Top paddock newsletter
Northern Territory. Department of Resources
Top Paddock Newsletter; Top Paddock Newsletter; E-Journals; PublicationNT
2010-10-01
Berrimah
Made available via the Publications (Legal Deposit) Act 2004 (NT).; This publication contains many links to external sites. These external sites may no longer be active.
English
Agriculture; Northern Territory; Periodicals
Northern Territory Government
Berrimah
Issue 44
application/pdf
1320-727X
Attribution International 4.0 (CC BY 4.0)
Northern Territory Government
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
https://hdl.handle.net/10070/227444
https://hdl.handle.net/10070/675604
9 Indigenous Cattlemens Leadership Workshop July 2010 by Mark Ford, Indigenous Pastoral Production The Indigenous Pastoral Program (IPP) held its annual Indigenous Cattlemens Workshop on July 27 to 29 2010. The workshop focused on people who have experience in the pastoral industry and are keen to continue to develop their career paths as Indigenous cattle producers and employees. The workshop group studied pasture improvement, NLIS technology, peanut cropping, grazing management and herd fertility at the Douglas Daly Research Farm, with Sean Reed, Peter Shotton and Arthur Cameron hosting a very informative day. Sean and Peter provided demonstrations of practical uses of the NLIS tagging system for herd management in addition to the mandatory requirement for stock movements. Workshop participants were also impressed by the multiple benefits cropping can have as a component of a cattle enterprise. The concept of grasses and legumes and the benefits they provide to each other created quite a bit of interest. As a result of the culling for fertility that has been in place for many years at the Research Station, the first calf heifers are joined at a younger age and have a higher percentage of live calves increasing profitability of the herd. The importance of bull fertility in cattle production was explained and that all the bulls at the station have been tested for fertility so that the bulls with low fertility are not used in the herd. Day two of the workshop included a tour of Nick Thornes Live Export Depot at Cedar Park. The group gained an understanding of this part of the live cattle export process and appreciated Nick taking time and explaining the export process, including quarantine protocols required for different markets. Barry Lemcke presented a session at Beatrice Hill Farm where the group looked at the Buffalo breeding program and ponding to improve production on the floodplains. The benefits in terms of increased meat production and milking ability of the Riverine cross animals impressed the workshop participants. The group later visited Geoff and Sharon Arthurs buffalo milking project for cheese production at Lambells Lagoon. Janamba Crocodile Farm also showed the workshop group a different perspective on animal production. The principals of feeding for weight gain and skin production, and growth targets were discussed. The third day of the workshop was held at Oenpelli where participants were given the opportunity to look at dry season floodplain grazing and meat processing and packing for domestic sale in the facility being developed by the Indigenous Land Corporation. The slaughter process was explained, a demonstration of boning and slicing the product, as well as cryovac packaging and labelling for retail sale. The workshop provided the Indigenous Cattlemen with an opportunity to look at productivity improvements and their industry beyond their property gate. The preparation of cattle for live export and meat processing were studied which are the two main focuses of Northern Territory beef production.