HIGH calibre speakers were in full force at the recent 2014 Beef Producers Field Day which was held at the Malanda High School on the Atherton Tablelands.
Organised by the Malanda Beef Plan Group, of which Landmark was the major sponsor, the field day featured an exceptional lineup of prominent interstate and local speakers, as well as a display of elite Tableland stud beef cattle.
The event, which surpassed last year’s attendance, proved to be valuable to all producers looking to increase their profits in today’s challenging and difficult economic climate.
The field day was officially opened by the President of the Malanda Beef Plan Group, Mr John Reghenzani.
The Landmark team was present, with their attendance being highly valued on the day, proving that they are always great supporters of everything rural on the Tablelands.
Landmark’s major sponsorship enabled world renowned, Canberra-based entomologist John Feehan to attend as one of the special guest speakers.
Mr Feehan was awarded an Order of Australia Medal (OAM) for his contribution to Australian Agriculture and is renowned for having five insects (an ant, two grasshoppers and a mite), as well as an Australian native species of dung beetle named after him.
An expert in his field, John spent 31 years at CSIRO working on the Dung Beetle programme before forming his own private company. He has spoken at the British Museum and on the QEII to fellow passengers while on a world cruise, as well as having appeared on ABC Landline twice.
He has promoted the benefits of Dung Beetles to American farmers at five universities in July 2003 and January 2004, with Fort Dodge, USA.
In his highly informative and entertaining presentation, John commented that Canberra is one of the best places in Australia to run a dung beetle business!
John spoke on ‘Dung beetles - Integral in a regenerative agriculture’ and outlined to producers how they could increase water retention in their pastures, as well as making them more productive, profitable and sustainable, by letting dung beetles do all the work.
His presentation highlighted how dung beetles offer a low-cost method of recycling the half a million tonnes of cow manure dropped in Australia each day, which can have many benefits for regenerative agriculture.
In information given on the day, John acknowledged that not even ‘John Deere’ could make a machine which a farmer could drag around his paddocks every fortnight throughout the year which would place dung underground as efficiently as dung beetles do.
John also provides a service which gives specialist support in spreading dung beetles across Australia at http://dungbeetleexpert.com.au/
John commented that it was great to see such a high level of interest in the field day by the students, making them a real credit to the Malanda State High School.
Roma Beef extension officer, Tim Emery is recognised Australia-wide for his expertise in bull genetics, selection and breeding evaluation. He shared his valuable insights with producers and discussed ways that they could increase fertility and profitability in their herds.
His presentation included information about EBV’s as well as the importance of Bull Breeding Soundness Evaluations (BBSE), that must be carried out by an accredited vet.
“The bull that you put in your herd will affect your profitability for the next 15 years, getting your bull selection right is imperative,” Tim said.
He also advised that it is important to know what your target markets are and to understand the weight, dentition, fat, background and environmental requirements associated with them.
He suggested that, as a family, it really pays to work out what your breeding objectives are and to document them, adding that they must be - written, specific, measurable, attainable, and be timetabled.
“If you don’t measure, you can’t manage,” he said.
Brittany Pearce’s segment on ‘Marketing Tableland beef’ generated a lot of interest and gave the audience a different perspective on marketing their product.
Popular Tablelands veterinarian Dr Bill Tranter spoke on ‘Tick, worm and blood bugs - Treat or not to treat’ which was certainly a very relevant topic here in the tropics.
His ‘take home’ points included informing producers that tick resistance to commonly used chemicals is increasing and advising for tick resistance to be monitored, chemicals used to be rotated, and animals to be vaccinating for tick fever. He also advised for worm burdens to be monitored on properties and also provided information on the available groups of chemicals that can be used for worm and buffalo fly control.
He recommended that producers test for Pestivirus (BVDV) and also spoke about being aware of Theileriosis which is an emerging disease of concern in Australia for which there is no vaccine currently available.
Local beef producers took advantage of a valuable opportunity to see ‘the best’ of the best stud beef cattle that the Tablelands has to offer.
Stephen Pearce - Telpara Hills Brangus, Terry Leary and John Contarino - Gadgarra Murray Greys, Mo Pedersen - Fassifern Limousines, and Peter Bauer - Warrina Droughtmasters were all present. The breeders from these renowned studs gave great insights into their breeds in their presentations.
Anthony Ball from Landmark, who has firmly established himself as being a ‘force to be reckoned with’ in the auctioneering world, auctioned off donated items with all funds going to rural youth.
“As usual Anthony Ball did a fantastic job as one of the leading edge auctioneers on the Tablelands,” Malanda Beef Plan Group member Bruce Carcary said.
The auction was very popular with some of the items auctioned including ten straws of ‘Telpara’ semen, a Malanda Eels jersey with two Malanda Bull Ride tickets, a toy ‘ride on’ John Deere tractor suitable for a young ‘up and coming’ farmer, Maximus pour-on, a mystery voucher as well as a Droughtmaster Steer from the Malanda High School.
The Malanda Beef Plan Group would like to sincerely thank all the very generous sponsors who donated goods for the auction.
“I would like to congratulate David and his team of students. Anthony Ball does a great job for Landmark and he is a former Malanda High Student himself,” Thomas Mugford from Landmark said.
“Landmark is really interested in encouraging young people to take up careers in Agriculture.
We also wanted to support the guest speakers that have bought a fantastic amount of information to local beef producers.”
Malanda High School students hosted an informative Agriculture department display and field walk which highlighted the agricultural learning and training facilities of the school. Their display and tour was keenly attended by producers.
The Malanda Beef Plan Group would like to acknowledge and thank all sponsors who participated in this day to make it an outstanding success.