The Boundary Rider’s Report May 2024

We have returned from Beef Week with renewed enthusiasm after listening, learning & connecting with so many amazing people.  Mark the date in your diary for May 2027.  Huge congratulations to the Beef Week committee for organising an amazing event for the beef industry.  Of note at Beef for us are the great number of young people now contributing to our industry.  Also the advances in tech and its availability are truly exciting.

Seasonal Update at Bald Blair

Who would have believed it, snow and hail, Saturday 18th May.  Our earliest fall for quite some time.  Soil moisture is still good on both basalt and granite soils and until then soil temperatures were such that pasture growth is still occurring at good rates.  We would expect it to slow somewhat in the coming weeks as it starts to cool down.  There was a big frost this morning! There is a renewed focus on firewood.

Market Update

We have largely completed our pre winter sell off of cattle for this year.  While we are still finishing lambs for delivery in June and July.  The September-October dry in 2023 had a significant impact on early lamb growth.  The EYCI sits around 620 cents per kg cwt, it is off its recent lows and continues recovery.  Further recovery is still possible and dependent on US Cow Herd numbers which are still at all time lows, after drought.

 https://www.mla.com.au/prices-markets/cattle/eycireport/. 

Bull Sale Preparation

The bull sale team preparation is going well.  This year we will have a great lineup of Bulls for sale, with bulls by sires, Tehama Patriarch, Sitz Resilient, Rennylea L519, Paratrooper P15, Chiltern Park Moe, Bald Blair Phenotype P97, Bald Blair Pheonix P52, Bald Blair Momentous R71, Bald Blair Quebec Q133, Bald Blair Q155.  Keep an eye on our Website for more information.  There will be bulls for sale at 2 Years of age, 18 months of age and 12 Months of age. 

The bulls have received all animal husbandry treatments to ensure they are fit to work as soon as you take them home:

• 
  Bovi Shield MH - vaccine for the control of bovine respiratory disease caused by Mannheimia haemolytica.
• Flukazole C - control of benzimidazole-sensitive mature and immature roundworms, lungworms, tapeworms and early immature (including 2-week old fluke), immature and mature liver fluke (Fasciola hepatica) in cattle.
• Pestiguard - vaccine for the prevention of Bovine Viral Diarrhoea Virus (BVDV), otherwise known as Bovine Pestivirus.
• 7in1 - Ultravac 7in1 is used for the routine immunisation of cattle for the prevention of: • enterotoxaemia (pulpy kidney disease), • tetanus, • black disease, • malignant oedema (blackleg-like disease), including swelled head in rams, • blackleg in cattle and sheep and • leptospirosis (L. Hardjo and L. Pomona).
• Vibriovax - Vibrovax® vaccine is used for the prevention of infertility and abortion in cattle caused by Vibriosis.
• Tick Fever - Tick-borne encephalitis vaccine is a vaccine used to prevent tick-borne encephalitis. 
• Lice treatment.
• They have all been tested for the presence of PI’s, non were detected and as Bald Blair has a whole herd vaccination in place Bulls are free from Pestivirus, there were no PI’s identified.

We work very closely with Dr Leisa Brown BVSc Hons,  the owner and manager of Guyra District Veterinary Services. Leisa is a member of the Australian Cattle Veterinarians (ACV) Association. Each year before our annual on property bull sale, Leisa conducts a ACV Bull Breeding Soundness Evaluation on each bull listed in the bull sale catalogue. This test includes:

• A physical examination,
• Examination of the reproductive organs,
• Semen collection and assessment of gross motility,
• Semen morphology – with samples being assessed by an accredited morphologist at the Australian Veterinary Semen Morphology.

Leisa is always on call for any other cattle husbandry requirements when required and we greatly appreciate her skill and availability. CLICK HERE for a video from Leisa.

BULLCHECK™ is a standardised accreditation scheme for assessing the breeding soundness of bulls. It evaluates five fertility components: general physical examination, testes inspection, libido assessment, semen analysis, and sperm morphology. Meeting minimum standards indicates high fertility probability. Though not a guarantee, it signals breeding potential. The Australian Cattle Veterinarians (ACV) recommend all components for valuable bulls, with customizable options for buyers and sellers. ACV offers a 'Gold Standard' accreditation since 2007. BULLCHECK™ ensures objective fertility assessment, aiding informed bull selection beyond aesthetics. For more information check out this website: CLICK HERE

Bull Structural Assessment

• An independent structural assessment has been done on our bull sale team. This service is provided by Dick Whale, Independent Breeding Services. 
• Feet - description.

Genetic Verification of Sire and Dam

• The majority of Bald Blair Angus bulls offered for sale will be Parent Verified.  Parent Verified means that the bulls have been DNA verified to both his Sire and Dam. Providing you with 100% guarantee the bulls are by the sire and dam listed. 

Bald Blair Stirling NBB21S86

Stirling S86, an outstanding son of Paratrooper P15 and also a heifers first calf, while in his third year, has been used as a coversire and AI sire in the past 2 years and in both Autumn and Spring Joinings, he will be well represented in future calf crops;  he is also progeny evaluated in the ASBP (Angus Sire Benchmarking Program).  We had this bull in the yards the other day and have collected more semen from him for use in commercial AI Programmes.  If you are interested in using him please check him out and give us a call. Alternatively you can fill in the form on our website.

https://www.baldblairangus.com.au/semem-sales

https://angus.tech/enquiry/animal/result?page=1&tql=id%20is%20%27NBB21S86%27&sortColumnId=id&sortOrder=asc&title=&baseType=all&base=&pv=

Pastures & Weeds

We are still high fiving over the blackberries being sprayed!  Shame about the knodding thistles - the school holiday program did not work and we hope the frosts will do some work for us.  They are still waiting for us.

Pastures are coming along well and holding up with the very moderate autumn weather and good rain we have experienced.  We have plenty of ground cover going into winter and will hopefully get through with only supplementing pre joining in September to fill the feed gap then.

Water

We have experienced nearly every water challenge in recent months, with pump failures, line blowouts, trough leaks, lightning strike, dry bores, float vale breakages, water level monitor problems.  We have used all our problem solving skills to check troughs, pumps, lines, leaks, and constantly watch our water monitoring systems with Observant to check water levels and identify any problems as quickly as possible.  Hopefully our run of water issues will subside for a moment so we can concentrate on the electric fences before the bulls are separated into smaller groups closer to the yards in the lead up to the bull sale.

Beef Australia Wrap Up

As mentioned in the intro we listened, learned & connected with so many amazing people at beef week.  Our focus was on listening to the next generation and seeing what they were thinking and doing. 

This started with the GenAngus Future Leaders event.  So great to hear the success of this leadership program for our younger Angus members.  https://www.angusaustralia.com.au/angus-youth/genangus

Angus for Every System - breeding for profitability in Northern Australia did not disappoint. https://www.angusaustralia.com.au/news/beef-australia-2024-seminar

The Beef Australia next generation forum was also excellent with speakers including Charlie Perry - from submarines to wagyu and growth, Prue and David Bonfield - what a legacy they have built and enabled the business to continue without them, Tess Bitmead - outstanding ability to purchase her own farm, Luke Chaplin - mustering with drones and Sam Trethewey - paddock to plate in Tassie .

 https://beefaustralia.com.au/get-involved/next-gen-program/

https://beefaustralia.com.au/home/2024-program/seminars-symposium/next-gen-forum-speakers/

The NAB ladies lunch is always a highlight for Kirsty and with 700 ladies and free flowing champagne there was plenty of volume. 

Listening:

We met the delightful Skye Manson at Beef Week and discussed all things podcasts.  If you have not already discovered her beautiful interview style and voice, check out this great episode.  https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/company/id1565456441?i=1000652774901

Also checkout more at https://www.mansonpodcasting.com/ and signup here https://companyonsundays.substack.com?r=3mhfkv

Empowering Women on Farms

Women are estimated to provide one-third of on-farm income, often through the management of the farm business itself (ANZ 2020) yet are often not specifically trained in these skills. Alongside this, there are an increasing number of women looking for entrepreneurial ways to market and sell their farms output or value-added products but may not have the support or networks to successfully pursue these pathways.

The ’Empowering Women in Farming Businesses’ program aims to assist women involved in farming businesses to access the tools and networks they may need to improve and develop their business and decision-making skills, as well as expand relevant networks who can provide further support.

NSW Farmers is excited to be delivering 12 events across NSW in 2024 in the following dates and locations. 

• Dubbo – Thurs 30 May 2024
• Griffith –  Thurs 6 June 2024
• Moree – Thurs 20 June 2024
• Tamworth – Wed 3 July 2024
• Coonamble – Tues 30 July 2024
• Merriwa –  Thurs 8 September 2024
• Grafton – Wed 25 September 2024
• Goulburn – Thurs 17 October 2024
• Harden – Wed 30 October 2024
• Broken Hill - location & date TBA

To register your interest in one of these events please complete our registration form here or click on the below button*.

The Matildas of Rural Australia

Thank you Mandy McKeesick for sharing this story about women on farms.

https://farmers.org.au/farmerprofile/the-matildas-of-rural-australia/

Miles for Mac

Congratulations to Ted Chick and his family for raising over $50,000!

You can still support Miles4Mac - Ted ran 20 days and over 630kms from Sydney to Armidale to raise funds and awareness for family friend and schoolmate Cormac (Mac) Downes.

In late 2023 Mac's health deteriorated rapidly and was diagnosed with an aggressive tumour on his spine. Overnight the Downes family life was turned upside down.

Miles4Mac hopes to ease the challenges of the Downes family and also other regional families in similar predicaments through the fantastic support of Win the Day.

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61557372934582

https://www.miles4mac.au/

Sam & Kirsty