introduction events calender -...

Plains Talk – Central West Newsletter

Department of Primary Industries; www.dpi.nsw.gov.au Central West Livestock Health and Pest Authority; www.lhpa.org.au

Page 2 – Growing More Sheep Page 3 – Focus on Joining Page 4 – Sheep gross margins comparison Page 5 – Farm Bio-Security

Page 6 – LPA NVD requirements effective 1/1/2012 for Russian market access Page 9 – Oxytetracycline Detected in Australian Beef in Russia Page 10 – Get those bludgers out from under the trees

Page 12 – Summer Fallow Page 15 – Secret Men’s Business

Issue 1

Welcome to the first edition of Plains Talk. “Plains Talk” is a newsletter written by agricultural

extension staff of the NSW Department of Primary Industries and the Central Western LHPA for

farmers and Graziers in the Central Western Plains of New South Wales. “Plains Talk” will cover

a wide range of agronomy, animal health, beef cattle, sheep, rural support and vertebrate pest

issues. We will provide you with up to date technical information and the latest resources and

events available to help you make informed decisions about the management of your agricultural

enterprises.

If you read the first issue and find that it is not for you then send a return email, letter, fax or call

and let us know, so we can remedy the situation or even remove you from the distribution list if

required. If you want particular information then contact the authors and we can research and

provide information on your preferred topic.

What: Secret Men’s Business When: 7-2-2012 Where: Nyngan RSL Who: Pip Brown

What: Fly and Lice Workshop When: 29-2-2012 Where: Forbes Who: Megan Rogers

What: Managing Scanned Ewes Workshop When: 1-3-2012 Where: Dunedoo Who: Edward Joshua

What: Managing Scanned Ewes Workshop When: 13-3-2012 Where: Nyngan Who: Trudie Atkinson

Introduction Events Calender

In this edition…

Resources / Points of Interest

The new Primefact on Plunge dip management is available at http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/agriculture/livestock/sheep/health/sheep-plunge-dip-

management



Growing More Sheep, Better - Edward I think that most people I talk to I refer them to one of the following internet web pages as useful resources that cover the information I use in our discussion and that is provided to clients in workshops and personal contact; It is a good idea to trawl through the information on these pages occasionally to see what interesting information there is freely available.

The Sheep CRC www.sheepcrc.org.au

Here there is useful information on managing pregnant ewes, weaner management, and a range of new software developed to help the sheep industry - particularly - the lamb feedlot calculator. The lamb feedlot calculator makes doing the calculations to determine the profitability of a lamb feeding operation simple if you know what things cost. There are useful pictures and designs for self feeders and hay feeders that you can make or get made. All the research the sheep CRC is involved in has the results published on this site.

MLA www.mla.com.au

Here there is market information which is useful to input current store and sale market information each Friday lunchtime into the lamb feedlot calculator to see if feeding you lambs is making a profit or just making you work !-)

NSW DPI www.dpi.nsw.gov.au

Here is a wealth of information mostly in Primefact form that helps with feeding sheep. Try the feed cost calculator to help make a ration that costs a reasonable amount and feeds the animals to their requirement.

http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/agriculture/livestock/nutrition/values/feed-cost-

calculator

The search button at http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au is a useful way of finding out

what we know about what you want to know, and it is available at 3am when I am not.

Making More from Sheep http://www.makingmorefromsheep.com. au

This web page provide a useful reference manual on how to grow and manage sheep which is a good place to start when comparing what you are doing with what

the experts think, out of office hours. The section on weaning more lambs is very useful in managing sheep so they have and rear more lambs.

Wormboss http://www.wool.com/Grow_WormBoss. htm

Wormboss is useful to find out about anything to do with worm control or resistance and what is happening in the paddock now!-) There is a wealth of information at this site about worm control and management

SheepPlunge Dip Management - Includes information on chemical and dip

management problems and includes a design for the sheep dip http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/agriculture/livestock/sheep/health

Liceboss http://www.wool.com/Grow_LiceBoss.htm

Liceboss is good to look at your risk of lice infestation

Flyboss http://www.flyboss.org.au

Flyboss is a useful site to find information about fly and lice control chemicals and to look into managing fly strike

http://www.makingmorefromsheep.com/

http://www.wool.com/Grow_WormBoss

http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/agriculture/livestock/sheep/health

http://www.wool.com/Grow_LiceBoss.htm



Focus on Joining - Edward Static body weight is body weight measured at any one point in time. Dynamic body weight measures changes in body weight. If weaning has been early, ewes will have regained body reserves and achieved high static body weight before pasture deteriorates in quantity and quality over summer. Body weight usually declines later in autumn but an early break in the season will see a dynamic increase in body weight. Recent research has shown that change in fat score (dynamic weight) before and during joining had little effect on conception rates. The fact that they reached the joining target was more important than whether they were gaining or losing fat score. Assessing pasture quantity and quality will provide a good guide to the likely performance of ewes feeding on the pasture. An increase of 1 fat score unit will correspond to an increase in body weight of 7–8 kg, regardless of frame size. One extra fat score unit in Merino ewes at joining results in about 13 extra lambs born per 100 ewes joined. There is considerable variation between flocks in this response so it is important to determine if this response is profitable for any given flock. Producers wishing to ensure high lamb-marking percentages should target a fat score 3 for their ewes at joining. Monitoring fat score when ewes are yarded is a useful exercise to measure the nutrition of your ewes and a good guide as to how they are likely to respond at joining. Ewes joined at high static weights and at fat score 5, and who maintain this fat score throughout gestation, are likely to experience difficult births and pregnancy toxaemia. Day length – effect on ovulation Body weight is not the only factor affecting ovulation. The time of year is also important. Decreasing day length triggers breeding activity, that is, the oestrus cycle. Also, studies with Merino sheep show that higher ovulation rates occur in autumn. Research has shown that 33 per cent more Merino lambs were weaned per ewe joined in autumn compared with lambs weaned per ewe joined in spring. The summer solstice is on December 21st and day length starts to decrease after that date. High conception rates are therefore a combination of factors including the date of joining in relation to seasonal feed supply. • Early weaning gives ewes the potential to regain body weight but also relies on this date in relation to the break in the season or drying-off of the season. • Ewes joined in December in southern NSW rely on high body weight/fat score to give multiple ovulations coming out of spring, as day length is not yet decreasing. • Ewes joined in February in southern NSW may have a lower static body weight and lower fat score; they benefit from decreasing day length. • Provided an early autumn season break, ewes joined in April benefit from a dynamic increase in both body weight and fat score as well as from positive effects from decreasing day length. Twin scanning Ultrasound scanning allows ewes bearing single lambs to be managed, reducing the incidence of difficult birth through overfeeding in late pregnancy. Ultrasound scanning can also be used to determine time of lambing, similarly to the ram harness; however, throughput is slower during the scanning process. Identification of twin-bearing Merino ewes by ultrasound scanning will allow selection of paddocks that provide better nutrition for these animals in late pregnancy. This will improve the weight and quality of fleece on their progeny through effects on the ratio of secondary to primary follicles throughout their lifetime. Twin-bearing ewes ideally should be lambed in groups of less than 250. By managing twin-bearing ewes separately, from scanning at 90 days to lamb marking or weaning, similar growth rates can be achieved for twin lambs as for single-born lambs. Use of twin scanning and the ram harness facilitates early weaning and thus the regaining of ewe body condition before the next joining. Where scanning for twin-bearing ewes is practiced, nutritional management of those ewes before lambing is made easier by regular fat scoring to ensure adequate body fat reserves for late pregnancy and lactation. Target fat score during pregnancy should be 3 score. Over fat ewes (4 to 5 score) in late pregnancy eat less and



are likely to suffer pregnancy toxaemia. Reducing the fat score of these ewes to 3 between days 90 and 120 will increase their lambs’ birth weights and likely survival. Ewes of fat score 2 or less have insufficient body fat reserves for successful lambing and lactation. The desired fat score of 3 for pregnancy should be achieved through grazing management soon after joining. Some supplementation of twin bearing ewes with grain prior to and throughout lambing using restricted self feeders will assist in providing the energy to have and rear twin lambs and ensure that the lambs are large enough and have the energy to survive and feed.

Sheep Gross Margin Comparison 2011 - 2012 - Geoff

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$5.00

$10.00

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2012 2011

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All GMs have reduced except for wether enterprises which have increased in value.

18 micron wethers making more than 2nd cross prime lamb production!

The value of wool has increased continuing to be a positive force in sheep enterprises.



Larger increase in the value of 20 micron wool compared to 18 micron.

20 micron ewes joined to merino rams are performing better than those joined to terminals – as a result of the wool value provided by replacements and a reduction in meat values.

There has been a reduction in the value of ewes and lambs compared to the April 2011 GMs.

The largest impact on 1st cross ewes and Dorpers.

There has also been a slight change in the way we calculate meat values. The updated GMs calculated values according to actual carcase weight compared to using average prices on a per head basis. The value is slightly more accurate and resulted in slight reduction in meat value.

Farm Bio-Security, Alan

Plains Talk Newsletter – January 2012 The new year is a timely reminder of the importance of Farm Bio-Security. In times gone by, most animals were purchased at local sales, and in most cases the vendor and the property of origin were known to the buyer. With internet buying the local personal knowledge factor has been taken out of the purchase, so the thought that there is usually a reason when something turns up at a bargain price. It is important to do a risk assessment before bringing any stock on to the property. Thinking of sheep – what is the footrot and ovine Johne’s (OJD) status, possible worm resistance, and possibility of introducing lice with the purchase. In December Samantha Allan (The NSW DPI footrot program coordinator) released a press release warning of the increase in footrot in southern NSW. She said “Many of the infections have resulted from buying in sheep particularly from interstate, where there are no footrot control programs in operation”. All sheep entering NSW are legally required to be accompanied by a completed and signed National Sheep Health Statement, which is an approved vendor declaration for footrot. The Health Statement will also provide information on the OJD score of the source property. Bringing in sheep from a lower score area is not a good risk. Sheep from the New England area should be fine for footrot and OJD, but some properties have a major problem with worm drench resistance. Lice can happily live in any area, and if there has been a lice treatment of the sheep on offer it is important to know which chemical was used as there is a major problem with resistance to some of the older chemicals. For cattle buyers the first query is “Where are the cattle coming from?” Coastal cattle have a relative immunity to an anaemia caused by Theileria, but there have been problems on some farms that introduced coastal cattle to their inland properties. For beef cattle producers with beef only status Bovine Johne’s disease is low risk, but there is still a problem with some dairy herds. At a recent farmers meeting the question came up about a grandfather (now retired to the coast) wanting to give his grandchildren a couple of dairy calves to rear for their education and future pocket money. The immediate answer was “What is the BJD score of the dairy?” as bringing BJD onto a beef enterprise has disastrous financial consequences. For any queries on the subjects mentioned please contact your local DPI or LHPA for advice.

.



IMPORTANT ADVICE FOR LIVESTOCK PRODUCERS LPA NVD REQUIREMENTS EFFECTIVE 1/1/2012 FOR RUSSIAN MARKET ACCESS

Detection of oxytetracycline or chlortetracycline residues in meat or offal in Russia will result in the meat processor, and potentially Australia, being banned from that market. Russia is Australia’s fourth most important market. To meet Russian market access requirements SAFEMEAT is implementing a 90 day Provisional Russian Export Slaughter Interval (ESI) for products and feed containing oxytetracycline or chlortetracycline – effective 1 January 2012. Producers must now declare the status of their livestock against this ESI by correctly completing the LPA NVD. MARKETING LIVESTOCK AS ‘RUSSIAN ELIGIBLE’ If you do not use products or feed containing oxytetracycline or chlortetracycline you must write the words ‘Russian Eligible’ on the LPA NVD. Use Question 9 for cattle and Question 7 for sheep. If you use products or feed containing oxytetracycline or chlortetracycline and comply with the 90 day Provisional Russian Export Slaughter Interval you must write the words ‘Russian Eligible’ on the LPA NVD. Use Question 9 for cattle, Question 8 for EU cattle, and Question 7 for sheep. Where ‘Russian Eligible’ is written on the LPA NVD it means that the livestock have not been injected with or ingested feed products containing oxytetracycline and chlortetracycline in the last 90 days. OBSERVE ‘BEST PRACTICE’ DRUG ADMINISTRATION If you use products containing oxytetracycline or chlortetracycline you must:

Follow label instructions accurately,

Administer the treatment in the upper neck region only, as per label instructions. WHEN CAN’T LIVESTOCK BE MARKETED AS ‘RUSSIAN ELIGIBLE’? Do not write the words ‘Russian Eligible’ on the LPA NVD if livestock have been injected or fed with products containing oxytetracycline and/or chlortetracycline in the last 90 days. MORE INFORMATION? Animal health treatments containing oxytetracycline or chlortetracycline are being assessed for lower slaughter intervals, and when available will be published on the SAFEMEAT website www.safemeat.com.au

For the latest updates, including a list of products containing oxytetracycline or chlortetracycline, go to www.safemeat.com.au or contact your veterinarian.



Table 1: Products containing chlortetracycline registered for use with cattle, pigs and sheep (source APVMA website) Product Name

Provisional Russian Export Slaughter interval (days)

TRICON POWDER SOLUBLE ANTIBIOTIC POWDER FOR ORAL USE

90

AUROFAC 200 ANTIBIOTIC FEED SUPPLEMENT GRANULATED

90

AUROFAC D DISPERSIBLE ANTIBIOTIC FEED SUPPLEMENT

90

A.S.P. PLUS CONCENTRATE ANTIBIOTIC FEED SUPPLEMENT

90

CTC-ECO ORAL POWDER 90

PHARMACHLOR CTC CHLORTETRACYCLINE SOLUBLE POWDER

90

CHLORTET 200 GRANULAR FEED ADDITIVE 90

AUREOMYCIN SOLUBLE CONCENTRATE 90

CTC-ECO 200 GRANULAR 90

CTC 200 GRANULAR FEED PREMIX 90

CHLORO-SOL 90

CTC 200 G MICRO GRANULATE FEED ADDITIVE 90

Table 2: Products containing oxytetracycline registered for use with cattle, pigs and sheep (source APVMA website). List only includes injectable and feed/water medications Product Name

Provisional Russian Export Slaughter interval (days)

OXYTETRACYCLINE FG PREMIX MEDICATION FOR PIGS 90 TETRAVET 100 SOLUBLE ANTIBIOTIC POWDER 90 TETRAVET 200 LA LONG ACTING ANTIBIOTIC INJECTION 90 COOPERS ENGEMYCIN 100 OXYTETRACYCLINE HYDROCHLORIDE 100MG/ML INJECTION

90

OXYTET 200 MILL PACK 90 TERRAMYCIN /LA INJECTABLE SOLUTION 90 ILIUM OXYTET-200 L.A. LONG-ACTING BROAD-SPECTRUM ANTIBIOTIC INJECTION

90

TERRAMYCIN 400 FEED SUPPLEMENT 90 OTC 200 FOR FEED MEDICATION 90 OXYMAV 100 SOLUBLE BROADSPECTRUM ANTIBIOTIC POWDER

90

DOPHARMA OXYJECT OXYTETRACYCLINE INJECTION 90 BROODMIX 90 G.A.H. FORMULA OXYTETRACYCLINE PLUS 90



MULTIVITAMINS TETRACIN 10 SOLUBLE POWDER 90 TETRACIN 200 90 TETRACIN 100 SOLUBLE POWDER 90 TERRAMYCIN 880 SOLUBLE POWDER CONCENTRATE 90 TERRAMYCIN 100 INJECTABLE SOLUTION 90 DUPHACYCLINE 100 OXYTETRACYCLINE HYDROCHLORIDE INJECTION

90

INCA OXY B SOLUBLE ANTIBIOTIC POWDER BROADSPECTRUM

90

TERRAMYCIN 550 FEED SUPPLEMENT POWDER 90 TERRAMYCIN 200 FEED SUPPLEMENT 90 MASTALONE INTRAMAMMARY SUSPENSION FOR LACTATING COWS

90

BIVATOP 200 LONG ACTING INJECTABLE 90 ALAMYCIN 10 INJECTION 35

TETRAVET FLEXI-DOSE FLEXIBLE DOSE OXYTETRACYCLINE PVP INJECTION

90

OXY-ECO ORAL POWDER 90 TETRAVET 10 INJECTION 90 CCD OTC (OXYTETRACYCLINE HYDROCHLORIDE WATER SOLUBLE POWDER)

90

ALAMYCIN LA 300 OXYTETRACYCLINE INJECTABLE SOLUTION

90

EXACT 100 OXYTETRACYCLINE HYDROCHLORIDE 100 MG/ML INJECTION

90

TETRAVET 980 SOLUBLE ANTIBIOTIC POWDER 90 OXY-ECO BASE 90 HEXASOL LA (OXYTETRACYCLINE/FLUNIXIN) INJECTION FOR CATTLE

90

TETRAVET FLEXI-DOSE OXYTETRACYCLINE PVP INJECTION

90

AAH OXYTETRACYCLINE HYDROCHLORIDE ORAL POWDER

90

The information provided above is current at the time of writing (23 December 2011) and is intended for use as guidance only and should not be taken as definitive or exhaustive.



Oxytetracycline Detected in Australian Beef in Russia, Jillian

Port-of-entry testing of Australian beef by Russian authorities has detected residues of the oxytetracycline group of antibiotic drugs at levels above their accepted standards. Russia is Australia’s 4th most important market, and incidences such as this may jeopardise Australia’s access to it in the future. Therefore, the risk of residues of the tetracycline group of drugs needs to be managed when sourcing livestock to be processed for the market. To reduce the risk of residues being detected again in beef going to the Russian market, as of the 1st of January 2012, the Export Slaughter Interval for all oxytetracycline products will be 90 days. This means that 90 days is the minimum time that should elapse between administration of an oxytetracycline product to an animals and their slaughter for export. The exception to this rule is Alamycin 10 which has an ESI of 35 days. Producers must now declare the status of their livestock against this ESI by correctly completing the LPA NVD/Waybill.

If you do not use products or feed containing oxytetracycline or chlortetracycline you must write the words 'Russian Eligible' on the LPA NVD. Use Question 9 for cattle and Question 7 for sheep.

If you use products or feed containing oxytetracycline or chlortetracycline and comply with the 90 day Provisional Russian Export Slaughter Interval you must write the words 'Russian Eligible' on the LPA NVD. Use Question 9 for cattle and Question 7 for sheep.

Where 'Russian Eligible' is written on the LPA NVD it means that the livestock have not been injected with or ingested feed products containing oxytetracycline and chlortetracycline in the last 90 days.

Do not write the words 'Russian Eligible' on the LPA NVD if livestock have been injected or fed with products containing oxytetracycline and/or chlortetracycline in the last 90 days.

Additionally, it is absolutely VITAL when administering products containing oxytetracyline where the label states “inject volumes no greater than 10ml per injection site and/or inject into the neck only” that these instructions are followed for the label claimed WHP & an ESI of 90 days to apply. It is important to follow these recommendations even if selling cattle domestically, as often offal from the domestic market can end up in Russia.



Get those bludgers out from under the trees, Bob It is surprising how many times I hear the same old story about a cattle producer who, on his way back to the house for lunch, would hunt his animals out from under the trees and onto the pasture “where they should be”. The idea behind this seems to be that cattle cannot be putting on weight if they are just lying around in the shade. Not what some cattle producers like to see – their animals lying around apparently doing nothing

But this is not really the case. When cattle are lying in the shade, their digestive system is actually at work helping the animals to put on weight. And the reason why this happens is because the digestive system of cattle is totally different to ours. We have a single stomach and we digest our own food. Cattle (and sheep) have a stomach that has four compartments and the biggest of these is the rumen. In a mature beast, it can be as big as 80 litres. The rumen is where the early part of the digestion process takes place and this digestion is carried out by the micro-organisms, bacteria and protozoa, not by the cattle themselves. In fact, the whole system is really quite amazing because without the cattle to support them in the rumen, the protozoa and bacteria would have no where to live. The flip side of that coin is that without the bacteria and protozoa, the cattle wouldn’t be able to digest their feed.



So, what happens is that at around sunrise, the cattle get out on the paddock and basically get a rumen full of feed. They don’t spend too much time chewing it – it’s bitten off, given a couple of chews and then swallowed. This is probably a survival mechanism from before domestication, where the idea is to get as much feed as quickly as possible and then go away and hide. The idea was to eat without getting eaten. Having got a rumen full of feed, the animals have to go and deal with it and the way to do this is to go and lie down in that offending shade. Here, the bacteria and protozoa go to work, breaking down the fibrous pasture that the animal has eaten. The cattle assist this process by burping the feed back up and chewing it. This grinds the feed up into smaller and smaller fragments as well as coating it with the bacteria and protozoa to further aid in the digestion of the feed. There may be a bit of grazing during the day, but the next major bout generally comes before sunset, where the cattle know that they are running out of daylight. They go through the same process again of harvesting the feed and then head to the camp so that they can deal with it. So, when you see your animals lying in the shade in the middle of the day, don’t disturb them. They really are working for you. Cattle generally have two major bouts of grazing – one around sunrise and one before sunset



Summer fallows – more than storing soil water, Kathi

Traditionally summer fallow management has focussed on weed control to maximise soil water storage. Recent work by Col McMaster, District Agronomist based at Forbes has found however that poor weed control is also very costly in terms of available soil nitrogen. This translates into subsequent poor crop yields even under conditions of plentiful soil moisture and frequent rainfall. 2010 was an extremely wet year. Key rainfall events sowing enabled timely sowing, and excellent growing conditions during early growth and development with ideal conditions during flowering and grain fill. A series of trials were sown in 2010. Treatments comprised a combination of stubble management and weed control timings. Below is a snapshot of some of the key results from the Gunningbland site (west of Parkes). Table 1: Impact of fallow management on moisture and nutrient retention at Gunningbland site

Note: Stubble management treatment results not displayed in Table 1 due to no significant response. Comparing the Complete spray with the Nil spray treatment:

Stored water at sowing increased by 60%. This represents an additional 17% gain in fallow efficiency.

Nitrogen levels increased by 89%. This equates to almost $70/ha of N fertiliser.

Treatment Plant Available Water (mm)

Fallow efficiency (%)

Mineral nitrogen (kg N / ha)

Nil spray 81 100% a 29 54.8 100% a

Miss first spray 114 141% b 40 98.1 179% c

Complete spray 130 160% c 46 103.3 189% c

Delayed spray 118 146% b c

42 82.3 150% b

P-value <0.001 <0.001



Figure 1: Gunningbland - Impact of fallow management on grain yield

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Stubble slashed

Cultivation

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Figure 1 shows crop yield increased by 65% when a zero tolerance to weeds strategy was applied. Grain yield also increased by 10% via cultivation and/or deep ripping. However the most profitable treatment was stubble standing/complete spray with a return on investment of $5 for every $1 invested on fallow herbicide sprays. Figure 1 illustrates no significant yield penalties between the complete spray and miss first spray treatments in 2010. However, the first spray treatment was initiated after a 32 mm rainfall event that occurred at the end of December (ie moisture was retained towards the surface were evaporation losses are high). Larger yield benefits maybe expected if this opening rainfall event was larger to push moisture into the safety of the subsoil or occurred towards the end of the fallow period with less evaporation demands/losses. Conclusions Approximately 50% of grain yield can be derived from out of season rainfall and summer fallow management. The greatest gains to both grain yield (on average 100% yield increase) and profitability came via controlling summer weeds. The benefits of clean weed free fallows are that they have a relatively low cost for high potential returns as both moisture (up to 60% increase) and nutrient (up to 48 units of N) use efficiency is improved. Every $1 invested in summer herbicides returned an additional $4 - $5. Therefore controlling summer weeds is likely to provide economic response over a diverse range of seasonal conditions, for example:

1) Poor season = $ return comes via increased moisture retention 2) Average season = $ return comes via increased moisture and nutrient availability 3) Great season = $ return comes via increased nutrient availability

Fertiliser costs are a major input cost. Large gains in efficiencies can be made via summer weed control. To replace the lost 48.5 kg N/ha using urea would cost approximately $68/ha. Increases in N mineralisation after cultivation and/or deep ripping are small (+ 5-7 units) and generally not significant.



The absence or presence of stubble had no impact on grain yield in 2010. However 2010 was an extremely wet year and this may have masked possible benefits. Recent research suggests that stubble cover has little impact on crop evaporation losses during the hot summer months, but can improve infiltration rates during intensive summer thunderstorm and improve sowing conditions during marginal autumns (stubble cover helps retains moisture near surface – evaporation losses are slowed). The 2011/12 summer fallow period is shaping up to be similar to those experienced during this trial. The results of this trial (and others) have consistently shown the impact of timely management during the fallow period on following crop performance, both agronomically and economically. A relaxed approach during the current wet summer may have a far greater economic cost in the 2012 winter crop than previously assumed, irrespective of growing season conditions.

I recently overheard a conversation between an elderly neighbour and his grand-daughter. The neighbour and his wife are fairly old school in that his wife takes care of all the managing of the household, so that, when she took ill, the neighbour was a bit flustered over looking after things, so his grand-daughter came over to help. The first thing she did was to check the refrigerator and discovered that there was no milk. The conversation that then ensued was along these lines: "Grand-dad, can I have five dollars to buy some milk?" "Five dollars! Just for milk? "Yes." "In my day, I could go down to the shops with just five dollars and get not just milk, but bread, eggs, meat, fruit and veg to last the week, AND get my shoes shined, AND get a hair-cut, AND have change at the end! You can't do that these days!" "You're not wrong - too many security cameras these days!"



SECRET MEN’S BUSINESS

You know if you ignore it, it will eventually drop off! What will drop off? Ignore your health long enough and everything – work, sex, relationships, recreation and your enjoyment of life stops dead! Got the drift? This serious issue is approached in a humorous way by men’s health specialist Neville Brady. Topics include: * How you can extend your life; * Control anger and stress and you will be a nicer person to be around; * A cure for nagging; * The art of romance; * The benefits of moving muscles other than those needed to operate the remote and lots more! So guys, come along… Tuesday, February 7 6.30pm - 8pm (nibbles supplied) Bowlers Bar Nyngan RSL & Civic Club Free event but please register to give us an idea of numbers: Pip Brown, Rural Support Worker 0429396697 or pip.brown@industry,nsw.gov.au Brought to Nyngan by the NSW Department of Primary Industries Rural Support Program with cooperation from Nyngan Men’s Shed.



Authors/contacts

© State of New South Wales through Department of Trade and Investment, Regional Infrastructure and Services 2010. You may copy, distribute and otherwise freely deal with this publication for any purpose, provided that you

attribute the Department of Trade and Investment, Regional Infrastructure and Services as the owner.

Disclaimer: The information contained in this publication is based on knowledge and understanding at the time of writing (July 2010). However, because of advances in knowledge, users are reminded of the need to ensure that

information upon which they rely is up to date and to check currency of the information with the appropriate officer of the Department of Primary Industries or the user’s independent adviser.

Published by the Department of Primary Industries, a part of the Department of Trade and Investment, Regional Infrastructure and Services

Distribution/Sub Editor

Rural Support Worker

Sheep/Editor Agronomy Beef Veterinarian

Margaret Boland NSW DPI Office Supervisor DUBBO 2830 Ph: 02 68811253 Fax: 02 6881295 Email: [email protected]

Pip Brown NSW DPI Rural Support Worker

Dubbo NSW 28 Mobile: 0429 396 69730 Ph: 02 6881 1266 Fax: 02 6881 1295 Email: [email protected]

Edward Joshua NSW DPI Livestock Officer (Sheep & Wool) DUBBO NSW 2830

Mobile: 0428 285 987 Ph: 02 6881 1275 Fax: 02 6881 1295

Email: [email protected]

Trudy Atkinson NSW DPI Livestock Officer Rangelands (Sheep & Wool) Trangie NSW 2823 Ph: 02 6880 8041 Fax 02 6888 7201 Mobile : 0427 102 431 Email :[email protected] Geoff Casburn NSW DPI Livestock Officer (Sheep & Wool) WAGGA WAGGA| NSW 2650 Ph: 02 6938 1630| Fax: 02 6938 1809| Mobile 0428 420 886 Email: [email protected]

Kathi Hertel NSW DPI District Agronomist Dubbo NSW 2830 Mobile: 0427 104 344 Ph: 02 6881 1276 Fax: 02 6881 1295 Email: [email protected] Greg Brooke NSW DPI District Agronomist Wellington NSW 2830 Ph: 02 6845 1866

Fax:02 6845 4452 Mobile : 0437 140 577 Email: [email protected]

Bob Kilgour NSW DPI Livestock Research Officer TRANGIE NSW 2823 Ph: 02 6880 8052 Fax: 02 688 87201 Email: [email protected]

Dr Jillian Kelly District Veterinarian N8473 Central West Livestock Health & Pest Authority Address:, Dubbo NSW 2830 Phone: 0268822133 Fax: 0268842302 Mobile: 0428334459 Email: [email protected] Alan Taylor District Veterinarian ( N 1130 ) Central West Livestock Health and Pest Authority Address: Dubbo NSW 2800 Phone: 02 63923005 (Molong) 02 68 822133 (Dubbo) Mobile: 0428 710 002 Fax: 02 6392 3009 Email: [email protected] Dr Susan McClure Research Veterinarian Central West Livestock Health and Pest Authority Address: Dubbo NSW 2800 Phone: 02 68 822133 (Dubbo) Email: [email protected]

Distribution/Sub Editor Sheep/Editor Agronomy Beef Veterinarian

mailto:[email protected]










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