Victorian, Cattle Producer, Feedlotter, Horse Breeder Jenny Bird writes.
Our operation is relatively small..we trade about 4000 steers into feedlots. So we buy in, grow out and send. Wodonga Sale yards on the Victorian / NSW Border (pictured below) is where we source most of our cattle.
Regular sales are Tuesday fat market plus store sale, special sales are held on other days of the week. These special sales require cattle to be yarded the day before and the sales start at 10:30 am. We have arrangements to get cattle out of the pens to dirt yards quickly and then home to paddocks 10 and 15 and 25 k away as the cement footing and radiant heat cook the feet of cattle and cause no end of veterinary work for us.
This is our main processing set of yards on the Bungowannah property under construction. The roof is going on over the yards ($22,000 alone) with lights so we can process cattle when they come in at midnight and get them out into paddocks asap to avoid health issues from standing round on concrete at sale yards and hours of trucking.
Best invention ever a roof over the working area. The power hose is essential to keep the area clean as the cattle are very loose in spring. The heat of the day in open yards in summer is intolerable so we start at dawn and try to knock off by midday……not that it ever works that way!!!!
In the feed on steer job you need to process cattle when they want them so good yards and facilities have become essential….but all are expensive.
The scanning equipment and recording gear we can take to other yards and use portable scales. Above is the sort of crush set up we have in all yards……this one hasn’t got the head grab on it yet. You can’t read buttons manually with out one! All scales need to be programed to the recording box…..if not they can give a false reading of up to 4 kg per 100 kg…..very critical when you are targeting a grid system of price for different feedlots.
We invested in $20,000 worth of crushes and scanner/recording equipment to ease the back pain of having to manually read all cattle on purchased and out the gate so we could check NLIS status of them on the data base to avoid ‘discounts’ at the feedlot entry point.
Above is Bill Weidner, who has been in the cattle business for many years, with some bullocks ready to go to Queensland at the Bonegilla property. Bill and I run his brother’s Estate. AJ Weidner was a very well known commission buyer for 60 odd years. Since Bill had a horse flip on him and break his leg, followed by a horse flinging him into a float and breaking a hip he does very little on a horse now…..but he has a buster off the Ag bike on a regular basis….the brakes on a horse were pretty reliable! At 79 he doesn’t repair as well as he used to!
Manually reading tags is essential on purchase entry as it identifies those cattle who don’t scan; don’t carry buttons at all on arrival; don’t carry a button that matches the NVD; aren’t in fact what they were sold as ie Vendor Bred but second hand, or Vendor Bred but the NVD relates to a different property so they come up on the data base as NOT LIFE TIME TRACEABLE.
The other issue is that when the data is entered on the keyboard, fields don’t hold that data and hours of filling in ‘gaps’ is done off the long hand recording we still have to do.
Nothing beats the written format….except when the dog pi**es on the sheets and you have used a texta pen!!!
“In my spare time I stand 4 Morgan stallions …live service and chilled shipment and breed Pure and Part bred Morgan horses. This mare I originally sold to NZ as a filly but then repurchased when the opportunity arose. I have sold several horses to NZ and every State and Territory in Australia. I have just sold a yearling filly to England….a first.
So when we have a problem on intake we ring the agent and request the correct NVD applicable to the cattle and a roll back of the data entry is done to make the cattle Life Time traceable. Otherwise, we deduct $100 off every incorrect beast purchased.
It is amazing how agents don’t put up a fight!!! It is easier to wear the discount than fix the problem for most……..as they are not computer literate themselves or it occurs so often they would have no time to address their own bottom line profit sheet if they had to fix every “problem” beast!!!
At the price of feed on steers we can’t afford to run 20% non lifetime traceable cattle to punt back into the domestic market!!!…..where Life time traceability doesn’t matter.
Marvelous Encore (pictured) is a Morgan stallion I imported from Arizona in 1994. He arrived mid winter - July 4th in a summer coat but he soon learnt to grow a winter coat.
The filly I sent to England in January went out in 40 degree heat and arrived in -8 with wind chill factor and it snowed the next day. She is growing a winter coat now as she tears off her rugs. It takes horses over 12 months to adjust to the climate change.
I have imported many horses from America, NZ and England as well as frozen semen. The drought and EI has minimised my program but I still have about 25 horses…..but don’t tell Bill!!!”
If only purchasers and breeders and stock owners of cattle would check their data base to see the mess they have on it. Most would recognize that the numbers they are supposed to have in the paddock according to the data base has no relationship to the data they have submitted to the Tax man!!!
Wouldn’t the Tax Office have a field day if they had a look at the data base of most cockies!!!!???? If you aren’t computer literate then ask your Agent to down load a copy of all the cattle you have recorded on your data base. You will be in for a BIG surprise!!! Remember the new buttons in the shed as yet unused are on there too…before you have a heart attack!!!
I headed up a syndicate to import frozen semen from a Palomino Morgan stallion and market that semen as well. Below is a photo of Palomino M0rgan Stallion - PT Cruiser.
Have your say! To ask Jenny a question online or leave a comment click on the Blue word Comment below.
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Tags: Feedlotting, Horses, NLIS
Hi Jenny,
You mentioned that you have sold a horse to every state and territory. I guess that includes the NT (although it is oft forgotten). I have been interested in Morgan horses for a while, but of course they are not a common breed. Im just wondering where in the NT the horse was sold and also what you use the Morgans for?
On the note of NLIS, I could never see it working on an extensive system but im partially surprised to see it doesnt really work on an intensive system either. One of the problems, particuly with buying and selling is the huge amount of extra time and money just to collect a heap of data that really is almost irrelevant if the cattle are healthy at slaughter.
I believe that the stock are actually stressed more now that we have to re-run them through yards, put in the extra tag etc. Plus the extra office work and we still need the good old pen and paper. Then there’s the cost of the tags and a good few dont even work… It really doesnt make sense that there are still people that have faith in the system.
At the rate of technological change I imagine NLIS tags will be obsolete in years to come anyway.
When they create an indestructable, readable stay-put eartag that will last the lifetime of the oldest most unruly cow, then producers should be made to use them but not before!
Sorry Rashida.I just figured out where your comment was and how to respond…am new to Agmates and needed Steve’s help …then some spare time.
Firstly yes I did include NT….and I have sent a yearling to Tassie as well. I have only bred mares in Canberra……..but I guess you’ll let me off that one!!! Oh no I did sell a Part bred gelding there last year.
Now I have a past student who is working for the NT Mounted Police department in Darwin called Cortney McCartney. Cortney purchased a Part bred yearling a few years ago, and I shipped him to Alice Springs as at the time she was working there. She has just had him sent up to her in Darwin where she was posted into the Mounted division and he is experiencing horrific issues with the wet and biting insects….blown up in the sheath/vet bills/..all of which is no surprise to you no doubt but staggering news for me. She also has boils herself…….what a place to live hey!!!!
I was well aware of ‘Queensland itch’ problems as I have sold some into parts of NSW and Queensland and some survive and some don’t…..well some of the owners don’t survive with having to deal with the problem and I have taken back a couple of horses off clients…..and ofcourse it is a REAL issue but disappears once back down south. I had actually offered Cortney a colt foal from my most favoured mare but she says she couldn’t entertain him up there so I will have to wait till she moves somewhere more conducive to taking a youngster. IS there anywhere up there that escapes the wet complication????
The other yearling I sold was to a woman called Vicki Williams who had been a most competent horse woman before she became a paraplegic after a horse and cart accident. Vicki just wanted to get back in the saddle and designed a harness to go on her stock saddle copied from a racing car harness. RDA rejected her when she turned to them for assistance and then debarred her from gaining any instruction from dressage personnel to trainer her in whip aids.
To cut a long story short the Morgan Horse Association had invited a Mary Woolverton who was in charge of rehabilitation of Vietnam vets in Colorado Hospital and used her Morgans for her summer time program. Vicki’s sister contacted her and Mary said she was coming out to NZ to speak at a National RDA conference and she’d hop across to Australia and get Jenny Bird to take her to see Vicki! Small world hey?
Mary didn’t approve of the harness but I agreed to prepare a mare for her to ride at our Morgan show at which Mary was judging. I managed to beat Vicki in the ridden events only because the mare refused to canter..she was looking after her very unstable rider!!! Another local chap who had a lesser break than Vicki brought his saddle and horse down to show Vicki and Mary his rig…a sort of kitchen chair mounted on a western saddle with giant Velcros wrap around. Mary didn’t approve of that either….and for someone who admitted taping riders on, roping them to the horse, and strapping them on I was a wee bit surprised but it was all about the capacity of these set ups to inflict greater damage to the spine in the event of the horse falling…..especially Jimmy Pierce’s high backed rig.
So the next move was to take Vicki on her first endurance ride. She had only been on her old QH for minutes worth of time and really didn’t know if she could ride any length of time …let alone hours in rough going. I brow beat an endurance mate who was running a ride to permit her to ride……(some mates often wish they weren’t!) and the conditions were that she had to have vehicle access to the legs and at this ride the first leg was accessible only and to complete she had to ride leg one twice!…..which was the toughest……straight up a very long hill and down again!……twice in wet slippery conditions was a really tall order!! But she did it ….and so did the mare with the foal weaned off her a a month of conditioning……far from enough to carry a dead weight!!! it was the joy of my life to hear the crowd cheer and applaud Vicki as she wheeled up to receive her completion trophy.
Then Vicki said she need to replace her aging QH and wanted a youngster……..but it had to have a special nature which she would recognize. I thought I had one of 3 barely handled yearling’s but when she came up her husband wanted a flash type of Part bred with a very strong will and a touch of the show off. I left it to Vicki and fortunately the right horse selected her. He came straight up to inspect her chair and wasn’t disturbed by her crunching the gravel as she wheeled herself about him….he just followed, wanted to be with her. It was amazing!
She had him under saddle when she got a job with the Government in the Disability Section in Katherine. Vicki had retained and upgraded her nursing qualifications to administration. She had to be there the next week to start work and the horses were to follow. The people who were in charge of loading the old QH and the Morgan wanted to keep the QH for their children and told the trucky the old horse had a cold and shouldn’t travel so only one went.
It rained 10″ and caused those huge floods and Vicki couldn’t get to her horse. She said he fretted and died but he was more likely to have dehydrated or collicked. She emailed at Christmas saying she had a QH filly with the right temperament and wanted me to select a stallion who she could gain chilled semen from as she was ready to try again.
Such an exercise is a long project and Vicki is not getting any younger. A horse needs to be at least 4 and mature, well developed and have plenty of bone and substance to carry her dead weight…and many a disappointment can be experienced from breeding to saddling and starting. So I have selected a 2 year old Pure gelding who I believe may turn out OK for her and she is coming to the National Show next week and will see him and get a chance to assess him without knowing my intentions for him down the track.
He is 3 weeks under saddle, still very immature of body but going like a veteran so we’ll see what comes of it. His full sister is in England and all his siblings are very talented and stable horses but he has a placidness without the show off “Give me a crowd so I can make them cheer” attitude!!!
Better end this or it may not send!!!! Shall take up another page shortly to address your other comments. Jen
Feed time for the masses is over and I can think with out interruption! There are also 2 Part breds by my stallion that have been sold to Alice Springs in recent months and there is another who was sold ex of SA bred by me also….but I have lost track of him.
Cortney was in contact with the owner when she was there. Unless people remain in contact through the Morgan Messenger magazine the Association produces it is difficult to maintain contact over time especially when they are enjoying their horse in isolation from other Morgan owners. Until this year we haven’t had a ‘State Liaison Officer” whose roll it is to maintain contact and report on people’s activities in the Territory but Cortney has assumed that roll now.
I can send you a copy or two of the Morgan Messenger. If you’d like that just let Steve know it’s OK to give me your email address.
I used to do a lot of endurance riding and naturally all stock work was on horse back but things have changed with my partner’s accidents…. and old age dictates he is relegated to the 4W Ag bike. In flood times a horse is the only way but we haven’t had one of those for a few years!!!!
The horses are mainly in breeding programs but I start the odd one and sell on. They go into all manner of activities and disciplines but I have sent Steve a few items today I guess he will use some time for the news letter…..and I will forward a report on the Show with pictures. I have 4 horses entered. One has been prepared for Vicki to ride………pending her trying her out the day before.
She is a full sister to Mary and even better than Mary…but it is up to Vicki to determine if she has confidence in her. melody has been teaching a 10 year old to ride and her mother a return to the saddle after 35 years person!!! Such fun!!! and loads of laughs!!! Neither have been to a show before and the thought of doing a dressage test has had Anne (51) turning inside out! So I let her off tonight and said Vicki can ride it instead. If Vicki can’t someone else will……..the mare has never done one either but our show is about having fun and having a go. It is a very supportive atmosphere and attracts lots of people with their horses who would never attend such things! Go to http://www.morganhorse.com.au to see the Show Program 2008 and photos from last years show plus other Morgan horses.
Yes there aren’t many in Australia but I think we now have about 250 Pures and about 400 Part breds registered………many of which I have bred under the prefix of Mt Tawonga and in latter years Red Bluff. I also sold a filly during the drought and have bought her back…but the lass has started her under saddle these past 6 weeks and is exhibiting her and I’ll bring her home.
There is a 3 year old Pure filly I am taking so she can enter Get of Sire and Produce of Dam classes with other peoples horses as well as other things. I went down the paddcok before and brought her up…….the steers have chewed her tail and she has rubbed up her rear end into a scaley sore….probably a bee bite or grass seed!!! Couldn’t believe it!!! So I have a bit of work to do on her in the next day or two!!!! The other one is Justin Morning Glory one of the stallions who has just begun jumping and is showing a bit of potential.
I have organized all these to be ridden by other people as there were so many horses that couldn’t come because of the EI but they wanted to attend and have something to do…..so I will be able to sit back and enjoy it and direct traffic!!! It is my absolute delight to see all these youngsters I’ve bred performing for their owners.
Another new box is called for!!! Jen
Re NLIS I couldn’t agree more. The system is a farce, expensive, time consuming and not enduring as you say. Yes the buttons are faulty and damageable/loseable and unworkable long term. I have a vet who thought he’d use it to maintain his records on his Angus stud cattle. After a years trial he went back to branding.
We hate it……..hate the time consuming rot we have to go through and detest the manipulation of the system by the feedlots and commission buyer and yes the over all expense!
Now I have a case I must address now as we purchased 85 steers at a sale and haven’t been able to process them till a few days ago. One missing! The trucky says he delivered 85. The sale yard gents said there were 85 in the pens purchased and there are 84 in the paddock. 59 went to the feedlot yesterday and 25 head are in the paddock still. A scanning of the buttons in the paddock plus a down load of the ones taken off our PIC will establish which beast is missing from the original load of 85 registered post sale to our PIC and it can be listed with the data base as ’stolen’!!!
However, any beast that is stolen either goes in a freezer without his button or has his button replaced before he is resold! Cattle duffing is going on all the time round here….mainly ex of sale yards but we do lose the odd beast at night being on the river and campers down stream use a flash light from a boat to attract the animal to the edge….a quick shot the beast tumbles in and is floated down stream and pulled ashore and dealt with by many hands. It has been going on for years.
How did I get onto that……..Oh yes ……this is one use I can get some use out of the data base. Being on a river we have lots of cattle come across that aren’t ours……so we read the button and do a trace back and find the owner. Mostly they are milk calves people purchase from the sales and they go walk about as they aren’t weaned. We would deal with a dozen of these a year. That is one of the few value items I can apply to the system though!!!
Am in need of bed…and have a busy day ahead of leaving Thursday. I get back Monday accompanied by all the interstate visitors from everywhere who are in party mood and holidaying………..so if I don’t respond for a week you know why!!!….I won’t be capable!
I have sent Steve a few cattle related items …plus a few feral poems and a few shots of horses I’ve bred so he may elect to run with some while I’m indisposed!!!
Thank you for responding to my item on NLIS…and the Morgans. Yes they are a great breed and have many uses. They were of course one of the foundation lines behind the QH, the Tennessee Walking Horse, the Saddlebred etc and long before the QH became popular they were used on American ranches. They ran large numbers of mares and had remudas (SP??) of 200 odd geldings for the ranch hands to use.
So certain lines were essentially cow horses, but others were used as light haulage work, freight as well as cob and co type distance coach horses, on farm general work horses, family mounts and ofcourse what they are most commonly know for as harness horses because of their stylish way of going….as well as the flashy show horse scene in the States. Not my cup of tea I’m afraid but they are known as an all round horse and have a natural athletic ability, tonnes of stamina, mental stability, endurance and just love to work…….such a great work ethic!!!!
Bed for me. Jen
Hi Jenny,
The problems that the horse experienced coming from down south to Darwin is not uncommon. At the start of the wet season I have to be extra vigilant as our best QHx mare looses skin when the midges and mites attack and she scratches herself to bits. (that is the horse John is sitting on in the photo in his article).
Being chestnut doesn’t help either I find that chestnut horses have the most skin complaints. Another issue is buffalo fly they will drive the stock horses insane. Hooves need regular attention as the months of soggy wet weather quickly gives way to dry conditions and cracks appear quickly.
I use mainly Brumby, Waler, QH bloodlines and any horses bought are usually local. I imagine the trip from Alice Springs to Darwin would have been a big change for the horses as well. Particularly in the wet season coming from mainly dry weather and air to humid wet conditions.
Endurance in a horse is a big deal to me, particularly when we are mustering, while our property is small its covered in scrub and so a sure footed horse with a can-do attitude is the best thing for the job.
Has Cortney tried Flints Medicated Oil, mixed with a bit of fly spray repellent? like Permoxin or citronella oil on her horse? My gelding opened his sheath up on a picket out in the paddock, rubbing at midge bites and I sprayed him with a mix of Centrigen, Flints and Permoxin. Hes healed up in a couple of weeks and has a very slight scar. I swear by Flint Medicated Oil. You only need a bit mixed up with water in a 400ml spray bottle and spray them once or twice a day.
Regarding stolen stock and NLIS:
I have to agree that it doesn’t matter if the beast is stolen if the tag is removed!!! In our area its not uncommon to just find the bones and guts and possibly the eartag too! But what good is that to you? When you’ve still lost a beast? Plus every cow has a cleanskin calf so if a cow was stolen and the tag removed who’s to know who she belongs to if shes not branded.
From numerous road train rollovers in our nearest National Park there are a few cattle running around, I wonder what is on the data base for those cattle? “lost in wilderness” perhaps?
The system is very faulty and should have been sorted by now! Its still reasonably new in the NT and most people cant really see the point in it.
cheers
Rashida