Barkly Herd Management Forum 2013 September 2013
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BARKLY HERD MANAGEMENT FORUM 2013 LIFE MEMBERS OF ABC RACE CLUB WHO’S NEW IN THE ZOO OPTIONS FOR NORTHERN BEEF PRODUCERS THE EFFECT OF BIRTH WEIGHT AND MONTH OF BIRTH ON PRE- WEANING GROWTH OF CALVES ON THE BARKLY TABLELAND, NT CHANGES TO EXPORT PREGNANCY TESTING REQUIREMENTS WHAT WHEN & WHERE AROUND THE TRAPS BARKLY HOUSE STAFF LIST ISSN: 1325-9539 September 2013 Barkly Herd Management Forum 2013 August 7th and 8th saw 34 participants from 16 properties from the Barkly, VRD, Kimberly and Channel Country, descend on the Barkly for the 7th biennial Barkly Herd Management Forum. This year’s forum was proudly hosted on three prime properties across the Barkly, beginning with Newcastle Waters Station, popping in for a visit to Beetaloo Station and finishing off at Anthony’s Lagoon Station. Presenters travelled from far and wide to give these young minds the information to enable them to be up-to date with the latest research and key tools to help the beef industry progress. Geoff Stanhope from Personis, tackled the hard topic of communication in the workforce and drove home the importance of trust in the workplace. Geoff Niethe represented MLA, providing important information on heifer management and also provided great entertainment as MC for Tuesday night’s trivia and Mick Sullivan from QDAFF outlined the importance of weaner nutrition. Fast talking, high energy Neil McDonald from Sherwood Kelpies, tricked our participants into learning by hiding key messages in his extensive stories, whilst showing us how to break in weaners with dogs. NT DPIF put on a good show with Dionne Walsh tackling the importance of pastures – who knew that stuff that your cows eat is worth millions of dollars?! Jane Douglas gave us insight into the new-age rotational grazing trial that has recently been set up on Beetaloo, with Naomi Wilson from Barkly Landcare providing an overview of the biodiversity that was found on this rotational grazing site. Tim Schatz ran the eager participants through the outcomes of recent work undertaken by the DPIF Pastoral Production crew and Trisha Cowley gave us a run down on the recent findings of the Beef CRC. DPIF DEPARTMENT OF PRIMARY INDUSTRY AND FISHERIES BARKLY BEEF | page 1 www.dpif.nt.gov.au Biosecurity were also an important presence, with Sue Fitzpatrick driving home the importance of biosecurity to the beef industry and the need to report unusual or suspicious stock deaths. Malcolm Anderson dove into a tender topic of animal welfare and Greg Maguire showed off his trip to Nepal via clever use of his Foot and Mouth disease presentation. Not only was industry information showcased, a ‘look over the fence’ was provided by all three host stations. Angus Mitchell gave an insight into the running of Newcastle Waters and the importance of their Brahman stud to their and other CPC properties. Jane and Scotty Armstrong opened the gates into Beetaloo’s rotational grazing management and their bull breeding operation which is focussed on their own herd and export meat markets. Anthony Lagoon’s Sam Graham did not disappoint, giving away all of his secrets to running Anthony Lagoon and Eva Downs. The Tennant Creek DPIF would like to extend a huge thankyou to the host properties, Newcastle Waters, Beetaloo and Anthony Lagoon. Without your support we would not be able to encourage the youth of the Barkly and beyond to stay within the beef industry, and we also would not have been able to fill their bellies with the quality of meals that you were able to provide. We would also like to thank the participants for attending; some of you came great distances. Finally we would like to thank our presenters for the vital information they provided to the next generation of pastoralists, and the generous sponsorship that MLA provided. Beetaloo Bulls, Photo courtesy of Geoff Niethe, MLA Participants of the 2013 Barkly Herd Management Forum DEPARTMENT OF PRIMARY INDUSTRY AND FISHERIES BARKLY BEEF | page 2 www.dpif.nt.gov.au TENNANT CREEK DPIF WOULD LIKE TO THANK NEWCASTLE WATERS STATION BEETALOO STATION AND ANTHONY’S LAGOON STATION FOR THEIR IMMENSE SUPPORT AND HOSPITALITY FOR HOSTING THE 2013 BARKLY HERD MANAGEMENT FORUM WITHOUT YOUR HELP THE BHMF WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO OPERATE DEPARTMENT OF PRIMARY INDUSTRY AND FISHERIES BARKLY BEEF | page 3 www.dpif.nt.gov.au Life Members of ABC Race Club: Bernadette & Henry Burke Sam Graham, President ABC Amateur Race Club Presentation speech at the 2013 ABC Brunette Races The ABC Amateur Race Club has a proud tradition of community involvement for the past 103 years. As part of this tradition the club and committee, at their discretion, present life membership to people who have made an outstanding contribution to the club and the community. It was in the late 1990’s when the ABC Race Club was struggling to keep the event operational and viable, and there was a real threat that the event would not continue. Around this same time, this year’s life members arrived back on the Barkly. Both Henry and Bernadette Burke have had a long association with the Barkly, back from the early days when they worked at Walhallow, to when they moved to Brunette in January 2002. It became evident at this point that the Race Club had an exceptional support team in Henry and Bernadette, who would go over and above to make each and every year’s event a success. Henry and Bernadette Burke (centre) with trainer Kate Everett (L), Julia Burton-Taylor (R) and winning 2009 District Bred Maiden, Photo courtesy of Helen Kempe One Very Special Woman – Bernadette Burke Bernadette has been instrumental in the support of the races and everything associated with the running of the two events each year. She is one of the unsung heroines of the Barkly. Bernadette has been involved in the committee and works tirelessly organising sponsorship, trophies, caterers and all the finer details that go on behind the scenes prior to the event. In Bernadette’s everyday role she is an exceptional logistics co-ordinator, but every year, many months before the first truck load of horses arrive and the shutters on the bar go up or the familiar thunder of hooves come down the straight to the finishing post, she is working behind the scenes. Many nights Bernadette would be helping with the medical evacuations, which would go into the early hours of the morning, which come with hosting events in such a remote area like the Barkly. Yet she would be up and about the following morning to continue with support and helping with the running of events. DEPARTMENT OF PRIMARY INDUSTRY AND FISHERIES BARKLY BEEF | page 4 www.dpif.nt.gov.au The hospitality extended to visitors, judges and dignitaries over the years has put the Race Club firmly on the map as a premier event and it has been Bernadette who has made sure all were well looked after, no matter if it was a grader driver from forty years ago to the Chief Minister of the time, she has made sure that each were looked after and went away with a memorable experience. One Hard Working Man – Henry Burke Henry has always been a strong supporter of community events and all that goes with running them. He has held most of the positions on the committee throughout his time on the Barkly, culminating in the joint president’s role during the 100 year celebrations. The success and longevity of the ABC Races relies on all the support of those in the district, but without the support of Brunette Downs itself, the event would struggle. Henry has gone over and above to ensure each year was a success. Whilst many of us arrive the week of the event and everything is in place, this is only due to the work that goes on behind the scenes. Being able to organise a labour force and resources from the station (along with running the everyday operations of the station) is something that Henry had always made available to the club. This is evident when we look at the improvements that have been carried out over the years. Whether it was graders for the roads, bore trucks, welders, man power, it has been Henry’s support facilitating the work which saw the committee host the 100 year celebration with over 3000 visitors. Henry has also enjoyed active participation in the weekend by competing in the campdrafts, along with judging the Rodeo events and supporting the racing with station breed horses. From all of Bernadette’s and Henry’s hard work and many hours invested into the ABC Amateur Race Club, the committee decided that a life memberships should be awarded to these very dedicated people to show our gratitude and appreciation for all that they have done. Henry and Bernadette Burke with their ABC Life Memberships Photo courtesy of Biddy O’Loughlin DEPARTMENT OF PRIMARY INDUSTRY AND FISHERIES BARKLY BEEF | page 5 www.dpif.nt.gov.au Who’s New in the Zoo The Department of Land Resource Management have now recruited two Weeds Officers to the Barkly Region. Kathryn Boynton and Daniel Steel arrived in mid-August and have already been out and about the region visiting several stations with Naomi and Jon of Barkly Landcare & Conservation Association. Kath arrives from the small town of Georgetown in far north Queensland, where she worked as the Biodiversity Officer for the region. Dan arrives from Bundaberg where he has recently completed an Environmental Science degree. However, Dan is far from unfamiliar with the Barkly having worked as a jackaroo on Alexandria in his teenage years and as a Northern Territory Police Officer, including two years based in Tennant Creek.