MLA managing director Richard Norton
LAMB value chain support and building consumer trust will be discussed by Meat & Livestock Australia managing director Richard Norton at a north east Victorian field day next week.
Agriculture Victoria has drawn together a diverse range of expert speakers to deliver the producer-focused field day on November 16, highlighting the business benefits from using sheep and goat individual electronic identification.
Northgate Park owners Penny and Jason Trompf will host the event at Greta in the state’s north east, with Jason also presenting on the key topic; ‘turning potential into profit’.
“I am looking forward to sharing our experiences of increasing sheep flock productivity by using EID to collect data to inform management decisions on farm to improve the performance of our sheep,” Mr Trompf said.
Mr Norton will travel direct from the LIVEXchange conference in Perth to the field day, to speak on MLA Integrity Systems with a focus on supporting the lamb value chain and building consumer trust.
Agriculture Victoria’s director – sheep electronic identification, Warren Straw, will present the rationale for the introduction of sheep and goat electronic identification in Victoria. He said interest had moved on from what producers have to do, to how they can now use individual electronic identification to make genuine business improvements.
More than 480 producers received grants to co-fund the purchase of optional scanning equipment from the $17 million EID transition package. Producer grants have driven around $2.4 million worth of additional investment in the industry.
“The success of the funding program indicates there is a genuine interest in the potential productivity and flock management gains from individual animal electronic identification,” Mr Straw said.
The upcoming field day offers a great opportunity for sheep producers to hear from Agriculture Victoria’s top livestock experts, including BestWoolBestLamb Project Leader Lyndon Kubeil, Research Scientist Lamb Production Nick Linden, Sheep and Beef Senior Specialist Tim Hollier and Red Meat Value Chain Development Officer Kate McCue.
Other speakers include;
– Nuffield Scholar Hannah Marriott who will speak on increasing reproductive efficiency through linking lambs and dams
– Livestock contractor Jack Briscoe will discuss equipment options for capturing the benefits of electronic identification on-farm; and
– Pregnancy scanner Brendan Roberson speaking on using electronic identification to collect and manage pregnancy data
Victorian Farmers Federation’s Livestock Health and Biosecurity Network’s Catherine James will outline the new Livestock Production Assurance biosecurity requirements for producers.
The field day will run from 8.30am for a 9am start until 3pm. Places are limited, so please register early at https://gretafieldday.eventbrite.com.au – if you have any difficulties in registering please phone the EID Events Line on (03) 5761 1647.
Those unable to attend, but who want to know more should contact Agriculture Victoria Senior Sheep Specialist (EID) Garry Armstrong on 0472 871 674 or their local BestWoolBestLamb co-ordinator.
