Resilient stories shine at fun tea

SMILES and laughter came with inspirational stories of resilience at a high tea in Wedderburn on Sunday.

Black Wallaby Wines’ Jayne Lawson and former Loddon Shire councillor Colleen Condliffe shared their stories of life and experiencing floods in the region over the past decade.

Jayne told more than 30 people at the Wedderburn Community House’s Mad Hatter themed high tea that community helped bond after disaster.

“Interestingly, two collective things seem to happen within a community after a tragedy,” she said. “An effort to bond with each other and a drive to find something positive from what’s happened.

“Participation within community groups can help restore a sense of control, well-being and self-confidence.

“Some members take comfort from giving support as well as receiving it.

“Communities are generally very resilient. Most of us are able to adapt, adjust and move on after a period of short distress.

“We need to hear words of how we are feeling and assure us that things will be okay and the idea that something good will always come out of something bad.

“We need strong leaders, during major tragedies and that role usually falls to politicians, but more often than not within small rural communities, people will come together to support and help each other because of our human need to find a positive within a terrible situa- tion. And if good leaders within communities and our country can put proactive and positive steps in place, communities will find themselves able to get the strength to move forward.”

Jayne said it was often the women in rural communities that were the strongest, the most caring and empathetic and the most resilient warriors.

Both Jayne and Colleen spoke of community bonds and support that had been strengthened across the region since last October’s flood emergency.

They praised the work of Blazeaid in helping farmers rebuild fences within weeks, a task that would otherwise have taken months.

Colleen said one of the first group of volunteers to help in the recovery was Korong Vale Tennis Club.

The high tea was interspersed with games and competitions. Sharon Drury from Moonlight won the best hat prize while Lynne Hopgood took out the costume award for her creation of Alice.

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HARVESTING is in full swing at Cobram Estate’s Boort olive groves where local fruit and yields from across the Loddon are being delivered to the company’s

Graziers assess state of pastures

A PRACTICAL workshop next month will help graziers assess the state of pastures to decide what action to take to optimise pasture growth, quality and sustainability.

Boort’s Best Wool Best Lamb group is hosting the workshop at Barraport.

Ag Consulting’s Lisa Warne will speak on managing ewe and feed requirements for pregnancy management and beyond while Erica Schelfhorst (Agriculture Victoria) would explain tools available to plan livestock feeding requirements.

The work will also discuss: z Objectively assess the current state of pastures using Meat and Livestock Australia tools and identifying constraints to pasture growth, feed quality and utilisation; z Using grazing management to improve productivity and persistence of pastures and reduce weeds; z Assessing pasture performance using tools and apps to record livestock movements; and z Livestock feeding tools.

Erica said the practical workshops would help farmers understand how to maximise feed for sheep. She said the session would also be of interest to cattle producers.

Bendigo Sheep & Lamb Market Report

A more positive market this week with all categories trending upwards.

Sheep

A SLIGHT drop in numbers to 8500 lambs and 3650 sheep at Bendigo this week.

Competition improved with four buyers who were absent last week returning.

The lamb market was dearer, although there was hot and dull patches of selling depending greatly on if one export buyer could operate fully.

Good processing lambs over 24kg cwt averaged $8 to $20 dearer.

However light lambs, particularly secondary types, were often cheaper. Merino lambs lacking weight and fat cover also received weak support.

The highlight of the sale was a $30 to $40/head price spike for sheep, due mainly to one southern exporter who was short of kill numbers today and was loading out sheep as the sale progressed.

Export lambs over 30kg cwt sold from $215 to a top of $247 for around 36kg cwt. Heavy crossbred lambs, 26-30kg, $173 to $225 and heavy trades $163 to $179.

These processing lambs showed a spread of 630c to 750c/kg cwt, with the main weight and grade categories improving to average between 680c to 720c/kg.

Best medium trade lambs $140 to $178, again with a big cwt price spread to trend around 650c. Light processing and MK lambs from $70 to $130. Sheep prices surged $30 to $40, some of the best gains evident for light mutton.

It came as a couple of processors pushed for numbers, while the dearer rates kept other orders quiet. All the main categories of sheep averaged over 400c/kg cwt.

Heaviest crossbred ewes $134 to $177 and Merino ewes to $134. Lot of sheep from $70 to $120/ head.

CROSSBRED LAMBS

RE & SL Pedersen Kamarooka (62) $247, WH Bacon Echuca West (45) $235, Bridgewater Park Farming Bridgewater (204) $232, F & M Schimdt Pyramid Hill (50) $229, Peter Webb Bridgewater (66) $228, R & B Pascoe Drummartin (60) $215, R & K Sloan Kurting (64) $213, Moorilim Past Co Moorilim (98) $210, C & M Stone Raywood (49) $207, B & E Wilson Kurting (39) $197, Hopeavon P/L Kurting (38) $197, Mirnee P/Ship Hunter (52) $194, D & H McKinley Leichardt (35) $189, DA & LM Broad Pyramid Hill (45) $169, T & K Dobson Echuca (21) $165.

MERINO WETHERS

D & R Hannigan Barrakee (74) $155. MERINO EWES

G Nesbit Glenalbyn (44) $108, Heffernan Livestock Cathkin (35) $91.

Grain

Boort Grain Co-op prices

Tuesday.

Wheat – H1 $388 FIS. H2 $342 FIS. APW1 $330 FIS. ASW $328 FIS. AGP1 $323 FIS. SFW1 $323 FIS. FED1 $300 FIS. Barley - PL1 $323 FIS. SP1 $323 FIS. Bar1 $295 FIS. Bar2 $277 FIS. Bar3 $257 FIS JUNE. Bar4 237 FIS JUNE.

To discuss the marketing opportunities available for your livestock, contact the McKean McGregor team.