Analyzing Australian Agriculture

Our trip provided us plenty of opportunities to learn about Australian Agriculture.  On our many tours, I made several important comparisons between American and Australian Agriculture.  I'll elaborate on my favorite of these comparisons.  As I mentioned in my Day 6 blog about the Trigger Vale operation, we learned a great deal about the reasoning Andrew Bouffler has for managing his farm the way he does.  Now I admittedly know very little about sheep, but I think the things he talked about would make sense to any producer.  He started off his talk telling us all the things he learned when he went on his own 4 month long study abroad trip.  As a part of the trip, he had to write a paper on what he had learned; his paper focused on how producers must focus on balance to maintain profitability.  That is to say their focus is equally distributed among growth, meat yield, fertility, and wool traits.  This is very similar to things that we learn in the classroom and on the farm in the US:  a producer must not breed for any single trait while ignoring others that may not seem as critical as that can be detrimental to profitability in the long run.

In the Day 6 blog, I gave Mr. Bouffler's example of producers breeding for so much wool in the ewes while completely neglecting mothering ability, that the benefit in wool production was overcome due to a major decrease in lambing percentage.  Since 1952, Trigger Vale has been working to establish and enhance their client's profitability.  You can check out their official objectives on their website:  Trigger Vale.  This, again, is no different from the goal of many seedstock operations in the US.

The Trigger Vale operation breeds White Suffolk and Polled Merino sheep.  This is their effort to employ another familiar concept here in America:  hybrid vigor.  While many of us are not so familiar with sheep, few have not seen a black baldie calf running around in a pasture close to home.  The Bouffler's Suffolk stock contribute high growth, while the merinos bequeath wool traits.  Together, the crossed lambs yield a healthy bottom line for the Bouffler's commercial clients.  American cattle producers get the same effect with the Hereford/Angus cross (and others):  efficiency and gentle disposition from Herefords and carcass quality and maternal traits from Angus.  While I saw many different operations in Australia, I was surprised that I could always find many similarities as well; I find it rather amusing that no matter where we are in this world, all farmers have qualities that unite them.

Boomerang Effect??

I can't believe I've been home for nearly a week!  It feels like yesterday I was packing and giddy with anticipation of my approaching trip to Australia!  Now that this great trip is over, it's time to reflect on the great opportunity this course has provided.  Starting off back in January, we had class once a week to get acquainted  with one another and with Australia in general and expose us to some of their agriculture that we would encounter.  While this was helpful, that knowledge pales in comparison to the actual experiences we had.  Firsthand, Australia was awesome!  My favorite farm visit was Webb Black Simmentals...although it was freezing outside, it was really fun to see someone with such enthusiasm for what they're doing and being successful at doing it.

As far as the cultural visits went, I wish we would have had more time to enjoy Sydney and Cairns, but our time at the Great Barrier Reef was definitely the best!  I would love to go back and see what it looks like on a really sunny day!

It feels good to be back home and in a routine, but Australia was definitely a lot of fun!  I bought a souvenir boomerang with a cute kangaroo on it in Cairns which I managed to get past security by putting it in my checked bag.  Sadly, however, on it's trial run, it got lost in some blackberry bushes at home.  This made me ponder Australia:  will it have this kind of boomerang effect on me and I'll only have my memories for this trip forever or will it have a true boomerang effect and make me return someday?  Only time will tell!

On the Road Again--Day 11

The sun we chased halfway around the globe

This was definitely the earliest morning!  Up at 3, on the bus by 3:30, and in the air at 5:30.  We flew from Cairns to Brisbane to Los Angeles to Dallas to Kansas City and drove home for a total of about 32 hours of travel!  Thankfully, Alex picked me up and me made a quick trip home that I slept through.  When I could finally fall asleep at home (the 15 hours ahead made it a little tough...), I slept for 12 hours straight and it was great!

The route our 14 hour flight took...

SCUBA: Snorkeling in Cairns--an Underwater Blast in Australia--Day 10

This was yet another rainy, cool morning, but I was excited, so I didn't care...today was the Great Barrier Reef!!  We made a quick stop for Graeme to grab the tickets and we hit the gift shop.

Dr. Schaake handed out ginger tablets to help with seasickness.  I decided I would be fine...wrong.  The first ride wasn't bad and we got to check out Green Island and take a crash course in introductory SCUBA diving, but the next boat we got on was NOT such a good experience.  I started out on the back of the upper deck, but brownies lured me downstairs and then I went to see the majority of the group sitting in the worst possible place:  bottom front.  Then we decided to rent an underwater camera and split the cost, so I ran upstairs to talk to the others and by the time I made it back, I was done for; the seasickness got me.  I took a seat, closed my eyes, and hoped the pontoon we were headed for would show up ASAP!  We finally made it and I gladly went from our boat to the slightly more stable, permanently-anchored pontoon.  We elected to go snorkeling before our dive since we didn't know how much time we would have afterwards.  It's a good thing we did!  It's hard to learn to breathe solely out of your mouth...specially when you have periodic salt water-filled gasps!  We finally got the hang of it and grabbed some lunch before heading over and getting into our wetsuits, weights, and tanks.  Then we headed down to prove to our guide we had indeed mastered breathing and we were in!  It was one of the most amazing things I've seen--to be able to get within inches of fish that I've only ever seen on tv (and Nemo!) was unreal!  We even saw a small shark!  Eventually we came back up and got rid of our heavy tanks and weights so we could snorkel some more.  I got tired and came back to relax right before we had to board the terrible boat again and head for home.  Thank goodness I quickly found a seat, planted myself in it, and slept for the remainder of the trip all the way back to Cairns!  Back on dry (and stationary!!) land, we all made a beeline for the showers in our hotel rooms to get rid of all the salt that had dried on from being in the Pacific Ocean.  Then we walked downstairs for another new experience:  Churrasco barbeque.  The waiters walked around our table and sliced meat onto our plates from giant skewers.

There was beef, pork, chicken (breast and heart), lamb (my first taste of the stuff despite all the Australians claiming to love it), and even pineapple!  I was quite surprised at how tasty it all was.  Then it was time to pack and get to bed for a couple of hours before our 3:30 am departure.

Atypical Aboriginal--Day 9

A relatively short 3 hour morning flight, we arrived in Cairns.  Located in Northern Australia, Cairns is supposed to be tropical.  According to locals, 95% of the time it is tropical and beautiful, but we managed to visit during the 5% of the time that was cold and rainy!  We headed for an aboriginal culture park called Tjapukai.

We got to watch a presentation on their theory of the origin of human life and some of their beliefs, followed by a demonstration of their dances.

Then we each got to take a turn throwing a boomerang and spear...with varying degrees of success.  We finished up our time there learning about their other weapons and listening to a didgeridoo demonstration.

As we waited outside after our tour had concluded, we saw the kid that had been showing us around leave who had, in fact, told us he did not own a pair of shoes...only when he walked out, he was wearing sneakers, baggy shorts, and a backwards baseball cap.  Needless to say, that pretty much ruined the fun and removed any confidence I had had in what he told us.

The only thing remaining on our agenda for the day was a group dinner, so we had some time to check out our hotel and some of the stores by the Esplanade (a famous street in Cairns).  Then we all met back up for dinner at "Tha Fish."  Ali and I shared a seafood platter that seemed like it had one of everything on it...prawns, bugs, yabbies, crab, scallops, oysters, fish, calamari, and more!  It was one of the funnest meals I've ever eaten, but afterwards I was definitely in need of a nice long nap.

Before

After

Saving Grace in Sydney--Day 8

After a brutally cold shower and a lukewarm breakfast, I found myself taking pictures of buildings at Charles Sturt University where students can get a degree in many medical fields including dentistry and veterinary medicine. Their vet med degrees takes 6 years. We also got a tour of some of their livestock facilities and large animal clinic.

Then we boarded the bus for a 5 hour long bus ride to Sydney. Our hotel was The Grace. It had the best beds we've slept on since leaving the states, but sadly, no free wi-fi. We had a couple of free hours this afternoon to explore and find some souvenirs. Then we met up again and headed to an awesome dinner cruise where we could go out at any time on the deck and enjoy the beautiful sights of Sydney. 

The Sydney Courthouse all lit up

Afterwards, I explored the Vivid exhibit that was going on around the city with crazy, moving designs projected onto many of the famous buildings.  There was this crazy one with a lady doing yoga that kept playing on the Opera House, so instead of iconic pictures of it, I have a bunch with a random lady doing the splits.

See her on the Opera House??

This is how it should look!

Here's the Beef!--Day 7

Our busy day today started off with a tour of the Wagga Wagga Livestock Marketing Center. We got to go in and actually watch a sale which was similar to ours with some big differences including the smaller group sizes in the sale, the set-up of the sale ring, and the style of auctioneer jargon. The sale ring had 2 entrances and exits and was itself divided into 2 sections so that what was being sold was always on the audience's left and then you could sort of preview what would be sold next on your right. This all kept the sale running smooth and quickly.  The auctioneer was totally different from what I've experienced. He wasn't talking fast like in the US, he just constantly yelled and every once in awhile, I'd understand a number or two, but I have no idea what else he was saying.

We had a quick ride to the Cargill Beef Abattoir next. They slaughter about 1250 head of cattle each day: about 50:50 grass:grain fed. Kill to chill time here is only 28 minutes. After lunch and a little free time, we continued our Cargill experience at the Jindalee Feedlot they co-own with Tey's. There are 15,000 head of cattle there with about 1,000 coming in and going out each week, each fed for 100 days a diet of mostly steam-flaked wheat. It was interesting to hear that they do use HGP which as that is very much the opposite we've been hearing for the rest of the trip.

Sorry this is all I got...they asked us to not take pictures of the feedlot

Then it was back to Wagga for dinner and a night of skyping on the free wi-fi and lots of sleep!

Little Bo Peep's Sheep (and Emus and Shorthorns) Wagga-ing Their Tails Behind Them--Day 6

Another cold morning in Australia found us drinking hot tea and shivering while we watched a presentation at Trigger Vale White Suffolk and Bond Merino Studs.

Andrew Bouffler shared with us the knowledge he gained while on his own study abroad trip years ago. He talked about the difference between performance and fitness and how breeding strictly for performance can kill fitness which kills profitability, thereby defeating the purpose of breeding for performance. I found it all quite interesting.  His daughter Ruby was running around with a baby lamb, Tom, trailing closely, but I agree with Graeme that a more appropriate name would have been Little Bo Peep.

 We reboarded the bus and drove through some desolate country to our next stop:  an emu farm in a town called The Rock in reference to a large mountain in the distance. The emus were quite entertaining. We learned that they have a mating season and the females are very territorial, so it was quite comical to watch them shoo each other away. Some were daring enough to fight for their spot, which is like nothing I've ever seen a bird do before.

We learned that when an emu is harvested, the best product is the 10 kilograms of oil which sells for $50/kilogram, making their herd of 200 worth $100,000 in oil alone, not including the other products:  meat, leather, feathers,  and eggs. Our hosts, Ian and Marilyn Marston, cooked lunch for us, which sadly was not emu, but grass-fed beef. Our final stop of the day was Spry's Shorthorn Stud. Gerald Spry took us around the small pens near the barn to show us some young bulls and a few cows. I was surprised to learn that one of the bulls we saw was valued at $46,000!

Then we got to get in out of the cold in the shed where he described his breeding program and another guy described the feedlot he manages that finishes Wagyu and Wagyu-cross cattle. We capped off this long day with a supper of grain-fed beef steaks that tasted like home.

Seymour Cows--Day 5

First unofficial stop of the day:  McDonald's! First real stop of the day: Lawson Angus! This seedstock operation sells over 800 bulls every year.

Despite the rain and cold, Harry Lawson was kind enough to show us some nice young bulls and tell us about their multiple farms. It was also neat to hear about Harry's thoughts of their partnership with the Gardiner Angus Ranch; especially since we are accompanied by Grant Gardiner on this trip.

 After a quick stop at a coffee and wine shop, we made our way to Lima Park, driving past some beautiful scenery while snapping lots of pictures.

Lunch along the way was more of the same: fish and chips or chicken schnitzel (for the third time!). When we got to Lima, Hamish McMillan informed us about his operation of over 500 commercial Hereford cattle (he claims the ideal size of cow for him is 750-830 kilograms or 1600-1800 pounds) and 3000 sheep.

He talked about his experiences with NLIS (which were somewhat different than those we heard from the government's NLIS representative we heard from earlier this week) and their requirements for exporting to the European Union. Then we finished off our day with my favorite meal so far: creamy sweet chili linguini with prawns (shrimp).

More Acronyms and Adult Beverages--Day 4

I decided to start the morning off on an adventurous note with some Vegemite on toast.  We'd heard about it yesterday at CUB as a concentrated yeast byproduct from the brewing process. In fact, our tour guide highly recommended it, so how bad could it be? There are no words to describe the awful disgusting taste.  It's hard to imagine something that looks like smooth chocolate could taste so bad.  All I can say is that I would NEVER recommend it. Instead, I settled on some more blueberry muffins...much tastier!

Then we said a rainy goodbye to the Travelodge Southbank and headed to the JBS Abattoir. We donned white coats, rubber boots, earplugs, and some nice hairnets and headed in to the kill floor. We continued from there through the entire process right up to packaging of seasoned fresh meats that would be on shelves available to consumers the very next day--a very interesting sight, even if it was hard to hear anything our guide said to us through our earplugs and the noise from all the activity happening at once.

 The second visit of the day was to Webb Black Simmentals. Phillip Webb and Lynton Harrison greeted us with much gusto that spilled over the rest of our time there. Although it was still cold and rainy, we made a short visit to their barn to see some cattle and the ring where they hold an annual sale every March.

Then we hurried to the office where we warmed up with beer, chips, dip, and cookies. They entertained us with information about their stud, peppered with lots of stories and quips.

NLIS and CUB for LAG--Day 3

Thankfully, we got to sleep in this morning and I didn't feel too behind anymore. Our first visit today took us to see the Department of Primary Industries for a lesson in Australia's National Livestock Identification System. Nationally government mandated in 2002, this system requires cattle receive an electronic transponder tag to be placed in the right ear of all cattle before they leave the property they were born on and then all movement recorded via scans at each transfer of ownership, resulting in over 100,000 movement records per day in the country; 99.5% of which are processed electronically within 24 hours of scanning.

Tag options for cattle identification; white is original, orange is for cattle that lose the original

Another option is an internal transponder, although it is rarely used

This program helps them maintain traceability to aid in exotic disease control, residue in meat, endemic disease, and ensures market access since over 60% of the beef produced in the country is exported.












By the time cattle make it to scanning at the abattoir, the system will be able to identify if it has any risk of exposure to numerous diseases and each animal's carcass can then be individually tested for any given issue. 







After some short cultural visits around Melbourne including the Shrine of Remembrance, St. Patrick's Cathedral, and Captain Cooke's cottage, we headed to the Carlton United Brewery. This brewery bottles up over 2 million liters of several popular Australian beers every day including Carlton Draught and Foster's.  After our tour of fermenting tanks and bottling facilities, we got to sample a few of our choice. My favorite was a pear cider called Bulmer's. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed this afternoon visit. And then it was supper and off to bed for an early morning!

Koalas, Echidnas, and Kangaroos...Oh My!--Day 2

We started off the day pretty tired today...sleeping on a plane is not a good way to ready yourself for a big trip. Our first stop was nice and familiar--McDonald's! 

Our guide, Graeme, told us that gas prices in Australia are based on liters, so the $1.43 that I saw works out to almost $6/gallon! I'll have to remember that next time I want to complain about filling up at $3.50+/gallon. 

After that, we were off to Healesville Wildlife Sanctuary. We were up close and personal with koalas, echidnas, kangaroos, Tasmanian devils, and more.  

I even got to hold a beautiful (and somewhat feisty) green parrot on my arm! 

Then we made it to our hotel for a much needed shower and teeth brushing. Last came supper: a fancy 3-course meal.  Too bad most of us were too tired to really enjoy it.  But after that was over, we finally got to hit our hotel beds and crash to prepare for Day 3!

And We're Off--Day 1

After a short night, I got up early to hurry and get ready to leave...today was finally the day--we would be heading to Australia! I was maybe a little too excited and we got to the airport waaay too early, so Dad and I took a quick detour to a couple of car dealerships before we actually drove in and parked. Thankfully, we found some other K-Staters quickly and chatted while we waited on everyone to arrive. Our trip started off with a nice long wait in line to get our bags checked...at that time, I didn't realize how long of a day I was really in for...we had flights from KC to Dallas to LA and then finally to Melbourne, AUSTRALIA...after 28 straight hours of travel!!

Australia is Fast-Approaching!

I can't believe how fast this semester has flown by...it seems like only a few class meetings ago, were were all just beginning to get to know each other at La Fiesta.  We have actually met 14 times already...our 15th class meeting will be tomorrow at Cox Brothers BBQ and then, the next time we see each other as a group will be in Kansas City getting ready to leave for AUSTRALIA!  We've learned alot about our upcoming destination from these class meetings.  Some of my favorite facts include the following:


Australia is comprised of 6 states and 2 major territories with varied climates from vast desert to rainforest to fertile croplands.  Their school year runs from the end of January to the end of December with 3 two week breaks throughout the year.  We've gotten just a taste of some of the Australian slang.  You can read some of it for yourself here:  http://www.koalanet.com.au/australian-slang.html

Since the trip is centered around agriculture, we have also learned about Australian cattle, sheep, and other ag enterprises.  Approximately 1/4 of Australia's nearly 28 million cattle are Angus.  Simmental cattle and their crosses (Simbeef) and growing in demand due to their early growth, high marbling, and adaptability to all of Australia's climate zones.  Australia exports 62% of the beef it produces with very strict animal welfare outcomes for the receiving countries.  The main kinds of sheep in Australia are the Merino (known for its high quality wool) and the Suffolk.  There are some familiar business names in Australia such as Cargill and JBS who is Australia's largest feedlot operator.  


A couple of our agricultural visits that I am especially excited about are Lawson Angus--the largest seedstock operation in Australia selling over 800 bulls every year-- and the emu farm in The Rock.  Normally, I would say that raising emus is a rather exotic endeavor, but emu are native to Australia and there are many products derived from emus.  Obviously, they are used for their extremely lean meat, but they also yield oil, leather, and feathers.  


Outside of agriculture, I am most excited for our visit to the Great Barrier Reef!  The beautiful reef itself is estimated to be 500 million years old, but it was only discovered in 1770.  It is 1800 miles long and visible from space!  The gigantic chain of reefs provides over 63,000 jobs in Australian tourism and brings in a projected $6 billion to their economy.  

As fast as this semester has gone by, I'm sure the next 3 weeks will fly and before we know it, we'll be experiencing all the fun of Australia!  I'm ready for some beautiful views like the ones above and those in this video from Tourism Australia:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHzpQOVzqX0&feature=relmfu
(Just try and get that song out of your head! ;)


Pictures:
http://www.wildcarnivore.com/images/australian%20desert.jpg
http://www.thegreenpages.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/blakers-rob-rapid-river-in-rainforest-tarkine-tasmania-australia.jpg?39a4ff
http://foodsafety.suencs.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/Wheat-Field.jpg
http://www.hichinese.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/great-barrier-reef.jpg

Canberra and Australian Capital Territory

While Canberra and the Australian Capital Territory may be seen as the political center of the country, it offers much more—something for every tourist. Built according to a contest-winning design by Walter Burley Griffin (an American architect), Canberra is within New South Wales, 185 miles south of ever-popular Sydney. The city is set up in a triangle (dubbed Parliamentary Triangle) surrounded by the city’s four hills all centered around Lake Burley Griffin.

At the tip of the triangle is Australia’s Capital Hill with its Parliament House, the center of the country’s democracy. Two main paths come out of this central point: Commonwealth Avenue and Kings Avenue, which complete the base of the triangle through Parkes Way. Off Parkes Way runs Anzac Parade in line with Capital Hill towards the Australian War Memorial built in honor of Australians who died serving their country. Strewn throughout the city around these political landmarks, there are outdoor sculpture gardens, memorials, museums, and other interesting sights. One such important sight is the National Gallery of Australia. Owing to a unique history, Australia has a diverse culture and society. The National Gallery has been demonstrating this since 1982 through its assorted collections of art. The works range from ancient, indigenous Aboriginal artists to more famous modern artists including Jackson Pollock, Auguste Rodin, Claude Monet, and Andy Warhol. You can also tour the Royal Australian Mint where all of the 11 billion coins in circulation were produced. Tourists can view coins as they come off the press—over two million per day!

If living things suit your tastes better, Australia offers the Australian National Botanic Gardens, with over 90,000 plants, or the National Zoo and Aquarium, where they have organized the “Meet a Cheetah” and ZooVenture programs, where you can enter the animal enclosures for a more hands-on experience. If that is still too tame for you, the bushland that comprises 70% of the Australian Capital Territory is a must-see. You can drive right by native animals (kangaroos, emus, platypuses, and koalas) in the wild at the Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve; swim, fish, or canoe in the Murrumbidgee River; or explore Aboriginal rock art and beautiful bushland views in Namadgi National Park.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/39/Griffins_triangle.jpg/640px-Griffins_triangle.jpg http://0.tqn.com/d/coins/1/0/u/1/-/-/Australia_money_coins.jpg http://i.ytimg.com/vi/MvdVomyrwfE/0.jpg Kindersley, Dorling. Eyewitness Travel Australia. New York: DK Publishing, 2010.