Surrounded by Lockdowns What Does This Mean for Walcha Residents? with Armidale Local Government Area (LGA) and Tamworth LGA Allen Said
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CIRCULATION 1810 P 02 6777 1111 F 02 6777 1112 [email protected] walchatelecottage.com.au 11 August 2021 Surrounded by lockdowns What does this mean for Walcha residents? With Armidale Local Government Area (LGA) and Tamworth LGA Allen said. You should ring beforehand and you will be vaccinated both in snap lockdowns for seven days due to COVID transmission, at the back of the surgery where you can be monitored for 15 many Walcha residents are this week finding themselves with stay at minutes afterwards. home orders if they have visited these areas recently. • An early second dose of Astra Zeneca vaccine will be offered to What is a stay at home order? those who have had the first dose more than six weeks ago. This • You must stay home. Only leave your home if you have a will be available every day. reasonable excuse. • The surgery will continue to offer the first dose of Astra Zeneca • If you must leave home, stay within our local area. Do not travel vaccine for those aged 60 years and over and for those under outside our local area if you can avoid it. 40 years. • Limit your physical contact with people you do not live with. • Pfizer Vaccination - the second dose is not offered early with a three week wait between vaccinations. The first dose is available • You must carry a face mask with you at all times when you leave for those aged 40 to under 60 years. your home. • Covid swabs are available to anyone in Walcha. These will Reasonable excuses to leave home continue to be done in the car park. “Anyone with even mild • obtain food or other goods and services in your local government symptoms should be tested,” Dr Allen said. Please ring to book area, within 10km of your home if reasonably practicable for a time of arrival. Symptoms include: signs of cold or flu such • for the personal needs of the household or for other household as fever, sore throat, cough or shortness of breath. Even those purposes (including pets) with mild symptoms such as fatigue, new muscle aches or pains, a change in taste or smell or a new runny nose should arrange • for vulnerable people testing as quickly as possible. • only one person per household may leave the home to obtain • Isolate until 12am Sunday 15th August for those that have been food or other goods and services each day (you may take a in the Armidale LGA, since 29th July; or 12am Tuesday 17 dependent person with you if that person cannot be left at home August if you have been in Tamworth since Thursday 5 August. on their own) (This does not include family members. It would only be if the • leave home to go to work if you cannot reasonably work from index case was designated a ‘close contact’) home and the business is allowed to be open • Please cancel if you have a routine appointment. Urgent and • leave home for education if it is not possible to do it at home semi urgent appointments will remain available for those that • exercise and take outdoor recreation have been in Armidale or Tamworth. You will be seen outside • go out for medical or caring reasons, including obtaining a the surgery building if medically feasible. A phone consultation COVID-19 vaccination is also available. “Please be patient when ringing the surgery in the next few weeks if your call takes sometime to be answered, Update from Dr Allen as I expect things to be a little busier for a while,” Dr Allen said. • Vaccinations are continuing at the surgery, even for people who are isolating. “People who are isolating and are booked for a planned second vaccination should keep that appointment,” Dr 26 PTIC EURO-CROSS HEIFERS A/C ‘Stony Creek Beef’ This Friday 30 ANGUS STEER WEANERS 13th A/C ‘Petali Pastoral Co’ August 30 ANGUS COWS rising 5 years 11 ANGUS HEIFERS A/C ‘MJ & KA Kean’ Nutrien Ag Solutions Miles Archdale 0428 660 326 Simon Newton 0467 660 320 Mat Larkings 0427 002 427 By Simon Newton Spring must be just around the corner with the wattles beginning to flower and the daylight getting longer by the day. I’m glad we are past last week’s horrendous weather conditions, especially for those OK EARTHMOVING of you that had, or were shearing. They are very testing times for the shorn sheep. The weather continues to look good for the next six PH 6777 7430 FAX 6777 7448 months with light store cattle getting harder to find. • Earthworks • Road Construction • Erosion Work • The spread of the COVID Delta strain has put Armidale, Guyra and • Stick Raking • Dam building • Tamworth into a 7 day snap lockdown. Unlike Armidale, Tamworth is PETER O’KEEFE: 0429 944 821 JASON HOY: 0437 277 197 yet to record a positive case, but a person who travelled to numerous sites from outside the district has returned a positive test. Stay at home orders have been issued for anyone who has travelled to the Armidale region since 31st of July and asked to get tested if feeling unwell. We as a community need to do the utmost we can to keep COVID out of our district, but it doesn’t mean we shut our doors. Life does go on and people need to work to make a living, not just our essential services. We all need to be mindful about entering other communities, ensure you’re using the QR codes wherever you go and try our best to minimise contact with people who are travelling through, or outside the region for work. I don’t know everyone in our community but there seems to be a lot of faces walking the streets that I have never seen before! Our livestock markets amid the snap lockdowns remain firm while ever the processors continue to operate. The issues we faced in 2020 were when COVID spread through multiple southern processing plants and they were forced to shut their doors for extended periods of time, thus affecting the markets. Touch wood, all the plants are still currently operating; obviously their strict workplace procedures are working. I attended an Inverell store sale last week and you could say I was blown away with what people were paying for light, secondary quality cattle. It was like there was no other cattle in Australia! Yes, I understand producers need mouths in the paddock to give themselves an opportunity to make some money, but these cattle will take a very SILAGE long time to make a return on investment and they were the breed of cattle that have the highest market price fluctuations. Quality Angus AT WALCHA heifers are still very hard to come by with 275kg EU Angus heifers making 820c/kg, a whopping $2260, while their heavier sisters, 319kg topped at $2510 on Auction plus last Friday. Prices for feeder and kill cattle continue to rise with all feeder cattle now $5/kg and better, while the grass fed kill market is now paying up to 830c/kg dressed weight. Over Bull sales continue their strong selling season with Yalgoo bull sale achieving 100% clearance to a top of $24,000 and average $13,528. Huge congratulations to the Nivison family at Yalgoo genetics on a very successful sale. The Ben Nevis Angus open day has been 1000 Bales cancelled due to COVID safety precautions; no doubt Erica and Stu Halliday would be more than happy to show you their line up of bulls for their upcoming sale in September with a personal booking. Next week Hazeldean Angus will still hold their sale in Tamworth on the 200 Rye ............................$80/bale Wednesday, Highrent and Full Circle Angus will be held on Friday with both sales interfaced with AuctionsPlus. 600 Fescue.......................$80/bale Tamworth yarded just under 1000 cattle on Monday with dearer trends 200 Clover/Fescue/Lucerne $70/bale quoted throughout most categories, except for a slightly cheaper cow (Dead Scotch Thistle) market and one major processor absent. Some of the sale highlights included Heavy Angus feeder steers 530kg sold to 556c/kg, returning a whopping $2948, 363kg Charolais x heifers sold to feed for 558c/ Freight can be arranged kg, $2025 per head while cows topped at 346c/kg for 637kg. Tamworth yarded just on 3300 sheep and lambs in what was quoted a dearer market for lambs topping at $280, trade weights lambs Peter 0427 013 133 average $211, or 860c/kg carcass price while mutton topped at $250. 6777 6534 (evenings) Page 2 ...11 August 2021 Showgirls from across the Look online region to converge on Walcha for Advocate Walcha Show The Showgirlwww.nutrienharcourts.com.au Competition aims to find a if it’s not in Society is thrilled to young woman to act as an ambassador for have been selected rural NSW. It is not a beauty contest! to host the Zone Most importantly, Showgirls must have your mailbox 4 Showgirl Final a genuine interest in and knowledge of With lockdowns occurring this week on 25th February, rural affairs. The competition encourages 2023. in the Tamworth and Armidale Local participation and awareness of rural Government areas we will continue Showgirls, their women’s contribution and involvement to provide you with news via The families and in our local community and in the overall Advocate each week. members of local development of rural youth. However, with uncertainty from day Show Societies Contestants meet other young women from North and to day with restrictions, it may not be from rural NSW and gain great insight and possible that we will be able to access Western NSW personal development through this very our Telecottage office to bring you including Walgett, unique experience.