“THE STAR”, Tuesday, February 24, 2015 - PAGE 37
Farming Insight • VLE Leongatha
Competition drops slightly THERE were approximately 3000 export and 650 young cattle penned representing an increase of 300 head week on week.
There was a full field of buyers present and operating in a cheaper market. The 500 young cattle were very mixed in quality with a smaller proportion being suited to the trade. Trade cattle sold at similar prices week on week for the limited offering. Quality in the 2000 steers and bullocks was good overall although not quite to the standard of last sale. Demand remained strong from processors despite the surging numbers, however competition was a little more subdued than recent sales. The better bred grown steers and bullocks eased 4c to 7c/ kg as the sale started off slowly and gained momentum as it ran and quality improved. Heavy weight Friesian and crossbred manufacturing steers slipped 1c to 2c/kg. Most weights and grades were represented in the 800 cows and demand from processors and restockers remained strong with prices from firm to 4c/ kg easier. Heavy weight beef bred bulls sold firm on most sales while the Friesians lifted 7c/kg. The vealers sold mostly from 215c to 245c/kg. Yearling trade steers made between 214c and 235c/kg. Yearling heifers suited to the trade sold between 200c and 235c/kg. Grown steers sold from 215c to 240c/kg. Bullocks made between 215c and 240c/kg. Heavy weight bullocks sold between 200c and 225c/kg. Heavy weight Friesian manufacturing steers made from 190c to 205c with the crossbred portion from 190c to 221c/kg. Most light and medium weight cows sold from 130c to 160c/kg. Heavy weight cows made mostly between 158c and 198c/kg. Heavy weight bulls sold between 170c and 241c/kg. The next sale draw - February 25: 1. Landmark, 2. SEJ, 3. Elders, 4. David Phelan, 5. Rodwells, 6. Alex Scott & Staff. Sheep sale is February 25 at 1pm.
Prime Sale - Wednesday, February 18 BULLOCKS 4 F. & L. Dal Pozzo, Koonwarra 34 N.J.T. Pastoral, Foster 15 S. & P. Covino, Giffard 3 J. Dean, Rosedale 5 Hurstdale Pastoral Co. Tarwin 6 J. Khalid, Foster
552.50kg 627.06kg 618.00kg 580.00kg 564.00kg 570.83kg
240.0 240.0 238.6 238.6 238.0 236.6
$1326.00 $1504.94 $1474.55 $1383.88 $1342.32 $1350.59
STEERS 1 K.J. Shandley & L.B. Price, Mt Eccles 5 F. & L. Dal Pozzo, Koonwarra 5 R.G., A.M. & C.A. Reiske, Boolarra 9 J. Dean, Rosedale 9 Hurstdale Pastoral Co. Tarwin 1 A.B. & B.J. Crouch, Welshpool
420.00kg 520.00kg 444.00kg 511.11kg 526.67kg 335.00kg
245.0 240.0 239.6 238.6 238.0 237.6
$1029.00 $1248.00 $1063.82 $1219.51 $1253.47 $795.96
375.00kg 510.00kg 325.00kg 315.00kg 375.00kg 350.00kg
237.6 $891.00 235.0 $1198.50 234.6 $762.45 230.0 $724.50 229.6 $861.00 228.6 $800.10
HEIFERS 1 S. Burns, Kilcunda 15 G. Morgan, Kilcunda 2 K.F. McRae, Dalyston 1 M. Selling, Sale 10 J.T. Sibly Pastoral, Archies Creek 2 R. Wight & Sons, Woodside
605.00kg 602.00kg 637.50kg 640.00kg 626.50kg 622.50kg
200.0 200.2 199.2 197.6 197.6 197.6
$1211.21 $1205.20 $1269.90 $1264.64 $1237.96 $1230.06
BULLS 1 M. Selling, Sale 1 I.A. & A.K. Nunn, Pound Creek 1 J. & V.F. Murdica, Korumburra 1 R. & V. Perks, Korumburra 1 T. Mowat, Stradbroke 1 P.C. Beale, Toora
790.00kg 895.00kg 925.00kg 945.00kg 915.00kg 815.00kg
240.6 237.6 236.6 235.0 233.6 232.6
$1900.74 $2126.52 $2188.55 $2220.75 $2137.44 $1895.69
COWS 1 G.J. & P.J. Hammond, Bairnsdale 1 G. & R. Jarvie, Hazelwood 8 M. & K. Nicholls, Toora 1 K.J. Shandley & L.B. Price, Mt Eccles 1 Carnacoo Past Co. Stony Creek 5 J.B., M.E., C.J. & J.M. Moscript Leongatha South
Store sale market Thursday, February 19 Steers: J. & S. Kelly, Korumburra, 15 x $1190; R. & B.J. Alush, Ripplebrook, 18 x $1160; L.G., L.A. & T.C. Calder, Meeniyan, 8 x $1160; S. Duncan, Delburn, 16 x $1130; M. Babos & S. Cross, Leongatha, 1 x $1100; R.A. & K. Reed, Delegate, 8 x $1100. Heifers: Salisbury Pastoral, 8 x $1250; J.J. & M.M. Johnson, Mardan, 3 x $990; W. Ponton, Boolarra, 3 x $990; Angels Run, Leongatha, 3 x $880; D.A. Jerram, Leongatha, 3 x $845; Takcarm Pty Ltd, Fish Creek, 1 x $845. Cows: R. & C. Donat, Wonthaggi, 9 x $1250; D. Read, Tarravialle, 14 x $1040; Sullivan Family Trust, Koorooman, 4 x $875; L. & T. Love, Narracan, 1 x $700; R. & C. Turnbull, Allambee South, 3 x $700; M.W. & D.E. Reynolds, Yinnar, 1 x $3000. Cows and calves: A. Krstic, Cowwarr, 7 x $1260; S. & K. Hogan, Woodside, 16 x $1200; L. & T. Love, Narracan, 1 x $1150; T. & L. Minter, Mirboo, 8 x $1150; Pukenui P/L, Mirboo, 2 x $1150; T. & L. Minter, Mirboo, 5 x $1140.
Looking around: Gordon Cooper from Mardan and Andrea Froon from Bunnaloo in New South Wales were at the store sale at Leongatha VLE having a look at the market last Thursday.
Buy or not to buy: Gilmore Douglas from Poowong was inspecting cattle at the store sale at Leongatha VLE last Thursday.
Be ready for facial eczema
New blood: Athlone Southdown breeder Ben Hatch is pleased with the ram he recently imported from New Zealand, which will be added to his breeding program.
NZ addition to Southdown flock By Sarah Vella A RAM imported from New Zealand will bolster the breeding capabilities of Ben Hatch’s Three Oaks Southdown stud in Athlone. Mr Hatch has high hopes for the ram. He chose the animal for his clean head and legs, long deep body, wide loin and terrific hindquarter, faultless structure and exceptionally good feet. He first saw the ram in July last year at Roddy and Jan McKenzie’s property, Glen Orrin in Masterton on the North Island of New Zealand. “The reason I went to New Zealand to find a ram is because it has a similar climate to South Gippsland: wet and cold,” Mr Hatch said. He deliberately looked at the coldest, wettest places in New Zealand and at farms with proven strong lamb survival genetics to ensure success on his farm. “New Zealand is also doing genetic
testing for cold tolerance as well as actively recording lambs in the paddock, which is something I have been doing on my own farm for a number of years,” Mr Hatch said. “All of my lambs get a score for cold tolerance at birth and only best are retained for the stud.” When selecting his New Zealand ram, Mr Hatch had around 80, 11 month old sheep to choose from. Both he and Mr McKenzie agreed the ram chosen was the pick of the bunch. In October, the ram was still the best so Mr Hatch purchased him. From there, the ram went through a stringent quarantine process involving vet inspections, blood testing, paperwork and plenty of organisation. Mr Hatch worked with other breeders who had also purchased sheep from New Zealand, in order to fly them at the same time and minimise costs. Housed in a special crate, the ram was flown into Melbourne on a passenger plane. Once landed, the sheep was thoroughly inspected, but no further quarantine was needed.
Mr Hatch breeds sheep for rapid growth rates and early maturity, low birth weight, ease of finishing and high fertility. “It is important for a Southdown ram to have these qualities, as a lot of Australian sheep are now breed for high growth indexes,” he said. “If you mate a high growth rate ram to a high growth rate ewe, you do get big lambs but it is harder to finish them for sale.” When breeding his Southdowns, Mr Hatch has a strong focus on maintaining the early maturing trait, which ensures his lambs are fit for the abattoir at all weight ranges. The New Zealand ram will be joined to about one third of Mr Hatch’s 150 Southdown ewe flock this season and offspring will be available over the coming seasons. He has already had breeders wanting to purchase semen from the ram because of his quality and because he is unrelated to any Southdown ram currently available in Australia.
To help farmers manage the risk of facial eczema in their herds, Dairy Australia and GippsDairy will again support a pasture spore monitoring service across a series of sentinel farms in Gippsland (go to www. dairyaustralia.com.au/ facialeczemafor more details). Remember early intervention is critical. When local pasture spore counts trend upward of 20,000 spores/gram and weather conditions look favourable for sporulation, each farm should monitor its own pasture spore counts week to week and implement facial eczema control and prevention strategies. Spores have already been recorded at low levels in pasture samples in December. To ensure maximum reliability of pasture spore counts, a consistent approach to collecting pasture samples is required. The correct method is provided in Appendix A of the Dairy Australia document A Review of Facial Eczema (Pithomy-
cotoxicosis) (updated 2013). Spore counts on samples collected may be done at a number of veterinary clinics across Gippsland. Daily feeding of zinc supplements to dairy herds during high risk periods has been shown to protect them from the fungal toxin responsible for facial eczema. However the stringent regulatory conditions for the control of veterinary medicines in Australia require that treatments used in food producing animals are assessed and approved by the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA). Zinc oxide is an unregistered chemical which has led to difficulties in obtaining approved stockfeed medicated with zinc oxide. It is important to use high quality zinc supplements to avoid accidental exposure of cattle to heavy metal contaminants. Dairy Australia submitted an application to the APVMA for an emergency permit for use of pharmaceutical grade Umicore Zinc oxide as an aid in the prevention of facial eczema in dairy cattle. The application for the emergency permit
was supported by the Victorian chief veterinary officer at DEPI. The APVMA has issued an emergency permit to Dairy Australia for this purpose in Victoria, to remain in force from December 24, 2014 until November 30, 2015 (permit no. PER80579). Persons who can use the product specified under this APVMA permit are stockfeed manufacturers, dairy farmers and veterinary surgeons acting on advice from the permit holder, Dairy Australia. Any queries regarding this APVMA emergency permit should be directed to Dr Robin Condron, manager animal health and welfare, Dairy Australia, via email: RCondron@dairyaustralia. com.au
TO BE SOLD at Koonwarra Sheep Sale 25/2/15 60 1st x Ewes 2009 Drop 30 1st x Ewes 2011 Drop November shorn, To be mouthed and drafted day of sale.
DANE PERCZYK 0408 176 063
ALE5760266
THE next few months have the potential of increased risk of facial eczema outbreaks in Gippsland.