- Sheep handling made easy!
- Wormboss – Drench Efficacy Calculator
- Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) – preparedness program
- Stockmanship and merino visual classing resources
- Upcoming events
- eBulletins
1. Sheep handling made easy!
Leading Sheep are hosting a series of ‘Sheep handling made easy!’ workshops around south west and southern Queensland. The workshops will be held on farms that currently use sheep handling equipment, as a demonstration to other producers. This equipment helps make sheep work easier, and can help with such practices as drenching, drafting, vaccinating and crutching. This will be a great opportunity to see the equipment in action, ask questions of producers who are currently using it and find out how to make the most of this equipment and integrate it into your business.
Workshop details:
- Monday 13 June – ‘Buckeys Creek’, Augathella. Register
- Wednesday 15 June – ‘Acme Downs’, Bollon. Register
- Wednesday 22 June – ‘Riverview’, Surat. Register
- Thursday 23 June – ‘Mt Molar’, Clifton. Register
Please note the information presented and products demonstrated at each workshops does vary, so for further details on each individual workshop, please click here.
2. Wormboss – Drench Efficacy Calculator
Knowing which drenches are working on your property is essential. However with the array of drenches on the market, including combinations and single actives, doing a Drench Test for all of 
these was not practicable for most people. WormBoss has recently introduced the new Combination- Drench Efficacy Calculator which simplifies the task greatly.
I recently used the tool for a client. Using existing data for 6 single actives we were able to calculate the drench efficiency for 14 drench combinations and discover some combinations that were still very effective (up to 100% calculated efficacy from single actives ranging in efficacy from 51% to 85%). The calculator is a really handy and easy to use tool from WormBoss. To have a look at the calculator, click here.
Noel O’ Dempsey odempseyn@gmail.com (07) 46531441
For more information on worm control strategies, visit Wormboss.
3. Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) – preparedness program
Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) is the single greatest threat to Queensland’s livestock industries as it is a highly contagious viral disease affecting cloven-hoofed animals.
The social and economic impact of an FMD incident could be severe and prolonged. A recent study estimates that a large, multi-state FMD incident could cost Australia more than $52 billion in lost revenue over 10 years. An incident would result in the immediate closure of our valuable livestock export markets and as Queensland has the largest beef industry in Australia, we would be significantly impacted.
Australia is currently free of FMD and we need to keep it that way.
The Queensland Government has implemented a Biosecurity Preparedness Program to:
- reduce the risk of FMD being introduced into Queensland, establishing and spreading
- improve surveillance and early detection of FMD
- increase capability and capacity to effectively and efficiently respond in the event of an outbreak of FMD
- minimise adverse socio-economic impacts on industry, government and community.
If you’re in the livestock industry and want to find out more about FMD try completing the online FMD awareness training.
Foot-and-mouth disease is a notifiable disease. Under Queensland legislation, if you suspect the presence of this disease in any species of animal, you must report it to Biosecurity Queensland on 13 25 23 or contact the Emergency Disease Watch Hotline on 1800 675 888.
4. Stockmanship and merino visual classing resources
Australian Wool Innovation (AWI) has developed educational resources to help build the skills of young people interested in the Australian wool industry. This includes a workshop package comprising theory and practical activities that aim to develop participants’ core skills in stockmanship and Merino visual classing. The workshop content is designed for late secondary school, university and TAFE students as well as new entrants to the sheep and wool industry. This package adds to AWI’s education and extension program including the Wool4School and Learn About Wool information.
If you have a group of young people interested in participating in one of these workshops, please contact Alex Stirton, alex.stirton@daf.qld.gov.au
For more information on these workshops click here.
5. Upcoming events
- Pimelea information day, 26 May, Begonia, Sports Hall. To register or from more information click here.
- Climate Outlooks workshop, 26 & 27 May, Longreach, QANTAS Founders Museum. For more information or to register click here.
- Bredwell Fedwell, 1 June, St George, Showgrounds. To register or for more information click here.
- Sheep handling made easy! For more information or to register click here
- Business Edge workshops, click here for more information.
- Emerald, June 2-3
- Toowoomba, June 6-7
- Straighter Head Program, RFDS & Rural and Remote Mental Health. For more information click here.
- 7 June, Charleville
- 8 June, Roma
- 9 June, Chinchilla
- Killing prickle acacia without going broke, 7 June, ‘Sesbania’, Corfield. For more information click here.
- Central West Leadership program 10-12 June, Blackall. For more information or to register, click here.
- Planning for prosperity and growth, 28 June, Bollon. For more information or to register click here.
- The 5 Choices to Extraordinary Productivity, Pastoral Profit. Contact Heather Smith for more information on 0428 712 985.
- Grazing for profit, 8-14 July, Roma. For more information click here.
- LambEx 2016, 10-12 August, Albury, NSW. For more information click here.
- QRRRWN State Conference 6-8 October, Roma. For more information click here.