Livestock Tech Talks: Recent Episodes
The Department of Primary Industries and Regions (PIRSA)
This series explores South Australia’s Red Meat and Wool sector; speaking with livestock producers, technology providers and more about how they can work with producers to strengthen their business to grow more prosperous regions. It showcases success stories from the ground, and how they’ve benefited from changing their farm’s business model with the adoption of technology, infrastructure or best practice. These talks are part of the Red Meat and Wool Growth Program an initiative of Primary Industries and Regions SA and supported by Meat & Livestock Australia, SA Sheep and Cattle Industry Funds, and SheepConnect SA.
Allandale Station is located between Oodnadatta and Lake Eyre. The property contains a high proportion of floodplain country associated with the Neales River and consequently it has the capacity to grow high amounts of feed and contains many natural waters following rainfall events that support good grazing. Andrew and Donnagh Clarke run a maximum of about 7500 head of mostly Angas and Sangus, but this can be very much reduced during a succession of dry years. They are currently running just under 4500 head and are in a rebuilding phase.
The Clarkes select bulls and breeding cows to maximise calving and feed conversion in order to achieve the greatest possible gains when grazing conditions are favourable. This case study focusses on the use of pregnancy scanning and individual animal data to inform management of breeders and grazing.
Peter Whittlesea shares his experience with pregnancy scanning and remote monitoring technology at his sheep enterprise in central South Australia, running 10,000–13,000 self-replacing Merino ewes.
Richie Kirkland runs a prime lamb enterprise with a flock of 8500 maternal composite ewes across 2500 ha in the lower south east of SA. He discusses AgTech adoption and his management approach to support prime lamb production in the high rainfall zone.
David Cooper talks about using telemetry, eID, drones and other technology to make the pastoral property as productive as possible.
Kathleen Allan, Communication and Evaluation Manager, Integrity Systems Company, talks about the importance of traceability and food safety in the red meat sector.
Mark Inglis, Farm Assurance and Supply Chain Manager at JBS Australia , talks about health management in the supply of red meat, the conditions with the most impact on profitability and integrity, and carcass and animal health feedback to producers.
Alex McGorman, owner and manager of Thornby Feedlot, talks about what he looks for healthwise when bringing sheep into Thornby.
Adam Dawes, General Manager of WoolProducers Australia, talks about why we need to be better prepared for an emergency animal disease (EAD), what lessons we can learn from the Exercise Argonaut simulation, and what wool producers should focus on in EAD preparedness.
Bonnie Skinner, General Manager Policy and Advocacy at Sheep Producers Australia, talks about the benefits of electronic identification (eID) across the supply chain, the importance of traceability for the Australian sheep industry, and the challenges of implementing eID across the entire industry.
Rob Barwell, Head of Program, Biosecurity at Animal Health Australia, talks about restocking options, questions producers should ask vendors, and biosecurity considerations when introducing animals to properties.
Dr. Mary Carr, chief veterinary officer at PIRSA, talks about how Biosecurity SA is safeguarding our red meat and wool industries, and about One Biosecurity's role in maintaining market access.
Nathan Scott, Director, Achieve Ag Solutions, explains biosecurity and talks about how an emergency animal disease outbreak can affect producers. He also discusses the role of electronic identification (eID) in traceability.
Keyneton Station is a progressive sheep enterprise run by Georgie and Toby Keynes at Keyneton with 2,700 Merino ewes mated to Merinos and Border Leicesters. Georgie discusses the benefits of eID, pregnancy scanning and AgriWebb technologies and improving land quality and lamb survival.
Penny and Jason Shulz run Coolaroo, a 1,000 hectare sheep and cattle farm in the upper South East of South Australia with Merino ewes and Border Leicester rams. They discuss the plans to update sheep and cattle infrastructure and making better use of eID, AgriWebb and water monitoring technology.
Mentara Park is a 6,000 ha mixed cropping and self-replacing flock of 3,200 Merino ewes, near the Coorong. David Eckert discusses the businesses recent adaptation of technology for livestock management including use of SafeAg software and scanning for multiples.
Chris Lymn runs a 4,000 hectare mixed farm enterprise including 1,500 Merino ewes, 2,000 hectares of cropping across two properties at Wudinna and Minnipa on the Upper Eyre Peninsula. Chris discusses individual animal selection and the benefits of eID technology.
Robert Pocock runs a 3,000 hectare mixed cropping and self-replacing Merino sheep enterprise in the SA Mallee called Lampata, and was an early adopter of livestock technology in sheep management. Robert discusses how these technologies have helped him achieve business and enterprise goals.
Data is used heavily on farms trying to find new ways of improving productivity. McPiggery is one of those. It's a 19,500 hectare business in the Southern Mallee of South Australia.
Scott and Fleur Harlock are from a dairying background, where individual animal management is an important part of getting the best out of a dairy. To do that successfully requires data management skills. It's something they've applied to their 1,400 hectare sheep and cattle property at Bool Lagoon in the south-east of South Australia.
The Kellocks are using eID to accurately measure and monitor the production and performance of their merino flock to enable them to make informed decisions on management changes to increase profitability.
In this episode, Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development, the Hon David Basham MP discusses the South Australian Governments $7.5 million commitment over three years to grow the red meat and wool sector. He explains how the program will:
- contribute to South Australia’s production of premium products
- improve sheep and cattle quality and productivity while sustainably increasing the size of the herd and flock
- enhance biosecurity and help to grow more prosperous regions.
For complimentary videos and supporting resources visit the Livestock Tech Talk page on the PIRSA website.
Spending less time in the yard and reducing animal stress are a constant goal for Producers. In this episode, Nathan Scott from Achieve Ag Solutions who has been working with producers for many years to help them get the best out of their eID equipment, discusses how you can improve livestock productivity and profitability. Nathan discusses:
- what eID is and how to best use it
- the benefits of adopting eID in sheep and cattle enterprises
- how capturing data via eID improves your farm management decisions.
For complimentary videos and supporting resources visit the Livestock Tech Talk page on the PIRSA website.
It is important to maximise livestock handling efficiency, safety and ease of operation. A well designed yard system can save time, labour and reduce frustration for the operator, making livestock handling easier.
In this episode, Ben White a Research Engineer from Kondinin Group discusses:
- his findings from a recent independent review of different yard designs
- an overview of what yard systems are currently available
- how to get your yard designs right to maximise livestock handling efficiency, safety and ease of operation.
For complimentary videos and supporting resources visit the Livestock Tech Talk page on the PIRSA website.
In this episode, we talk with Darren Price from Price Rural Management and former General Manager of Carwoola Pastoral Company. Darren has been involved with the Meat & Livestock Australia Digital Farm at Carwoola, NSW where over 200 digital devices have been deployed to compare different technology products. Darren discusses:
- what livestock technologies have been implemented on Carwoola
- the results of his economic investigation into implementing these different technologies in a commercial livestock enterprise
- which products best suit which rural environments.
For complimentary videos and supporting resources visit the Livestock Tech Talk page on the PIRSA website.
Every producer wants to save on fundamental farm resources such as labour, water and travel. In this episode, we talk with Mike Hayes from In2It Technologies who has been installing remote water monitoring systems, an economically savvy tool which does just that, across South Australia for many years.
Mike explains how the use of a range of different technologies help to increase communication coverage and save producers much needed time and money.
For complimentary videos and supporting resources visit the Livestock Tech Talk page on the PIRSA website.