Four Season News
BEWARE PITFALLS IF YOU JOIN YOUR MERINO EWE LAMBS
Interest in joining Merino ewe lambs is running high but leading senior sheep consultants warn of serious consequences if some major boxes aren’t ticked.
Producers are looking at ways to increase sheep numbers to either cash in on booming meat markets and relatively attractive wool prices or to more quickly rebuild their flocks when the rains come. Most producers are keen to maintain or increase their ewe numbers once the drought breaks.
Four Season News, GHG Blocks
GATES FOUNDATION: LIVESTOCK CAN END POVERTY
LIVESTOCK hold massive potential for lifting entire populations out of poverty but genetics, health and feed remain major barriers to achieving meaningful change to animal production systems in developing countries.
Alfred de Vries, who leads the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s animal production R&D program, said the $4.7 billion a year philanthrophic organisation recognised massive nutritional and productivity gains were possible.
Four Season News
LAMB DEATHS UNDERSTOOD AFTER POST MORTEM
Reducing the incidence of lamb deaths is the aim of every sheep producer.
With prime lamb prices at record levels and demand for all types of sheep nearly inexhaustible, reducing lamb deaths by even 10 per cent will have a significant impact on the bottom line for individual sheep producers, not to mention the gross returns to the industry as a whole.
Four Season News, GHG Blocks
HOW BEEF CATTLE ARE HELPING LIFT LAOS WOMEN OUT OF POVERTY
IMPROVING the health and nutrition of the South East Asian cattle herd is playing a direct role in lifting women out of poverty.
Work being carried in the Luang Prabang region of northern Laos is showing that training in biosecurity, livestock management, and the use of vaccinations to prevent disease is enabling farmers to rapidly grow their cattle herds and improve their profitability.
Four Season News
SALT SUPPLEMENT INCREASING GROWTH RATES IN LAMBS ON DRYLAND LUCERNE
A supplement of salt could help lamb producers make better use of dryland lucerne according to research from the Graham Centre for Agricultural Innovation.
Charles Sturt University (CSU) lecturer in agronomy Dr Jeff McCormick said lucerne is seen to be highly productive and high quality but often liveweight gains seen by producers do not reflect that.
“Lucerne is an important pasture in Australian mixed faming systems providing high quality feed in spring and summer,” he said.
Four Season News
MINERALS ESSENTIAL FOR EWE SURVIVAL DURING LAMBING
Adequate minerals and feed need to be provided to ensure survival of ewes through lambing.
Central West Local Land Services (LLS) district vet, Erica Kennedy, Nyngan, said they are definitely seeing mineral deficiencies, particularly in ewes around three weeks out of lambing.
