The Rural Leader December/January 2020/21

DECEMBER/JANUARY

A NE W P E RSPECT IVE O N AGR I C ULT UR E

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CANE TO EXOTICS The family trailblazing exotic fruit production

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2021 CHANGE MAKERS Leading agriculturalists awarded scholarships

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TACKLING ARMYWORM Structured approach to pest management PAGE 18

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Increased weaning, carcase and joining weights Superior grass finishing ability Lower bull cost per calf weaned

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contents 4-5

Capitalising on Queensland’s export opportunities

THE speed of airfreight means people overseas can often eat fresher, leafy Australian greens, than most of us here. It only takes an eight-hour plane trip for Lockyer Valley lettuce, for example, to reach Singapore, whereas in Australia it could be up to a 24-hour road trip before it hits shelves.

10-11

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Trending topics

AGRI-commodity markets are set to begin 2021 with high prices and a range of factors that are likely to see prices hike further, according to Rabobank’s annual global Agri Commodity Markets Research Outlook.

17 Growing cotton on Queensland’s coastline

WHEN someone thinks of where cotton is grown, chances are they’ll picture wide swathes of land far away from crashing waves and sandy beaches.

18

Heat-tolerant wheat on the cards

The ability of heat stress to severely undermine the yield potential of wheat crops is a wellrecognised production risk among Australian grain growers who routinely consider temperature outlooks within their agronomic management planning.

page 18

21 Initative set to cool the feedlot industry

THE Australian Lot Feeders’ Association has announced an initiative to encourage all feedlots to provide cattle with access to shade. This shade initiative builds on the industry’s commitment to animal welfare and continual improvement.

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22-24

Flying Doctors award local heroes

FROM devoted fundraisers to tireless volunteers, first responders and dedicated healthcare workers, the regional winners of the 2020 RFDS Local Hero Awards are an inspiring group of Queenslanders.

42

Social licence in the ag industry

“AS I write, beef is under fire for not having a “social licence”. This concept is an artificial construct brought about by environmental organisations and to an increasing extent animal welfare organisations.”

page 8

Front cover image: Emily Coggan of Coggan Farms. Image supplied by TSBE.

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RURAL LEADER DECEMBER 2020/JANUARY 2021

It’s your Rural Leader

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n a career spanning capital investment, and four decades, fruit and maintaining relationships with vegetable growers Des suppliers and customers. and Paula Chapman in the we’re going to see is that Today, Rocky Ponds’ Produce Coles for over 25 years. enthusiasm for the industry have endured three there are a lot of to secondary school students, cyclones and drought on their lines include honeydew, Des said the nursery has countries in the with Year 8 and Year 12 Gumlu property in far north rockmelon and piel de sapo produced tremendous results, world now that are melon; red, green and yellow teachers encouraged to bring Queensland. with a considerable amount of exporting. South capsicum; and butternut and their classes out to tour the plants grown.

However, the couple has America is very big – Kent pumpkins. farm. bounced back each time and Mexico, Colombia and Brazil “If it’s too cold outside, the Like most Australian vegetable “Since starting this around today, Rocky Ponds Produce is are exporting into Europe. I would nursery all shuts up and growers, water has been an eight years ago, we’ve already thriving. say they’re probably in front of Australia, retains the heat; if it gets too issue for Des and Paula, and got probably eight to 12 people so we’ve got a little bit to learn, and we need hot, everything opens up plus The husband-and-wife began the operation’s early years in the district going into better shipping. cooling curtains They’ve come got better across port facilities and their fruit and vegetable were marred by drought and horticulture and then other their wages are much lower than ours,” he said. the top to get the temperature growing journey forty years two cyclones directly hitting kids looking for farm work so down. Plants grow at the ago on a small parcel of However, Des isn’t overly worried. the property. they can work their way up. maximum rate and we get undeveloped land with one So, if we’ve created 40 jobs “These countries may have advantages over us, but I “Over the years, we have better outputs,” he said. tractor and one truck for in horticulture, I think we’ve still believe Australian product is superior,” he said. built our own water storage transportation.

“We still buy seedlings done well,” Des says. with about 35 hectares being Closer to home, Des and Paula make sure that they from outside just in case “Everything had to be devoted to dams on the “I think other growers should look after their Australian customers and don’t something ever went wrong developed from scratch,” Des property,” Des said. encourage it, and horticultural but we’re starting to create focus solely on export activities. said. groups like Growcom should “The farm has been hit with our own destiny.”

“They helped build us in the beginning and It came down to trial and error cyclones, which has created a start saying that these jobs are still supporting Des said that experience us now. We’re extremely when choosing which crops are out there and they’re bit of damage, but you clean happy with the Coles system that we’re over 40 years has been a to grow before Des and Paula very much sought-after up and kick off again. It’s under. They have supported us very well and great lesson when it comes to eventually settled on three domestically.” never affected us too much we’ll continue to support them,” Des said. maintaining disease resistance major commodities: melons, in our start and stop times; At the forefront of Des and and ongoing sustainability of capsicum and pumpkin, which it’s created other challenges The future is bright for Rocky Ponds Produce, Paula’s minds is business the farm. they – along with their son with Des and Paula’s son, Evan, playing an active role with diseases and crop losses, sustainability, and they are Evan – still grow today. in the business. Evan returned to the farm 10 years ago, “We now employ a full-time but we still manage to start always on the lookout for and it is likely that a succession plan will go ahead. agronomist, and we undertake and finish roughly the same Des is Managing Director of the latest technologies that inister many variety trials to select time. It does do a lot of damage can help to improve for the business, which involves Meanwhile, Des is proud of what he and Paula have built growing Agricultur theMud most disease-resistant though.” overseeing the entire growing efficiency, asIndu over the past four decades, as well as their children’s well adhering al to annayakehe stry plant varieties,” says. process. #eatqld success. was Des said that major challenges consumer trends.

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ADER NOV EMB ER 2 020

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40 20

RURA

N O V E M B E R 2 0 2 0 R U R A L L E A D E R M O N T H LY

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N O V E M B E R 2 0 2 0 R U R A L L E A D E R M O N T H LY inable .......contin ued on page 42 NOV EMB ER 2 020 RURA L LE ADER

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41

Motivational speaker Denis Waitley once said, “expect the best, plan for the worst, and prepare to be surprised.”

While we will take a short break over Christmas, we will be back in the New Year to launch a weekly email newsletter.

These words resonate with The Rural Leader team after the successful launch of our first monthly publication in November.

To subscribe to our print publication (to ensure you continue to receive it each month) or email newsletter, send your details to subscriptionsRL@newsleader.com.au.

We require your full name, postal address, email address, mobile number, and a description of the type of farming you are involved in, for example, grains or cattle.

This is a product published and produced by rural people, for rural people and as we continue to grow and shape it, your feedback is vital. All constructive and positive thoughts are welcome to be sent to editorrl@newsleader.com.au.

“It has been a honour great privi the inspito work for Teys O NlegeFand ARM for close ring leadership family unde r of Brad to grow to 30 years Teys whic to the as a leader and h allows business contribut me Central and comm e Queenslan unities in

ON FARM

Candyce Grew EDTIOR

We have been overwhelmed with the amount of positive feedback on our inaugural publication and cannot thank our advertisers and contributors enough for helping us produce this newspaper-style magazine.

QLD

Dedic ation to ‘eatin g in state local’ recog nised camp ain Building a growing enterprise igfar n North Queensland

2021 Publishing schedule February edition – Booking deadline, January 25 March edition – Booking deadline, February 22 April edition – Booking deadline,March 22 May edition – Booking deadline, April 26 June edition – Booking deadline, May 24 July edition – Booking deadline, June 21

Please visit our website www.rural-leader.com.au for daily rural news updates and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

August edition – Booking deadline, July 26 September edition – Booking deadline, August 23

We look forward to a wet Christmas break and continuing with our momentum and bringing you a new perspective on ag in 2021.

October edition – Booking deadline, September 20 November edition – Booking deadline, October 25 December/January edition – Booking deadline, November 22

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EXPORTS

How Queensland is uniquely positioned for export opportunities Candyce Grew EDITOR

W

ITHIN 36 hours of being picked, produce from Queensland’s Darling Downs can be in the market and ready to be sold in Hong Kong, Singapore and London.

The speed of airfreight means people overseas can often eat fresher, leafy Australian greens, than most of us here.

It only takes an eight-hour plane trip for Lockyer Valley lettuce, for example, to reach Singapore, whereas in Australia it could be up to a 24-hour road trip before it hits shelves.

This month’s issue of The Rural Leader sat down with Toowoomba and Surat Basin Enterprise’s Food Leaders Australia General Manager Bruce McConnel to discuss how Queensland is uniquely positioned to take advantage of overseas markets with thanks to the private investment by the Wagner family in building

4

Wellcamp Airport near Toowoomba and how the rest of the state could position themselves to take advantage of these markets as well.

EMERGING EXPORTERS Shell’s QGC Emerging Exporters Program, delivered by TSBE’s Food Leaders Australia, is now in its third year and has recently seen another six businesses within the Western Downs start on the journey into export markets.

These six businesses in the 2020 cohort are Coggan Farms, Devon Court Stud, Fraser Valuers, Janke Australia, Morrissey & Co and Rangeland Quality Meats.

The Emerging Exporters Program over the last few years has had some fantastic wins with regional businesses able to grow their business, increase staff, and take their produce to international markets.

“Prior to the Emerging Exporters program there was no one

RURAL LEADER DECEMBER 2020/JANUARY 2021

providing a service to help businesses think critically if export was for them,” Mr McConnel said.

“It’s not just about food – the program helps businesses take what they are really good at and offer it to the world. We have got an ag machinery business looking to grow outside of Southern Queensland and a valuation firm looking to take that service overseas in this round.

“It is about finding great opportunities internationally, creating a really strong footprint domestically and making sure when they go to export, they are as strong as possible to do that.”

Previous cohort participants have been successful in breaking into the international export market and have provided exciting opportunities to further diversify the region and expand supply of local products into new markets.

Participants like Four Daughters Premium Black Angus

successfully export to China and Riverbend Pork Group export to markets in Asia.

The 2020 cohort are looking to diversify their markets and navigate their way through the complexity of doing business overseas through the support of Shell QGC’s Emerging Exporters Program, with the aim of developing the companies for export and assisting with their journey over the 12 month program.

AN EXPORTER’S MARKET While Food Leaders Australia is based on the Darling Downs, they have a vision of taking whatever is truly worthwhile to the rest of the state and country.

But Mr McConnel explained, their hands-on approach to helping develop businesses, means being ready at a moment’s notice and on the ground in the region to help.

They work with other

NEWS

clusters across Australia including the Food and Fibre Gippsland organisation and had conversations with the Central Highlands and Atherton Tableland about opening up the state to new opportunities.

“During COVID we’ve seen a massive amount of produce leave Wellcamp Airport,” Mr McConnell said.

“Previous to COVID a lot of produce went under the feet of passengers out of Brisbane.

“But we are seeing mangos from the north coming to Wellcamp and heading to Singapore and Hong Kong, as well as avocados and produce from the Southern Downs.

“While there has been reduced passenger flights, the international export business has actually been higher.”

Mr McConnel said the Wagner’s investment to build Wellcamp Airport was the catalyst for Darling Downs businesses to look at export and expansion.

“We now have investors wanting to build here because of the airport – there’s the ability to set up processing plants and bring in more jobs and opportunities.

“It’s the bigger elements that come with this including the Inland Rail meaning grain and bulk commodities can be processed right beside the airport.

“There will be a lot more investment in food processing – ready made meals – and Toowoomba has a large population that can provide the workforce which means it is really unique.”

DIVERSIFICATION Mr McConnel explained it wouldn’t just be “the big boys”

taking advantage of the flow on effects – farmers within three to four hours of Toowoomba will have their produce processed closer to home, which will mean less in freight costs and a higher farm-gate return.

“Farmers are already looking at the first thing that happens to their product after it leaves the farm and realising, they can invest in it themselves,” he said.

“We are already seeing some really great examples of this including Story Fresh – their on-farm processing operations offer an integrated seed-to-salad supply – all they started doing was shredding their produce and the consumer can buy it as a ready-made meal.

“With connectivity and infrastructure comes new opportunities such as the company looking to produce medicinal cannabis in the area from field-grown hemp – there’s so many more new industries to allow for diversification and it’s too early to see what the real opportunities will be.”

CONNECTING FOOD AND FLIGHTS

it would be more economical to send the produce via road freight to Brisbane to be exported.”

Mr McConnel said the reason it works in Toowoomba is because product can land outside a curfew, there is less congestion and is close enough to service Sydney.

“The key for Toowoomba was an investor ready to play the long game,” he said.

“Brisbane and Wellcamp airports announced they were building a runway at the same time; it took about 18 months for Wellcamp to finish there’s – it was years later Brisbane completed their second runway.

“Wellcamp has been built for seven years now and it will be interesting to see what happens after COVID, but in the longterm airports need passengers to survive.”

MORE INFORMATION To find out more about international opportunities, visit www.tsbe.com.au.

While other regions look at Toowoomba and start thinking “wow we should build an airport” Mr McConnel said he does not believe we will see another new airport in Queensland.

“We are very unique, in Queensland we already have three international export airports – Brisbane, Cairns and Toowoomba,” he said.

“New South Wales only has Sydney and Victoria only has Melbourne.

“For other regions to capitalise on the benefits of the export airports, infrastructure needs to connect the airports to where the food is being produced.

“We can’t have too many airports. To make a plane work it needs to be full both ways, most airports can find some export but if a place like Gladstone for example, wanted to start exporting, the plane would probably be coming in empty and

Far Left Sarah, Emily and Tom Coggan of Coggan Farms.

Top Left Tom Nixon of Devon Court Herefords.

Top Right Tom, Sally, John, Christine and Sean Morrissey of Morrissey & Co.

Bottom Left Alister Hughes of Rangeland Quality Meats.

DECEMBER 2020/JANUARY 2021 RURAL LEADER

5

SPECIAL REPORT

Zappala Tropicals revolutionises exotic tree cropping

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RURAL LEADER  DECEMBER 2020/JANUARY 2021

SPECIAL REPORT

After diversifying from sugar cane, Zappala Tropicals are re-writing the book on orchard development, turning their hand to exotic fruits, an area on the cusp of a boom...

Z

appala Tropicals have long been trail blazers of exotic tree cropping in Australia.

Ever since they diversified out of sugar cane in the mid-eighties, they’ve defied pressures of pests, cyclones and bimodal rainfalls to build a commercially successful exotic fruit production.

Over the course of four decades, the family from North Queensland have accumulated a range of exotic fruits including Rambutan, Mangosteen, Jackfruit, Pomello, Longkong, Chempadek, Durian and Black Sapote.

Today, against all odds, they’re re-writing the book on orchard development, turning their small fruit farm of 14 hectares into a business on the cusp of a boom.

Josh Maunder and his father-in-law Alan Zappala are pioneering a new way of tree cropping by growing smaller trees closer together, cutting costs on netting infrastructure, nutrient application, and labour, and lessening their susceptibility to weather damage.

Their new way of doing things has resulted in less yield per tree but higher yields per hectares, and a lower cost of operation overall, said Josh.

“In the past, a lack of affordable plants and propagation material meant that growers developed low density orchards with a focus on maximising yields,” he said.

“Our trees used to be tall and unmanageable – completely defenceless to cyclones. By redeveloping our orchards we’ve reduced the cost and time needed to re-establish after extreme weather events.”

In a region that averages 4.7 cyclones a year, the farm in Bellenden Ker has had its fair share of hard knocks.

In 2006 and again in 2011, Zappala Tropicals experienced the full impacts of category 5 tropical cyclones: Larry and Yasi.

Josh said orchard loss, in each case, counted for more than 60 per cent.

“We’re talking thousands of trees. Around 90 per cent of our durian and 50 per cent of our rambatan,” he said. “It was devastating.”

The cost to state-wide agriculture exceeded the one-billion-dollar mark in both instances.

Some growers left the exotics industry, deeming it too risky, opting to return to sugar cane or bananas. Others left agriculture altogether.

continued page 7

SPECIAL REPORT Growers that did stay on have attempted to rebuild their operations, but progress has been slow, said Josh.

“Since 2011, research and development investment into exotics has been non-existent,” he said.

“Because we developed our orchards on marginal areas that used to hold cane, we didn’t have nice rectangular blocks. We had trees growing at various stages – some were fruiting, some were pruned, some had just been planted.”

planned, he’s hoping to move 150-odd tonne of produce a year by 2030.

“It’s an ambitious goal. We’re probably averaging 10-15 tonne a year. And where we want to go is ten times that,” he said.

“We don’t have an industry body, we don’t have a levy, innovation is really challenging because who’s going to fund a grower from a non-represented industry?”

We complement each other really well,” he said.

“We’re incredibly proud to be one of the only few exotic tropical fruit producers who’s Freshcare certified. We only put something into the market that is environmentally and food safety regulated.”

“The question became how can we build an orchard that is But at the end of the day Josh said giving up wasn’t resilient to weather, knowing that an option.

“The climate doesn’t actually support a great weather isn’t only cyclones, it’s deal of crops on the coast,” he said. exceptionally long wet seasons “We’ve invested a considerable amount of money into this business. going into really dry periods?”

If we were to exit tomorrow, we would never get that investment back.”

Stubborn as ever, they forged ahead with a suite of innovations and adaptations designed to manage risks and develop farm efficiency.

“The question became how can we build an orchard that is resilient to weather, knowing that weather isn’t only cyclones, it’s exceptionally long wet seasons going into really dry periods?” Josh said.

“Our crops also had to be netted for protection from birds and bats, which was a logistical nightmare.

8

“I thought there has to be a better way to do this. That’s when I began the process of designing new blocks from scratch.”

Josh spent the next year planning what the optimum orchard would look like for exotic fruit.

Instead of making the crop fit the paddock, as was tradition, he made the paddock fit the crop.

Now the blocks are three times denser and new trees are pruned more aggressively to keep a nice structure.

Josh said, if it all works out as

RURAL LEADER DECEMBER 2020/JANUARY 2021

“But I’m looking at it as a business not a farm. That sort of high-level, strategic decision making and planning, that’s what I’m passionate about.”

From the beginning, innovation and environmental stewardship have been important underpinnings of Zappala Tropicals with Alan serving as the president of the former exotics industry body for several years.

Josh said working alongside his father-in-law is all about striking a balance.

“He’s a doer. And I’m the thinker.

As leaders in sustainable exotic tropical fruit production, they’ve been forthright in benchmarking their management practices against industry standard.

In 2017, Zappala Tropicals worked closely with Growcom to become the first business to complete Hort360, the best management practice program for horticulture.

The program assisted them in identifying strengths and weaknesses of their on-farm practices and suggested key areas where efficiencies could be gained; data collection, irrigation timing and paddock planning.

This led Josh to invest in new irrigation equipment that allowed more efficient water delivery. Not only has this reduced the risk of nutrient leaching into the local waterways and ultimately the Great Barrier Reef, it has meant cost savings for the business as well.

“On the monitoring side, we recognised we didn’t have a good appreciation of how our paddocks were absorbing water,” Josh said.

SPECIAL REPORT “We put in moisture monitors to record data and fertigation systems which gave us a better ability to apply a different range of products and minor dosing.”

Armed with good science and a strong vision, Josh is forging ahead with robust plans for the future.

His long-term vision is to be a leading producer of exotics in Australia, if not number one.

“That opens up a whole range of things for us from a business point of view.

Can we contract other farms to grow for us? Can we build a standardised packing shed that takes produce from regional areas and is packed under

our branding?” he said.

“In the back of my head, I’m thinking about a second operational location in a different geographical area to minimise our risk of exposure to weather.”

“The exotic industry is probably less than 0.1 per cent across all of horticulture production in Australia.

“But if we can get our efficiencies right, then we should be well positioned to grow exponentially in the future.”

Written by Sam AllenAnkins. Photography by Earthbound Images by Kate Stoter. Reproduced with permission from Growcom.

Right: Alan Zappala inspecting his trees.

The Zappala’s have a long-term vision of becoming one of Australia’s leading producers of exotic fruit, if not number one.

DECEMBER 2020/JANUARY 2021 RURAL LEADER

9

NEWS

Ten trending topics Agri-commodity prices set to increase Agri-commodity markets are set to begin 2021 with high prices and a range of factors that are likely to see prices hike further, according to Rabobank’s annual global Agri Commodity Markets Research Outlook.

Rabobank sees strong upside potential in soybeans, corn and wheat, among other agri commodities. The main

engines fueling this price upside are weather risks (La Niña in particular), good import demand due to countries stockpiling grains and oilseeds and speculation. There are a few exceptions. The prices of coffee, cotton, cocoa and sugar are expected to decline, as these commodities saw reduced demand in 2020, with the effects lingering into 2021.

Free financial counselling for primary producers PRIMARY producers and small business owners in Southern Queensland can plan for the future as they address the drought, bushfires and COVID-19 recovery with free financial counselling from locally based specialist financial counsellors.

Funded by the Federal and State governments, the Rural Financial Counselling Service

(Southern Queensland) delivers a Small Business program and a rural program with two experienced teams of financial counsellors.

With a focus on improving the financial outlook for rural and regional small businesses and primary producers, the service supports clients with identifying financial and business options, bank negotiation preparations,

government support applications, business planning, preparing and understanding financial reports and providing referrals to relevant government departments.

To arrange your free, impartial, confidential appointment, contact the small business team on 1300 732 777 or the rural service on 07 46 22 5500 or visit www.rfcssq.org.au.

Next round of Black Spot Program open Cattle OTH indicators move into record territory Cattle over-the-hooks (OTH) indicators gained momentum in Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria this month, with southern grids edging closer to their northern counterparts.

The lift in processor grids across the eastern states reflects domestic supply pressures and a more positive summer outlook, encouraging producers to hold back cattle.

For the week ending 13 November, the Queensland 100 Day Grainfed Steer OTH Indicator moved into record territory at 681c/kg carcase weight (cwt), a 72c

spike on year-ago levels.

The Queensland Grassfed Heavy Steer OTH Indicator also reached a record high, reported at 664c/kg cwt, edging closer to the 100 Day Grainfed Steer OTH Indicator. For the year-to-date, the spread between these indicators has averaged 20c/kg cwt, compared to the same time last year, which was a 40c/ kg cwt margin. A higher portion of grassfed cattle compared to last year has driven this change, while intensifying processor competition has continued to ramp both indicators up to record highs.

Maranoa MP David Littleproud is encouraging local communities and councils in Maranoa to nominate mobile black spots in their area, with Round 5A of the $380 million Mobile Black Spot Program now open for applications.

This new round will

have a specific focus on improving mobile coverage along major regional and remote transport corridors and in disaster-prone regions.

The Mobile Black Spot program supports the Australian Government’s continuing commitment to expanding mobile coverage in regional and

remote Australia.

Applications for Round 5A opened on November 18, 2020 and will close on February 10, 2020.

For more information about the Mobile Black Spot Program and the Round 5A process, visit: www.communications.gov. au/MBSP

Project seeks broader recognition for farmers Landcare Australia, in partnership with the National Landcare Network (NLN), have launched a national Landcare Farming campaign ‘My Landcare Legacy’ to engage primary producers to share their landcare stewardship story.

Over the next year the Landcare network

is looking to explore farming stewardship stories and experiences, and are inviting other farmers and their industry to participate.

The ‘My Landcare Legacy’ campaign is the first step in building broader recognition of Landcarers who have been developing and supporting adoption of

improved practices in Australian agriculture for over 30 years.

Standout producers, networks and their Landcare projects will be identified during the campaign with awards presented for best video, rising star award, best actor, longest distance a kit has travelled.

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NEWS

Growing appetite for plant-based meat The consumer appetite for plant-based meat substitutes has emerged as far more than just a fad over recent years, and Australia’s grain, oilseed and pulse producers could be well placed to capitalise on this rapidlygrowing market segment, according to a new report.

In newly-released research Getting Granular with Plant-Based Meat Substitutes: Opportunities for Grains, Oilseeds, and Pulses, agribusiness specialist Rabobank says while still in its infancy, Australia’s plant-based meat substitute market could offer opportunities

for local growers if exports can also be captured, and if both local and international markets value Australian-origin plant proteins.

As a net exporter of cereal grains, oilseeds and pulses, the report said, Australia has more than enough plantbased protein to meet the relatively small local market demand for plantbased meat substitutes, but the ability to capture opportunities, both domestically and globally, would depend on the type of plant protein consumers demand as the industry evolves.

DataConnect empowers multibrand fleet Innovative platform, DataConnect, a system which allows the realtime exchange of machine data between John Deere, CLAAS and 365FarmNet platforms, has gone live.

Similar to the way ISOBUS enables different brands of equipment to communicate in the paddock, DataConnect is designed to connect multiple manufacturer cloud platforms, so data can securely and smoothly be exchanged between them.

John Deere Precision Ag Segment Manager, Ben Kelly, said the DataConnect system meant farmers would be able to monitor their entire machinery fleet using their preferred platform, without having

to switch portals or manually transfer data from one system to another.

Mr Kelly said one of the greatest barriers to the adoption of digital technologies has been the incompatibility of data between manufacturers and the landmark partnership with John Deere, Claas, and 365FarmNet is another step towards removing that barrier.

The structure of direct cloud-to-cloud technology enables a smooth flow of information without any effort or inputs from the operator. Farmers can view five key machine data sets including current and historical machine location, fuel tank level, working status and speed.

Wild dog exclusion fencing hits latest milestone Primary producers from Dirranbandi are celebrating the beginning of a new era on their property, after becoming the first in the Balonne Shire to sign on with the council’s Wild Dog Exclusion Fencing Special Rate Scheme Round Two. John and Mirella O’Sullivan of Wodonga were joined by Mayor Samantha O’Toole to mark the special occasion

at the Council Chambers in St George, where Mrs O’Sullivan shared what this seemingly simple fencing will mean for their family business.

“Being able to control the wild dogs with exclusion fencing means we can start raising Merino wethers on our property,” she said.

“Once the fence is up we are looking to return

wool production to Wodonga, which will be a first in the five years we’ve owned the property.”

Round two of the Special Rate Scheme was started by Council as a response to an overwhelming influx of local landholders who had spoken up about their need for Wild Dog Exclusion Fencing.

Positive conditions see machinery boom Favourable weather conditions across many parts of Australia has seen a 50 per cent increase in financing for agri machinery as farmers fast track expansion plans, according to Commonwealth Bank’s Regional and Agribusiness division.

with lending up more than 100 per cent in the state, compared to the same time last year.

Commonwealth Bank’s Executive General Manager Regional and Agribusiness, Grant Cairns, said New South Wales had led the growth,

“For many of Australia’s farmers, this year has been a rebound from drought with favourable growing conditions, a successful winter crop in many regions and strong optimism about yields and quality of harvest,” Mr Cairns said.

“Over the past few months we’ve seen financing in the sector

increase dramatically – largely driven by farmers purchasing agricultural machinery for this year’s crop season.

“We’ve seen asset finance for ag machinery, particularly tractors and harvesters, increase significantly. Across the country, new asset financing for tractors is up 119 per cent – the highest volumes with seen in the past three years, and financing for harvesters is up 108 per cent.”

New Australia-NZ Export Plan to bear fruit Australia’s $170 million horticultural export industry to New Zealand will be boosted under a new agreement that aims to reduce red tape and ease regulatory burden.

Agriculture Minister David Littleproud said the Australia-New Zealand Export Plan represented a significant market access win

for Australia’s fruit and vegetable export industries.

“Our farmers will be able to get their premium produce across the ditch quicker under this arrangement while still ensuring health and biosecurity safeguards,” Minister Littleproud said.

“The Export Plan

recognises Australia’s existing export certification system, removing the need for New Zealand specific requirements.

“Exporters will no longer need to nominate their industry inspectors, packhouse or growers each year and can use whoever is New Zealand approved.”

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NUFFIELD SCHOLARS

Meet the change makers: 2021

S

ix of Queensland’s leading agriculturalists have been awarded prestigious Nuffield Australia Farming Scholarships for 2021.

NEW scholars will research innovative global concepts, techniques and systems that will create positive change in their own businesses, communities, and the broader agriculture sector.

Representing a diverse range of agricultural industries and key topic areas, scholars will undertake a global study

program using a $30,000 bursary, researching their chosen topic across 14 weeks.

Nuffield’s Queensland State Committee Chair, and 2014 Scholar, Nigel Corish, said the strong representation from Queensland in the 2021 cohort is a proud moment for the state’s agricultural community.

“The Queensland agricultural sector has a very positive story to tell, and I’m excited to see a diverse representation of study topics with a shared vision for creating a more resilient and innovative agricultural sector,”

Nigel said.

“Our 2021 Scholars will research a range of topics, from animal welfare improvements in chicken meat farming production systems, to advanced management methods for stationary beekeeping operations, and increasing meat production by crossbreeding rangeland and Boer goats.

“To adapt to changing market and environmental conditions, we will also see scholars research the benefits of implementing a stringent food safety culture, how to create more climate

resilient production systems, and the financial sustainability of member groups and associations.

“With the generous support of their investors, these six scholars will be given a platform to lead a wave of change and embark on a life-changing opportunity to take their ideas to the next level.

“We congratulate our 2021 Queensland Nuffield Scholars, and look forward to hearing about both the successes and challenges they experience throughout their Nuffield journey.”

Andrew McKillop from Bellmere Supported by the Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSP Investments), Andrew will investigate how implementing a stringent food safety culture can drive sustainability and profitability within primary production businesses.

Andrew is National Quality Manager at The Avolution, a horticultural marketing company specialising in the marketing of avocados to the Australian domestic and Southeast Asian export markets.

Andrew will investigate how the adoption of a food safety culture can enhance both quality assurance and transparency

around primary production.

“Domestically and in major export markets, adopting a food safety mindset is critical to the sustainability of primary production businesses, with consumers and major Australian retailers increasingly demanding primary producers improve practices and transparency,” Andrew said.

“Through my Nuffield Scholarship, I plan to study how businesses are driving profitability and delivering safe, high-quality food to market, by implementing a culture of food safety right across the supply chain.”

Andrew will also investigate how primary producers can be better educated around the development and adoption of food safety programs to increase business sustainability and bridge the knowledge gap between leading research institutions, consumer expectations, retailers, primary producers, and industry bodies.

As part of his study, Andrew plans on travelling to New Zealand, South America, and South Africa to explore their export orientated production systems as well as the United Kingdom and EU for exposure to their retail-focused domestic production systems

Joshua Maunder from Bellenden Ker Supported by Westpac Agribusiness, Joshua will investigate how the agricultural sector can adapt to rapidly changing climatic conditions through more resilient production methods.

In addition to starting his own farm, Aus-Ex Fruit earlier this year, Joshua is the projects and compliance officer at family farming operation, Zappala Tropicals, which produces a variety of Exotic Tropical fruits across 20 hectares in northern Australia. As someone who has witnessed the impact of severe weather events on the horticultural sector, Joshua is particularly focused on exploring practical

12

RURAL LEADER DECEMBER 2020/JANUARY 2021

solutions to climatic challenges that will enhance resilience within farming operations.

“Changing climatic conditions is a global challenge that poses a significant risk to every agricultural sector and threatens the stability of the entire supply chain,” Joshua said.

“Through my Nuffield Scholarship, I plan to explore resilient production methods that can withstand the frequency and severity of weather events which are putting more pressure on an already volatile sector. This will include examining the potential use of engineered

support structures, highdensity production systems, robotics and climatecontrolled greenhouses.

“To ensure future sustainability, it’s critical that the horticultural industry, particularly in Cyclone prone areas, shifts its practices to be more resilient in acknowledgement of changing climatic conditions.”

Joshua will study countries that are subject to extreme weather events and who are developing resilient production methods, including Japan, the United States, Taiwan, and the Philippines.

NUFFIELD SCHOLARS

Queensland Nuffield Scholars Kelly McTavish from Wamuran Supported by AgriFutures Chicken Meat Program, Kelly will investigate how emerging trends and technologies can drive animal welfare improvements in chicken meat farming production systems.

For over 20 years, Kelly has worked directly in the Australian Chicken Meat Industry farming sector with a primary focus on animal welfare and compliance.

As someone who cares for and manages animal welfare, Kelly is particularly focussed on exploring how global perspectives can facilitate

continuous health and welfare improvements in Australia’s chicken meat industry.

“To meet changing customer expectations and ensure the long-term prosperity of the Australian chicken meat industry, we need to continually improve chicken welfare and handling methods,” Kelly said.

“Through my Nuffield Scholarship, I plan on researching emerging trends and technologies in the chicken meat production industry to build knowledge capacity and facilitate positive outcomes for chicken welfare.”

Kelly will also investigate

the impact that industry participants have on animal welfare and compliance in Australia’s chicken meat industry, and how capacity building and upskilling of staff can improve welfare outcomes.

“I look forward to exploring emerging trends and opportunities for chicken welfare around the world, and how these can lead to better practices in Australia,” Kelly said.

Through her global research, Kelly will investigate existing systems and best practice examples across the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom and Asia.

Leisa Sams from Peachester

Supported by Woolworths, Leisa will investigate advanced management methods for stationary beekeeping operations that improve efficiencies, yield, and facilitate the production of high-quality honey and products within a quality assurance framework.

As owner and founder of stationary apiary and honey production business, Hum Honey on the Sunshine Coast Hinterland, Leisa self manages 200 hives, and another 300 alongside a local family apiary business.

“A rising global consumer issue is food provenance and food security, with the educated consumer

wanting greater transparency in the product story and process,” Leisa said.

“For the honeybee industry to evolve with changing consumer expectations, we need to build the capability of our industry to understand the benefits of food production quality programs andimplement them in their operations.

“Through my Nuffield Scholarship, I hope to align my research to the Australian Honey Bee Industry Council’s (AHBIC) priority advocacy target, that supports beekeepers to better understand the consumer valued link between production, beekeeping

practices and quality assurance programs.

“There is great opportunity for the Australian honeybee industry to develop sustainable and profitable mid-scale businesses that can capitalise on high value and quality market opportunities, rather than having imported products fulfil domestic market requirements and claim provenance.

“Few resources are available to support the upskilling of small to mid-scale commercial apiarybusinesses, which is what I look forward to exploring across New Zealand, the European Union, the United Kingdom and North America.”

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NUFFIELD SCHOLARS

Pieter van Jaarsveld from Gore Supported by Meat & Livestock Australia, Pieter will investigate how crossbreeding rangeland and Boer goats can increase meat production and drive greater productivity in the industry.

Pieter runs a Boer goat enterprise on the family farm, alongside an Angus cattle and Wagyu breeding operation. As managing director of the Boer goat business, Pieter currently produces meat goats with a breeding flock of 500 does working through local abattoirs to sell meat directly to consumers.

Currently completing a bachelor’s degree in Animal

Science and Agribusiness at the University of Queensland, Pieter is particularly focussed on quantifying the benefits of crossbred rangeland and Boer goats and developing an industry grading system to increase value for their meat.

“Though the Australian goat industry is one of the largest exporters of goat meat, it’s yet to realise its full potential on a global scale, with a key challenge being the lack of industry focussed research and production data available,” Pieter said.

“There is great opportunity for the Australian goat

industry to transform to a more scientifically focussed production system, by developing better management practices that offer practical solutions to goat production systems and producer education.

“Through my Nuffield Scholarship, I plan on attending the Grootfontein Agriculture Development Institute in South Africa, to understand how to better market goat meat and develop quality assessments of these meats and breeds, as well as visit other research institutions and studs globally.”

Tracey Martin from Home Hill Supported by Australian Agricultural Company Limited, Consolidated Pastoral Company, Elders and S.Kidman & Co, Tracey will investigate funding and operational issues that impact the financial sustainability of member groups and associations.

in agriculture, greater focus must be placed on

Working and living from a foundation Droughtmaster stud which can run up to 6,000 head of cattle,

businesses in the agricultural sector. However, these established groups are often limited in the

Tracey not only supports her family in running the property but brings forth production ideas to

support they provide due to lack of formal funding and other contributing factors.

enhance profitability.

“To address current and future workforce challenges

supporting people both living and working in our rural communities,” Tracey said.

“Member groups and industry associations play a critical role in supporting individuals, families and

“Through my Nuffield Scholarship, I plan to investigate barriers inhibiting member groups and associations from moving

towards self-financial sustainability, and to explore global case studies which allow me to make comparisons between different member groups and associations and assess the efficacy of their operating models and funding support.”

Tracey will investigate existing agricultural member groups and associations strategies across Australia and approaches utilised across Canada, Ireland, and Nordic countries, where there have been rapid advancements in their agriculture sectors.

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LIVESTOCK

Cattle behaviour triggers health clues A study of cattle behaviour in Australian feedlots has identified new behavioural distinctions between healthy and sick cattle which could help in earlier diagnosis and treatment of Bovine Respiratory Disease (BRD).

T

he project was funded

by MLA in consultation with the Australian Lot Feeders’ Association (ALFA) and led by US veterinarian Professor Brad White of Kansas State University and Precision Animal Solutions.

Researchers analysed data collected by remote early disease identification (REDI) technology at several Australian feedlots to illustrate specific relationships between individual and group behaviour in cattle and the associated health outcomes.

REDI technology provides objective, 24‑hour‑a‑day behavioural monitoring to determine changes in wellness status.

Researchers analysed animal behavioural data, disease occurrences and the magnitude of lung lesions associated with BRD at slaughter.

Early behaviour critical Professor White said the research provides new insights through remote monitoring, which could improve BRD detection and treatment rates, as well as animal welfare and outcomes.

“We found there were some important behavioural distinctions between healthy and sick cattle, which carried through to their lung scores at slaughter and then through to carcase performance,” Professor White said.

16

“The more severe the lung scores were, the lower the carcase performed.

“This isn’t surprising, but it becomes important when we talk about associations between animal behaviour and lung consolidation or pleurisy scores at slaughter.”

Behaviour clues “We found that cattle which ended up being sick spent more time at the feed bunk in the first six days after arrival at a feedlot than healthy cattle.

“Importantly, the cattle spent more time at the bunk in the late evening and early morning hours and less time at the bunk during daylight hours, compared to the healthy cattle.”

Another key finding was the behavioural difference between the sick and healthy cattle at water.

“Again, in the first six days at the feedlot, the sick cattle spent more time at the water,” Professor White said.

“Healthy cattle would spend between 1.5% and 2% of their time at the water, but sick cattle might spend 2.5% of their time or more at the water in those first six days.

“This differed by time of day as well. During the daytime, the water in a feedlot pen is much like the office water cooler – it’s a place where cattle socialise.

RURAL LEADER DECEMBER 2020/JANUARY 2021

“During the day, we often see cattle go up to the water in groups of four, five or six, hang out for a while, then move away.

“However, at night, if they go to the water, they tend to be as singles because they’re thirsty – it’s not a social activity. So we observed sick cattle going up to the water overnight more frequently, likely because they’re dehydrated.”

At a pen level, the findings were also interesting.

“Sick cattle earlier in the feeding phase had more cattle within three metres of them than healthy cattle, meaning they’re hiding in the group,” Professor White said.

Challenging assumptions Professor White said the findings challenge some existing assumptions about the behaviour of animals with BRD, such as cattle going off by themselves if they’re sick.

“We train pen riders to look for the cattle which are isolated, but cattle won’t do this early in the disease process.

“For most of the BRD we deal with, the main therapy is antimicrobials. Antimicrobials are more effective if given early in the disease process because there are less bacteria for them to battle, and less damage has occurred to the pulmonary tissue and lung tissue.

“We’re starting to develop a

picture which illustrates sick cattle spend more time at water, more time at feed, and more time in a group in the first six days at a feedlot.

“If you ignore the water aspect, this is almost the opposite of what we tell pen riders to look out for.

“However, after the early phase in the feedlot, sick cattle get to a certain point where they can no longer compensate for their illness and their behaviour flips to doing things like staying away from the group.”

Professor White said the findings highlighted the importance of understanding the disease progression of BRD, and the time when pen riders are doing observations.

“We think a good time to observe cattle is around feeding time, or just before feeding, which is accurate if you want to observe their feeding behaviour but it’s also a high social pressure time, making subtle behavioural changes more difficult to observe,” Professor White said.

“We know BRD is concentrated at the front end of the feeding phase, so if you can observe or monitor them closely during this high‑risk time for BRD, that can make a big difference to health outcomes.”

This article was originally published in the Meat & Livestock Australia’s Feedback magazine (mla.com.au/feedback).

CROPPING

Coastal cotton: Maryborough farmer adds cotton to his crop mix When someone thinks of where cotton is grown, chances are they’ll picture wide swathes of land far away from crashing waves and sandy beaches.

By Robert Virtue

M

ostly, they’d be right – cotton in Australia is mainly grown on flat plains in inland Queensland and New South Wales.

But a small group of farmers in Queensland has turned that idea on its head and grown cotton in the sun-drenched, humid climes of the Fraser Coast.

An area renowned for its pineapple and sugarcane plantations, Maryborough has in recent years been home to fields of fluffy, white cotton.

Kepler Atkinson is a farmer in the region and this year grew his second cotton crop.

“Dad grew cotton eight years ago in a small trial, and then we’ve done it again last year and this year,” he said.

“Dad and my brother both have farms next door to me, so we’re a family operation.

“This year I grew 45 hectares of cotton, but we also grow soybean, sugarcane, and plant about 70,000 pineapple plants each year.

“Dad has a fruit packing shed next door too, so we’re quite a mixed operation.”

Aged in his early 30s, Kepler is part of the next generation of farmers keen to try new things.

“We decided to turn to cotton because the prices for sugarcane had been a bit poor, so it was a business decision to turn to cotton and give it a go.

“We knew it would work, given our water supply and warm temperatures, but it’s like anything – a big learning curve.”

Kepler said he enjoyed growing cotton and the need for “handson” monitoring of the crop.

“We grew this crop under two centre pivots and the rest was flood irrigation. We averaged about 6.9 bales per hectare,” he said.

“Up here on the coast, cotton grows easy, but the challenge is getting it to grow right.

“I love how you see something happening all the time when growing cotton. Every week you’re in the crop and every week its looking different and changing. I’ve just enjoyed everything.”

Kepler said in the Maryborough area there were two other farmers who also grew cotton.

“We chat with each other and find out what’s going on with each other’s crops and we all have the same agronomist. We had a meeting recently too which was pretty handy to have, so we’re all on the same page about making a real go of growing cotton here on the coast.”

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Kepler said he wanted to improve his cotton growing over the seasons to come.

“I’m hoping to plant 65-69 hectares of cotton this year, and over the next few years I want to get better yields and pick up an extra half a bale to the hectare every year.

“It would be good to get more farmers growing cotton up here.

I’m really grateful for the advice and help I’ve received from other growers in other regions.

“It’s been a great experience so far and I hope I’ll be doing it for a while to come.”

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CROPPING

More heat tolerant wheat varieties on the cards

T

he ability of heat stress to severely undermine the yield potential of wheat crops is a wellrecognised production risk among Australian grain growers who routinely consider temperature outlooks within their agronomic management planning.

However, with predictions that heat waves and temperature volatility will become more frequent occurrences in Australia in coming decades, researchers are working tirelessly to improve the heat tolerance of varieties through targeted genomic selection.

A rigorous comparison of the yield performance of thousands of wheat lines has been undertaken at the University of Sydney’s Plant Breeding Institute (PBI) at Narrabri in New South Wales under different times of sowing, heat shock conditions and within temperaturecontrolled greenhouses.

Similar trials have been conducted in major growing regions in Western Australia and Victoria, delivering remarkably consistent results.

The research is a key investment for the Grains Research and Development Corporation and has been conducted by the University of Sydney’s PBI with assistance from Agriculture Victoria, Flinders University, Merredin Managed Environment Facility, Australian Grain Technologies and Intergrain.

Professor Richard Trethowan, from the University of Sydney,

18

said the evaluation of new materials developed from diverse genetic backgrounds using fieldbased phenotyping and genomic selection suggested that current levels of heat tolerance could be substantially improved.

Professor Trethowan explained the objectives and outcomes of the research in a recently released GRDC video explaining new research investigating better wheat yields from improved heat tolerance.

“The ultimate aim of the program is to identify lines that perform very well when sown optimally and maintain yield when temperatures are high,” Professor Trethowan said.

“While years of breeding selection has resulted in many current Australian wheat varieties possessing heat tolerance, the research has identified genetic material that offers superior heat tolerance potential, which can be used to mitigate the effects of a warming climate.”

Periods of extreme high temperature, particularly short periods of heat shock, are a major threat to wheat yield and grain quality throughout much of the Australian wheat belt.

Observations at PBI since 2012 suggest that every onedegree Celsius rise in average maximum seasonal temperature reduces wheat yields by 250-400 kilograms per hectare.

Heat shock occurs when there are at least three to five days of temperatures above 35 degrees

RURAL LEADER DECEMBER 2020/JANUARY 2021

Celsius, and when this coincides with meiosis/flowering, grain number and therefore yield is reduced.

Temperatures above 35 degrees Celsius during grain fill will also impact yield by reducing grain weight and increasing screenings.

To progress genetic improvement for heat tolerance, Professor Trethowan said it was imperative for researchers to have a relevant, effective, and repeatable phenotyping strategy.

“Over time, researchers at PBI have developed a three-tiered scheme for phenotyping for heat tolerance,” he said.

“Stage one involves time of sowing trials under irrigation, stage two evaluates the lines which demonstrated a level of heat tolerance for response to heat shock using field-based heat chambers and stage three focuses on the delivery of controlled heat stress in glasshouses to assess the impact on pollen.

“The pollen impact is extremely important – results from one of the heat susceptible varieties showed that heat shock reduced pollen viability by two thirds.

“If we can introduce a gene for enhanced pollen viability under heat and another gene which maintains grain weight under high temperatures, then it allows the sowing window to become a little wider despite tougher growing conditions.”

The success of the phenotyping strategy being implemented at PBI has helped establish a

successful genomic selection strategy for heat tolerance.

“We’ve reduced the cycle time of cross to cross from six to seven years to two to three years,” Professor Trethowan said.

“Because we now have an extensive genetic profile of a broad range of material, we can combine the genetics, the field responses, the heat chamber responses and the glasshouse responses to calculate genomic estimated breeding values (GEBVs) and quantitative trait loci (QTL) linked to heat tolerance traits.

“There’s enormous value in that germplasm for plant breeders who are interested in heat tolerance.”

There are two models used to calculate GEBVs – a baseline model which only predicts the overall GEBV of each genotype and a more sophisticated model which incorporates genotype-byenvironment interaction.

“From there we take those lines with the highest breeding values and test them in Western Australia and Victoria to confirm that these responses are transferable across environments on the basis of that breeding value,” Professor Trethowan said.

“What we’ve seen is good correlation in predictability across the different regions as well as good prediction accuracy when the sophisticated model is used.

“Better predictions mean better germplasm and better varieties for grain growers.”

PEST MANAGEMENT

Tackling fall armyworm

A

ustralia’s voracious new pest, the fall armyworm, is rapidly spreading south and a leading front-line industry advisor says while drastic extermination measures often fail, a more integrated approach is preserving crop yields.

Toowoomba technical services manager Maree Crawford is spearheading Elders’ response to the fall armyworm, after it was detected in February this year at Georgetown, Queensland, in a maize trial site.

“This pest is a serious threat to some crops and there is a tendency for growers and advisors to overuse synthetic pyrethroids up front and this approach is not proving

successful,” Ms Crawford said.

synthetic pyrethroids.

“Elders agronomists address fall armyworm outbreaks in a very structured way using an integrated pest management approach based on the individual circumstances.

“If you nuke everything, you’re not going to have the beneficials to clean up new egg lays and hatchings underneath the leaf where your sprays have failed to reach all the fall armyworms,” she said.

“You have to take a lot of factors into account, like the weather, the lifecycle stage, the crop species and its risk profile, and the extent of the infestation.”

Ms Crawford said the greatest challenge was to get adequate coverage of the larvae with pesticides because they burrowed deep into plant, increasing the risk of chemical resistance.

For that reason, as well as their devastating impact on beneficial insect populations, Ms Crawford advised against blanket applications of

“Where people have tried a total knockdown approach, we’re seeing them back there in big numbers in as little as 14 to 21 days, depending on temperature and day length.”

Rotating chemicals that preserved beneficial insects like the predatory Cotesia and Trichogramma wasps in conjunction with biotech products like Magnet, which targeted moths and reduced the amount of eggs laid, worked very successfully when

infestations were caught early, Ms Crawford said.

Once fall armyworms got past the 10 millimetre-long third instar stage, Ms Crawford said, it was almost impossible to prevent large-scale crop damage.

“When they are transitioning from the third to the fourth instar, we find them inside the whorl of the plant,” she said.

“They cover themselves down in the whorl with frass, which is their waste, and the chemical can’t penetrate that, it just sits on top and doesn’t get to them.”

It was critical to spray in the evening, when the largely nocturnal larvae were out feeding, Ms Crawford said.

DECEMBER 2020/JANUARY 2021 RURAL LEADER

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ON FARM

Sustainability and customer connections key for Skye

A

t Neumgna, near the regional town of Maidenwell, Queensland, 160km north east of Brisbane, Skye Douglass and husband Glenn operate their family farm beef enterprise across approximately 2660 acres of diverse land, nestled alongside national park and state forest.

Stemming from a long line of beef producers and butchers, Skye and Glenn have one core value that keeps their farm and business in operation: sustainability.

The pair produce and sell beef across South-East Queensland under the label HighBrit Beef with the majority of their customers located in Brisbane and surrounds.

Their business operates like that of a collective of like-minded farmers, offering a unique paddock to plate service.

For the Douglass family, the value of sustainability is one of utmost priority and has its roots in their desire to leave something for their children – Maye (14), George (12), Audrey (10) and Isla (6).

“My background is in environmental science, so I came into this being a ‘greenie’ and being sort of labelled as the ‘greenie’,” Skye said.

here.”

eat.

Sole operators (in conjunction with Glenn’s dad and uncle), Skye and Glenn, run approximately 400 Hereford cross Black Angus breeders.

“We’ll have people come here and say, ‘oh look at that bull he’d be great eating’ and for us that’s shocking and we have to say no you don’t eat the bull!”

The pair actively manage every aspect of their farm, from the soil to the in-house butchery and delivery service. Their aim is to bridge the gap between farmer and consumer by being as transparent as possible.

This lack of knowledge has also impacted the orders that Skye receives on a daily basis, with a handful of consumers only wanting steaks and sausages and unaware of the concept that those bi-products are only a portion of what comes off a beast.

“We make it a point that there is one of us, at least, on every delivery. It’s a commitment from us to our customers. We make sure they know that they can contact us, that we’re around, in the end it’s all about that open line of communication,” Skye said.

It’s the transparency that a lot of our customers value, it goes to the hashtag #knowyourfarmer, #knowyourfood movement and I’m really happy to talk with them openly and honestly about what we do.

Better connecting consumers with food and fibre production is no small task with a number of misconceptions about the agriculture industry highlighting the knowledge gaps consumers have when it comes to how their food and fibre is produced.

“But when I talked to my husband and we discussed our approach, he was always of the opinion as to why would we do it any other way.

In her discussions with customers, Skye said the main thing that surprised her was just how little people who eat meat know about the process behind it, even those who she knew to be educated about agriculture.

“It’s really important for us, it’s not just about ‘oh this is a flavour of the month thing’, it feeds into all of our decisions that we do

“I am always struck by how little people know and what a big space it is to educate, even in terms of what animals in the paddock you

20

RURAL LEADER DECEMBER 2020/JANUARY 2021

“We’re different from other paddock to plates where they say you’ll get a quarter or an eight of a quarter of a beast or a half a beast.

“We have a 10kg, 20kg and a 40kg pack and they have slightly different cut ratios but in doing it that way, everyone has to have a portion of top side and everyone has to have a portion of silver side.

“We have flexibility around that, but people have to understand that if you’re going to share in this animal you need to eat the whole thing.”

With a number of promising business ventures in place for the future, Skye’s business has rapidly expanded over the past few years with consumers now requesting chicken meat, eggs and vegetables.

Skye has been able to reach out to like-minded producers and provide an almost ‘co-op’ like service for her customers but maintains that the most important thing for the longevity

and profitability of the farm is sustainability.

“In terms of managing our herd, we’re able to hold animals longer into the dry season and we’ll always have a bit of extra food because we’ve got paddocks locked off and we’re moving animals into them.

“We’re also nurturing our soil and our pasture; we’re not about just putting the animals in and having them mow it down to nothing.”

With an eye on the future and a number of sustainable and efficient practices already in place, Skye is confident the farm will be left in good shape for her children to continue on her legacy.

“We’ve already talked to the kids about the importance of sustainability, and they could tell me from a young age that the areas that we graze were originally the vine scrub that’s next door,” Skye said.

“There’s a whole lot of things that we have learnt or know that we just talk to the kids about and that is how it is.

“You can’t help but pass that on to them, when they’re out there with you and they’re your values anyway.”

This story was originally published on the AustralianFarmers website and has been reproduced with permission.

INNOVATION

Feedlot industry leads with shade initiative

T

HE Australian Lot Feeders’ Association has announced an initiative to encourage all feedlots to provide cattle with access to shade.

This shade initiative builds on the industry’s commitment to animal welfare and continual improvement.

President of the Australian Lot Feeders’ Association, Bryce Camm, announced the peak industry council’s initiative to encourage all feedlots to provide cattle with access to shade.

“We are proud to launch this important initiative that asks all Australian feedlots to make a pledge to provide cattle under their care with access to shade,” Mr Camm said.

“This initiative builds on the feedlot industry’s already strong commitment to animal welfare and positions our sector for long term sustainability.”

Research undertaken by Meat & Livestock Australia indicated shade had positive outcomes on cattle welfare and comfort, especially during abnormal heat wave conditions.

It also showed that shade could result in productivity gains in terms of increased feed intake and hence weight gain at slaughter.

“Shade enables cattle to display natural shade seeking behaviour,

aiding in their ability to reduce the impact of environmental extremes and improve comfort,” Mr Camm said.

“ALFA has had a long-term interest in animal welfare research, and we continue to support grain fed levy investment through MLA in this area including projects to develop additional types of shade solutions for the feedlot industry.”

This initiative builds on an estimated 60 per cent of industry feedlot capacity that already has shade in place by asking all feedlots to invest in capital works to install shade in their facilities.

“ALFA is encouraging all feedlots to consider the benefits that shade brings to the cattle they care for, their enterprise and collectively as an industry,” Mr Camm said.

“We understand the challenges that individual businesses may face in installing shade, hence ALFA is aiming to see shade in all feedlots by 2026 which allows sufficient planning and installation time.”

Information on financing opportunities through Federal and State low interest loans and asset write off incentives is being made available to feedlot operators to support the installation of shade.

“We know that our consumers expect us to care for our

livestock. The initiative to have shade installed in all Australian feedlots demonstrates our collective commitment to prioritising and continuously improving the welfare of cattle under our care,” Mr Camm said.

Cattle on feed hold above 1 million head Cattle on feed for the last 2020 quarter remained stable at 1,010,320 head according to the latest results of the Australian Lot Feeders’ Association and Meat & Livestock Australia survey.

New South Wales and Western Australia recorded increases, while all other states recorded declines in the number of cattle on feed.

New South Wales increased by 32,263 head, or 12%, while Western Australia increased by 842 head, or 2%.

Queensland declined by 20,019 or 3%, on feed, Victoria decreased by 10,248, or 18%, and South Australia decreased by 2,711, or 7%.

ALFA President, Bryce Camm, said national feedlot utilisation remained steady in the September quarter at 70%, and above 1 million head, despite uncertain market dynamics.

“It’s a positive sign for the feedlot industry to see feedlot utilisation stabilise in line with the five year average despite

market dynamics associated with improved seasonal conditions, herd rebuilding intentions and the uncertainty that COVID-19 continues to play on trading conditions,” Mr Camm said.

“National feedlot capacity reached a new record, increasing slightly from the June quarter to 1,449,200 head, demonstrating continued confidence in grain fed beef production and the resilience of lot feeders.”

MLA Market Information Manager, Stephen Bignell, said while cattle were dearer and closed 4% up, to finish at 406¢/ kg lwt, wheat ex-Darling Downs eased 21% to average $338/tonne and barley averaged $298/tonne, a decline of 18% on the previous quarter.

“Lot feeders faced subdued supply and dearer feeder cattle due to strong restocker demand, however this was offset by easing grain prices factoring in improved harvest expectations and continued demand for finished cattle which supported prices through the quarter,” Mr Bignell said.

“The Queensland 100 day grain fed steer over-the-hook indicator continued to trade at elevated levels, averaging 649¢/kg carcase weight in the September quarter, 6% higher than the June quarter and 10% above year-on-year levels.”

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LOCAL HEROES

The Royal Flying Doctor Queensland Local Hero

F

ROM devoted fundraisers to tireless volunteers, first responders and dedicated healthcare workers, the regional winners of the 2020 RFDS Local Hero Awards are an inspiring group of Queenslanders.

The Royal Flying Doctor Service (Queensland Section) announced nine winning individuals or groups – each representing one of its base locations.

The annual Local Hero Awards, supported

by Ergon Energy Retail, Seven News Queensland and Queensland Country Life, recognise Queenslanders who have donated their time and energy to keep the Flying Doctor in the air and assisting the communities which need it the most.

This year’s winners include a group of buskers who fundraise for the RFDS, a mine site nurse who goes above and beyond to

2020 Brisbane RFDS Local Hero

assist the service in delivery of monthly clinics for the town, and a helicopter pilot who flew a car accident victim to a location which the Flying Doctor could land and provide an emergency transfer for the patient to hospital. Also honoured are RFDS Auxiliary members, a Rotary Club and a QCWA Branch – all committed supporters of the Service.

RFDS (Queensland Section) CEO Meredith Staib said a record 115 nominations were received for this year’s awards.

“The calibre of nominations was incredibly high. Such was the difficulty in determining just nine regional winners, we acknowledged five other nominees with special awards honouring their contribution,” she said.

“On behalf of the RFDS I would like to congratulate all winners for their efforts

Five years ago, Jane Milward began busking with her ukulele with the goal of raising funds for the RFDS. Almost $12,000 later, Ms Milward and her group, the Flying Buskers, have now performed in various venues across the state. In addition to raising vital dollars for the Service, the group have become passionate ambassadors, helping to also raise the profile of the iconic aeromedical organisation.

2020 Bundaberg RFDS Local Hero Extensive volunteer support of the Flying Doctor, spearheaded by a former patient, has led to the Rotary Club of Bundaberg winning the 2020 RFDS Local Hero Award for Bundaberg.

An innovative group of fundraisers, who have combined their passion for performing with that for the Flying Doctor, have been crowned the 2020 RFDS Local Hero Award winners for Brisbane.

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The Rotary Club of Bundaberg has been an integral part of the local community for many years, supporting many organisations, including the RFDS, through their fundraising and volunteer efforts.

The club this year supported the opening of the new RFDS Bundaberg Base with a

RURAL LEADER DECEMBER 2020/JANUARY 2021

to support the Flying Doctor. I would also like to thank every single nominee for their ongoing efforts to keep us in the air.

“We simply could not perform the work we do without the help of our supporters, so it gives me great pleasure to take this opportunity to recognise their hard work.”

Ms Staib said Queenslanders were now encouraged to vote for the 2020 RFDS Local Hero Award winner for Queensland, who would win a $7,500 grant to give back to their community.

“You can learn more about each of our regional winners by viewing video packages online and then voting for the person or group which you believe should be crowned our overall winner for Queensland,” she said.

Vote for the 2020 Queensland RFDS Local Hero by visiting www.rfdslocalhero.com.au.

generous donation, as well as performing extensive work to establish gardens at the new base.

Matt Griffiths, who had previously been transported by the RFDS, rallied over 40 of his fellow Rotary members to assist with the manual labour required to landscape the new base. Mr Griffiths further assisted the relocation by moving furniture and equipment from the old base to the new location. He also has a close working relationship with the RFDS Bundaberg Volunteer Auxiliary, providing them with access to Rotary events at which they can fundraise.

LOCAL HEROES

Service announces the Award winners for 2020 Hugh McKay Award Recipient

Hugh McKay Award Recipient Jean and Mervyn Shaw are dedicated supporters of the RFDS. So much so, the couple were last year made life members of the RFDS Near and Far Auxiliary. From attending almost every Auxiliary meeting, to heavily assisting in the coordination of RFDS Field Day events, and even making jams and craft works for sale, the Shaw’s go above and beyond in their support of the Service.

They are first to put their names down, or hands up, to work at stalls or sausage sizzles which raise funds for the RFDS.

2020 Charleville RFDS Local Hero

several years and many are doing it tough, the Buckland Recreation Club continues to support and fundraise for the RFDS.

Traeger Youth Award Recipient Motivated by a personal connection to the Flying Doctor, Oscar Finger fundraised over $12,000 for the Service late last year. Oscar’s mum was transferred by the RFDS when she went into premature labour with Oscar in 2007. In the lead-up to his 12th birthday last year, Oscar chose to forgo gifts, instead devising a plan to grow out a mullet which he planned to have cut off at his birthday barbecue. His initial goal of raising $500 was quickly surpassed, aided by raffles, digital fundraising and the birthday bash. The end result was a grand total of $12,323.50 raised for the RFDS.

2020 Mount Isa RFDS Local Hero A dedicated and tireless group of volunteers have been crowned the 2020 RFDS Local Hero Award winner for the Mount Isa region.

The hardworking ladies of the Gregory township Queensland Country Women’s Association (QCWA) are fundamental to the operation of the fortnightly RFDS primary health care clinic.

Gordon Dean, treasurer of the RFDS Auxiliary in Bundaberg, is a tireless volunteer. Mr Dean and his late wife were founding members of the Auxiliary, both devoting countless hours in support of the Flying Doctor. Now 85, Mr Dean continues to dedicate his time to the RFDS, going above and beyond in a demonstration of his loyalty and dedication to the Service.

The dedicated group of ladies ensure the clinic facility is cleaned, meals are prepared for the Flying Doctor team and the crew is transported from the airstrip to the clinic.

But it is the work they put in leading up to clinic days that truly emphasises their unwavering support for the RFDS, tirelessly fundraising to purchase medical equipment for the clinic and township.

2020 Cairns RFDS Local Hero A helicopter pilot who rushed to the aid of a car accident victim on a remote cattle station in North Queensland has been crowned the 2020 RFDS Local Hero Award winner for the Cairns region.

James Telford, a helicopter pilot, was working on Van Rook Station when alerted to a car accident elsewhere on the property, which is located on the shores of the Gulf of Carpentaria.

One of the first on scene, James realised that the sole passenger needed urgent medical attention.

Knowing that a neighbouring station contained an airstrip on which the RFDS could land, James loaded the semi-conscious victim into his helicopter and flew the female patient to Dorunda Station.

James, along with fellow staff from the Gulf Coast Agricultural Company, were able to further assist the patient until the RFDS crew could land and transport her back to Cairns.

The patient fortunately made a full recovery – largely due to the actions of James on that day.

A dedicated volunteer and passionate ambassador for the Royal Flying Doctor Service has been crowned the 2020 RFDS Local Hero Award winner for the Charleville region.

They even coordinate with other clubs in the district to ensure a generator is ready to power the clinic as there is no mains power at Gregory.

As a member of the Buckland Recreation Club, Sue McDonald is the driving force behind an annual RFDS Field Day at Buckland in Central Queensland. People who attend Field Days live in rural and remote areas, relying on the RFDS for medical support and emergency retrievals. The event ensures attendees can learn vital first aid treatment in case of an emergency.

Ms McDonald is very proactive in promoting health in the community, often seeking opportunities to enhance her own health literacy in order to assist others. The club also maintains the airstrip for the RFDS in readiness for emergency retrievals, as well as the transport of crew and clinicians for the Field Day events. While the region has experienced severe drought conditions for

DECEMBER 2020/JANUARY 2021 RURAL LEADER

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LOCAL HEROES

2020 Rockhampton RFDS Local Hero

the Roma region.

Trent and Elizabeth Challenger are a husband-and-wife team who own and run the St George Bakery, raising vital funds for the RFDS through their business.

They are motivated by the fact the RFDS transferred Trent to Brisbane for surgery over a decade ago.

Mr Clark, along with his fellow Ravenswood Gold nurse, Vanessa De Landelles, are regularly called upon to go above their call of duty as the mine’s dedicated nurses, to deliver healthcare to the people of Ravenswood.

Whether it’s responding to a heart attack in the community, or administering treatment to a broken bone, the dedication and professionalism shown by Mr Clark is testament to his unwavering dedication to the people of Ravenswood.

His selfless demeanour is heightened by his work with the Flying Doctor in organising the monthly primary health care clinic, including transporting the RFDS crew from the airstrip and providing lunch for the clinic staff.

A dedicated group of fundraisers, who have generated more than $1.3 million for the Royal Flying Doctor Service have been crowned the 2020 RFDS Local Hero Award winners for Rockhampton.

The Rockhampton RFDS Volunteer Auxiliary began donating to the Service in 1994, working tirelessly throughout this time to help raise vital funds.

In 2019 alone, the group raised $100,000, bringing their total funds raised for the RFDS to $1.3 million. The auxiliary hosts morning tea events at Rockhampton Heritage Village every three months and also stages additional raffles at various shopping centres throughout the year. A pop-up craft shop which the group hosted throughout the month of September raised a staggering $25,000.

Mr Challenger now uses his vintage bread delivery vehicle to provide tourists with a trip around St George and donates the fare to the Flying Doctor. The couple also support the Nindigully Pub’s fundraising initiatives for the RFDS, along with the annual Nindigully Pig Races which generate in excess of $25,000 for the Flying Doctor.

2020 Townsville RFDS Local Hero

2020 Roma RFDS Local Hero

A selfless, community-minded nurse from Ravenswood has been crowned the 2020 RFDS Local Hero Award winner for the Townsville region.

Tireless fundraisers and loyal supporters of the Royal Flying Doctor Service, Trent and Elizabeth Challenger have been crowned the 2020 RFDS Local Hero Award winners for

Greg Clark from the Ravenswood gold mine was nominated for his dedication to the health and wellbeing of the entire Ravenswood community.

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SUCCESS

T

Beef Battle attracts Darling Downs’ top producers

SBE Food Leaders Australia once again hosted their everpopular Beef Battle showcasing the Darling Downs’ top-quality brands to judge who has the best steak in town.

This year there were eight top beef brands competing for the title of Darling Downs Best Beef Brand including NH Foods,

Mort & Co, Rangers Valley, Stanbroke, JBS Australia, John Dee, Stockyard Beef and Four Daughters Beef.

Stanbroke took out the trophy with their Diamantina Wagyu which impressed all 250 judges who attended the event.

Mark Harris from Stanbroke was delighted to accept the trophy on the night and take out the title of Darling Downs Best Beef Brand

for 2020.

TSBE Food Leaders Australia General Manager Bruce McConnel said he is proud to help deliver the event with local beef brands.

“We wanted to bring the region’s top beef producers together to highlight the outstanding quality of beef we have in the Darling Downs,” Mr McConnel said.

“It will also help develop stronger

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relationships between suppliers and the food and hospitality industry, both locally and across the state.”

“The event is essentially a blindtasting competition where guests will try each of the brands’ sirloin steaks and then judge who has the region’s best.”

The event was held at Clifford Park, Toowoomba Turf Club with a steak feast for 250 guests.

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LIFESTYLE

Raq’s kitchen

I

t was 1996 and I had taken a job as a camp cook on a remote cattle station in the Kimberley region of WA. I was cooking in an old silver bullet caravan covered in dust and in need of a good clean.

My equipment was stashed in big metal boxes

and everything had to be cleaned and packed into the van. My adventure had begun!

I was left on my own out in the bush while the crew went mustering.

I had a water trolley and a small gas stove and all day to sort myself out.

I discovered my love of baking and remote living.

A BLOODY GREAT SAUCE Finely dice one onion.

Melt a blob of butter in a heavy based pan and cook off the onion with one teaspoon of curry powder.

Combine one tablespoon of flour with about one cup water or stock and stir into the onion.

Allow to heat and slightly thicken while stirring.

Add salt and pepper.

Stir in two tins crushed tomatoes, a squirt of sweet chilli sauce, a dash of Worcestershire sauce and a good squirt of BBQ sauce.

Mix well and allow to simmer a few minutes.

There were disasters and successes and fun and tears.

I soon learnt how to set up the camp, but I did struggle with stretching the stores to last at first.

A few times I would fall short of stores and I had to learn fast how to use leftovers to fill in the gaps.

Raqual Humphries That is how this recipe came about.

My crew called it “a bloody great sauce�.

To my delight and it became a common addition to my menus.

I was running low on a few things and stores were a few days late.

I had no gravy powder

Stir in about a tablespoon of brown sugar then simmer a further few minutes.

You might need to adjust your flavours to suit.

This was a random “toss it all in� attempt that you can add to as your tastes require.

(Back then I didn’t know what a Roux was so if you prefer you can start your sauce with a Roux but in the end, it doesn’t really make a difference.)

This is great served with crumbed or grilled steak. I have even used any leftovers to add to stews.

You can reach Raqual at outbackdarling@ gmail.com or search for her page on Facebook.

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RURAL LEADER  DECEMBER 2020/JANUARY 2021

and was trying to come up with something to serve with the crumbed steak for dinner, so I grabbed random things from the cupboard and said a quick prayer to Yhi (the Aboriginal goddess of light and creation.

After all we were camped in her lands so how could it hurt?

My Smoko Break

LIFESTYLE

Hayley Maudsley

Creamy sausage

and pasta bake

Sausages, cheese and pasta - you can’t go wrong with this recipe when cooking for kids. Protein, carbs, dairy and with a side of greens or a packet of veges thrown into it you can cover all nutrition bases. We had ours with a side of beans and steamed broccoli.

You will need: 20 thin BBQ sausages 2 cups of grated cheese 200ml cream 2 tablespoons of butter 3 tablespoons of plain flour Approximately a cup of milk A dash of paprika 2 teaspoons of mustard powder 1 regular size packet of pasta of choice (I used here spiral) Salt and pepper to taste Any selection of vegetables, either as a side or to combine in the bake. Firstly, cook the pasta until al dente. Whilst that is cooking, chop the raw sausages into bite size pieces. And fry in a pan until browned and cooked. Whilst

both of those things are cooking, in a saucepan melt the butter, add the flour and whisk together until smooth and very thick, gradually add milk, whisking until it is smooth, once a gravy like sauce, remove from heat and stir in one cup of grated cheese.

Add the cooked sausages and drained pasta to a bowl, pour cheese sauce over and add cream, and a little more milk if you need to. Fold lightly to stir in, sprinkle seasonings over tossing again and place in a very large baking dish.

If adding vegetables add them in raw or frozen now. Sprinkle remainder grated cheese over the top and bake uncovered until lightly brown and crispy.

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First cut each end of the kiwi fruit with a sharp knife, then stand the fruit upright and gently slide a teaspoon around the edges of it moving it gently between the skin and the fruit itself until loosen up, then flip over and repeat on the other side, it will then slide out leaving you with the skin intact. Slice, eat, enjoy, repeat!

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IN THE FIELD

Sharing a lifetime of lessons For the women and men who pioneered Australia’s sugar industry, hard times such as those being amid the COVID-19 pandemic are not new. On a recent visit to the Australian Sugar Heritage Centre in Mourilyan, Australian Canegrower sat down for afternoon tea with a group of cane farming elders from the Innisfail district - and listened - as lessons about resilience and respect were shared… writes John Flynn.

“It was a hard life, but it was a happy life. There was something about it…everybody was the same,” Mary Marano recalled of her earliest years growing up in the cane fields of the Innisfail district.

It was a childhood filled with old-fashioned hard yakka for the mother of CANEGROWERS Innisfail Chairman Joe Marano.

In the season, days would begin with cane knife in hand slicing ‘chop-chop’ or cane leaves to feed the horses. It was dangerous work, especially for children who could easily slice a toe while working their way along the rows of hand-cut sticks, or lose a finger feeding cane trash into a chaff cutter.

That was before heading to school for the day, then returning home to a fresh round of chores in the evening.

“I don’t know how we didn’t chop our feet while chopping

28

the cane,” Mary recalled.

“Honestly, I reckon the good Lord must have been looking after us.”

In her youngest years, when the family lived at the foot of the Basilisk Range, Mrs Marano remembers heading up into the hills behind the cane fields on the darkest nights to collect cane beetles.

“Our father used to carry a long ladder and me, like a fool, went up there too at nighttime with my mother and a tent,” Mary remembered.

“They’d go up the tree and shake the tree and with the carbide light all the beetles would come there and then you’d pick them up and place them in a drum and the next morning you’d take them to the mill and get five pence a pint.

“In the morning, before the sun came out, you’d go through the cane and pick

RURAL LEADER DECEMBER 2020/JANUARY 2021

them off the leaves of the cane because once the sun came out, they’d go down.

“You can see why I enjoyed going to school!”

The recollections sparked a flood of memories from the group at the get-together at the Australian Sugar Heritage Centre in Mourilyan.

Still whip-smart at 92, Marge Bisbal recalled her earliest years on the family farm at Nerada in the foothills of the Palmerston Range, where her English immigrant father set to work carving out cane blocks from the scrub.

Women and children would share the workload, including planting cane by hand.

“We used to dig holes in between the stumps and put the stick of cane in,” Marge recalled.

“Then when the stumps all got burnt away, they made drills.

“Dad threw the cane in the drills and my sister and I cut it up in the drills, then we scarified it in with the one horse and the scarifier.”

Also eager to share their stories were two of the Innisfail district’s most senior growers Dino Della Mattea and Pietro Angelini.

Still referring to himself as a ‘new Australian’, Pietro’s story is a lesson to anyone in today’s economic climate on the importance of grit and determination.

One of the district’s most respected cane growers, he arrived in Melbourne from Italy in 1961, aged 20, with just a passport and the clothes on his back, and speaking almost no English.

With no family to support him, Pietro worked on a construction site in Melbourne for two months before heading north to cut cane by hand in

IN THE FIELD Babinda for three years while raising enough cash to start his own farm.

Growing up in Italy on a mixed farm where he worked from a young age, Pietro was determined to carry on the farming tradition in Australia and wasn’t afraid to roll up his sleeves and have a go.

“I cut cane for three years with cane knife and shoulder loading,” Pietro recalled.

“Some of the cane had to be cut in three pieces because of the flooding, but we were cutting for good people and that made it easy work.

“It was very hard, the skin was peeling on the arm, blisters everywhere, but we persevered, never lost a day.”

Pietro eventually raked in enough cash to buy a block of virgin scrub in the Cowley district and with the support of his beloved wife Mary, he set about carving out a place of his own, digging out tree stumps to establish blocks for growing cane and carrying with him lessons learnt across generations of farming.

“My Nonno told me how to treat the land. You have to grow things and respect your soil and do certain things.

“I’ve never ever forgotten that,” Pietro said.

Pietro’s great mate Dino still rates him one of the best growers in the district, given what he achieved off his own bat in one generation.

His ability as a farmer is also evidenced by countless category wins for cane at the Innisfail Show.

Heading into their eighties, it’s understandable that both growers, who still work on the farms by choice, would appreciate respect for a lifetime of effort.

“I have done a lot of different things in life, such as grow tobacco, peanuts, bananas, sugarcane, earth moving, building, everything but I find nothing as bad as growing cane as far as money is concerned and putting up with today’s bureaucracy and paperwork,” Pietro said.

“They point the finger at what you’re doing wrong.

“We‘re not doing anything wrong, we do better today than we were doing many years ago.”

Dino is the first to admit he’s had a great life growing cane and has no regrets about choosing a life on the farm.

At the same time, he’s concerned for the industry’s future in a climate of decreasing margins and increasing regulation.

The suggestion that cane farmers might not have the best interests of the Great Barrier Reef at heart also bothers him.

“The way they portray it is as though we’re doing nothing and we’re decimating everything and it’s just not right,” he said.

“It sticks in your craw because when you’re doing everything possible and we’re always trying to better ourselves, as everybody else does, but noone seems to understand it.”

One thing Dino is sure of is that there is a role for Canegrowers moving forward as a body to represent growers and the industry.

He’s looking to advocates like his local Canegrowers Innisfail Chairman Joe Marano to continue airing the industry’s viewpoint by leveraging the respected place at the table that Canegrowers has always had in the corridors of power, irrespective of which party is in government.

something we have to have,” Dino said.

“When you start to get people talking about the reef and they are not practical people, they are theoretical people and it’s all on theory, you’ve got to have someone that’s game to go against them,” he says talking about CANEGROWERS advocacy for growers.

“You’ve got to be positive in what you say and stick to it.

“We’re doing our best and always striving to do better.”

This article was originally published in the Australian Canegrower magazine and has been republished with permission.

Below, left to right:

Dino and Lucy Della Mattea, Pietro and Mary Angelini, Mary Marano, Marjorie and Stephen Bisbal (Stephan is Marjorie’s son).

“You always whinge when you look at the levies, but it’s

DECEMBER 2020/JANUARY 2021 RURAL LEADER

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OPINION

A difficult four years ahead for rural Queensland

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Andrew Stewart PUBLISHER HE re-election of the ALP government in Queensland for another four years promises increasingly challenging times for the rural sector.

Parks’, for ‘organic and fair trade’.

And definitely against ‘chemicals, pesticides and industrial farming’ and coal, diesel, land

photos (pretty or evil or faked).

manufacturing?

That makes arguments based on long and complex scientific fact or reason extremely difficult to prosecute.

Interestingly through then election campaign Labor cut water and electricity tariffs for farmers and are trying to fast

It’s not just that no one who owns or has worked on a farm (such as former ALP Treasurer Keith Delacy) or even in a processing plant (pineapple peeler Peter Beattie who worked at Golden Circle) is in the Palaszczuk cabinet room.

Its that most of the ministerial advisers and minders live in the inner Brisbane suburbs that are green, or nearly turned Green this election.

Last Sunday arvo, nursing some substantial hangovers after a big win following a highly uncertain election campaign some of these minders shared their forward thinking.

While happy to have held their regional city seats, and perhaps won two more, their thinking was largely framed by how to hold the Greens at bay in the inner Brisbane seats they largely live in.

It’s not quite that they take the regions (and for Labor that largely means the provincial cities with high proportions of government workers plus neighbouring areas of retirees (who swung behind the ‘Anna keeps Queensland safe’ message) for granted. But the Greens are a greater threat to Labor in Queensland (and Victoria) than the LNP. The Bob Brown devotees can eat away at Labor’s heartland quicker than the LNP – as the last Queensland and Victorian state elections showed.

Remember the Greens are not just an environmental movement.

They are the party of choice for the gender fluid, the young students battling University fees, casual workers, and renters. All that without the burden of carrying old union powerbrokers.

They are FOR ‘the reef’, for ‘the environment’, for ‘more National

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clearing, anything that harms animals. The quotes are from the election brochures.

As our photo shows, the new Greens seat of South Brisbane has Queensland’s highest concentration of built space (concrete, bitumen and steel all made with coal and oil and industrial processes) and least amount of trees and open space.

This makes debates about ‘the environment’ rather obscure.

The ‘environment’ and the ‘reef’ are rather distant concepts from their reality – a bit like what you might think that the Moon surface looks or feels.

It is so far away you can have some fantastical view that is not anywhere near reality.

Their online Facebook/ Instagram/Twitter/TikTok media of choice are short on numbers of words, large on numbers of

RURAL LEADER DECEMBER 2020/JANUARY 2021

For instance the argument for ‘industrial farming’ (that it provides most people with cheap, nutritious food even out of season) is hard even for Labor (allegedly friends of the worker and the poor) against dreamy images of blonde young things picking (allegedly) organic apples as the mist rises in the valley.

And we do not even get to the tough issues of ‘the reef’ or vegetation management or dams.

So, the rural sector is going to be on the back foot for the next four years battling the green leaning Labor government.

But should it just go on the back foot and present an angry face?

Should farmers and graziers try harder to present their Queensland face growing your food and fibre, and importantly creating jobs, not just on the farm, but well beyond the farm gate in local processing and machinery

track foreign pickers through its COVID wall, because of jobs.

With the highest unemployment in Australia, Labor knows at the next election they will be judged not on COVID, but JOBS. Even the Greens understand this.

The rural sector has to do a better job (not helped by dodgy ABS stats) to highlight the real rural impact in this state on jobs – not just on farm but all the rural related jobs in regional centres and even inner Brisbane.

And also keep mentioning the food comes from a farm of real people on real soil in a real environment, not just a supermarket.

At least get on the front foot early in what could be a trying fake green four years ahead Share your thoughts with us at editorrl@newsleader.com.au.

INNOVATION

How a new shelf life predictor will reduce wasted product

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new tool, five years in the making, is now helping to better predict the shelf life of red meat.

Shelf life is considered a non‑technical trade barrier as some countries won’t accept Australian red meat (since it can take 30 days to ship product internationally).

MLA, in conjunction with the University of Tasmania, collected data on the temperature of chilled meat products and the time it takes to send them to Australia’s overseas markets, so red meat brand owners and exporters can more accurately determine shelf life.

Previous MLA research to validate the shelf life of red meat has helped to negotiate more favourable shelf life conditions for Australian chilled beef and sheepmeat in many export markets, such as United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.

The addition of this new shelf life prediction tool allows the red meat supply chain to ensure product quality is maintained until the labelled expiry date.

It’s being used in pilot studies to find and fix problems in cold chain management, to reduce

customer complaints and insurance claims, and to potentially assist red meat brand owners to negotiate trade in export markets.

MLA’s Market Access Science and Technology Manager, Ian Jenson, said the shelf life predictor tool will benefit red meat brand owners and producers to help grow Australian red meat’s market share.

temperature as well as the GPS location, sending data to the cloud so it can be read in real time.

“This gives exporters the ability to control the supply chain, identify where the problem is and work to fix it.

temperature control • The ability to use the shelf life predictor tool with GPS data loggers to forecast potential issues early on • The ability to offer an informed opinion if there is a problem.

“The tool is essentially an equation, in the form of a spreadsheet, which uses time and temperature data (collected through data loggers) to tell us how much the shelf life of a chilled, vacuum‑packed red meat product has been used up and how much is left, based on certain storage conditions,” Ian said.

Data loggers have always been included in red meat shipments to record temperature data, but it was difficult for brand owners to determine where the problem was and how to fix it.

“It’s standard practice to include a data logger with a shipment, but sometimes we never see them again. If there’s a problem, we have to try and retrieve it and then interpret the data – this has left many exporters scratching their heads,” Ian said.

“This is where the shelf life predictor tool comes in – it turns data into valuable information.”

Data loggers are now more sophisticated as they can measure

“The data can tell us where the product is at a particular temperature, so exporters can determine who’s responsible,” Ian said.

“Identifying and fixing problems in cold chain management makes the supply chain more efficient.”

Benefit to brand owners and exporters The shelf life predictor tool gives red meat brand owners and exporters: • Increased awareness of precise

“We’re encouraging people to look at the data and understand how they can change their practices to ensure the quality of the red meat product at the other end of the supply chain.”

It is expected to become commercially available within a year.

This article was originally published in the Meat & Livestock Australia’s Feedback magazine (mla.com.au/feedback).

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For editorial submissions email editorrl@newsleader.com.au

A new perspective on agriculture

AG SHOWS

Local shows set to forge ahead in 2021

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Candyce Grew EDITOR GRICULTURAL shows are the lifeblood of rural communities and during this year’s coronavirus pandemic, due to social distancing restrictions, most Queensland’s shows were unable to go ahead.

General manager of the Queensland Chamber of Agricultural Societies, Trevor Beckingham OAM, said in most cases, the local show was the biggest and oldest event in rural communities.

“Shows provide the opportunity for a break from the routine – we’ve suffered drought, fire and floods in recent years – and the show gives people the chance to get away,” Mr Beckingham said.

“At the Dairy Showcase in Gatton last year I spoke to farmers who said they had made the conscious decision to get away from the farm for a few days to enjoy themselves, to get the strength to go back and solider on. For a lot of exhibitors, it is their only annual holiday.

“It is also the economic impact – it has flow on effects to employment – for a small place like Alpha, the local show draws people into the community who spend money.”

Mr Beckingham said local show societies had also suffered financially, with one show in Central Queensland losing $105,000, when they were forced to cancel their event two weeks before it was scheduled to go ahead.

While there is financial support

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through grants via the Federal Government, Mr Beckingham said councils across the state were also supporting shows with additional resources.

“Out in western Queensland in places like Quilpie and Dirranbandi – to have the show pulled from under them there’s certainly been some irrecoverable costs they won’t get back,” he said.

“And there is still that element of uncertainty – we are not underplaying that – although at this point in time we’ve not heard of any shows that won’t be going ahead next year – in saying that they may be slightly modified.”

As only 13 out of 128 shows in Queensland were able to go ahead this year, Mr Beckingham said they were currently working through a COVID-safe industry plan for 2021.

“We are working with Queensland Health to get a roadmap to give our shows some semblance of normality,” he said.

“I think we are on about version 10… this is the frustration; they are making us jump through hoops that footballers didn’t have to.

“What they don’t realise is that local shows contribute $141 million to the state.

“It is the life-saving rope that brings in external funding – some of the towns are still reeling from this year.”

Mr Beckingham said the first cab off the rank would be the Stanthorpe Agricultural Show

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held on January 29-31.

“It’s all systems go and everything as per normal, as far as I am aware, they have not had to cancel any regular events,” Mr Beckingham said.

Mr Beckingham explained coronavirus had provided local show societies with a need to reengage with their communities.

“Shows are looking at more creative and innovative ways to deliver their events and there’s already been some great virtual show events.”

Fresh off a Zoom meeting with the International Association for Fairs and Expositions – an American based organisation with world-wide membership – Mr Beckingham said shows across the world were facing the same issues as us in Queensland.

“I travelled halfway around the world last year to attend a conference with 3,500 people in San Antonio and we discussed the same issues,” he said.

“They are working on a way to bust the show flu – like our Ekka flu – and are trying to prove there would be no increase in COVID load by holding a local show.

“We are able to take away lots of ideas on how they run their shows and they also take ideas from us.

“They run competitions,

including a Best in Show and Australia has been pretty significant in the winnings in recent years.”

Next year Queensland shows will embrace an American idea on social distancing – “don’t hog the space”.

“We realise hogs are American, but it will be two pigs,” . he joked

COLUMNISTS

Is this the end of resilience?

OK I’ve had enough. I’m calling it. Resilience is finished!

Dennis Hoiberg THE RESILIENCE WHISPERER

W

ho is sick of hearing the word resilience? Who is tired of hearing that it’s resilience that underpins everything from electoral systems, to financial markets to personal strategies and relationships?

Well, I certainly am.

I’ve had enough of hearing the word resilience being used inappropriately and in the wrong context.

I know the dictionary tells us that resilience is “the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness” or “the ability of a substance or object to spring back into shape, elasticity.”

But, those are the definitions that’s causing these problems.

I can hear many of you people saying – “well Hoiberg, you’re part of the problem – you’ve been talking about it since 1995!”

That may be true. But, in my defence, my take on the concept of emotional resilience is not

“toughness” or the ability to “bounce back” but rather the ability to bounce forward.

When you go through change or confront the challenge, who wants to go back to the old ways?

To me, that never made sense.

Surely life is about learning from your experiences, valuing the lessons and changing in order to move on?

I guess I have almost given up trying to get this message through because the word resilience is, in my opinion, being used in the wrong way. And I feel I am battling strong headwinds!

I am convinced so many people still associate the word resilience with “toughness”, “hanging in there”, “being stoic” and just darn well “persisting”.

change and challenge is such a fundamental life skill that everyone should continue to develop.

What word better reflects the intention of bouncing forward and learning those lessons?

As in any other walk of life when things get a bit tough - read the sports columns!

I remember a great article featuring Steve Smith, a young person who lost the captaincy of the Australian cricket team through controversial circumstances.

He was pretty much frogmarched out of South Africa and endured a very public press conference on his return to Australia.

This basically implores them to keep going - “light at the end of the tunnel” etc.

When he was asked about those events, he made the point that it is probably one of the darkest times of his life but also one of greatest in terms of learning and growth.

So, I think we need to come up with another word because I’m convinced that the capacity to bounce forward through

He mentioned having to reflect on himself and his behaviours (in our game we call that acceptance), identify what type of person and

player he wanted to be (in our game we call that authenticity) and to adapt the way he lead his life.

If there’s any better case study about resilience, I haven’t read it and I read many of them!

The key word he mentioned was adaptability and to me that is the word most people would be more likely to accept and understand.

So, what is your emotional adaptability like?

What are the techniques you use to reflect and adapt in response to challenges and change in your life? How do you adapt, bounce forward and thrive with new opportunities?

Resilience is dead (as a word) – long live emotional adaptability!

Life of an auctioneer

Gerard Walsh COLUMNIST I AM three times the age of some of the young auctioneers in Queensland but would seriously like to be an auctioneer. After leaving school, I headed home to our farm in south Queensland and studied accounting at university for a time.

wife) and my mother-in-law. The storms that were building up on the morning at the sale were just about gone when we went into town for lunch. I was wondering if I went a bit too big with the purchases and rang our agent for a bit of reassurance.

I didn’t finish my degree and then increased the cultivation on our property before starting a long career as a sportswriter. For years on the farm, I would take two packets of fruit tingles with me on the horse and chewed the lollies between makeup cricket or rugby league commentary. Being an auctioneer would give me a bit of an adrenaline rush but not as much as a bull rider taking on a fierce bucking Brahman bull. As beef producers, we have bought cattle from many parts of Queensland. The biggest problem I have at cattle sales is I am an impulse buyer. There is nothing wrong going to a cattle sale and not buying. I once bought some cows in Goondiwindi accompanied by the CEO (my

I like the adrenaline rush of the auctioneer bit but there is a downside to be an auctioneer.

They have to pass on the good news about prices as well as the bad and try to work through many issues with clients at all hours.

Buying and selling livestock is a bit like the share market and the crashes almost mirror each other. When the cattle market started to drop in the 1970s, I went to the sale determined to get $80 for weaner steers and $70 for weaner heifers.

The steers were sold first and made $81 and then I reluctantly sold the heifers for $69. Just as well as six months later, you could buy weaner steers for $12

and we did exactly that. I once had some newspaper shares and decided to sell then to pay for some work on the house at the farm.

The shares were worth $4 and dropped to $3.20 and no way was I prepared to cop that drop.

A year or two later, they were worth 40 cents and have never moved up again to $3.20 let alone $4. I often think the best plan is when markets start to drop, sell before its drops too much and then buy after the markets start to rise and before it rises too much.

Down the years, we bought 70 Brahman heifers which came from Bowen and in more recent times 50 Charolais and Santa Gertrudis heifers from Blackall after seeing a newspaper advertisement.

I called in at an agent to check out cattle prices at Richmond once and have bought sheep from Moree so do get around a bit.

The sheep had nine months wool

and three months later the wool topped the market for Australian Estates. Hard to take too much credit for topping the catalogue when the first nine months of wool was grown at Moree.

The biggest excitement of selling sheep used to be selling for the live export trade.

A buyer came to our place, drafted off the sheep that met the requirements and was gone in 20 minutes. We even had a dabble in prime lamb production.

My worst nightmare was when I was herding our two Poll Dorset rams and one died in front of me.I got the message then that it is better to shift rams in the cooler parts of the day.

Gerard Walsh and his family run an 840-hectare beef cattle property, Coolesha, in Southern Queensland, which has been in the family since 1887. He is a recently retired sports journalist after 29 years and is now spending more time on the property.

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SPIRIT OF THE BUSH

Critical bush service celebrates milestone

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HE live-saving service, Heart of Australia, has recently celebrated delivering 1500 clinics to Queensland’s rural, regional and remote communities.

Since operations started in 2014, Heart of Australia has delivered over 1500 clinics, seen over 8000 patients, and helped to save over 350 lives.

To recognise this exciting milestone, Dr Gomes met up with patient Anthony (Tony) Beattie and his wife Carolyn.

Tony’s check up with Dr Gomes in Dalby three months ago resulted in life-saving openheart surgery, from which he is now recovering.

Dr Gomes said Tony’s story was a reminder of the life-saving impact the service delivers.

“The individual stories like Tony’s are what makes Heart of Australia so special and highlights how we can mobilise medicine for those in rural, regional and remote areas of Australia,” said Dr Gomes.

“What started as a dream, supported by a small band of people who took a chance in 2014, has flourished into a model of mobile medical service delivery that is demonstrated to perform, and is ready to scale.”

“We measure our impact in terms of lives saved, and the quality of the lives improved. It gives our team so much pleasure to see the progress made by

34

returning patients, knowing our intervention has helped that person’s quality of life.”

THE TRIPLE BYPASS When asked what impact the Heart of Australia service has had in his life, patient Tony Beattie doesn’t mince his words.

“I’m alive. That’s the impact. If it weren’t for Heart of Australia, I wouldn’t be here,” Tony said.

A few months ago, Tony received a call from Kat, a member of the Heart of Australia bookings team, reminding him he was due for his two-yearly check-up.

When asked if he’d been planning to schedule his check-up before receiving the reminder call, Tony replied, “hell no.”

“It wasn’t on my radar at all.

There are so many other things you’re thinking about, all the other responsibilities you have.

I would not have even thought about it until the call came in.”

As it turns out, it was a check-up Tony could not afford to miss.

“At the time, I was experiencing some shortness of breath. But my GP and I both associated it with a car crash I had several years ago. I was about to see a lung specialist, but then COVID hit, and the city specialist stopped seeing patients,” he said.

“When Kat called she said Heart of Australia was taking all the precautions necessary so they could keep seeing patients despite COVID, that my checkup was important, and that the truck would be just an hour and

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a half away in Dalby. My wife Carolyn and I decided it was important and close enough to home that we could get it done in three or four hours.”

“When I arrived for my checkup with Dr Gomes, he put me on the treadmill for the stress test. I’d been walking for less than a minute when I started having trouble breathing. He stopped me, said it wasn’t looking good and moving over to the ultrasound he found further complications.

“Dr Gomes told us he had detected a significant cardiac issue. We were utterly taken aback, and not sure what we were going to need to do – especially given Queensland was in COVID lockdowns, with all but category-one patients having their procedures cancelled and rescheduled. We didn’t need to worry though – Dr Gomes organised the lot.

“He made a few calls and organised for me to have an angiogram in Brisbane within days. I think that’s a major bonus of the Heart of Australia service not everyone knows about. The doctors who come out are at the top of their game. They’re well respected and have a great network of colleagues from their city practices, so they can call on those networks when their patients need urgent help.

“I had the angiogram on Friday, and first thing Monday morning I was in surgery having triple bypass surgery. They said the blockage could have killed me at

any time – finding out I needed surgery, and getting it done quickly saved my life.

Tony’s wife Carolyn said it is essential for people to understand the difference that the Heart of Australia service has in the lives of people living in rural and remote Queensland.

“Heart of Australia is saving lives – just like it saved Tony’s. The team are detecting conditions earlier, which helps people to get treatment, live longer and live healthier,” she said.

“But it’s also helping people to stay in the bush they love for longer. Everyone out here knows that if you become seriously ill, it is incredibly difficult to access the services you need close to home without relocating, even temporarily. But when you have specialists come to you, a reasonable driving distance from your home or property you can stay on the land and in the community with the people you love for longer. That’s lifechanging.

“Then there’s the quality of the service. The mobile clinics are state of the art, the equipment is as good or better than what you get in the city, the doctors are top professionals, and on top of this you get to sit down and talk to someone like you’re a real person.”

Tony said his story could very easily have had a very different end.

“People need to understand that distance is a real deterrent to

SPIRIT OF THE BUSH seeking medical attention. If I’d needed to travel to Brisbane or even Toowoomba for that checkup, I wouldn’t have made the trip.

It would have required me to be away from the farm for three or four days when just one day away is a big deal.”

OVERCOMING DISTANCE Before Heart of Australia travelled to Blackall, Lindsay MacDonald and her husband Nigel had to travel over 600 kilometres to Roma so Nigel could visit a travelling specialist.

With kangaroos making night travel hazardous, a 15-minute consultation with a specialist quickly turned into a two-day event. Three days if the appointment was in the afternoon.

According to Lindsay, this all changed when Heart of Australia expanded its route to include Blackall.

“I first heard about Heart of Australia from a friend almost five years ago. It had just started its operations, visiting a handful of towns. We immediately knew what a huge impact that kind of service might have, not just in our lives, but for everyone in our community, so we crossed our fingers and hoped that one day Heart of Australia would come to Blackall,” Lindsay said.

“So, when we heard the Heart Truck was on its way, we were overjoyed. We knew it was going to change the lives of so many people in our community.”

Lindsay said as challenging as it was for Nigel and herself to make

the three-day trips to access the services he needed, they counted themselves as the lucky ones.

“You need to understand that life out here is so different from life in a big city. We have diverse needs, diverse challenges, and diverse responsibilities. Nigel and I were lucky enough to be in a position where we could make the threeday trip when we had to. It wasn’t ideal. It was very challenging, but we could do it. But we know people who couldn’t do it. So they didn’t. And that’s scary.”

Lindsay recently wrote to the Heart of Australia team to thank them for their service, and their ability to understand and be flexible in responding to the unique challenges for rural life.

“The staff and facilities on board are second to none. It’s a better service then you’d get at most stationary clinics. The team always go above and beyond, all while being very welcoming. We get helped in and out of the truck using their wheelchair system and are always taken care of,” she said.

“Nothing is ever an issue with Heart of Australia. When we explained that a testing appointment in the afternoon would impact our ability to drive home on isolated dirt roads safely, they immediately changed around their schedule to respond to our needs. They understand that rural life has its hurdles and are quick to accommodate.

“My husband Nigel has been on our property his whole life. It’s 22,000 acres of sheep, cattle and a whole lot of dirt about an hour from Blackall. We love it.

We love the land, and we love the community. We wouldn’t want to live anywhere else, and Heart of Australia is helping us to stay here and stay healthy,” Lindsay said.

MAJOR MILESTONE Dr Gomes created Heart of Australia’s concept in response to his time as a junior doctor in rural Queensland, where specialist medical services were almost non-existent.

“I saw people who either had to travel hundreds of kilometres on their GP’s recommendation for a specialist diagnosis or trust to luck that nothing was seriously wrong with them,” Dr Gomes said.

“This option is one of the core reasons that country people have a higher rate of death than their city counterparts, and it drove me to think about what I could do to address this inequity.”

sleep medicine,” Dr Gomes said.

“We have developed and delivered a model of mobile medicine that works for rural, regional and remote communities. We’ve made a significant difference in the lives of the communities we have served with our first 1500 clinics.

We’re excited to see what we can achieve with the next 1500.”

Heart of Australia provides specialist medical services including cardiology and respiratory medicine, so you will need a referral from your GP to make an appointment. Once you have a referral from your GP, call (07) 3162 5310 or email reception@ heartofaustralia.com. For more information about the Heart of Australia, visit www.heartofaustralia.com.

Northern Route HEART 1 Southern Route HEART 2

The journey to this 1500th clinic milestone has seen many advances and expansions to the services offered.

“Our first clinics offered mobile cardiology and respiratory medicine services.

We quickly confirmed that our model for mobilising specialist services worked and expanded the range of specialist services available at our clinics.

Additional speciality services now available include endocrinology, gastroenterology, gynaecology, neurology, psychology, geriatrics, and

Cloncurry

Hughenden

Charters Towers Moranbah Middlemount Emerald Biloela

Winton Longreach

Banana

Moura

Barcaldine

Childers

Theodore

Blackall

Charleville Quilpie

Roma Dalby St George Goondiwindi

Stanthorpe

STUD CATTLE

It’s time to ask for Droughtmaster beef by name

W

HEN you consider Australia’s Natural Wonders, Uluru, the Great Barrier Reef and the Outback come to mind.

There is another natural wonder and it lives, breathes and feeds this country through drought, floods, and more: Droughtmaster beef cattle.

Australia’s national herd is made up of Droughtmaster cattle and the people behind this breed want Australians to know more about the beef that has been enjoyed for generations, and to proudly support this natural wonder.

General Manager of Droughtmaster Australia, Simon Gleeson said now was the moment to take the breed to the people of Australia.

“We are asking Australians up and down the beef supply chain to embrace our breed.

That means more breeding by cattle farmers, more butchers, hoteliers, and restaurateurs buying and selling Droughtmaster beef, and more members of the public asking for Droughtmaster beef when they dine out or shop. It’s time to ask for Droughtmaster by name.”

“2020 and beyond represents a new era for Droughtmaster. The cattle industry is the lifeblood of

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Australia, but like many primary sectors, it is facing major questions around sustainability, versatility and long term production, and Droughtmaster as a breed can answer them all because the breed was developed for Australian conditions.”

On Friday November 20, participants in the agricultural sector from all over the country will gather at The Pineapple Hotel in Brisbane to launch Our Story, a program aimed at celebrating the breed as Australia’s Natural Wonder.

The Droughtmaster breed has a proud history dating back to the early 1930s when a group of progressive cattlemen led

by Monty Atkinson along with Bob Rea, Kirknie, Home Hill, Tom Booth, Daintree (bush geneticist) and Professor John Francis, Dean of the faculty of Veterinary Science at Queensland University recognised the need for a breed to suit the Australian environment, rather than battling on with tropical and northern hemisphere breeds.

Today, Australia’s Droughtmaster cattle are perfectly suited to thrive in Australia’s famous droughts and flooding rains, with the breed officially recognised by the National Trust as a Queensland Icon in 2006.

Mr Gleeson said it was more than that.

RURAL LEADER DECEMBER 2020/JANUARY 2021

“Consumer demands are changing rapidly; supply chains want greater yield and there is an unmistakable push for improved animal welfare and for sustainable and natural protein. Droughtmaster cattle consistently perform despite adverse environments, continually producing high quality and high yielding carcases economically. The breed is also wonderful to work with.

Droughtmaster is consistently tender and flavourful because of the temperament of the cattle.”

“This year we have seen more interest than ever before from cattle producers across the country because of the incredible cache of attributes, and at the saleyards we’ve seen records broken.

“The recent Droughtmaster National Bull Sale saw a 91 per cent clearance and a sale average of $10,990 which represents a record for the Droughtmaster National. In the past few months, five bulls were sold for in excess of $100,000, including a top price of $160,000 at the National Bull Sale, reflecting the value this breed holds, and the confidence in this sector.”

He said from the paddock, right through to the plate, the message is now to ask for Droughtmaster.

“We are thrilled that iconic pubs like The Pineapple as

well as many others across Queensland proudly serve Droughtmaster, and that Brisbane Racing Carnival is showing Droughtmaster on their menus, and we look forward to celebrating more milestones over the next few years.”

Terry Nolan from Nolan Meats, supplier to The Pineapple among many others, said Droughtmaster and Droughtmaster-cross cattle were used within their flagship range, Private Selection.

“The Droughtmaster is tropically adapted for the Queensland environment and therefore has the climatic suitability to handle the humid Queensland summers, they grow rapidly with and have the inherent docility essential to enhance meat quality by optimising pH levels. The Droughtmaster and Droughtmaster cross cattle also have a propensity towards polled cattle which makes them easy care,” he said.

“We need to think more holistically about plating a great steak. So, we are talking about easy care, environmentally friendly cattle, capable of grazing rangelands often not suitable for crop production, yet delivering eating quality equivalent to the best available.

The total package just makes sense.”

COLUMNIST

You always need a Plan B in the paddock Paul McIntosh AGRONOMIST

T

here is no doubt with the overuse pressure being applied to basic knockdown herbicide products like paraquat and glyphosate, that the farming community is swinging more to using residual products, to keep on top of our weed burden.

Weeds of any type can really drain precious moisture and expensive inputs like nutrients from the soil to the detriment of current or future planted crops. This weed control process also includes volunteers from previous crops in that particular farming system.

Sounds fairly easy to just replace one herbicide with another herbicide doesn’t it?

Not so say many of us, as these residual herbicides may do a reasonable job controlling the weed spectrum listed on the label, however they have this other attribute called residual activity length and plant back times or recropping intervals.

Let’s look at the photo depicted here from a friend of mine in Queensland. This is a paddock of chickpeas from June 2019 and they are gappy at best and of course why are they gappy, which is a very technical term about plants missing in the row. They appear to also have phytotoxicity or phyto damage issues. In this part of the paddock it is very gappy in plant counts or even is just plain bare ground and you have to ask yourself why is this so?

The full story was that a decision was made to apply in November, a residual herbicide with the active ingredient Imazapic, to provide the summer months fallow weed control, after a very average wheat harvest in 2018.

The next crop in the following winter of 2019 would need an awful lot of rain to fill the soil

profile to get the go ahead on any planting opportunity, whatever 2019 winter crop option was chosen.

This was perfectly legitimate thinking and advice that I would have given a thousand times.

The significant rain total amount over the summer had degraded and most likely pushed the Imazapic down into the soil profile a few centimetres and of course some of the chickpea roots picked up some of this remaining residual herbicide to their detriment. This total rain amounts were well in excess of the label advised amount I might add.

This agronomic figuring is entirely logical and defendable in my eyes and the label agrees, so it is fairly painful too see a patchy chickpea result like this where the Imazapic has not broken down enough to enable a chickpea crop to not suffer any damage.

As you can see some parts of the paddock are fine and other parts of the block have been badly affected.

Another story about the residual product Atrazine - some many decades ago, my farmer client applied five litres per hectare of Atrazine 500 (2.5kg of active Atrazine) to some future grain sorghum ground in January 1984.

He never got a small part of 60 acres planted with the grain sorghum due to some untimely rain showers. So, he had 60 acres of very clean country thanks to the Atrazine residue in this true brigalow soil country.

As happens when in big blocks without distinctive fence lines, this Atrazine treated fallow area was planted to Hartog wheat six months later in June.

Now it was only 60 acres and the intent was not to plant wheat into this strangely very bare part block. It was some amazement that the wheat grew very well without any phyto or damage showing and actually yielded nearly three tonne per hectare.

Why is this so when you observe residual herbicides have such a different result?

Obviously, the rainfall on the chickpea block was not quite enough to facilitate complete herbicide breakdown and of course the soil type there was very different to my brigalow soil in 1983.

True, the chickpeas have a tap root compared to the wheat fibrous rot system and usually tap rooted crops can make it a safer growing option for many of these residual soil herbicides.

My conclusions in 1984 were that the rain fall events timings and the amounts were good enough to have the microbial action swing into action against the atrazine, to successfully break it down before the June wheat sowing six months later.

Long stories but true ones and they should encourage us all to know your herbicides and know

your weed spectrums sensitivity to various herbicides.

Soil types are also critical pieces of assessment along with your agronomic experience. Walking around a paddock assessing sensitive weed growth, that has had an herbicide applied with residual activity, compliments our product labels minimum listed plant back periods.

Notice I said minimum re cropping timings or plant backs on labels and the more herbicide resistance or just plain tough weed spectrums we encounter, the more we are going to be pushed into using residual herbicides.

Guessing is not good in our ag industry and with these residual herbicides, you need to have a plan B that allows you to plant a non-sensitive crop , even after significant rain events promote microbial degradation and not just assume from the labels, that one day after the listed re-cropping time has elapsed, that any labelled planting opportunity can be undertaken.Paul McIntosh is a well-known agronomist in Queensland, working with Pulse Australia and the Australian Herbicide Resistance Initiative.

COLUMNIST

Thank God for Christmas spirit On every level the world it seems, is in turmoil.

Tricia Agar COLUMNIST

T

he USA elections at the time of writing this, have not yet been decided, and much of the future of world hangs in the balance, as the fight between the forces of good against evil, are being played out in the land of stars and stripes.

The year 2020 has been fraught with ongoing upheaval. People’s lives around the globe have been impacted in ways that many could not have envisaged on New Year’s Day. Who would have thought that governments would believe that it is reasonable to order the people to wear a mask even when not sick, be forcibly locked in homes for weeks on end, denied the ability to go to work and force businesses to shut down without notice for months?

There are many dark forces at work in the world, and one of them is called the Great Reset, whose proponents are using this time of COVID crisis to change the direction of the world to a utopian socialist/Marxist vision, with such illustrious devotees to this new world order, such as Prince Charles, Justin Trudeau the PM of Canada, Klaus Schwab the head the World Economic Forum, Bill Gates, along with their fellow elites.

Their plan is that there will be no private ownership of property, populations are to be radically reduced via vaccinations, and even the way people eat to be overhauled. This will not apply to the elites, only to the masses.

For me sitting out here in the bush, tippy typing on the computer at the kitchen table, all of this seems like it belongs to a low budget sci-fi movie, while I desperately scramble to locate the remote to turn off the TV, as the crazies have gone that step too far, and I no longer can put myself through another minute of the madness on the screen…except it isn’t a bad movie, but rather it is the latest news bulletin on our fast changing world.

Thankfully even within such a maddening year, some things on our calendar help to keep us on an even keel, such as the Christian celebrations of Easter and Christmas. Nearly every family who celebrate Christmas, revels in this age-old tradition to gather their families together to spend the day feasting and enjoying the company of their loved ones.

When truly looking at the Christmas celebration, it is worth remembering the reason for the season, which is the son of

God the Lord Jesus Christ who came into a world that was filled with turmoil, tyranny and social upheaval to reveal himself as the saviour of the world; the Prince of Peace. The world of 2,000 years ago sound very similar to the world in which we now live.

a hot summer wind upon our cheeks, patting the sheep, feeling their warm cud breath upon our faces, and the soothing texture of their wool under our fingers, all the while looking up at the stars and feeling the majesty of the heavens.

Reflecting upon Christmas usually leads me to thinking of one of the most moving times of my life, which can still bring me to tears at the thought of it. Let me paint a picture for you.

I had been playing Christmas Carols while we were sitting in the dark, with lambs all around us and on our laps, and in particular the beautiful carol O Holy Night.

It was Christmas Eve 2013. A year that most people in the bush would say was a fairly horrendous year, filled with the blowing dust of wicked drought that seven years later is still going. Death was a daily companion and breakpoint was only a breath away for man and beast alike. For most of Queensland, successive summer rains had not eventuated, and grass had become a distant dream. It felt like our animals were mostly living on memories, and we were feeling drained – financially, emotionally and also physically.

In essence we were like the shepherds of old that the angels first appeared, to tell of the joyous news that the Lord Jesus had been born, surrounded by sheep under the cloak of lights of the heavens. A deep peace came into my soul that had been aching so badly under the strain of drought, as the carols washed away the anguish that I had been feeling, and my prayers in the form of tears running down my face that only the Lord himself could decipher. That special night will live with me forever.

My family and I were sitting out the back in the dark in a yard where we had poddy lambs, that we were hand rearing as their mothers had died. As we sat with

O Holy Night, the stars are brightly shining, it is the night of our dear Saviour’s birth.

Long lay the world, in sin and error pining Till He appeared and the soul felt its worth.

A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices.

For yonder breaks A new and glorious morn!

Fall on your knees O hear the angel voices Oh night divine when Christ was born.

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RURAL LEADER DECEMBER 2020/JANUARY 2021

May the words of this carol ease your burdens too this Christmas as we take the time to reflect upon the might of heaven, and message that Christmas brings – one of hope and new beginnings.

COLUMNIST

Transparency is key to social license

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Bruce McConnel TSBE Food Leaders Australia General Manager he past few months have seen the continuing conversation around how the agricultural sector needs to focus on their social license. A farmer’s freedom to operate is enabled by an industry’s social licence, defined as the privilege of operating with minimal formalised restrictions based on maintaining community trust.

The key to this community trust is transparency and this means that the industry needs to consider the best way to engage with audiences to ensure that trust is maintained going forward. We already know that our producers have an unspoken requirement of needing social acceptance as their demand for the products only occurs if consumers want to continue to buy it.

Australian farmers are being affected by this need for social license in agriculture.

Market demand requires that consumers have confidence in what producers do but

with sustainability being a big discussion point across all industries, buyers are demanding more secure solutions. There are pockets within the sector where there are issues that must be addressed to ensure that consumers constantly support the industry through buying products.

More so it is important that internationally, Australia maintains its clean, green image. Partnerships between the Federal and State Government, in addition to the private university sectors, are working towards this and are investing in new sustainable practices.

We have the knowledge within our universities and private enterprises to achieve sustainable agriculture that is environmentally friendly and economically sustainable.

We must find ways to adopt these practices. Adoption of innovation and new technologies has been the way that this industry has grown in the past. However, we have to start looking at sustainability gains to ensure

our businesses remain viable as well as productivity gains. In no way are we asking businesses to lose money in order to meet their environmental and social credentials.

The proof of successful sustainable practices is evident, with enough case studies in Australia to show that farmers can run a very viable beef, grain, cotton – all agricultural businesses whilst meeting guidelines set by external stakeholders. By adopting these new technologies, by understanding what they are doing and by not fearing this debate, farmers can lead the way in sustainability.

If Australia’s agriculture sector gets on board with the environmental needs, we will improve our market access to international markets through clean, green imagery. By addressing the community’s questions around environmental issues, it will foster change through investment. This transparency will reassure consumer confidence and

in turn, will show economic returns.

Australian consumers and producers don’t need to be in conflict as their goals very similar. We must show a way that continues to educate whilst listening to concerns through addressing them constructively not critically.

Our consumers are asking us to look more at sustainability, which is a shared long-term goal of producers also – a vibrant, sustainable industry that produces the best food in the world. We look forward to being a part of a transparent and innovative future.

The journalism is lazy, not the Australian workers

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Stephen Barnard GROWCOM CEO rowers are getting weary of regular misleading or unbalanced articles going to press about the labour conditions in the horticulture industry.

They’re also growing increasingly annoyed with the myth being peddled that they refuse to employ Australians because they’re seen as lazy.

Nothing could be further from the case.

A recent workforce survey by Growcom showed approximately 1 in 10 growers rely entirely on domestic labour, and that 85 percent of fruit and vegetable businesses rely on Australians for at least a quarter of their labour needs.

One recent attempt at journalism by a national online publication relied exclusively

on the testimony of just a single labour hire company to claim Australians were universally excluded from work opportunities.

Routine checks by the journalist involved would have revealed their ABN was only registered in September, that their Facebook page contains not one post, and their website lists not one job.

That article included claims the labour hire company contacted employers in Queensland to place workers, despite apparently not being licenced in Queensland.

That the labour hire company in question itself disclosed it was only set up opportunistically at the start of the pandemic to find work for recently unemployed Australians should have been enough of a red flag that it’s experience was highly unlikely to be representative of a whole

sector.

More generally, journalists are increasingly electing to run stories without reaching out to an industry peak body for comment.

Once upon a time these stories, while raising legitimate issues, would have also avoided tarring all employers in horticulture with the same brush. There are some bad apples in our industry and more than we’d like, but it can’t be ignored that a vast majority of employers do the right thing by their workers.

It’s now never been more important that a balanced view of the employment opportunities in our industry is known by Australian job seekers.

Across Australia we’re anticipating a shortfall of seasonal workers between now and Christmas and into next

year, with a peak of 26,000 jobs anticipated to go unfilled in March. This is a matter not just of business continuity, but of food and national security.

Let’s also recall the horticulture workforce is not just comprised of unskilled seasonal workers.

We’re a dynamic industry with many technical and professional roles commonly filled by Australians. Without a secure seasonal workforce, these expert roles don’t exist.

DECEMBER 2020/JANUARY 2021 RURAL LEADER

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REVIEW

Dinner with our founding fathers Col Jackson EDITOR-AT-LARGE

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ike many readers, I despair at the antics of our Members of Parliament as they obfuscate, twist the truth and tell obvious lies all in the name of democracy.

During elections, prospective politicians wax lyrical about how they want to serve the voters.

After the election, those that are anointed suddenly take-on the aura of sitting on the righthand side of God. All democratic nations are governed by a Constitution, and in Australia’s case, ours was established on January 1, 1901, when six selfgoverning British colonies joined together as one nation. Recently, my good friend and mentor Everald Compton sent me his latest book, “Dinner With The

Founding Fathers,” which delves deep into what our pioneers of government — those who wrote the Australian Constitution — were thinking as they developed our over-arching laws. It begins with a vivid account of a fictional dinner held ten years after Federation in which the founding fathers relive the great political and legal battles they fought and the huge parochial attitudes they overcame a create a nation.

Everald follows with another account of a dinner that involved Gough Whitlam, Malcolm Fraser, Zelman Cowan and others, where the subject of The Dismissal by Governor-General John Kerr again raised its head.

“His action was never envisaged by the Founding Fathers when they wrote the Constitution,”

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Everald notes in a remarkably well-written history of early Australia that captures the reader’s attention from the outset and ignites a thirst to really understand what was involved in preparing the nation for Federation.

Elections and Constitutions come to the fore when a nation hits a stalemate, and this is no more evident that in the United States at present where there is uproar that the media has anointed Joe Biden as the President-elect, and The Trumpster especially isn’t having a bar of it. This follows four years of suggestions of Russian involvement in the previous elections, followed by impeachment proceedings and all manner of skullduggery designed to enable the Democrats to salve their wounded pride in the belief they were robbed of the previous election. And before the new President can even start to get his foot through the White House door, there are many issues to be dealt with by the US Supreme Court. And it all centres around the Constitution.

After all, the Constitution is the Supreme Law of the Land. Here in Australia, the Constitution also gets a mention, whether it’s to do with an election result, the Republic, the government of the day being sacked, or professional litigators wanting to buy a parliament by testing theories in Court.

Again, the Constitution is central to proceedings because it is the Supreme Law of the Land. Now, there are suggestions of a referendum in the near future for Australians to vote on a Constitutionally enshrined Indigenous Voice in the Federal Parliament.

There’s that word again.

Reports suggest “the success of the Referendum is all but assured” — but there’s a caveat: “if the idea of a Constitutionally enshrined First Nations Voice with a

more positive frame than in 2017 is likely to sway a considerable bloc of voters towards supporting a Voice.”

This suggests to me that there are many so-called learned people — from academics and lawmen across to bush lawyers — who continue to believe that ordinary Australians are gullible and can be lead like thirsty ducks to water.

They have been proven wrong before — and more often than not, out comes the Constitution.

But alas, before the Indigenous Voice can gain any ground, a senior Aboriginal leader has taken a step back, accusing the Federal Government of a “convoluted and flawed response to the Uluru Statement.”

Again, despite her misgivings about a “government-controlled” process that she has described as high and rhetoric and wellrehearsed, she intends to remain on the senior advisory group.

So I predict more fireworks as parties with alternate points of view push for an individual slant, angle or ideology rather than one that will be accepted by the nation in general. There can be no doubt that I am not the only one to hesitate at some of the decisions of our politicians, and also wonder whether they have indeed been educated in a real school, or have dropped in from another planet.

Now in my seventies, I can look back on politics to a time when it could be said they were in its formative years in this country.

In one particular electorate, the State Member (National) was a Doctor (of Medicine), the Federal Member (Labor) was a ‘red ragger’ and his nickname referred to that, and my best friend’s grandparents were president and secretary of the local branch of the Communist Party. We both now have a conservative outlook.

Yet everybody was afforded the right to their own view and free speech.

That appears to be disappearing in today’s world where “cancel

REVIEW ‘hello’ to people for nigh on 74 years, and I will continue to do so.

Yes, I have digressed, yet my topic remains the Constitution.

culture’ and other movements with autocratic views apparently believe their members have a divine right to declare their views are the only ones that people should abide by.

Only this week, when I questioned why everyone sends emails for the most trivial of reasons instead of pickingup the phone, I was told by an acquaintance who spends far too much time in the city that “it is regarded as an insult to phone a work colleague in the current environment.� Whether that refers to the pandemic where everyone is so stressed, or this is the progressive future, I really don’t want to know. In fact, I don’t bloody care. This also had me believing that everyone working from home was doing too much horizontal dancing.

I’ve been using a phone to say

Whether the Constitution of the United States of America that was created in 1787, or that of Australia on January 1, 1901, it appears salutary to wonder whether all those people who had input into these learned articles of law — that we in both countries who have our roots in the British Empire must now abide — whether they had the foresight and advanced thinking to predict the future.

After all, America Constitution was created just 17 years after Australia was discovered.

And we must also acknowledge that, at that time, the industrial revolution was in its infancy.

Now, if Everald had been around at that time, I have no doubt that he would have been at the forefront of its development and writing.

I can imagine Everald’s gravelly voice that has been slowly lubricated with a very fine single malt being part of the conversation. And many a chapter makes mention of lubricants such as red wine, port and sherry that tend to allow a free passage of views candidly expressed.

The book is not without it humour and offers insights into the characters involved and their peccadillos. There was the fact that Queen Victoria had little time for the uncouth colonials, and that our first Prime Minister Edmund Barton was commonly known as “Toss Pot Toby� — he loved fine food and even finer drinks — yet had a fine legal brain and formidable negotiating skills.

It’s enlightening to understand where we would be if we had not come together as a nation; as is understanding how the Senate came about and why all States have equal representation. And with the current crisis following the United States Presidential election, it’s also instructive to read that Australia’s federation was passed with only a handful of votes: With all things equal, perhaps only 25 per cent of the population was in favour of it.

Yes, this book takes you on an intriguing journey towards Federation and beyond.

In the Foreword, Tony Windsor, former Independent Member of the New South Wales and Australian Parliaments for 25 years, seemed to agree with my observation that Everald Compton would have revelled at being included in the writing of the Constitution: “Everald is a son I am sure the Founding Fathers would have been honoured to have dined with‌â€?

Windsor also noted: “The lesson I take from Everald’s contribution to political life is one that both he and the Founding Fathers were able to master — that it is possible to achieve success in developing political policy by dealing with, and being inclusive of, all sides of politics, a capacity that is sadly lacking in today’s world, but sorely needed if today’s leaders are going to address the big issues of our future.

And this is the major take-away that I gained from the exemplary

 �

tome: There is much in our current Constitution that is seriously outdated.

My concern is how a Constitution written at the time of the Industrial Revolution can be reworked for future generations and last another century at least.

I don’t believe many of today’s politicians are forward-thinking enough to guide this nation’s future. How many are ideologydriven — whereby they want to ‘design’ the nation’s future rather than provide the guidance through legislation where the ordinary citizen can get a say or fair go in a constantly evolving world.

In his book, Everald Compton has gone one better: he has researched the past to such an extent that he has been able to bring all participants to a dinner table where the development of the Australian Constitution was relived.

In this case, the scene was 10 years after Federation where the founding fathers recreated the great political and legal battles they fought and the huge parochial attitudes they overcame to create a nation. And this is where anyone interested in the future of this nation, and wanting a future for generations of Australians, will want to have a Constitution where citizens of the future can have input and guide their own future.

And this book is where it should all start. The past can never form the future — even though I have always maintained that “if you don’t know where you have come from, you will never know where you are going.� The depth of detail in the book is not only testimony to Everald Compton’s research — it is relative to a man who has known every Prime Minister since Menzies and walked the halls of power for over 60 years. To order to book, Google “Dinner With the Founding Fathers.�

COLUMNIST

Do we really need a social licence?

A

Joanne Rea PROPERTY RIGHTS AUSTRALIA s I write, beef is under fire for not having a “social licence”.

This concept is an artificial construct brought about by environmental organisations and to an increasing extent animal welfare organisations.

The accusations levelled are usually nothing short of unscientific lies with most being long discredited. The anti-meat brigade indulge in silent celebration every time the often refuted 2006 UN report “Livestock’s Long Shadow” is used by their supporters, including ill-informed celebrities, who quote it as a basis for going meat free. Even the US army thought for a while that it could fight meat free, on Monday’s.

The closed nitrogen cycle does not exist in their imaginary world.

That our well-funded statutory bodies are on the back foot

Eastern States Distributor for

and trying to address these “concerns” is inexplicable.

Consumers are not at the heart of these concerns with most wanting a value for money and safe product.

There is plenty of science a with available with which industry could address these pseudoconcerns but they are so busy joining in the narrative and apologising that we are forced to look to US examples to try to change the negative perceptions.

Criticisms of the beef industry by external groups, who have no rights to be given stakeholder status except for the fact that they stand on the sidelines throwing out copious amounts of incorrect, outdated, overblown and clearly rebutted balderdash, are aimed at fulfilling their own agendas which are often unknown. They are unaccountable and yet try to hold us accountable. It is time of their reign of terror by misinformation came to an end.

MARSHALL

Anyone out there, and there are some, who thinks that we can negotiate with these groups needs to look at the evidence.

What concessions have they ever made? What policies have they changed based on science and reason? I want to know what they have done for agriculture, and I don’t mean as the facilitator of government grants. If your industry or group has a grant they should be able to get it in its own right, not as a PR exercise for an environmental group which rarely spends its own funds on anything except negative propaganda and lobbying.

The forestry and fishing industries have already felt their ire and are depleted as a result.

The planned decimation is not at an end with Australian native forest harvesting being phased out with the help of a misguided Bunnings. Fishing families are being progressively forced to give up quota without compensation.

One could be forgiven for

believing that organisations that are calling for all these imposts on productive industries have impeccable moral credentials.

They are nothing more than virtue signallers, not exemplars.

“Moral cause corruption” is alive and thriving with forestry protesters having a long history of unsafe and illegal practices.

They also have some high-profile bankruptcies against their record.

The Australian fishing resource is the most protected and underfished in the world but environmental groups would have you believe that our fishing industry is unsustainable and that farmers are killing what is in reality, a very healthy Great Barrier Reef.

Human rights abuses in third world countries perpetrated using funding from the large environmental organisations including the one with the highest profile in Australia, are conveniently forgotten

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TECHNOLOGY

What to consider when buying a drone

Candyce Grew EDITOR

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ITH the future of farming constantly changing – drones are just one of many technological advancements transforming the agricultural sector. Southern Queensland farmer Meg Kummerow is at the forefront of drone use in agriculture and prides herself on being able to connect farmers with the right drone, for the right farm. She started her business, Fly the Farm, an agricultural drone supplier, following the Australian Summer Grains Conference in 2016.

“We tried to get drone resellers to come along to the conference and none of them were really interested in dealing with agriculture,” she said.

Having grown up on a beef cattle property in the Central Burnett, Mrs Kummerow attended Dalby Agricultural College and has worked in the feedlotting, pastoral, cotton, and grains industries. She is also on the Aerial Agriculture sub-committee of the Australian Certified UAV Operators, one of the peak industry bodies for the Australian drone industry.

Mrs Kummerow said the potential for drones in agriculture was starting to be realised with Farm Safety Week shining the spotlight on the use of drones for mustering.

“It’s really good that farmers are seeing the safety benefits. Spray drones have been a bit of a hot topic lately as well, with larger carrying capacities becoming more common.”

Mrs Kummerow explained there were several things to consider when deciding to bring a drone into your farming business.

“It depends on several things like weight and type as well as on how pilots intend on using them.”

Using the DJI Agras T16 as an example:

Radio Operator Certificate (AROC) in case you ever need to fly in controlled airspace or beyond visual line of sight.

• English Language Proficiency Exam (ELP).

• Remote Operators Certificate (ReOC) issued initially for one year, after which your certificate can be renewed for three years.

• To have your ReOC application processed, you will need to be assessed either by CASA or a CASA delegate.

The application of chemical products by drone. Each state and Territory have their own separate and often very different requirements when it comes to drone application of chemicals.

Whether or not the chemical/s you wish to apply, can actually be applied via drone. At this point in time, those wishing to apply chemicals via drone must follow the label as per aerial application requirements on the label.

Insurance. Make sure both you, your craft and your customers are covered in case of anything going wrong.

TIME TO ORDER YOUR CHRISTMAS PRESENT If you have been considering buying a drone, then now is a great time to get one on your farm. Take advantage of the Instant Asset Write-off while it’s still available.

Your previous experience with applying chemicals. Do you know what off-target spray drift is? Understand the pitfalls of chemical applications, lots can go wrong, and the consequences are huge.

A trusted supplier. Ensure that you are getting the full picture by dealing with someone who understands the industry and your needs.

For more information about Fly the Farm visit www.flythefarm.com.au. To ensure you are always getting the most up to date information on licencing visit www.casa.gov. au/drones.

DJI AGRAS T16 The DJI Agras T16 is a multirotor drone with a tank capacity of 16 litres and is capable of spraying liquid as well as spreading granulated products. The T16

The requirements for piloting the drone. To fly a drone such as the DJI Agras T16, which has a Minimum Take-off Weight (MTOW) of 42kg, you will need the following:

at University of Queensland where it’s

• An Aviation Reference Number (ARN);

Control woody weeds with granulars

• A Remote Pilot’s Licence (RePL) for multicopter, completing both the 0-7 and 7-25kg weight categories. For aircraft in the ‘medium’ weight classification such as the T16, you will also need to be certified by CASA for that particular craft.

• It is recommended to obtain an Aeronautical

has recently been put through it’s paces droplet behaviour was tested. and spray problem grasses with your very own spray drone.

Call Meg 0427 606 983

fb.me/flythefarm www.flythefarm.com.au

COLUMNIST

Myth-busting Reef water quality policy

Q

Dan Galligan CANEGROWERS CEO ueensland’s sugarcane growers have consistently demonstrated a strong commitment to improving farm practices for both productivity and sustainability.

Canegrowers supports efforts to understand and, where necessary, better manage the interaction between farming, water quality in Great Barrier Reef catchments and the health of ecosystems in the Reef lagoon.

But government targets for Reef water quality and the farm practice criteria and reporting methods involved have set growers up for failure.

Some of the major flaws underpinning government policies, programs and targets for water quality are listed here.

These are the pernicious and persistent myths that offend Canegrowers and subject the industry to increasing levels of regulation.

Myth 1: “We are on the same page about what is ‘best practice’” If only! How the Federal and Queensland governments want growers to manage nutrients, or other aspects of farming, is defined under their Paddock to Reef modelling program.

This program’s criteria for defining practice standards are often at odds with what the industry defines as best practice, as described in the Smartcane BMP program which is based on science, including agronomic research undertaken

by Sugar Research Australia in collaboration with growers.

44

For example, Smartcane BMP requires growers to use the SIX EASY STEPS (6ES) program for estimating the nutrient needs of their crop, with any refinement of this to be based on leaf analysis, strip trials or guidance in SRA’s 6ES toolbox.

However, to qualify for best practice (B standard) in the Paddock to Reef program, a grower needs to use nitrogen (N) rates derived from the Block Yield method. This means using N rates that are up to 30% below industry best practice 6ES.

Myth 2: “It is all about the Queensland Government” We wish! The Federal and Queensland governments are partners in the Reef 2050 LongTerm Sustainability Plan, which is their strategy for protecting and managing the Great Barrier Reef. All the policies and programs from both levels of government are based on this plan, including the regulations imposed by the Queensland Government. In fact, the recently updated Reef Plan includes the following statement as one of the key achievements of this Federal-State partnership: “On 1 December 2019, new Queensland regulations came into effect to enhance water quality outcomes by tackling all landbased sources of water pollution to the Reef.”

Both levels of government have also set a target of: “90% of agricultural land in priority areas managed using best management practice for water quality outcomes”.

RURAL LEADER DECEMBER 2020/JANUARY 2021

For growers, this requires the B standard in Paddock to Reef, i.e. the Block Yield method for nitrogen rates explained in Myth 1.

Myth 3: “Water quality report cards are representative of growers’ efforts” Not so! The assumptions and calculations behind these report cards are complex and muddy (if you will forgive the pun), which is perhaps one of the reasons why the quality of the report’s graphics are not matched by the level of growers’ regard for the report’s messages.

One of the many issues with these report cards is the relatively small data set on which they rely. It uses questionnaire responses on fertiliser rates, yields, etc. from growers who (1) have been involved in a recent reef-funded project (reporting is a condition of such projects), and (2) have made some relevant change in farm practice as a result of that project.

This means that any change in practice for a region, and the corresponding modelled effect on progress towards reef water quality goals, is based on a relatively small number of growers and only on recent practice changes. If the grower had improved a practice several years beforehand, such as using the 6ES program or having groundcover during the fallow period, that data would not qualify for inclusion. The reasons for this are complex but relate to when the report card sets its nominal baseline of practice

standards for each region.

Myth 4: “The water quality targets are realistic and sensible” Off-target! A realistic target is defined as one which you can sensibly expect to achieve. The Federal and State governments want an 80% reduction in the amount of dissolved inorganic nitrogen that leaves farms. But there is no roadmap for how this can be sensibly achieved.

The sugarcane industry takes all the pressure for this target but has never been consulted about what sort of reduction is practically achievable while keeping a viable industry.

GETTING IT SORTED Canegrowers is demanding that the Federal and State governments undertake an urgent review, with industry, of their Reef Water Quality Plan including the Paddock to Reef and Report Card programs.

The practice frameworks and water quality targets must be evidence-based and practical, so that growers will not be expected to suffer economic losses. And there must be a fair and comprehensive system for recognising and reporting growers’ achievements.

If this review is not undertaken during the first months of 2021, Canegrowers will develop its own strategy for water quality, with realistic, industryspecific targets and a fair and comprehensive reporting system based on our Smartcane BMP program.

COLUMNIST

Scattered thunderstorms not what grain growers are looking for...

Brendan Taylor AGFORCE GRAINS BOARD PRESIDENT

J

ust where is La Nina? The Bureau of Meteorology’s forecast La Nina has been teasing us for months.

Winter was supposed to be when we got the big wet.

Then spring. Now it seems like summer, December hopefully, is when the rains will finally arrive.

Winter harvest has now finished, and it wasn’t helped by the early arrival of summer storms that targeted isolated pockets of the State.

Patchy rain caused variable maturity of crops for growers and meant many struggled to get a good run on.

Most of the rain we did get fell in the south of the State, especially around the Downs and southern border and produced some of the best harvests in those areas since 2016.

At my own property, at Warra in the Western Downs, we had flooding in January, but only three inches of rain all year since.

Some on the Downs have started planting. However, unfortunately for growers in Central Queensland, the lack of adequate rainfall means they look like missing out again.

Many growers throughout Queensland are measuring valuable soil moisture, looking for that elusive summer rain to join stored soil moisture with adequate topsoil moisture.

The problem is last calendar year

brought the lowest rainfall ever recorded in the State, so ground soil moisture in many growing areas is almost non-existent.

It’s the cumulative effect of long periods of dry weather that makes it so tough. Those short, intense bursts of rain brought by storms are harder to capture, and floods, like the one out my way at the beginning of the year, are good for the damns and river systems, but run right off the land when it’s so dry.

What we need is good, steady rainfall – I call it English rain – not a deluge.

For those doing it tough because

of drought, AgForce continues to be involved in drought support discussions and advocacy to ensure the true picture of what it’s like on the ground is heard at both a State and Federal level.

We all know the drought isn’t over, and we’ll do everything we can to ensure those who need support get it.

But in the meantime, we wait, and we listen to the forecasts – the forecasts that keep telling us La Nina is on the way.

Let’s hope they’re right this time and she gets here soon.

Wouldn’t that make for the best Christmas?

Unfortunately, the same couldn’t be said for the central and north, where it has been particularly dry and therefore cropping is at its worst.

As for summer planting, we still need rain and plenty of it, which is why we’re all watching skies with interest.

Grain growers make decisions on forecasts so if you’re told you’re going to get rain in spring, like happened this year, and you plant a crop and the rain doesn’t come it’s a very costly business – for the crop, and for your hip pocket.

Feast or famine has been the recurring cycle for a while now and, as anyone who knows about cropping will tell you, makes for very difficult conditions.

DECEMBER 2020/JANUARY 2021 RURAL LEADER

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OUR LIVING OUTBACK

Left Planned burning preparation.

Below Sophie and Sarah

Below Middle Right Great Basalt Wall prescribed burning.

Below Far Right Spot Ranger Grant Porcupine Gorge rubber vine project.

Working in the bush is ‘the best job the world’ The life of Outback ranger, Sarah Jess…

I

moved to Charters Towers seven years ago to take up the position of Senior Ranger for an area we call Savanna. Savanna is a big patch of country: from Aramac in the south to the Gulf of Carpentaria in the north; the Northern Territory border to the west and the Burdekin River to the east. My team of 18 rangers take care of more than 600,000 hectares including a world heritage area, 12 national parks, seven resource reserves and one timber reserve.

What I love most about living and working in Outback Queensland is being part of a broader community; being a spoke in a really big wheel.

Whether you’re a grazier, a publican, a retailer, a tour operator or a park ranger, we share many of the same adversities and challenges. We all care for the country we live and work on so we’re all in it together. I admire and respect the tenacity and resilience of the communities and people out here to thrive in hardship.

46

I think all land managers would agree that we can’t achieve long term land management goals in isolation. Dealing with an issue like invasive weeds on your own property might work in the short-term but in the long-term you will lose the battle. We’ve learnt there’s a need for us to work with our neighbours with a commitment to each do our bit.

An example is how we work with the neighbours of Boodjamulla National Park. It’s a huge park – 380,000 hectares. Feral horses and feral cattle are a pest for the park and a problem for our neighbours because they draw in domestic cattle from the neighbouring properties, making their cattle harder to muster and retrieve. We have had lots of support from neighbours of Boodjamulla to remove the feral stock, and that is leading to improved conservation and grazing outcomes. It’s been a great partnership that has continued for many years.

People often ask me what it’s like to be a ranger. I tell them it’s the best job in the world. But when I

RURAL LEADER DECEMBER 2020/JANUARY 2021

explain what I do on a day to day basis, they often seem surprised.

People think my job involves cuddling koalas, sorting out flying fox issues and removing possums from people’s roofs. It’s

a fair enough perception; after all, the Herbert River ringtail possum is our emblem.

But being a park ranger in the Outback is very different to that.

OUR LIVING OUTBACK Rangers in the Outback have this ‘can do’ attitude where nothing is too hard or can’t be done.

The broad range of skills we need to do the job are nearly as diverse as the country we look after. I have to spread myself across the Savanna area, but the rangers on the ground develop an incredible understanding of the intricacies where they work, including by engaging with Traditional Owners.

While we are primarily land managers - tackling environmental threats like weeds, feral animals and fire we are also jacks of all trades turning our hands to carpentry, plumbing and mechanics as needs arise. The work often involves extended or odd hours working in the heat or avoiding frosts in the cold. While we plan our work well in advance, our plans can be upended to respond to emergent issues, or to help others in need, so an ability to be flexible and adapt is essential. We spend a lot of time in canvas bags under the big sky.

Many people think Outback landscapes just take care of themselves when in fact to keep these landscapes healthy, we need boots on the ground actively managing threats such as destructive fire, ferals and weeds. When we’re on country, we’re working to reduce impacts of feral animals and invasive weeds on park values. We manage feral cattle, horses and pigs by working with neighbours and Traditional Owners to maintain or improve fencing or undertaking mustering or lethal control. We work really hard to keep rubber vine, parkinsonia and prickly acacia from invading and taking over parks. It’s work that needs good partnerships,

and Indigenous Land and Sea Rangers and neighbours on adjacent properties are essential to our success.

Sometimes tackling weeds and ferals can feel overwhelming.

For example if you get a really

management work like tackling prickly acacia.

We undertake planned early burning as our highest priority across the majority of our estate. It’s been challenging in recent years with the drought

I’m proud to look after all the diverse landscapes: the emerald green waters of a sandstone gorge; rolling mudstone hills dotted with spinifex clumps; quiet Mitchell grasslands rustling with the activity of birds; serious infestation of prickly acacia, the first tree can feel like there’s a journey of a thousand miles ahead. But if you get ten people attacking the weed consistently for a couple of weeks, it starts to feel like we can get on top of it. That’s what we do in national parks - get a squad together to do an initial big hit then keep on top of it with follow up work. I’d really like to see more resources available for community members and graziers to tackle environmental threats. Graziers who are working hard to keep cattle alive at this time of year need extra people to take on land

and extended hot weather. We use a combination of ground burning and aerial incendiary ignition to create the patchwork effect reminiscent of traditional burning practices.

systems, boundary fences, tracks and firebreaks. Rangers working in the outback are often first responders in medical emergencies and lives have been saved as a result of our training, knowledge and swift action. We assist with response and recovery following cyclones, floods and wildfires providing much needed support and resources. That’s our commitment to the community.

Why do we do it? Because we love what we do and our Outback parks are special places that need looking after. I’m proud to look after all the diverse landscapes: the emerald green waters of a sandstone gorge; rolling mudstone hills dotted with spinifex clumps; quiet Mitchell grasslands rustling with the activity of birds; old pastoral relics that whisper stories of bygone days; spectacular gorges that harbour deep cultural connections; and empty dusty roads that go on and on. Oh yeah and there’s the flies and dust.

I’m grateful to work with so many good people to look after each other and the land. And I’m proud to be an Outback ranger.

This article was contributed by and published in support of the Our Living Outback project.

More information at www. outbackqueensland.org.au.

We also maintain and repair a range of park infrastructure including historic shearing sheds and homesteads, remote ranger bases, camping and visitor facilities, power, water and sewerage

DECEMBER 2020/JANUARY 2021 RURAL LEADER

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HEAVY - WHEEL - RIMS

08/10/2020

OCTOBER SPECIALS SPECIALS

HEAVY - WHEEL - RIMS • 720 DIA HEAVY - WHEEL - RIMS

• 720 HIGH • 720 DIA • 300 K6/6A • 720 HIGH HEAVY - WHEEL - •RIMS 720 DIA HEAVY - WHEEL - •RIMS • 300 K6/6A • 720 720 HIGH DIA HEAVY - WHEEL - RIMS •• 300 K6/6A 720 HIGH

• 6M - SHEETS 25 • 6MBUNDLES - SHEETS - -$50EA

DU

E

M

ID

OC

TO B

ER

BUNDLES - 25 • 6M - SHEETS - $50EA TARPAU BUNDLES - 25 NO EYELETS • 6M - SHEETSTARPAULINS - $50EA •BUNDLES 6M - SHEETS $50EA - 25 TARPAULINS EYELETS • 720 DIA 25NO - 12M X 3M FLOOR • 6M -PLATE SHEETS BUNDLES - 25 - $50EA • 300 K6/6A • 720 DIA HIGH NO EYELETS TARPAULINS FLOOR PLATE 2 -BUNDLES 5800 25 X 1420 $500 EA - 25 12MXX8MM 3M -- $6 HIGH • 720 300 DIA K6/6A TARPAULINS NO EYELETS GALV RHS - N EA 2 - 5800 X 1420 X 8MM 8- -$500 EA 3000 X 700 X 8MM $100 FLOOR PLATE 300 HIGH K6/6A • 720 25 12M X 3M $6 TARPAULINS NO EYELETS 82- -3000 X 1420 700 X 8MM - $500 $100 EA $330 GALV - RHS 5- -25 2000 XX 570 X 8MM- NEAR EA 5800PLATE X X 8MM EA - 12M EA- $80NEW • 300 K6/6Aea 6.5M - PAINTED RED FLOOR NO EYELETS •3M100 -X$60 100 X3 $330 ea 5 2000 X 570 X 8MM $80 EA FLOOR8PLATE 25 12M X 3M $60 EA 6.5M PAINTED RED 3000 X 700 X 8MM $100 EA 11 3000 X 570 X 8MM $100 EA • 6.1M LENS - BUNDLES 21 - RHS -NEW NEAR NEW 2 - 5800 X 1420 X 8MM - $500 EA GALV • MAKE A ROLLER •3M3M -- LENS GALV -• RHS - NEAR 11 -X2000 3000 570 X- $500 8MMEA - 25 $100 EA 2 - 5800 1420XXX 8MM 100 X 100 X 3 FLOOR PLATE • 6.1M LENS - BUNDLES 21 $70 ea 12M X $60 EA $330 ea 5 570 X 8MM $80 EA • MAKE A ROLLER 4 - 1000 1000 X 8MM - $80 EA 6.5M - PAINTED RED 82 - 3000 8 -X3000 700 X 8MM - $100 EA -XRHS $70 ea 700 XX $100 NEAR NEW 5800 1420 8MM - $500 411 -PLATE 1000 XXX8MM 1000 X8MM 8MMEA - GALV $80 FLOOR •WALL 150NB - 4.9MM WALL - X$180 3M X-X-LENS • FIRE PIT -2000 3000X 570 - $80 $100 EAEA • 115 X LENS 42 X- 2BUNDLES - $50/LEN 100 100 X 3$50/EA •26.1M 21 PIT •GALV 100 X-••100 • 150NB 4.9MM $180 $330 ea 5 570 X 8MM EA $330 ea 5 2000 X 570 X 8MM $80 EA • FIRE • MAKE A ROLLER 8 3000 700 $100 EA • 115 X 42 X $50/LEN RHS -3NEAR NEW 6.5M - PAINTED RED RED 2 - 5800 X 1420 X 8MM - $500 EA 6.5M - PAINTED $70 ea 4 1000 X 1000 X 8MM $80 EA • 100 3 $50/EA 3M 11 3000 570X 8MM $100EA EA $330 ea •100 3M X- LENS 5 8MM $80 LENS -- BUNDLES 21 11X 3000 570 X 8MM - $100 EA -XLENS 8 -- -2000 3000 X-X570 700 XXX 8MM -- $100 EA ••6.1M LENS 21 • •MAKE - PAINTED • 6.5M 150NB - 4.9MMRED WALL - $180 A FIRE PIT •6.1M 115 X 42XX1.8 2BUNDLES - $50/LEN MAKE AROLLER ROLLER $70 eaX 42 • 115 - $44/LEN 4 -- -1000 X 8MM - $80 $80 EA EA $70 ea 3M -XLENS • 100 100 X 3 MASSIVE FEN 11 3000 X1000 570XXX8MM $100 EA X 42 1.8 • 115 -X$44/LEN • 6.1M LENS - BUNDLES 21 $330 ea 5 2000 X 570 $50/EA • 65NB 3.6MM WALL $80 4 1000 1000 X 8MM $80 EA •• MAKE A ROLLER • 150NB - 4.9MM WALL - $180 6.5M - PAINTED RED • 65NB - 3.6MM WALL - $80 FIRE PIT • 115 X 42 X 2 - $50/LEN $50/EA $70 ea • 150NB 4.9MM WALL $180 4 1000 X 1000 X 8MM $80 EA • 3M LENS • FIRE PIT 11 3000 X 570 X 8MM $100 EA 115XX 42XX-1.8 2 - -$50/LEN MASSIVE FENCE POSTS BLAC $50/EA •• •6.1M LENS BUNDLES 21 42 115 $44/LEN • 150NB - 4.9MM WALL - $180 • MAKE A ROLLER FIRE PIT • 115 X 42 X 2 $50/LEN $70 ea BUNDLES ONLY BUNDLES -• 115 ONLY • 65NB - 3.6MM WALL - $80 MASSIVE FENCE 4 - 1000 X 1000 X 8MM - $80 EA X 42- X 1.8 - $44/LEN $50/EA 65NB 3.6MM WALL $80 • 150NB 4.9MM WALL $180 POSTS BLACK • FIRE PIT MASSIVE FENCE • 115X 42X 2 - --$50/LEN MASSIVE FENCE XX1.8 1.8 • 115 $44/LEN • 40NB - 3.2MM WALL - $50 • 40NB - 3.2MM WALL - $50 POSTS BLACK XX42 42 • 180CM - 6’ BUNDLES ONLY • 65NB - 3.6MM WALL • 65NB - 3.6MM WALL - $80- $80 JOINERS -JOINERS CAP• -115 SADDLES - CAP - $44/LEN SADDLES BUNDLES -- ONLY -MASSIVE FENCE POSTSPOSTS BLACKBLACK X 42 X 1.8 • 115 - $44/LEN • 40NB - 3.2MM WALL - 6.3KG/EA • 40NB - 3.2MM WALL - $50 65NB 3.6MM $80- $50 • 180CM - 6’ BUNDLES -• 180CM - 6’• 3.5KG/M BUNDLES JOINERS -- CAP CAP---ONLY -ONLY SADDLES JOINERS SADDLES POSTS BLACK • 32NB 3.2MM WALL $40 • 40NB 3.2MM WALL $50 BUNDLES ONLY • 180CM 6’ 3.5KG/M 6.3KG/EA • BUNDLES - 200 • 32NB 3.2MM WALL $40 • 180CM 3.5KG/M - 6.3KG/EA • 40NB - 3.2MM WALL - $50 2- 3000 X 1500 X 25MM 2JOINERS - CAP - SADDLES - $1100 6’ 3000 EA X• 1500 X -25MM - $1100 EA JOINERS - CAP - SADDLES • 32NB - 3.2MM WALL - $40 40NB $50- $40 3.5KG/M 6.3KG/EA BUNDLES 200 • 180CM 6’ • 32NB 3.2MM WALL 23000 X 1500 X 25MM $1100 EA JOINERS - CAP - SADDLES -6.3KG/EA 200$14 EA 2- 3000 X 1500 X 25MM - $1100 EA •• BUNDLES Only. - $40 3.5KG/M • 32NBBundles - 3.2MM WALL BUNDLES 200 Bundles - -6.3KG/EA 2- 3000 X Only.

1500 X 25MM - $1100 EA • 3.5KG/M Bundles Only. $14 EA • 32NB -Bundles 3.2MM WALL - 200 Only. - $40 EA • 32NB -Bundles 3.2MM WALL 2-X3000 - $1100 EA • BUNDLES • BUNDLES - 200 2- 3000 1500XX1500 25MMX 25MM - $1100 EA Only. - $40 $14 EA$14 FARM FARM Bundles Only.Only. $14SHED EA$14 EA SHED Bundles FARM SHED FARM SHED • HEAVY HEAVE DUTY • HEAVE DUTY FARM SHED FARM SHED • HEAVE DUTY • SKILLION • HEAVE DUTY • SKILLION • HEAVE DUTY • SKILLION • GABLE AUST MADE • SKILLION ••HEAVE DUTY GABLE • SKILLION • GABLE AUST MADE AUST ZINCALUME/ • GABLE AUST MADE • SKILLION ZINCALUME/ • GABLE AUST MADE ZINCALUME/ COLORBOND ZINCALUME/ ZINCALUME/ • 40 X 40 X 2 PTD COLORBOND • GABLE AUST MADE COLORBOND HEAVEY CHANNEL • 40 X 40 X 2 PTD COLORBOND COLORBOND • 40 X- 64 40LENS X 2 PTDHEAVEY ZINCALUME/ • BUNDLES CHANNEL • 40 •X40 40XX- 40 2 PTD 9MHEAVEY CHANN 90MM O.D X 4MM WALL X 2 PTD • BUNDLES 64 LENS HEAVEY CHANNEL COLORBOND •75x40 40 XHEAVEY 40 2 PTD $4/LENS - 64 LENS 9M CHANNEL -X $125 • BUNDLES 90MM O.D X 4MM WALL • BUNDLES - 40 64 X LENS • 2.4M GALV. $45/LEN 9M • 40 X 2 PTD $4/LENS 9M - $125 75x40 90MM O.D X 4MM90MM WALL 100x50 HEAVEY $170 • BUNDLES - 64 LENS O.D X 4MM WALL • 38 X 38 X 3 PTD CHANNEL • 2.4M GALV. $45/LEN 9M • BUNDLES 64 $4/LENS $4/LENS 75x40 -- $125 90MM 100x50 $170 75x40 125x65 $231 LENS • 38 X 38 X- 64 3 PTD 90MM O.D O.D X X 4MM 4.9MMWALL WALL • BUNDLES - 64 LENS • 2.4M GALV. $45/LEN • BUNDLES LENS O.D X 4MM WALL • 2.4M GALV.90MM $45/LEN $4/LENS 100x50 -- $170 125x65 $231 9M - $125 150x7575x40 $335 90MM O.D O.D X X 4MM 4.9MMWALL WALL • 38•X38 38X X- 64 3 PTD 100x50 90MM 38 X 3 PTD • BUNDLES LENS $4/LENS 2.5M GALV. - BLACK PAINTED - $50/LEN ••90MM 2.4M $45/LEN 125x65 $231 150x75 $335 $6/LEN O.D X 4.9MM WALL 200x75100x50 $440 $4/LENS $170 75x40 • $6/LEN 38 X- 38 3 PTD 150x75 125x65 - $125 • 2.5M - BLACKONLY PAINTED - $50/LEN • BUNDLES 64 X LENS 90MM O.D X•4.9MM WALL 2.4M GALV. AUGUST BUNDLES - $335 200x75 $440 • 2.4M GALV.$45/LEN $45/LEN- 19 LENS • BUNDLES 64 LENS 125x65 $231 2.4M/LENS • 2.5M - BLACK PAINTED - $50/LEN 100x50 $170 •200x75 38 X 38 X 3 PTD 90MM O.D X 4.9MM WALL 12m AUGUST BUNDLES ONLY - 19 LENS 150x75 • $6/LEN 38 X 38 X- 64 3 PTD - $440 • 2.4M/LENS BUNDLES LENS • 2.5M - BLACK PAINTED $50/LEN 12m 75x40 $165 150x75 $335 AUGUST BUNDLES ONLY 19 LENS 125x65 $231 90MM O.DO.D X X4.9MM WALL 90MM 4.9MM WALL $6/LEN 200x75 • 2.5M - BLACK PAINTED - $50/LEN • BUNDLES 64 LENS 12m - • 2.4M/LENS BUNDLES - 64 LENS 75x40 $165 100x50200x75 $6/LEN -$100ONLY - 19 LENS AUGUST BUNDLES 150x75 $220 - $440 $335 75x40 $165 100x50 $220 125x65 $300 2.4M/LENS • 2.5M BLACK PAINTED $50/LEN AUGUST -$90 • 2.5M -BUNDLES BLACK ONLY PAINTED - $50/LEN - 19 LENS 12m $6/LEN 200x75 -- $220 - $440 100x50 2.4M/LENS 125x65 $300 150x75 $6/LEN $435 12m 75x40 BUNDLESONLY ONLY --1919LENS AUGUSTAUGUST BUNDLES LENS 150x75 $435 200x7575x40 -- $300 $560 - $165 2.4M/LENS 125x65 12m 2.4M/LENS 100x50 150x75 - $435 200x75 $560 100x50 $220 75x40 $165 TOP HAT ROOF BATTENS 200x75 - $560 125x65 TOP HAT100x50 ROOF BATTENS 125x65 $220 Size Thick Price/m - $300 Murgon QLD 150x75 TOP HAT150x75 ROOF BATTENS Size Thick Price/m 22mm .42 $3 $435 Murgon QLD 125x65 $300 200x75 Size Price/m 22mm .42 $3 40mm Thick .55 $6 • 10’ - $80 • 12’ - $90 Murgon QLD NathanWebber 200x75 $560 150x75 $435 22mm .42 $3 40mm .75 .55 $6 • 10’ -•$80 • 12’ - $90 14’ - $110 64mm $9 NathanWebber M: 0439 751 880 200x75 $560 TOP HAT 14’ - $110 40mm $6 64mm .55 .75 $9 • 10’ -•$80 • 12’ - $90 1.00 $12 ROOF NathanWebber E: M:ncwebber79@live.com 0439 751 880 TOP HAT ROOF BATTENS • 14’ - $110 64mm 1.00 $12 Thick 96mm .75 $11 Size $9 E: QBSA 1019843 M:ncwebber79@live.com 0439 751 880 Murgon QLD TOP HAT ROOF BATTENS 64mm 1.00 $12 96mm .75 $11 Size Thick Price/m QBSA 1019843 E: ncwebber79@live.com Murgon QLD 22mm$14 .42 $3 96mm .75 $11 1.00 $14 1.20 $17 QBSA 1019843 22mm Thick .42 $3 Size Price/m Murgon QLD 40mm$15 $6 2’ - $90 96mm 1.00 $14 1.20 $17 .55 120mm .70 NathanWebber 40mm .55 $6 • 10’ $80 • 12’ $90 22mm .42 $3 NathanWebber 110 64mm$15 $9 96mm .70 1.20 $17 .75 120mm 1.00 $16 Murgon QLD 14’ - M: $110 64mm .75 $9 40mm .55 $6 • 10’ -•$80 • 12’0439 - $90 751 880 120mm .70 $15 1.00 $16 M: 0439 751 880 64mm 1.00 NathanWebber ncwebber79@live.com 1.00 $12 • 14’ - E: $110 120mm64mm 1.00 $16 .75 E: ncwebber79@live.com 96mm .75 $9 $1 M: 0439 751 880 - $80 • 12’ - $90 QBSA 1019843 96mm .75 $11 NathanWebber 64mm 1.00 $12 QBSA 1019843 E: ncwebber79@live.com 96mm 1.00 • 14’ - $110 96mm .75 1.00 $14 $11 M: QBSA 04391019843 751 880 96mm 1.20 $1 96mm 1.20 $17 1.00 $14 E: ncwebber79@live.com 120mm .70 $1 120mm $15 96mm .70 1.20 $17 QBSA 1019843 120mm 1.00 120mm .70 1.00 $16 $15 120mm 1.00 $16

AW3964926 AW3954631