29 April 2016

Buying a new ram is one of the most important decisions a sheep producer makes, as it impacts on potential operational efficiency for years.

The highly successful Bred Well Fed Well (BWFW) workshops are on again ahead of this year’s spring ram sales, to give producers additional knowledge, skills and tools to determine the traits they want to improve the productivity and profitability of their flocks.

18 March 2016

Knowing critical mating weights and assessing body condition score – why are these skills so important?

At the ReproActive workshop in southern Victoria on Wednesday, cattle researcher Dr John Webb Ware, of the Mackinnon Project, explained why and showed producers how they could improve their herds’ reproductive success by using these simple measurements.

Lamb consignments at Wagga fell 7% week-on-week, to 25,000 head, with new season lambs making up the majority of the yarding. There were a reasonable number of new season trade weight lambs on offer, while heavy and extra heavy weight lambs were in shorter supply. Increased numbers of well-bred store lambs were penned, and attracted keen restocker interest. The usual buyers were in attendance, although not all of the major domestic buyers operated.

Sheep throughput was steady week-on-week, at 10,000 head. Light weight sheep were in demand, while heavy crossbred ewes were well-supplied and sold to a dearer trend.

At the close of Thursday’s markets:

23 October 2015

There is a lot of information and feedback contained in the payment grid and carcase reports producers receive from processors. But how do you make sense of it?

Here, Meat Standards Australia (MSA) Producer Engagement Officer Jarrod Lees shares his tips on making the most of grids and carcase feedback.

23 October 2015

A dry spring across southern Australia means tough decisions need to be made about livestock and pasture management.

NSW More Beef from Pastures co-ordinator John Francis said southern livestock systems are geared for 40-50% of total pasture production in spring, but minimal rainfall in September-October has put the brakes on feed growth.

23 October 2015

A new online training program, ‘Producing excellence in eating quality’, has been developed to provide a refreshed, interactive and informative overview of the MSA beef and sheep program, as well as recommendations for producers to optimise the eating quality and compliance of their animals.

The program follows the conversations of five producers as they learn about the on-farm impacts on eating quality and how they can use MSA for either their beef or sheep operations. The program also provides tips on how to read carcase feedback reports generated by the new myMSA feedback system.