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SEYMOUR EXPO
February, 2015
Carcase sale results highlight Brahman advantages O’LOGHLIN WILTSHIRE SHEEP STUD
JASON O’LOGHLIN 0429 024 261
CHAMPION COW: Grand champion Brahman cow at the 2014 Royal Brisbane Show, Olive Lady Adelaide sold for a record $80,000. The cow, which was also grand champion female at the 2014 Sydney Royal Easter Brahman feature show, is with breeders Ross and Natalie Olive, judge Stewart Wallace and agriculture minister Barnaby Joyce. Simon Kinbacher is holding the calf. crossbreeding with Brahmans, many were still not fully aware of the impact the breed has on the Australian beef industry. “We will have bulls and females on display at Seymour and breeders will be on hand to chat about how Brahmans can improve herd performances in Victoria.
“Producers can also pick up some brochures that show the scientifically validated studies into the benefits of crossbreeding with Brahmans,” he said. Visit the ABBA stand at the Seymour Alternative Farming Expo to learn more about the breed.
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WITH the best part of a century and a half of business under its belt, Geelong-based Pivot Stove and Heating will likely be the oldest company exhibiting at Seymour. Established in 1879 –
Geelong was called the pivot of the state at that time – it specialises in wood or pellet fired hydronic solutions for homes looking to be self-efficient, off the grid or aiming for a low carbon footprint. The company has two other outlets: one at Dandenong, Victoria and one opened just this month in Dubbo, New South Wales. It also has a dedicated department at the Dandenong branch, which specialises in renewable and sustainable heating solutions called Pivot Hydronics. Hydronic heating systems use water to move heat from where it is produced to where it is needed. The water within the
system is neither the source of the heat nor its destination, only its ‘conveyor belt’. As reported in this newspaper last year, Pivot Stove is offering up to $300 to everyone trading in an old, inefficient wood heater or stove for a modern efficient one. Company director Greg Parker Hill said new wood heater efficiency standards were upgraded at the beginning of 2015 so that no wood heater must now emit more than 2.5g of emissions for every kilogram of wood burned. As well, they must be at least 50 per cent efficient in terms of wood burned and heat emitted. Mr Parker Hill said the minimum standards for
wood heaters Pivot sells, which it first published in 2006, must produce less than 1.5g of emissions for every kilogram of wood burned, be at least 60 per cent efficient and have a minimum six-hour burn cycle. To qualify for the tradein, buyers must submit a photograph of the old wood heater they are replacing, and the old heater must not be reused. Mr Parker Hill said the economic benefits of installing an efficient wood heater were impressive. A heater with 45 per cent efficiency compared to a 65 per cent efficient one will use 2 tonne less wood per year. For more information visit www.pivotstove.com.au.
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SMART beef producers taking advantage of crossbreeding with Brahmans are in effect getting a free lunch says southern branch chairman of the Australian Brahman Breeders Association (ABBA) George Mercieca. He said recent research has shown that production can be boosted by between 20 per cent and 40 per cent, depending on nutritional and stress levels. To highlight those gains Brahmans notched up a number of championship wins at prestigious carcase competitions in 2014. “Brahmans trumped all comers at the Central Queensland Carcase Classic, winning the champion grass fed carcase and the reserve champion grass fed carcase against more than 330 entries,” Mr Mercieca said. The breed also came out on top in a 492 head field at Queensland’s Callide Dawson beef carcase competition in June, with a purebred Brahman steer awarded the grain fed steer carcase championship and grand champion carcase. “This was a milk-tooth steer that was fed for 100 days and it had a phenomenal average daily weight gain of 2.16kg,” he said. He added that while a growing number of Victorian producers were successfully