Wagga Wagga to Sydney

Day 7:

Before leaving Wagga Wagga we toured Charles Sturt University led by a previous Kansas State professor Peter Chenoweth. This was a fairly new facility with the equine center being in service for just under 4 years. Our first stop was through the beef center where they have been very focused on reproduction in recent years, even stretching to several new experiments with cloning. My most anticipated portion of this stop occurred in the sheep facility where I was able to see a Kelpie herd around a hundred or so sheep. For those of you who don't know what a Kelpie is, it is a very common herding dog here in Australia that is a dingo crossed dog who can utilize "backing" as a way to herd which occurs when they run across the backs of sheep to sort or move through the flock. After a 5 hour drive we arrived in Sydney. Although our time there was short we had a lot of fun. Almost immediately after arriving at centrally located the Grace Hotel, a few of us girls left to go shopping and take a look around the city. As expected this is a huge city with a lot to offer, very similar to New York City, but had much less congestion and placed a great emphasis on a more Victorian style architecture with numerous sculptures and fountains throughout our journey. With little time to spare we purchased a few souvenirs and headed off the the Captain Cook dinner cruise around the harbor. There I got a combination of great food and breathtaking views of the harbor bridge and the world famous Opera house. While on the cruise and after, I marveled at a tremendous light show they put on around the harbor which included several of the larger buildings. This was a very unique experience for me that I greatly appreciated.

National Livestock Indentification System (NLIS)

Visit the Department Website for additional information: http://www.dpi.vic.gov.au/

While on our visit to the Department of Primary Industries located in Melbourne, we received an indepth lecture regarding the National Livestock Identification System (NLIS) in Australia. Throughout Australia, it is now required to place an electronic ear tag or bolus inside the animal that can later be scanned to tell the new owner of the history of the animal. Each indentification device contains a Property Identification Code, or PIC, that can be traced back to the birthplace of the animal if used accordingly. The also utilize several different devices in order to read the ear tags such as strips that can be attached to trucks or a wand that must be waved over the tag. The bolus can only be indentified once the animal has been slaughtered. This has become a necessity in Australia due to the large number of exports to the European Union and a previous lack of tracing disease or residue. The down side to each of these systems though is quite obvious but difficult to correct. The ear tag itself can be removed and replaced with ease, making the animal a resident of a different property. The bolus also has issues because it must be removed before slaughter with no residue or sign of it being there. There are several upsides to this system though. For starters, if done properly, it creates a much simpler and standard form of record-keeping for producers. It is also beneficial for the producers that do not sell their livestock domestically since the requirements to export beef to the European Union are quite strict. The system allows an approved way to provide the history of the animal that can include all of the information the producer wishes. Lastly it gets rid of a great deal of "word of mouth" guarentees because there are several fines for not abiding by the rules tied into the NLIS. Unfortunately, while this system seems almost flawless, it is still very new and there are a fair number of people that are not willing to change there system or make the initial investment that is several thousand for the appropriate set up. Furthermore, if not maintained such things as a lost ear tag can cause a loss of the history prior to the implanting of the new ear tag.

And in Conclusion...

I learned more things in Australia than I could fit in a five-hundred word blog so I will do my best to summarize. Since I, along with the rest of the United States, put a much greater deal of focus on cattle than we do sheep, the majority of what I have taken back with me revolves around their cattle business. Nonetheless, I was amazed at the Trigger Vale operation. After listening to his review, I was stunned by the passion and drive he had for improving his herd through quality genetics and simply applying the numerous variables that he acquired. Not only that, Mr. Bouffler applied some old fashioned common sense to the animals he raised and knew that a producer must find the perfect balance between the animal condition, the offspring they produce, and the wool they provide because that’s what determines the difference between profit and loss, especially in the harsh Australian environment. The cattle industry surprised me as well. I went into this thinking that their industry would closely mirror ours and I was very, very wrong. To start, the price they get per kilogram of animal is much lower than the price per pound we receive here. Not only that, but they lack a premiums system that allows a good producer to take full advantage of the market and the animal he or she produces, they must simple be the right weight and hide color. That helped me see why many of the producers in Australia raise cattle or run a mixed operation as a secondary job. Their sales system is also much different. While we have many options in the way we sell and market our breed, I saw only two main ones there. A producer may either sell to an agent who will further market and sell the cattle through a marketing center or go directly to the feedlot or slaughter plant, or they may sell overseas, primarily to the European Union. I was impressed by their tracking system, even with the few flaws it does have. They are capable of filing everything they have ever done to that animal and that file remains with them to the point that their product is sold to the consumer. Unfortunately though, the commonly used ear tag does not stay in, and the bolus creates an extra step when the animal is being processed. The last problem that is probably unavoidable is that every produce does not partake correctly or even at all. The last thing, and probably only real factor that I feel they were strides ahead of us with were the hardiness and disposition of their cattle. They cull cattle with problems such as calving, feet, digestion, or feed efficiency without a second thought because these cattle cannot be found easily if something were to go wrong and a loss in unaffordable. Even with this less domesticated tactic, the cattle in Australian were less than concerned with humans.

The Great Barrier Reef

Day 9:

Today was the day that I have been most looking forward to, we finally get to visit the Great Barrier Reef. Once again we left bright and early to get on the boat to first head out to the Green Island resort. Sadly though it was a day full of rain and clouds, with only a few visits from the Sun. After an hour ride on a very choppy sea, the boat finally arrived on the island. I immediately went to the brief scuba diving instruction course to get a grasp of all the basics to scuba diving. Without much time left on the island, I visited the local gift shop and picked up a few souvenirs. Getting onto another boat we traveled an additional hour over the still uneasy sea to get up close and personal with the reef. After allowing my stomach to settle some, I had a small lunch then quickly put on a wet suit and began snorkeling. I was amazed how close the reef was to the surface and memorized by the species of beautiful marine life.



After a frighteningly close experience to what I believe to have been a whitetip reef shark, I returned to the ship with little time to spare before it was my turn to scuba. Having just snorkeled, scuba diving was not as difficult as I thought it might be, and my group of four rapidly descended to the ocean floor. Only an estimated twenty meters below the surface, we explored seeing things I have only seen behind a thick wall of plexiglas. I saw giant sea clams, another shark, a clown fish in its home of anemone, and several other type of fish, some being surprisingly friendly. Although my time underwater was brief, I loved every minute of it and would love a chance to dive there in the future. After returning to the island I took a much needed shower then ventured down the street to finish off my shopping list and get rid of the remaining Australian money I had remaining. I returned to the hotel for our farewell dinner at the Bushfire restaurant. It was a Brazilian style restaurant that utilized the same techniques Spanish cowboys did by seasoning and marinating various meats then cooking them over an open flame. In my eyes, this was by far the best food I had my entire trip. I then concluded the evening by saying goodbye to our tour guide Graham Mitchell and strolled off to my room to pack for the long journey back to Manhattan.

Tjapukai Cultural Centre

Day 8:

Candace and I in front of the Sydney Opera House

I started the day quite a bit earlier today to get to the Sydney airport and fly out to Cairns. This will only be the second day that I simply get to enjoy being in Australia and for the first time since I arrived some warm weather and sandy beaches hopefully. After arriving at the airport we were briskly picked up and shuffled to the Tjapukai Cultural Center to get an up close lesson about the aboriginal culture here in Australia. They first gave us a briefing of their Dreamtime beliefs. Their religion states that at the beginning of time here were two brothers. One, Damarri (excuse the spelling), liked to make the world more difficult. He was the one who gave the crocodile his teeth and as a result, lost his leg. He also created such things as lightning and poisonous plants to keep the people strong. The other, Guyala, felt that the people should have an easy way of life free of struggle. Due to the clashes between the two brothers, they battled with Damarri emerging victorious. From these two came all of the plants and animals we see in Australia today. After seeing Bundarru the Cassowary bird, Damarri gave him Gidiri as his home. Being a flightless bird, he blew down the nuts and berries from the trees to give him food. Damarri told his people that if they find a Cassowary egg not to touch it and to do a ceremonial dance to make it hatch.

Ceremonial dancing at the Tjapukai Cultural Centre

The Cassowary is now an important token in the Aboriginal culture, being honored by paintings and dances. The Cassowary is now known as the Father of the Aboriginal people, with the Rainbow snake appointed as the grandfather, and the moon mother. After that show we all tried our hand at boomerang and spear throwing. Here is when I found out that I would probably starve if that was my way of finding food. After we were shown other weapons that were commonly used including the hook boomerang and hand-carved sword. We were also shown some of the natural ingredients they used as medicine. Concluding our experience we were given a digeredoo demonstration. The digeredoo is considered the oldest woodwind instrument and is made from a termite ridden, hollowed out tree and native beeswax. Ending our day we tried some of the local seafood.

A Day in Wagga Wagga

Day 6:

A sale proceeding at the Wagga Wagga Livestock Marketing Centre

I was very excited to visit the Wagga Wagga Livestock Marketing Centre this morning and get a glimpse into the flow of the beef and sheep industry. It is very different from the United States so I will try and summarize as understandably as possible. The cattle are initial bought from the producer through agents and then brought to the livestock market to be sold to another agent or to the abattoir. Cattle prices are very different here as well. The auctioneer ( whom doesn't chant bids but simply speaks what recurrent bid is) sells on a cents per kilogram basis, which when converted was roughly 85 cents per pound from what portion I saw today. They sell around 1200 head of cattle every Monday and 35,000 sheep every Thursday, which winds up being about 500 head of cattle an hour. The Wagga Wagga facility is older and operates somewhat differently than others in Australia because they allow livestock to be brought in up to 3 hours before the sale where it's neighboring centre is 12 and charge approximately a 4.5% commission compared to 3% in other locations. Next we traveled across the road to the Tey's Abattoir. I found it fascinating that they actually have an underground trail that enables them to herd the cattle purchased at Wagga Wagga directly to the abattoir, although they only buy a small portion of their production from there. The location we visited today was originally owned by Cargill untilSeptember of this year when the two companies merged making them more geographically optimal (Cargill owning many facilities in Victoria and New South Wales and Tey's being dominant in Queensland. We unfortunately did not get as detailed a tour as in their main competitor JBS, but from what I did see it was a much more Americanized plant with a more functional layout, probably due to the newer structure and original owners being Cargill. Summing up the day, we visited the Jindalee feedlot owned and operated by Tey's. They can have up to 30,000 head but are limited due to their water source. They are a very similar operation to those in the United States with some differences being only 100 days on feed and a lack of feed additives due to legality reasons.

Sheep, Emus, and Shorthorns

Day 5:

We headed to the Trigger Vale White Suffolk and Merino farm bright and early this morning. Andrew Bouffler was a very intelligent man that had obviously spent a lot of time educating himself on the "super" breed that he is looking to produce. He is currently crossing Merino ewes with White Suffolk rams. He puts a large amount of emphasis on the statistics of his sheep with very specific goals to ensure that they will survive even in the worst conditions. His ewes are expected to produce seven kilos of wool while still milking and maintaining their own body condition with a fat score of a four preferably.



The Bouffler family and new addition



Marston's emus during breeding

 Following this visit we went to the emu farm owned by Ian and Marilyn Marston. This was definitely a learning experience because my previous knowledge of mud was very limited. I did learn that the oil from the birds was the majority of income from the business with a $5 payment for every kilo produced and each emu providing roughly 10 kilos. The hatching process is also different from most birds because the eggs are guaranteed infertile it kept at a temperature above 40 degrees and require approximately 53 days to hatch.


A few of Spry's yearlings

Concluding our day we visited the Ardlui Shorthorn Stud ranch of the Spry family. This was an impressive place to visit because it is so closely ran. Once again the primary focus of this operation is survive in conditions that are less than optimal. Mr. Spry does very well here in Australia with a 2 year old bull having just won the Sydney Royal show and a yearling being sold for 45,000. This was a great location to see and the hospitality was much more than expected.