply but of-fer additional customer benefi ts from increased performance and lower running costs.

Five models, from 150hp to 232hp, are powered by the latest generation of Tier 4 In-terim standard engines, using Selective Catalyst Reduction (SCR) tech-nology.

It uses an AdBlue fuel additive from a dedicated tank adjacent to the main fuel tank, which is in-jected into the exhaust system before the cata-lytic converter, which then destroys or reduces many of the harmful gases and particulates.

The amount of AdBlue injected varies accord-ing to the load demand on the engine and has

various safety functions incorporated to prevent inadvertent operation.

The 6.7l Betapower six cylinder engines feature 24-valve cylinder heads, to maximise air fl ow and combustion, in conjunc-tion with a high pressure common rail fuel system.

The electonic manage-ment ensures optimum performance and econ-omy depending on load.

A powerboost function increases power output up to 25hp, when using

the PTO as well as in transport range on certain models.

The ‘Xtraspeed’ trans-mission, with 32 speeds over four ranges, pro-vides eight powershift speeds under load, in each of the four ranges.

The multi-disc hydrau-lic power shuttle pro-vides smooth directional changes and is easily operated by the left hand.

More information at www.mccormick-trac-tors.com.au.

RUNNING STRONG: The efficient X70 series.

weareonline!________www.nenews.com.au

June, 2013 Southern Farmer, Page 27END OF FINANCIAL YEAR BUYER’S GUIDE

Leaders in affordable tractors

3 & 4/27 Laser Drive, Rowville www.tractors4sale.com.au Call 03 9759 9199agriboss@bigpond.com Graham 0412 539 263 - Julie 0419 585 115 North East Vic & Southern NSW

NewRelease

$23,999

$25,999

NewRelease

5554 Tractor& 4 in 1 FEL55HP 4 Cylinder 2WD or 4WD

8F/8R Shuttle or 16F/8R CreeperROPS

2WD ROPS

4WD ROPS

INCL. 4 IN 1 FEL80HP 4WD ROPS $34,99990HP 4WD ROPS $36,999120HP 4WD CAB $59,999

NOTE: Photos may show tractors with optional equipment. Conditions apply.

Benefit from the strong Aussie Dollar Pre order and save up to 35% on 2011 prices.

NewRelease

AVAILABLE WITH ‘BURDER’ FEL160HP 4WD CAB $88,999180HP 4WD CAB $99,999

CALL FOR SPECIAL PRICE ON TRACTOR AND BURDER FEL.

Optional Transmissions12/4 Synchro

or 24/8 Creeper or 12/12 Synchro Shuttle

All prices include GST.

t/04d04464/23-13

40HP 4WD & 4 in 1 FELFrom $19,999

OFFEREXTENDEDAUGUST 31,

2013

Agriboss will BEAT any Competitor’s written quotation for Tractor Package by 10%

28HP 4WD & 4 in 1 FELFrom $12,999

now available for immediate delivery

Yarra Glen Mower & Tractor Centre(03) 9730 1988

21 Bell Street, Yarra Glen VIC 3775info@yarraglentractors.com.au

NEW MODEL OUT NOW

NEW MODEL OUT NOW

$9,990 including GST

4 WEEKS ONLY4 UNITS ONLY

t/05d06191/23-13

MONTHLY specials focusing on fencing prod-ucts will feature in Rural Fence and Trade’s ad-vertisements in Southern Farmer this month and into the future.

However, remember, said co-owner Shaun Halit “that’s not all we have at awesome prices”.

Rural Fence and Trade stocks and supplies every-thing from hard wood rails to Hinge Joint prefabri-cated fencing and zinc aluminium wire.

The firm has a 10t tipping-tray delivery truck in its fl eet and a direct site or yard, no fuss delivery service.

Based at 611 Ma-roondah Highway, Cold-stream, the firm will deliver anywhere.

According to Mr Halit, “One day we may be in the Yarra Valley and the next, Yarrawonga.”

Rural Fence and Trade stocks a huge range of ru-ral gates, steel fence posts, treated pine posts, electric fencing, civil supplies, Kincrome tools, petrol tools, troughs, rabbit and chicken wire, High Joint

FENCING SPECIALISTS: Rural Fence and Trade car-ries big stocks of fencing materials and can deliver promptly for the biggest job.

‘No fence-sitters at special prices’

and Farm Lock fabricated fence and thousands of other associated products.

Now three years old, corporate age has brought knowledge, buying power, service, fi ne-tuning, and all those things that create a solid business.

Mr Halit and co-owner Mei Larn Halit put their main emphasis on the best possible prices every day, without sacrificing the best attitude to service and quality.

The pair said the impor-tance of getting product on site on time was the priority.

Fencing and civil con-tractors are a big and important part of business, but the Halits welcome any new contractors to Rural Fence and Trade.

Mr Halit said “We carry stock to fence your farm, freeway or back yard, with supply options to suit your fencing requirements and budget.

“We are open from 7.30am until 5pm week-days and 9am until 2pm on Saturdays.”

More information at www.ruralfenceandtrade.com.au, or (03) 9739 1110.

weareonline!________www.nenews.com.au

* Offer ends 30 June 2013, while stocks last. 4.99% Finance available to approved AGCO Finance customers only. Minimum 30% deposit, with 36 monthly payments in arrears (GST paid in the fourth month) or 3 annual payments commencing 6 months from the date of settlement (GST paid in the fourth month). # All pricing includes GST and dealer charges and is applicable to no trade deals only.

4.99%

FINANCE*

MASSIVE MASSEY VALUE

Contact your local dealer today for more information

MF5400 Series

Starting from only $82,690# Inc GST

Includes front end loader with 1.85 m bucket and 2 Year Warranty.Tough and versatile, these MF5400 workhorses are built to handle the most challenging tasks.

Beaconsfield Beaconsfield Mowers & Tractors 114-120 Princes Highway, Beaconsfield VIC (03) 9707 5368Silvan Darmac Ag Sales & Service 249-251 Monbulk Rd, Silvan VIC (03) 9737 9255Warragul REN Machinery Normanby Street, Warragul VIC (03) 5623 1255Melbourne IHS Machinery Sales 371-391 Plummer Street, Port Melbourne VIC (03) 9645 1522

Model hp

MF5430 90

MF5440 100

MF5450 105

t/05d05843-v7/23-13