Around the Camp: Lice advice, on-farm fibre measurement, tech made better & wool contamination

  1. Lice advice
  2. On-farm fibre measurement
  3. Tech made better
  4. Wool contamination
  5. Upcoming events
  6. eBulletins and podcasts

Lice advice

Are you trying to eradicate lice from your flock? If so, here are some handy pointers:

  • Establish the reason for the infestation
  • Be willing to change your ways, realising that doing the same thing again and again and expecting a different outcome is wishful thinking
  • For shower or plunge dipping, aim to have less than six weeks wool growth at time of treatment. Check sheep are wet to the skin especially around the neck folds
  • Jetting races are fast and easy to use but are not good at eradicating lice
  • Off-shears backlining requires careful application. Check each race before they are let out. A little extra chemical where the application has strayed off-line or is incomplete is money well spent.

Remember that eradication requires the correct application of the correct chemical at the correct time. Modern chemicals work if used correctly. Liceboss has a wealth of useful resources that are well worth a read.

Thank you Noel O’Dempsey (Regional Coordinator – South) for contributing to the content of this article.

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On-farm fibre measurement

Do you ever catch yourself marvelling at a freshly cut fleece and wonder what its traits are? Soon, that might just be possible thanks to AWI funding into the development of low-cost on-farm fibre measurement (OFFM). Here’s what you need to know:

  • This technology could enable producers to measure wool micron, colour and crimp from their smartphone
  • Current methods can be slow, costly or inaccessible at key times
  • Wool traits could be measured on the classing table or on the sheep’s back
  • The ease of measurement could encourage more woolgrowers to use OFFM more often as part of their breeding program or in developing more uniform saleable lines of wool

Click here to read the article that appeared in the December 2022 issue of Beyond the Bale.

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Tech made better

There is so much technology out there that the trick has become finding something that works reasonably well and refining it to suit your system. That’s just what Ben Banks and Dominic Mohr have done at Springleigh Station near Blackall. After purchasing two pneumatic rotating crutching cradles three years ago, the men have gradually refined the machines and their layout on a three-stand crutching trailer. This setup has reduced demand on the body and enabled more family to help with crutching, which has reduced reliance on shearing teams.

ABC Rural captured the difference in physical demand on crutchers between traditional crutching trailers and the set up at Springleigh Station in this video. Read more about this story here and check out Beyond the Bale for developments in technology in the wool industry.

If you have modified a piece of new tech to make it work for you, we would love to here about it!

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Wool contamination

An interesting update has been provided from the world of wool processing.

China’s largest topmaker, Tianyu Wool has recently again raised the issue of in-bale wool contamination.  David Hart, Northern Region Wool Manager, Nutrien Ag Solutions has written, “Nutrien recently have been the recipients of several claims from Tianyu and others for serious contamination issues. We have not passed these on to the client, preferring to relay the nature of the problem and work with growers to prevent re-occurrence. Sometimes the contamination cannot be traced to a particular brand, but where it can, that brand is noted. Most wool growers make every effort to present a clean clip. Sadly though, we often have little control over shed staff quality. But it is also a fact that the barriers to entry for wool production are low and a small number of growers do let the industry down. Please reach out to our wool staff if we can assist to reduce the possibility of in-bale contamination.”

Staff from other wool brokers are also keen to assist.

Thank you to Noel O’Dempsey (Regional Coordinator – South) for this update.

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Upcoming events

  • 6 February. Excel Spreadsheets for Grazing Enterprises, Begonia. Delivered by ConnectAg. For more information and to register, click here.
  • 7 February. Building Business Resilience Workshop, Tambo. Delivered by DAF. Register here by 1st February.
  • 8 February. Building Business Resilience Workshop, Blackall. Delivered by DAF. Register here by 1st February.
  • 28 February & 1 March. Grains research update, Goondiwindi.  Delivered by GRDC. For more information and to register, click here.
  • 28 February-2 March. Nutrition EDGE, Chinchilla. Delivered by Desiree Jackson Livestock Management. Click here for more information or contact Desiree to register.
  • 15 March. What’s your plan? Dunkeld. Delivered by Grazing Futures Livestock Business Resilience. Click here for more information.
  • 16 March. What’s your plan? Bymount. Delivered by Grazing Futures Livestock Business Resilience. Click here for more information.
  • 20-24 March. AWI Shearing and Wool Handling School – Novice, Tambo. Delivered by Australian Wool Innovation. Click here for more information and to register.
  • 23-24 March. Business EDGE, St George. Delivered by Bush Agribusiness. Click here for more information and to register.

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Podcast, eBulletin and Surveys

  • Help improve understanding of pest and parasite control in livestock by filling out this survey from the University of Western Australia.

 

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