June 19, 2019
Beef production was the focus of the South Burnett Community Agriculture Network’s latest quarterly meeting, held in Kingaroy last week.
Guest speaker was Tim Emery from Tropical Beef Technology Services (TBTS).
TBTS is an extension service which aims to maximise the understanding and use of genetic technologies in the northern Australian beef industry. It’s a joint initiative of Meat and Livestock Australia, the Agricultural Business Research Institute and various breed societies.
Tim’s talk focussed on the “economics of genetics”, ie. helping beef producers to learn how to make objective decisions on their farms, what tools were available to help them and understanding EBVs (Estimated Breeding Values).
He said trial work had been completed at a demonstration site near Bell in 2011-12 which demonstrated the importance of recording to identify the good performers in a herd.
There was also a free tool which had been developed with the aim to take the guesswork out of buying bulls.
The South Burnett Community Agriculture Network is facilitated by BIEDO.
The purpose of the group is to provide a regular opportunity for producers and growers from various sectors of South Burnett agriculture to connect and share information and insights about their operations.
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South Burnett Deputy Mayor Kathy Duff and Mayor Keith Campbell also spoke briefly at the meeting, which was held in the Kingaroy Town Hall Supper Room on Thursday.
Cr Duff invited producers to enter into a management plan with Council if they had Giant Rats Tail Grass on their properties.
Council also had a scheme operating in the Durong area, ie. west of the Boyne River, targeting African Love Grass.
Mayor Campbell was quizzed on road repairs and foreshadowed rate rises in the upcoming Council Budget.
He said he was happy to sit down with land owners to go through details about individual holdings.
He also acknowledged that some rural roads had not yet been graded.
“I know there are roads which still haven’t been done but the program is quite specific. Every road will be graded in a 12-month cycle,” he said.
Mayor Campbell said some of the local roads which had been graded were now the best they had been in years.
“There are some very happy rural people around,” he said.
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There were some other important agricultural events happening in Kingaroy on the same day as the BIEDO network get-together.
Northern AgriServices held an Information Field Day beside their store in Youngman Street which featured multiple stalls.
And representatives from the CRT group held the first day of a two-day Broadacre Agronomy update at the South Burnett Enterprise Centre.
This mini-conference featured a range of talks from guest speakers, examining everything from managing Feathertop Rhodes Grass to the mental health of farmers.
On Friday, the CRT delegates toured Bega’s PCA processing plant before returning to the Enterprise Centre for more talks.
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