JANUARY 2018
Postage Paid WEMBLEY WA 6913 Australia
Print Post Approved Print Post Publication Number - 100005480. If undeliverable please return to Newsletter Coordinator, WA Angus Committee, PO Box 94, Wembley, WA, 6913.
your support. Lindsay Wolrige will finish his time as a director on the Angus Australia board this year. Thank you, Lindsay, for your tireless work. We are now looking for at least one Happy New Year to everyone, I hope you have managed to more director from WA. Lindsay has an article later in this have a break over the Christmas period. For our family, it is a edition and any member of Angus Australia is eligible to nomichance to reset, reflect and have some family time, as the nate for this position. kids all come home for the Christmas / New Year break. The bull selling season is underway again, please support Our season in Northampton was similar to a lot of the state. your local registered seedstock producer. A lot of time, We were looking at a looming disaster mid-July, however late thought and energy goes into producing these bulls. West rains turned things around, to produce a reasonable result in Australia produces some of the best Angus genetics in the the end. Unfortunately, these late rains didn’t penetrate very country that, if used correctly, can have a major impact on your cattle operation. far inland, causing a very lean result for some.
CHAIRMAN’S UPDATE…
2017 was another very good year for the Angus breed, with records across the country being set across most categories. Heifer sales topped at $190 000 and bull sales topped at $110 000. Commercial sale yard prices too, have remained at historically high levels and while we will get the usual market fluctuations, I see no reason for these prices to subside in the foreseeable future. The China live export market is gaining momentum, with our local port in Geraldton increasing berth availability from one to five berths, in anticipation for more boats. Confidence is also high among seed stock producers with a 10% increase in cow registrations (118 248) last year across Australia, compared with the 2016 figures. Given reasonable seasons, those who have stuck with livestock should enjoy some good returns into the foreseeable future.
On a slightly different topic, but one that has far-reaching ramifications for all of us, my wife Liz, through her work with Isolated Children’s Parents’ Association (ICPA WA), is helping organise two rallies in Perth in an attempt to try to reverse the education cuts announced at the very end of the 2017 school year. These include: • Closure of the five Schools of the Air, which are currently located in the regions. • Closure of six regionally located Camp Schools. • Closure of the Moora and Northam Government Residential facilities. (Continued on page 2 >>>)
WA Angus has had another busy year. The implementation of the JBAS scoring system has in my opinion, been implemented particularly poorly and has caused a lot of heartache for the producer. WA Angus along with other leading Ag groups, has played a vocal role alerting the concerns we have with the system. The spring walk in Albany was particularly enjoyable for all concerned. Also held on the same weekend, the Angus Australia Regional Forum and the October committee meeting, were very well attended. Megan McCallum and Lewis Roe both from Gingin attended the Tocal Cattle Assessment School in NSW, with the help of sponsorship from WA Angus. The Farm Weekly WA Angus heifer competition, now in its eleventh year, continues to go from strength to strength. Under the stewardship of Bruce Campbell, our sponsorship base has grown from twelve to thirty-two in the last two years. This competition can now be sustained into the future, thanks to
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