PRODUCERS from right across the eastern seaboard are revelling in a season that has been described as the best ever by many.
This could be argued, but many of the producers making this comment are well into their later years, and have been farming for most of their lives.
Beef producers have seen some exceptionally good weight gains in their cattle, especially since the onset of a very healthy spring.
The steers at the Lardner Park steer trials are a mixture of breeds, mostly crossbreeds, that producers enter into the trials, in order to assess how their breeding program can be measured against other farms.
The 2016 trials commenced on June 26, and the final weigh in was November 30. Top of the weight gain was Chris and Leonie Daley, The Bend South Devons, Mirboo North, with their steers averaging 1.72kg per day weight gain, which is just off grass.
While the figures vary over the full complement of steers entered in the trials, they give a very good indication of results off farms in general.
However, the excellent season has embellished all forms farming. I attended the first of the annual Thorpdale lamb sales, last Friday, and most of the 6400 plus lambs weighed from 22 to over 30 kilograms carcass weight.
From the bottom of Tasmania, to the tip of Queensland, including South Australia, grass growth is excellent. However, the benefit this year is the quality of grass too. We have just got our hay in the shed, and the clover content is much better than usual.
However, it is not just beef cattle that are benefiting with milk production improving each day, and the quality of sheep and lambs is much better overall districts.
While some crops have been damaged, or destroyed in the extremes of weather, generally tonnages, or bags per hectare, whichever way you want to measure it, is well above average.
The benefits of the grain production is cheaper prices for feed grain, better volumes, and bigger crops of cereal hay. Most important for crop growers is the opportunity to recoup some of their debt, created over the past few years by drought.
As I live in Gippsland, but normally travel more broadly, the return to heavy volumes of silage and hay is astounding, and will give plenty of alternative feed for summer or winter, when it may be more scarce.
Old habits die hard, as the saying goes, and I couldn’t help myself last Friday, at the Thorpdale lamb sale, I had to handle a few of the lambs to see how well they have done. There were plenty of 3 and 4 score lambs in the yarding.
One of the major comments from physical cattle sales is the fat cover of heifers. Female cattle normally lay down fat quicker than males, and with so much strength and goodness in the grass this season, producers will have to keep an eye on this.
I have been continually asked of late, “when should i sell my steers”? My age old answer to this is, when they are ready. However, some cattle are piling on the weight, so make sure your cattle don’t get out of speck.
Last, but not least, the very good season is having a big effect on weed growth too. Keep an eye on the spraying of weeds.
Manage these, and excess grass growth too, as the fire season is upon us, and managing grass is equally important as managing livestock.
