BURDEKIN region graziers have received an in-depth look at how to optimise the reproductive performance of their breeder herds within a new Charters Towers workshop.
The two-day workshop at Warrawee Station provided participants with theoretical and practical skills of pregnancy testing and foetal ageing in cattle and taught them how to integrate skills and information for decision making around livestock efficiency and performance.
The workshop was led by northern cattle veterinarian Dr Ian Braithwaite, who possess over 35 years' experience within the beef industry.
Warrawee Station's Kayleen Healing said she and her husband John hosted the workshop to provide the next generation with the required fundamental knowledge skills for strengthening grazing enterprises.
"John uses preg testing in the business and we wanted our daughter Kellie and her husband Troy, who live and work on the property, to get across preg testing and start using it too," Mrs Healing said.
"Following the workshop, the goal is to bring in a new mob for them to try out their skills and start getting that practice."
Dreghorn Station's Eiren Smith said pregnancy testing was a valuable management tool to monitor reproductive efficiency and detect problems early in the breeding season.
Some of the most useful information he obtained from the workshop included pregnancy rates, patterns of conception during a mating period and what that data meant for future planning and management.
"It was great to learn new skills and to explore factors affecting breeder management," Mr Smith said.
"It's also given us more people with preg testing skills which is vital for the practical use of the tools."
Mr Smith said the course also focused on optimising pasture use to maximise the kilograms turned off per hectare while maintaining the resource base.
"We'll use these skills to improve the efficiency of our breeder herd. This includes identifying and selling unproductive animals," Mr Smith said.
"The productivity of our business is reliant on the number of weaners we can turn off per year and not the number of cows we run.
"Running less cows for the same amount of weaners means less input costs, better land condition and better profitability.
"Improved breeder management and efficient herds go hand in hand with good environmental outcomes."
Mr Smith said it in graziers' best interests to have good land conditions to improve breeder management and efficient herds also built resilience for long-term sustainability and profitability.
NQ Dry Tropics Senior Grazing Field Officer Chris Poole said a challenge for the northern beef industry was to find ways to expand output and improve the quality of livestock despite the challenges of living in a highly variable climate.
"While graziers can't change rainfall or land type, they can manage coverage of P3 (perennial, palatable, productive) pastures in their country and increase water use efficiency and pasture production," Mr Poole said.
"This workshop was able to refresh knowledge on how to manage the feed base to optimise carrying capacity, while managing land condition, including water infiltration and runoff.
"To do this, you have to establish some baseline data and evaluate the data on an operational basis, and a per cow, and per acre basis, then set some benchmark targets for the operation to reach in the years ahead.
"With clear target benchmarks, herd efficiency can be measured and evaluated annually."
The workshop was supported by The Herding Change Through Grassroots Recovery project and funded by the partnership between the Australian Government's Reef Trust and the Great Barrier Reef Foundation.
The project aims to strengthen graziers' capacity to increase perennial groundcover at the end of the dry season, and reduce run-off of fine sediment to the Great Barrier Reef lagoon.
