Forbes Shire Council has received $85,000 for shading at the Central West Livestock Exchange (CWLE) sheep yards from the NSW Government Local Drought Stimulus Program. The much-needed sails have recently been installed.

“This installation is all part of the plan for the extension of the CWLE, with a further $3.4 million spent on expanding the yards to include a multi-species yards undercover early this year,” says Forbes Shire Council General Manager, Steve Loane. “This area was in need of shade given the extreme heat we experience here on sale days during summer.”

“Animal welfare is always front of mind for Council and the shade makes a considerable difference to not only the animals but the people on the ground as well. The shade sails will ensure stock is kept in a stable condition, ensuring they are fit for transport and fit for consumption,” said Steve.

Forbes Shire Council are the current holders of the ALMA Animal Welfare Award which they received in 2019, for their commitment to best practice in animal welfare at the Central West Livestock Exchange.

“The sails amongst all the other improvements taken place at the CWLE, are simply amazing,” says Forbes Shire Council Mayor, Phyllis Miller. “With over 1.4 million sheep traded annually at this site, we needed to make sure animal and human safety was a key driver. We are very grateful to the State Government for the grant funding to enable us to do this incredible work. These farmers are the backbone of our community, we need to look after them.”

The CWLE is a state of the art facility which was purpose-built for the selling of quality cattle, sheep and pigs. The facility was built in 2005 and is a key economic driver for the Forbes Shire.

The recent Be Road Ready For Harvest Virtual Field Day, held via Zoom, was a sellout. More than 90 people registered for the event with a further 20 people signing up to the waitlist.

Attendees were a mixture of farmers, contract harvesters, transport companies, agricultural machinery retailers, government agencies, council staff and relevant associations.

The event was supported by the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator, Transport for NSW, NSW Police, NSW Farmers, WFI and Parkes, Forbes and Lachlan Shire Councils.

It provided information about the current regulations for safely and legally moving agricultural vehicles and combinations on the road.

Parkes, Forbes and Lachlan Shire Councils’ Road Safety and Injury Prevention Officer, Melanie Suitor, said it was great to see strong numbers for the Virtual Field Day, especially as the region is expecting a good harvest for the first time in a number of years.

“Unfortunately due to the current COVID restrictions we weren’t able to hold our face to face event at the Central West Livestock Exchange at Forbes, but it was very pleasing to see many of the regulars join us for the online event. There were also a large number of first-time attendees from right across the Central West.”

“Safety and compliance during harvest is very important. Operators need to be aware of their responsibilities and ensure that during harvest all warning devices and travel requirements are adhered to.”

“Regulations are constantly changing and events like this are important to ensure people are up to date on what’s required before the upcoming harvest period,” Melanie said.

The Virtual Field Day was recorded and can be accessed on the Forbes Shire Council’s YouTube channel.

Residents and regular Ski Dam walkers in Forbes will have no doubt noticed the beautiful sprawling weed around the Ski Dam and around paddocks in the Shire, the beautiful purple hue reminiscent of the picturesque lavender fields of Provence, France. However, this local version must not be mistaken for such.

Echium Plantagineum, more commonly known as Paterson’s Curse, Riverina Bluebell and Purple Viper’s-Bugloss is an invasive weed which is extremely harmful to livestock. Rumoured to have been named after the Paterson family of Cumberoona, NSW who planted it in their garden in the 1880’s, only to watch in horror as it spread across pastoral and agricultural land. Paterson’s Curse’s poisoning symptoms range from loss of appetite, abdominal swelling, weight loss, diarrhea, constipation, and sleepiness, to more severe symptoms that can result in death due to liver damage.

While livestock tend to ignore Paterson’s Curse, contaminated hay bales or feed is more often to blame for the consumption of this toxic weed. In 1988 and 1994, the CSIRO released moth, root weevils, flea beetles and two more types of beetles in South Australia which is said to have significantly contributed to the decline in the abundance of the weed as both the moth and beetle species can kill the plant before it flowers. In human’s the plant can cause skin irritation so please give this smiling assassin a wide-berth if and when you might come across it.

Felix Rams focuses on producing efficient and profitable prime lambs by breeding high performance, structurally sound rams for efficient prime lamb enterprises. Their commitment to collecting good accurate performance data is in the DNA and is embedded as the fundamental approach to the way they breed sheep.

In the world of big data, 27,000 lambs weighed within 12 hours of birth, 22,000 weaning weights, almost 18,500 scans with weights for postweaning fat and muscle and 4,400 individual worm egg counts is a lot of data. This is the performance data that influences the ram selection and the accuracy of the Sheep Genetics Lambplan asbvs on the rams you buy.

Felix Rams are selected for quick early growth and maturity, not maximum adult ram size. Most of the selection is done at 6.5 to 7 months, reflecting the age most lambs are sold. At Felix it is all about the lambs. Felix Rams selects for early maturity to efficiently produce a 22-28 kg lamb. Early maturity also means your suckers have the best chance of hitting the target year in year out, while attention to the “right” amount of fat means that you will almost always have finish on your lambs at market weights.

Despite the tough start, the 2019 drop rams have transformed with the improved season. Felix Rams selection are for rams that perform on pasture and under commercial conditions. This year’s sale rams are paddock grown and finished and are not pumped up or grown out on a grain feeder.

Felix Rams will offer around 140 Poll Dorset and 50 White Suffolk rams at their 22nd annual on-property sale at Greenethorpe on 1 September at 1pm. Catalogues are available at www.felixrams.com.au. Email felixrams@gmail.com or call Rodney 0417 499 204, Isaac 0437 493 407 or the selling agents, Allan Gray and Co Cowra 02 6342 2377.

Australia’s new blueprint for humane, best practice wild dog management officially took effect from 1 July.

Agriculture, Drought and Emergency Management Minister David Littleproud praised the way government and industry stakeholders collaborated on the new National Wild Dog Action Plan.

“Wild dogs are terribly destructive pests, costing farmers conservatively upwards of $89 million a year in lost production and control costs,” David said. “They can decimate livestock, tearing down sheep and goats at will, and in doing so, can hurt rural and regional economies because of the destruction they wreak and anxiety they cause.”

Having a clear, coordinated and borderless national plan to guide farmers and other stakeholders on the best strategies and safest tools for livestock and biodiversity protection is critical for rural and regional communities as they recover from COVID-19, bushfires and drought.

David applauded the way producers, peak farming bodies, governments and research and development corporations came together to ensure control measures are evidence-based and best practice. “Wild dog management is an Australian Government priority, with over $54 million invested in wild dog management since 2014-15, including recent wild dog fencing commitments in South Australia and Western Australia,” he said.

“The National Wild Dog Action Plan has already proved an exemplar in the way we should be approaching Australian predator management.”

The National Biosecurity Committee endorsed the National Wild Dog Action Plan 2020-2030 as the national plan for the co-ordinated management of wild dogs on 11 March 2020.