Skip the dip · gets around dipping. A sensitive new laboratory test that can diagnose lice infestations at shearing will be available for wool producers from July. Researchers who

●●

●●

THEY'VE cracked it, after many years– a reliable new sheep lice test thatgets around dipping.

A sensitive new laboratory test thatcan diagnose lice infestations at

shearing will be available for woolproducers from July.

Researchers who developed thetest believe it will be highlyeconomical and give producersconfidence not to dip or backlineas a precaution.The test could be used as part

of management strategy toeradicate lice from propertiesand/or reduce chemical usage and

hence residues in wool.The test uses washings from the

cleaning of shearers’ combs andcutters.The washings detect protein fromchopped up lice, trapped in grease

accumulated on the combs and

cutters as lousy sheep areshorn.

The laboratory test is theculmination of many years’financial investment and co-operative research betweenNSW DPI, Australian WoolInnovation and CSIROLivestock Industries.

To be run at ElizabethMacarthur Agricultural Institute(EMAI), Camden, the test isbased on “ELISA” technology.

The EMAI team says the testcan pay for itself many times overif producers choose not to dip, orback-line sheep that previouslywould have been treated “just in casethey had lice”.

The test uses samplessubmitted by or on behalf ofproducers.

■ Continued p2

Skip the dip

Photo: Ron Aggs

TL1630133

2 AGRICULTURE TODAY | Thursday, May 28, 2009● ● ● ●

Skip dip with lice shearing test■ From p1

“Proper sample collection isabsolutely essential and unless donecorrectly will invalidate the testresults,” the technical officer whodeveloped the test, Paul Young, said.

The kit’s information sheet pro-vides detailed instructions for correctsample collection.

Because of the sensitivity of the test itstipulates all the combs and cutters

must be scrupulously clean before use.A “one sample” kit may be used to

collect a single sample from theshearing of a mob of up to 250 sheep.

If a mob contains more than 250sheep, more than one sample shouldbe collected.

Any number of sample bottles canbe provided on request.

To ensure detection of low-levelinfestations of lice, all combs and

cutters used to shear the mob ofinterest must be washed using thematerials provided.

The EMAI team advises producersnot to be tempted to sample onlysome of the mob.

“Sometimes only a few sheep in amob may be infested,” EMAI techni-cal officer, Narelle Sales, said.

Unless all the comb and cutter wash-ings from the shearing of all of the

sheep are included, the samples sub-mitted to the laboratory may not con-tain any lice protein and the test resultwould be incorrectly interpreted.

By way of example, NSW DPI bio-metrician Dr Idris Barchia advisedthat a mob of 500 sheep of whichonly five (one per cent) were lousy,would require collection of samplesfrom the shearing of at least 359 ofthose sheep to be 99pc sure the test

would give a positive result.■ Contact Paul Young or NarelleSales, Camden, (02) 4640 6433, forfurther information or to request a kit.

How the lice test developedEARLY in the developmentof the new lice detectiontest, NSW DPI technicalofficer, Paul Young, workedwith Dr Wojtek Michalskifrom CSIRO who producedthe monoclonal antibodiesthat bind with the louseprotein.

Mr Young subsequentlyimproved the sensitivity ofthe test by using minutemagnetic polystyrenebeads (top left) instead ofconventional ELISA platesand by using a liquid washsample (bottom left) insteadof bits of solid grease

scraped from the combsand cutters.

“These improvements,combined with the use ofother immuno-chemicalreagents produced at EMAI,and a colour changereagent, form theframework of a very reliableand sensitive test,” MrYoung said.

A positive sample turnsblue (top right).

More recently Mr Youngand fellow technical officer Narelle Sales havere-worked the testprocedures including the

preparation of samples foruse in the test (bottomright).

The test is complex andtime-consuming butaccording to Ms Sales,careful processing of thesolution containing thematerial washed from thecombs and cutters is avitally important step tosuccess.

Front page: Mr Young andMs Sales are pictured onthe cover attaching comband cutter wash samplescontaining magnetic beadsto a rotator for testing.

THE world’s honey bees aredisappearing and we don’treally know why.

One third of global foodproduction, and possibly two-thirds of major crops, depend onpollination by animals, mainlyhoney bees.

Bee Colony Collapse Disorder(CCD) is very worrying foragriculture.

Without bees as crop pollinators,food production could plummet.

Recently published research bySpanish scientists blames CCDon the parasite Nosema ceranae,not easily treated, which is notgood news for bees. Visitwww.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090414084627.htm to readwhat they think.

But the parasite is only one ofseveral factors thought tocontribute to bee CCD.

Other possible causes mootedinclude pesticides and fungicides,pollen from genetically modifiedcrops, poor nutrition due to lowplant biodiversity, otherpathogens including paralysisvirus, parasitic mites, andchanging climate.

The growing consensus,according to a recent review inScientific American, is that allthese factors are relevant.

The magazine’s web page atwww.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=saving-the-honeybeesays poor nutrition and exposureto pesticides can weakencolonies and make themsusceptible to infection.

One of the simplest thingsfarmers can do to improve beenutrition is increase the variety ofplants growing on their land,particularly when planningrevegetation.

Avoid monocultures, grow arange of crops, use croprotations, have diverse pastures, be tolerant of someflowering weeds, incorporatetrees and shrubs withinpaddocks, and ensure there areplants flowering all year round.

Minimising use of pesticidesand fungicides will also benefitbees.

In England, the Wildcarescheme is helping farmers makelife easier for honeybees.

Wildcare farmers provide foodand nesting areas for the bees,sow flower-rich habitat and onlycut hedgerows every two to threeyears instead of annually.

Farmers who planted strips ofperennial wildflowers along theirhedgerows noticed a massiveincrease in the number ofbumblebees in the summer. Visitwww.wildcare.co.uk/newsarticle.asp?ref=17

UK food manufacturer Jordansis funding a program called theBig Buzz to involve farmers andconsumers in encouraging beepopulations.

Farmers in their Nature FriendlyFarmers program dedicate 10 percent of their land to wildlife,planting hedgerows and trees,building ponds and sowing acresof wild flowers and clover. Seewww.jordansbigbuzz.co.uk/jordans-bees/nature-friendly-farming

In the US, the Xerces Society forInvertebrate Conservation has

produced a useful booklet Farming for Bees: Guidelines forProviding Native Bee Habitat onFarms.

It includes advice on simplechanges farm managers canmake to benefit native bees, aswell as information on how toenhance or provide importanthabitat features, such as nestsites and forage.

While it focuses on US speciesand conditions, much of theinformation can be adapted forAustralian conditions. More atwww.xerces.org/guidelines-farming-for-bees/#

As well as the valuableEuropean honey bee industry,Australia has an estimated 1500species of native bees, and theseare worth preserving.

You can directly navigate to allthe websites just mentioned viathe online version of this columnat www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/aboutus/news/agriculture-today/june-2009/struggling-bees

Struggling bees need our help

Kits containing all the materials neededare available now.Depending on demand for the service,the kits may be made available fromselected NSW DPI and Livestock Healthand Pest Authority offices and fromselected wool brokers.■ Contact the EMAI laboratory, (02) 4640 6433.

Sampling Kits AvailableSampling Kits Available

Tocal receives $5.5m TOCAL College, now the umbrella for twocampuses at Paterson and Yanco, willreceive $5.5 million through theEducation Infrastructure Fund from theFederal Budget.

The funding will allow refurbishmentand construction work to start at bothcampuses to improve existing facilities.

The improvements include expandedaccommodation for short stay schoolgroups, conversion of older buildings tobecome a Field Training Centre andkitchen upgrades.

The budget boost will help ensure Tocalcan provide a range of short courses aswell as its full time tertiary educationprogram.

The college is NSW DPI’s State-widespecialist registered training organisation.

It also provides meeting and trainingfacilities for a range of industry andcommunity groups, which benefits theirlocal communities of Paterson, nearMaitland, and Yanco in the State’s Riverina.

“This is great news – education is animportant part of the Department ofPrimary Industries’ services to ruralindustries and it is essential we providethe next generation of farmers with thebest education possible,” PrimaryIndustries Minister, Ian Macdonald, said.

Making NewsMaking News

Nosema Ceranae common in theeastern States; biosecurity threatfrom Asian bees and varroa mitesin the Solomon Islands, p8.

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TL1702376

AGRICULTURE TODAY | Thursday, May 28, 2009 3● ● ● ●

LANDHOLDERS will be offered$13 million dollars in incentivesplus a range of services in a

series of major projects to restore thehealth of the Hawkesbury Nepeanriver system, now under extremestress.

Two of the new projects, worth$28m will aim to reduce up to 38,800kilograms of nitrogen and 7200kg ofphosphorus from entering the riversand save up to 5.9 gigalitres of watereach year.

In recognition of the vital role ofagricultural industries as providersof fresh local produce and manythousands of jobs to the greaterSydney region, the Federal Gov-ernment has developed theHawkesbury Nepean River RecoveryProgram, on which a total of $77mwill be spent.

The program also recognises theimportance of the broader health ofthe iconic river system and sur-rounding catchment, which providesenvironmental, social and economicbenefits – drinking water, manyrecreational opportunities, seafood,tourist attractions and mineralresources to the nation’s largesturban population and beyond.

Through the Water Smart Australiafund, the Federal Government willfund NSW Department of PrimaryIndustries (DPI) to deliver two partsof the new program – the NutrientSmart Farm and the Water SmartFarm projects.

For these two projects, the FederalGovernment will contribute $25m.The NSW Government will put in$3m through the NSW ClimateChange Fund.

“Many factors have contributed tothe current state of the river andarguably the most significant arereduced river flows and elevated lev-

els of nutrients,” DPI’s naturalresource projects senior manager,Brett Upjohn, said.

“The results are excess growth ofaquatic weeds, algal blooms andslimes, reduced habitat for fish andaquatic fauna, and reduced ability ofthe system to deal with other stresses.

“All severely affect industries thatrely on the river to survive.”

Various sources deliver these nutri-ents to and withdraw water from theriver – sewage treatment plants, urbanstormwater runoff, extractive indus-tries, erosion and sedimentation,industrial processes and agriculture.

The Nutrient Smart Farm pro-ject will reduce the amount of nit-rogen and phosphorous leaving

farms and polluting the river system.“This project aims to reduce expen-

sive nutrients being wasted and leav-ing farms before they have had achance to be effective,” Mr Upjohnsaid.

“Training activities for landholdersand grants for farm based projectsaimed at improving nutrient use willbe the key here.

“The project will result inimproved water quality for the envi-ronment and the community.”

The Water Smart Farms project willincrease the efficiency of irrigationwater use, contributing to substantialsavings for irrigators, and reduce thequantity of irrigation water taken fromthe Hawkesbury and Nepean rivers.

The project offers incentives forirrigators to update their equipment,including “retro fitting” – allowingfor the latest technology plus man-agement based efficiencies and oper-ating costs reductions.

The Water Smart Farms project willalso set up a satellite and SMS mobilephone based irrigation schedulingprogram for irrigators to set irriga-tion timing and frequency (see storybelow).

NSW DPI will work with theHawkesbury Nepean CatchmentAuthority to roll out the incentivespackages.

Mr Upjohn said project staff with arange of languages and experienceworking with the diverse communi-

ties engaged in horticulture and agri-culture in the Hawkesbury Nepeanbasin had been engaged.

The Richmond office of NSW DPIwill be the first point of contact forlandholders wishing to work with theproject.

Importantly, the projects will notonly provide water savings andnutrient reductions, they will alsooffer farmers the opportunity toimprove their productivity.

The Hawkesbury Nepean systemflows from its headwaters nearGoulburn to the ocean at BrokenBay, the northern coastal extremityof Sydney.■ Contact NSW DPI Richmond,(02) 4588 2100.

Hawkesbury Nepean$77m river recovery

A SATELLITE driven phone SMS irri-gation scheduling service will be one ofthe options offered to landholders in amajor Hawkesbury Nepean Catchmentrecovery project.

Through the Water Smart Farmsproject, irrigators will be able to deter-mine precisely how much water theirown crop has used and how long theyneed to run their pump or irrigationsystem each day.

“Modern remote sensing technologyis allowing scientists to measure, in realtime, crop canopy radiation intercep-tion and other crop factors that can beused to determine irrigation require-ments,” NSW Department of PrimaryIndustries’ project officer at Rich-mond, Ho Dang, said.

Satellite images are used to determinecrop water requirements for individualfarms.

The images will be collected acrossthe catchment every 14 to 20 days, ormore frequently depending on theneeds of growers.

From these images plant canopy sizecan be determined, which can then beused to derive a specific water require-ment for a crop.

This information is then combined

with data from on-ground weather sta-tions, to determine optimum cropwater use.

The project will use four strategical-ly-placed weather stations, located onlocal farms, including DPI’s demon-stration vegetable farm at Richmond.

Daily customised irrigation schedul-ing information is then sent to the irri-gator’s mobile phone as an SMS mes-sage.

The message will send suggestedpump or irrigation run time based onthe farmer’s individual irrigation sys-tem performance.

The service also allows irrigators tobenchmark their water use, in realtime, against other irrigators on theservice.

Using a web page, irrigators can seehow much water they have applied andcompare their water use against otherirrigators’ at any time through the sea-son.

Ho Dang said water saving throughprecision irrigation would become oneimportant determinant of farmingbusiness capacity to survive in a highlycompetitive market.

“The right amount of water deliveredto the crop at the right time is most

critical, not only to save water andimprove yield but also for the best useof other inputs such as chemicals andfertilisers to enhance crop quality,” hesaid.

NSW Department of PrimaryIndustries, in partnership with CSIROand the Co-operative Research Centrefor Irrigation Futures (CRC IF), isimplementing the service.■ Contact Ho Dang or Bill Yiasoumi,Richmond, (02) 4588 2100.

Daily text messageadvises water use

LEFT: Automaticweather stations willreceive satellite imagesto help determineindividual crop plantcanopy sizes. Then dailyphone SMS messageswill recommend specificirrigation requirementsto farmers.

Landholders will be offered■ Soil tests, to assist in determining appropriate

fertiliser regimes■ Workshops, including WaterWise and soil health

workshops covering best practice nutrient andwater management

■ An SMS service to advise appropriate irrigationschedules

■ A share of about $13 million in incentive funds,to assist in implementing best practice nutrientmanagement and water managementtechnologies

■ Field days and opportunities to visit a bestpractice demonstration farm, as well as otherfarms where project initiatives are providinggains

Where $13m funding will goNSW DPI and Hawkesbury Nepean CatchmentAuthority will together roll out:■ Sprinkler retrofits and upgrades■ Irrigation system conversions■ Water harvesting systems■ Water recycling systems■ Alternatives to traditional fertiliser regimes, such

as applying compost■ Increasing perimeter vegetation■ Stock exclusion fencing from waterways■ Increasing groundcover to reduce erosion■ Dairy laneway, wash down and effluent

management improvements

Incentives and ServicesIncentives and Services

LEFT: NSW DPI district horticulturist atRichmond, Leigh James, discusses howthe funding incentives could help ValMicallef’s family. The Micallefs grow arange of vegetables at “Allandale” onthe riverfront at North Richmond.

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RESEARCHERS at NSWDPI’s Orange AgriculturalInstitute have received

some well-deserved recognitionfor their work in a ground-breaking Sheep CRC project.

Researchers including CherylPope, Steve Semple and KevinAtkins received an award at theannual CRC Association’s annualExcellence in Innovation awardsevent in Canberra this week.

The Sheep CRC, headed byJames Rowe, received the award for its developments in

Precision Sheep Management.The award winning work, largely

carried out by the OAI team,offers a revolutionary approachto sheep management and hasbeen hailed as a nationallysignificant innovation in the fieldof science and technology.

DPI researchers haveestablished a Precision SheepManagement package of toolsfor graziers to help move themanagement of their sheep froma mob basis to an individualanimal basis.

With affordable and robusttechnology now commerciallyavailable, it is possible for sheepproducers to monitor andmanage each animal in the mobaccording to its needs andmerits, as well as the farmer’sand the market’s needs.

Professor Rowe said PrecisionSheep Management extractsvalue from the significantvariability among all sheepflocks, even within very uniform,well-bred, long-term closedflocks.

The Sheep CRC research team,led by Dr Kevin Atkins of NSWDPI in Orange, identified thatvariation within the QPlu$ Merinoflock from Trangie (as anexample) is such that the woolvalue per sheep ranges from over$82 for the top 25 per cent of theflock to below $40 for the bottom25pc.

The situation for meat value issimilar – ranging from $50 perhead for the top 25pc to below$15 for the bottom 25pc.

More information is available atwww.sheepcrc.org.au

This is a great effort –congratulations to the wholeSheep CRC team.

Greenhouse top jobPROFESSOR Annette Cowie hasbeen appointed as the inauguralfull-time director of the newNational Centre for RuralGreenhouse Gas Research(NCRGGR) at Armidale.

The centre is a partnershipbetween NSW DPI and theUniversity of New England (UNE).

Her appointment coincides withthe launch of the centre’s next $7million phase of expansion andconsolidation.

Professor Cowie will spearheadthe cutting edge greenhouse gasresearch being undertaken at thenational centre.

Professor Cowie is an

international expert ingreenhouse gas systems whohas explored in-depth theopportunities for rural industries from emissionstrading.

Her background as a seniorresearch scientist with NSW DPIalong with her strong leadershipskills stand her in good stead forthe new role.

The foresight of the NSWGovernment in creating analliance with UNE is alreadybearing fruit with $7,379,000 ofexternally funded projectsscheduled during the next threeyears.

Professor Cowie will take a“whole system” approach tointegrating the mitigation ofemissions with production in therural landscape.

Sheep technology awarded

WELL known oils researcher, DrRod Mailer, has won the 2009Farrer Memorial Medal.

The award recognises Dr Mailer’soutstanding contribu-tion to edible oilsresearch in Australia, inparticular his work oncanola and olive oil.

Internationally recog-nised for his work onvariety breeding andquality testing, DrMailer is a principalresearch scientist withthe NSW Departmentof Primary Industriesand the EH Graham Centre atWagga Wagga Agricultural Institute.

“Dr Mailer has been involvedwith the release of 22 canola culti-vars, which have at times made up50 per cent of Australia’s $600 mil-lion canola crop,” Farrer Memorial

Trust chairman, Dr Richard Shel-drake, said.

“He has been instrumental in the development of the Austra-

lian canola industrythrough his researchwork, which includedscreening breedinglines, identifying qual-ity traits and investi-gating environmentalimpacts on quality.

“Dr Mailer’s researchhas also involved thedevelopment of labora-tory methodology andselection from 30,000

canola lines annually.“His studies on olive oil quality,

harvest timing, irrigation and stor-age have earned Dr Mailer interna-tional recognition for his majorcontribution to the developmentof the Australian olive industry.

“The value of his research isreflected in the high level of fund-ing support from industry forstudies on oil and meal qualityfrom oil crops, including five cur-rent fully funded projects.”

Dr Mailer joined the NSWDepartment of Agriculture in1979.

In 1982 he graduated in AppliedScience from Charles Sturt Univer-sity (CSU) and was appointed asan oilseeds chemist.

He completed a PhD at theUniversity of Manitoba, Canada,in 1993.

Dr Mailer has published 45 sci-entific papers and made more than140 conference or workshop pre-sentations, many of them overseas.

He is closely aligned with severaluniversities, being an AdjunctAssociate Professor with CSU andpreviously Senior Academic Ass-

ociate at the University of WesternSydney and Sydney University.

Dr Mailer will receive the FarrerMemorial Medal in Sydney onSeptember 28 during the WorldCongress on Oils and Fats and the28th International Society for FatResearch Congress, when he willalso be invited to give the 2009Farrer Memorial Oration.

The Farrer Memorial Medal wasestablished in 1911 to perpetuatethe memory of William Farrer andto encourage and inspire agricul-tural scientists.

William Farrer was a formeremployee of the NSW Departmentof Agriculture.

The Medal is awarded annuallyto a person who has provided dis-tinguished service in agriculturalscience in the areas of research,education, extension or adminis-tration.

FOR the first time a single docu-ment that provides an overview ofAustralia’s plant health system hasbeen published.

The National Plant Health StatusReport has been published by PlantHealth Australia (PHA), the lead co-ordinating body for plant biosecuri-ty in Australia.

According to Australia’s chief plantprotection officer, Lois Ransom, thereport promotes confidence in Aus-tralia’s domestic food security andsupports access to overseas markets.

“The Report also gives the biosecurity sector a benchmarkagainst which future improve-ments in the plant health systemwill be measured,” Ms Ransom said.

The report covers the plant pestsof greatest concern to Australianindustries, the organisations andprocesses involved in keepingAustralia’s agricultural and forestryindustries free from pests, and inno-vative plant health research projectscurrently being undertaken by

Australian research organisationsand universities.

It is a snapshot of the system thatprotects Australian agricultural andforestry industries, worth morethan $20 billion a year, from exoticpests and diseases.

Greg Fraser, executive director andCEO of Plant Health Australia, saidthe report demonstrated the robust-ness of Australia’s plant health sys-tem.

“The report provides policy anddecision makers in governments

and industries an overview of thesophisticated biosecurity systemresponsible for protecting Aust-ralia’s food supply and productmarkets,” he said.

The report identifies more than2000 high priority plant pests thatare exotic or of significant quaran-tine concern and more than 2000biosecurity research and develop-ment projects currently underwayor completed in Australia.■ Visitwww.planthealthaustralia.com.au

National overview of plant health in new report

Oils ace wins the 2009 Farrer medal

Find out how the new Agri Web & Email Directorycan help your business generate enquiries.

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Resilience and adaptabilityTHE social components that

contribute to the resilienceof complex farming systems

operating in NSW seem to beseverely under-valued, accordingto preliminary work in a newproject at the EH Graham Centreat Wagga Wagga.

Using the concept of “resilience”,a number of communities andorganisations are working withthe Graham Centre to identifyfactors that create the need forchange in farming systems andrural communities.

“The obvious important factorsare economic, agricultural andenvironmental,” research liaisonofficer for the EH Graham,Centre, Helen Burns said.

“However, as we rapidly moveinto an era that relies heavily onweb-based information transfer,this project is highlighting therisks associated with the apparentbreakdown of information andsocial networks, and the conse-quent effect on the resilience andadaptive capacity of rural com-munities and the systems in whichthey operate.”

In this context, resilience refersto the ability to absorb shocks,some of which are uncontrollable(such as drought), some control-lable (poor management deci-

sions) – and to recover or to trans-form effectively as a result ofimposed changes.

Resilience describes the dynam-ics and evolution of systems, com-munities and individuals, recog-nises that change is inevitable, andhelps to identify future drivers ofchange.

Participants in the projectinclude the Cowra Futures 30Natural Resource ManagementGroup and MurrumbidgeeLandcare.

Ms Burns said change in agricul-tural systems has been stronglyfocused on production, and a con-sequence of this is the failure torecognise the features of a systemthat make it resilient.

Many of the features, or assets ofthe system, for example ground-cover or soil carbon, do not have amarket value, so they tend to beundervalued in the decisionprocess.

“The value of the resilienceapproach is that it engages peoplein managing change rather thanletting change manage them,” MsBurns, said.

“It brings all parties together toassess the value of assets of thesystem that need preserving dur-ing the change process, as well asthe weaknesses.

“The real benefit is that the long-term consequence of plannedactions is taken into account.

“Too often production drivensystems only consider the short-term outcomes.”

Ms Burns says in an Australianagricultural context, resilienceidentifies four repeating phases ina permanently evolving process.

Phase one is a growth processthat draws on resources and coulddescribe the land clearing andirrigation activities which led todevelopment of current agricul-tural systems.

While there are differences insystems around Australia, thereare many similarities in the plantsand livestock, cultivation tech-niques, management strategiesand marketing options.

“Therefore much of Australianagriculture is in phase two, theconservation phase, characterisedby narrowing options andreduced flexibility,” Ms Burnssaid.

“Here the question arises as tohow a narrowing range of farmingsystems tests ‘adaptive capacity’ –the ability to respond to imposedchanges.”

Imposed changes include cli-mate variability and change,reduced availability of labour and

skills, increased energy and otherinput costs, pressure to managenatural resource issues relating towater, soils and biodiversity, theoccurrence of herbicide resist-ance, and carbon footprints.

Systems that cannot respondand adapt undergo a collapsewhich is phase three.

When this occurs, the most com-mon scenario is that individualsare forced to sell following a runof poor years

Phase four – reorganisation –involves the reassembling ofresources, which may simply benew owners with capital to runthe same enterprises, new ownerswith different enterprises, or com-pletely different land uses such assub-division developments.

Ms Burns says economic, envi-ronmental, social and politicalpressures affecting current farm-ing systems make it important toassess how the systems evolved,their assets and weaknesses, andhow to build resilience into them,the communities operating themand the rural landscape.■ Individuals, communities andorganisations interested inbecoming involved pleasecontact Helen Burns, WaggaWagga, (02) 6938 1947,[email protected]

Leaving Australian agriculture ingood condition for the nextgeneration depends on currentland managers understanding thefactors that build the resilience ofagriculture, economically,environmentally and socially.Youngsters Angus Burns, Jackand Isabel Mason are pictured ina drought stressed crop at TheGap near Wagga Wagga. (Photo:Michel Dignand)

Gosford to relocate to UniNEW laboratories will bebuilt at the Central Coastcampus of the University ofNewcastle, to relocate opera-tions of NSW DPI’s GosfordPrimary Industries Institute,in a joint venture.

More than 60 NSW DPIstaff will relocate from thecurrent Narara facilities.

The venture will result inresearchers from both organi-sations focusing on key areasof importance to NSW inareas of mutual interest, par-ticularly plant sciences.

“New technologies andresearch findings will reach theprimary producers of NSW

more quickly and efficientlyunder this new arrangement,”Primary Industries Minister,Ian Macdonald, said

Staff have established theGosford Institute’s reputationas leaders in market accessand greenhouse horticultureresearch.

“Examples of currentresearch include greenhousevegetable production, newgreen tea varieties, improvedfruit fly management, andincreased market access,” MrMacdonald said.

In addition to their research,DPI staff will help supervisePhD students studying plant

sciences at the Ourimbahcampus.

Staff from both DPI and theUniversity will also undertakeresearch activities at the exist-ing 67 hectare Somersby fieldstation.

Mr Macdonald said DPI hada strong track record of work-ing effectively with universi-ties such as Charles Sturt,New England, Southern Crossand Sydney Universities.

He and Professor NicholasSaunders, Vice Chancellor ofthe University of Newcastlethis month signed a Memor-andum of Understanding forthe venture.

Greenhouse at Narara.

Eurekas closeENTRIES have closed and judging is under way inthe 2009 Eureka Prizes.

Presented annually by the Australian Museum, theEureka Prizes reward excellence in the fields ofscientific research and innovation, scienceleadership, school science, and science journalismand communication.

Finalists will be announced on July 24 andwinners will be announced at an awards dinner onAugust 18.

Voting for the People’s Choice award opens July 9and closes midnight August 16.

Online voters can choose between six Australianscientists, watch their videos, read their profiles andask a question before voting for their favourite.

Teachers can also use the People’s Choice in theclassroom and access other resources online.■ Visit http://amonline.net.au/eureka


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NEW research results from trialson pasture cropping are nowavailable to farmers.

Outlining the pros and cons of theinnovative system, the Pasture croppingPrimefact has been published on theNSW Department of Primary Indus-tries (DPI) website.

NSW DPI research agronomist, DrWarwick Badgery, said pasture crop-ping may not fit every operation butproperly managed and under the rightconditions, the farming system canmaximise the use of whole farmresources to increase productivity.

“The existing farming system, pas-tures types, soil and climate are all fac-tors which impact on its success,” DrBadgery said.

“We’re still to see its long term conse-quences and management implicationsbut our trials have generated somevaluable information for farmers toconsider.

“Pasture cropping sows cerealsdirectly into summer active perennialpastures and can bring crop yieldscomparable with conventional rota-tion systems, if weeds are effectivelymanaged and adequate levels of soilfertility and moisture are available.

“The key to improved profitability ina pasture cropping system is efficientuse of additional forage with a live-stock operation to compensate for anyreductions in crop yield which mayoccur.”

A four-year study with two trialsites near Wellington tested the farm-ing system developed in the CentralWest and compared results with no-tillcropping and low-input pastures.

Dr Badgery said pasture croppingexploited the different growth phasesof annual winter crops and perennialgrasses, particularly native pastures, socrops were sown into pasture after thefirst annual frost when perennial grass-es became dormant.

“Late sowing or selective herbicidescan reduce competition at the start of

the cropping phase and shading fromthe crop delays growth of summeractive grasses until the canopy openswhen the crop matures.

“Pasture growth during summer canprevent the build-up of soil nutrientsand moisture, reducing crop perform-ance in many areas, but input costs arereduced as fallowing is not requiredand fertiliser can be matched to theavailable soil moisture at sowing.”

The research was funded by theCentral West-Lachlan branch of Grainand Graze – a national program whichpartners the Grains Research andDevelopment Corporation, Meat andLivestock Australia, Australian WoolInnovation Limited, and Land andWater Australia.

Download Primefact 875, Pasturecropping at www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/agri-culture/field/pastures/management/production-management/pasture-crop-ping■ Contact Warwick Badgery,Orange, (02) 6391 3814,[email protected]

Pasture cropping facts

IN THE past few years a numberof new pasture legume specieshave been trialled.

The difficulty, cost, andenvironmental issues withharvesting subclover seeds,combined with the failure ofsubclover to set seed in the lastfew dry springs has led toincreased interest in alternatepasture legumes.

In addition to species that havebeen available for a number ofyears, including persian, balansaand crimson clovers, serradellaand biserrula, are some new ones,such as purple clover, bladderclover and the biennial, sulla.

There are a number of importantconsiderations in selecting apasture legume.

One main disadvantage with

some new pasture legumes istolerance to herbicides.

With many, tolerance to someherbicides is unknown andbetween varieties there is also adifference in tolerance.

Therefore care needs to be takenwhen sowing them in a mix.

It is possible to exclude allherbicide options by using awrong mix of just three differentpasture legume species.

Make sure you check whatherbicide tolerance information isavailable before sowing.

Some information is available inthe NSW DPI Weed Control inLucerne and Pastures guide andthere are further herbicidetolerance trials at the DPI researchstation at Wagga.

It is always good management tosow a new pasture in a paddockwhich has had good weed controlfor the previous two years,regardless of the species to besown.

Look at the minimum rainfallneeded for the species to persist.

Within a species there are

varieties adapted to differentrainfall areas based on maturity.

Also look at when the rain falls.If it is a mainly summer growing

species and you are in a winterdominant rainfall area, it may notpersist.

The suitability of the species topaddock soil type is alsoimportant.

This includes tolerance to acidsoils, that is, the optimum pHrange for the species andtolerance of high aluminium.

Some species are also suited todifferent soil textures whether theybe heavy clay soils or light sands.

While a species may survive inother than optimal soil type,production will be limited.

Tolerance of water logging isalso important, particularly onheavier soils.

Establishing a pasture can becostly, so persistence isimportant.

Check if the species or variety issuited to long term or short termperennial pastures or whether it isfor annual pastures in your area.

Get legume mix right

NSW DPI researchers, Dr Warwick Badgery and Geoff Millar, have published research findings on pasture cropping in a newPrimefact. Dr Badgery said the system sows cereals directly into summer-active perennial pastures, like this native Redgrass,Bothriochloa macra.

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THOUSANDS of examples ofimportant animal diseasescollected over many years

and stored on glass-mounted tis-sue slides have now been saved asdigital images.

This has made the slides a valu-able reference or teaching resourcefor veterinary pathologists, withcapacity for worldwide access.

In a three year project now near-ing completion at the ElizabethMacarthur Agricultural Institute(EMAI), Camden, specialist veteri-nary pathologist, Dr Cor Leng-haus, has worked his way bymicroscopic inspection throughnearly 20,000 slides.

Hired by Animal HealthAustralia, Dr Lenghaus selectedthe best slides, representing about4000 individual disease occur-rences in sheep, cattle, pigs, poul-try, horses, goats, deer, dogs, catsand wildlife.

“The real importance of digitis-ing them was that they could thenbe entered into a databank accessi-ble on the internet, to any memberwith a password,” Dr Lenghaussaid.

Of an expected 5000 slides, 4500have been physically delivered tothe Royal College of Pathologistsof Australasia in Melbourne forprocessing and 3500 have beendigitised.

By June, 2000 are expected to beavailable online, with another 1000by year’s end, subject to availableresources, according to AnimalHealth Australia.

In addition to a caption witheach image, the intention is to adda more detailed description ofeach disease example.

The original collection at EMAI,a farsighted project of the 1980s

and ’90s, formed the NationalRegistry of Domestic AnimalPathology.

It represents a large number ofthe more common diseases seen atveterinary diagnostic laboratories,augmented by examples of moreserious exotic diseases which couldthreaten Australia’s animal indus-tries.

Animal industry organisationssuch as Meat and LivestockAustralia support the developmentof the digital collection and theonline database.

“It could be invaluable in helpingdiagnose potentially exotic dis-eases,” said MLA’s animal healthand welfare biosecurity programmanager, Dr Keith Walker.

“The collection can be easily aug-mented as further interesting anddefinitive cases arise.”

According to Dr Lenghaus, thecollection is important for

Australia particularly as experi-enced, hands on pathologistsretire, or are made redundant, asanimal health continues to receivelower priority than other commu-nity needs.

“This loss of expertise, particu-larly with respect to farm animals,could be offset by access to the col-lection presently being assembled,”he said.

“This would allow for a patholo-gist, uncertain of a particular case,to compare it with the ‘typical’cases on file in the electronic data-base.

“We can expect ‘unusual’ cases tocontinue to crop up, consideringclimate change will progressivelybring diseases from the tropics andsubtropics to more temperate,lower latitudes.

“Overseas trading partnerswould benefit from knowing wehad a good awareness and training

system in place for continuingprofessional development of vet-erinary pathologists.”

Dr Lenghaus said the success of thenew collection depended on suffi-cient expertise in information tech-nology transfer to keep it running.

The initial task had been toreview the collection with the aimof restoring damaged or fadedslides, however this would onlyhave been a short-term solution, asslides inevitably fade over time.

Digitisation and national accessi-bility on the AHA website will pro-vide virtual immortality for thecollected pathological knowledgeof Australian animal disease, bothpast and future.■ Contact Animal Health Australia,Canberra, (02) 6232 5522, for moreinformation about the AustralianAnimal Pathology StandardsProgram.

– RON AGGS

Disease library goes digital

A NEW group of veterinarypathologists, hired at the ElizabethMacarthur Agricultural Institute(EMAI), Camden, is now under-going extensive training.

To ensure they are capable ofoffering the State world’s bestpractice, the pathologists havebeen supported by investment innew state of the art laboratoryequipment.

Five pathologists will build onservices already provided byEMAI’s veterinary laboratory to itsfarming clients, provide for theState’s ongoing diagnostic require-ments, and enhance EMAI’Scapacity to deal with future animaldisease emergencies.

Dr Les Gabor returned from anacademic post in Canada to thenewly created position of labora-tory leader, attracted by its capaci-ty building and training focus.

Four additional pathologistswere hired to complement twolong-serving experts, Dr RodReece and Dr Steve Hum, whosereputations in dealing with dis-eases in livestock at the veterinarylaboratory are well established.

“The team will diagnose samplessubmitted by producers faster andimprove turnaround times to tellthem what is affecting their stock,”Primary Industries Minister, IanMacdonald, said.

They will also carry out moredetailed investigation into produc-tion animal health issues.

Their skills and upgraded labora-tory capacity, combined with otherEMAI laboratories like virology,will mean emerging, exotic and

notifiable diseases in addition tothe full range of known livestockdiseases can be better covered.

They will also chip away at aworldwide labour problem.

Dr Gabor said for some years,particularly highlighted duringand after last year’s equine influen-za outbreak, senior managementwithin DPI and throughout theveterinary livestock community,had concerns about replacing theaging population of veterinarypathologists.

“Worldwide it has become a sig-nificant challenge to hire trainedpathologists, as most young gradu-

ates want to work in the cities,where the money is in small ani-mal practices,” Dr Gabor said.

He said in terms of equipment,NSW DPI has invested in a new 10head teaching microscope, newdigital capture technology, andupgraded all microscopes.

“There have also been significantequipment investments in the lab-oratories – most notably in thefields of real time polymerasechain reaction (PCR), histologyupgrades, and equipment in thebacteriology and serology labs,” DrGabor said

The new pathologists will train

for membership of the AustralianCollege of Veterinary Science – ascase managers it will be desirablefor them to hold the Australianhallmark expected by the NationalAssociation of Testing Authorities(NATA).

The three to four year goal is forsome of the team to becomeaccredited specialists in the labora-tory via the American College ofVeterinary Pathology.

EMAI is the NSW Centre forAnimal and Plant Biosecurity.■ Contact Les Gabor, Camden,(02) 4640 6371,[email protected]

LEFT: Veterinarypathologist, DrCor Lenghaus,has examinednearly 20,000glass-mountedtissue slides ofanimal diseasesand selected5000 to bepreserved asdigital images. Onscreen is a crosssection,magnifiedhundreds oftimes, of the slidehe is holding.

New pathology team for veterinary lab

Each day, five new veterinary pathologists at Elizabeth Macarthur Agricultural Institute meet for a diagnostic sessionon a new 10 head teaching microscope. Pictured from left are Mel Gabor, who returned to pathology after completinga PhD in medical immunology; Effie Lee, graduate from the University of Queensland with extensive mixed animaldiagnostic experience; laboratory leader Les Gabor, with a PhD in veterinary pathology and specialist certification inanatomical pathology; Zoe Spiers, who recently completed a PhD in oyster pathology, and Andrew Thompson, a formerdistrict veterinarian with extensive production animal experience.

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ONE culprit likely to be a cause ofdevastating Colony CollapseDisorder (CCD) in bees, whichthreatens food security, is showingup strongly in the eastern States.

An industry funded project isdetermining the prevalence of thebee parasite Nosema ceranae andextent of honey production lossesit causes.

NSW DPI microbiological dis-eases and diagnostics researchteam leader and bee researcher, DrMichael Hornitzky, has alsodemonstrated that N. ceranae cancontaminate honey, indicating thathoney may be a source of spread-ing the disease to bees.

“However, N. ceranae does notcause disease in humans,” DrHornitzky said.

His survey of honey bee coloniesin Australia, funded by the RuralIndustries Research and Develop-ment Corporation and carried outat the Elizabeth MacarthurAgricultural Institute, showedWestern Australia to be the onlyState in which N. ceranae has notbeen found.

Dr Hornitzky has now found

high numbers of infected bees inQueensland, where N. ceranaeappears to be replacing N. apis.

“It is also quite common in NSWand Victoria but not so commonin South Australia and Tasmania,”Dr Hornitzky said.

In his current study, DrHornitzky is looking over a twoyear period at 20 hives per apiaryin a number of apiaries in variousparts of NSW, Victoria andQueensland.

“In one NSW location, all 20hives in the test apiary are infectedwith N. ceranae,” he said.

“It appears N. ceranae is replac-ing N. apis which has been recog-nised in bees since the early 1900s.”

N. ceranae is likely to be one ofmultiple causes of CCD, responsi-ble for the death of hundreds ofthousands of honey bee colonies inthe US in the past three years.

The loss of such a large numberof honey bee colonies has had asignificant impact on the pollina-tion of seed and food crops andthreatens food security.

The precise cause of CCD isunknown.

“Bees can have the infection andnot show any signs, but it pro-gresses when conditions are right –for example, nutritionally stressedbees,” Dr Hornitzky said.

“Then the bug starts to multiply,producing millions of Nosemaspores per bee and causes the deathof adult bees which can result inthe death of the hive.

“Consequently it may become asbad here in a few years as it is inEurope now.”

He said by monitoring apiarieswith high and low N. ceranae infec-tion levels, their honey productionand the management practices ofbeekeepers, we may identify poten-tial control strategies to minimisethe effects of this new pathogen.

■ Contact Michael Hornitzky,Camden, (02) 4640 6311,[email protected]

TWO of Australia’s honey beeexperts are conducting researchin the Solomon Islands, devel-

oping strategies to control an inva-sion of Asian honey bees.

This should help the Australianhoney bee industry manage its biose-curity.

Measures to control and eradicatethis bee are being developed for twovery good reasons.

The first is that Asian honey beesare a major competitor with ourhoney bees, they have been observedto rob all the honey from managedhoney bee colonies, eventually lead-ing to the colonies’ deaths.

The Asian honey bee is also a vectorfor varroa mites.

It was thought Varroa destructor wasthe only varroa of concern toAustralian beekeeping interests butrecent research shows Varroa jacob-soni is now reproducing on honeybees in Papua New Guinea.

V. destructor is lethal to our(European) honey bees (Apis mellif-era) and it now appears that V. jacob-soni is also now potentially lethal.

On Asian bees, their natural hosts,both varroa species reproduce on the

drone pupae, whereas they breed onboth worker and drone brood whenthey infest European bees.

V. jacobsoni is widespread in Asianhoney bees (Apis cerana) in thePacific and South East Asia and pre-viously caused less concern toAustralia than the perceived villain, V.destructor, which is established inNew Zealand.

Now there is a general acceptance ofthe inevitability of varroa mites arriv-ing in Australia in future.

“There is belief that the majorbiosecurity threat posed by Asianhoney bees to Australia is the possi-bility that they may carry and intro-duce varroa mites” said NSW DPI beelivestock officer, Nick Annand.

However, according to Mr Annand,while the introduction of mites couldbe extremely damaging, Asian honeybees also represent a major biosecuri-ty threat to beekeeping in Australia.

“The damage it has caused to theapiary industry on infested islands inthe Solomons has been major and insome situations wiped the industryout,” he said.

“A similar impact could well occurwith the establishment of Asianhoney bees in some areas in Australia,particularly in the hot humid tropicalregions of North Queensland.

“The threat of Asian honey beesshould not be taken lightly.”

Since 1995 there have been 11incursions or potential incursions ofthem into Australia.

Seven colonies were located anddestroyed at Cairns since 2007 and aneighth discovered in the region lastJuly, where some surveillance contin-ues.

On a recent trip to Papua NewGuinea, CSIRO’s Denis Andersonfound that a strain of varroa mite isnow reproducing on European honeybees.

“The extent of the outbreak indicat-ed that the mite is well established inthe A. mellifera population, is wide-spread, and cannot be eradicated,” DrAnderson said.

“This will have major implicationsregarding biosecurity issues forAustralia.”

“This latest finding by DenisAnderson only amplifies the need forrigorous biosecurity for Asian honeybees across the north of Australia,particularly in the Torres Strait andon boats coming from PNG andneighbouring Indonesian Papua,” MrAnnand said.

Maintenance of Australian honeyproduction and the contribution byhoney bees to pollinating a large

range of agricultural and horticultur-al crops has been valued at $3.8 bil-lion per annum.

One of the aims of the SolomonIslands project is to help re-establishthe more productive honey beewhere it has been eliminated by Asianbees.

The invasion of the Asian bees intothe Solomons since 2003 saw a majordecline in the honey produced, asthey out competed European bees forfood (nectar and pollen).

Suppression of feral Asian bee pop-

ulations is intended to increase com-petitiveness of European bees, in thehope that production from the latterwill return to normal.

In the Solomons, the industry pro-vides earnings for communities thatrely heavily on subsistence agricul-ture and fishing for survival.

The Australian Centre for Internat-ional Agricultural Research is fund-ing the project.■ Contact Nick Annand, Bathurst,(02) 6360 1210,[email protected]

HONEY bee authority, Dr DougSomerville, has been asked to pro-vide technical advice to a nationalworkshop planned toimprove Australia’s res-ponse strategies and arr-angements for a futureincursion of the parasiticmite, Varroa destructor.

The Federal Govern-ment authorities PlantHealth Australia (PHA),on behalf of PollinationAustralia and AnimalHealth Australia (AHA), are plan-ning to hold the workshop inMelbourne in June to brief stafffrom State and other FederalGovernment departments in boththe plant and animal sectors.

Dr Somerville (pictured), NSWDPI’s technical specialist in honeybees, based at Goulburn, will talk

about the structure andfunction of the commer-cial beekeeping industry,including an overview ofthe life cycle and seasonalvariations within a beecolony, and explain theimpact varroa miteswould have on Australia’spollination-based indus-tries and the beekeeping

industry.The workshop will also provide a

forum for pollination industries tounderstand Emergency AnimalDisease Response Agreementarrangements and the AUSVET-

PLAN disease strategy for a varroamite incursion.

Discussion will consider whetherthis and other bee diseases mightbe included in the EmergencyPlant Pest ResponseDeed because thereare many synergiesbetween the require-ments of an eradica-tion of varroa mitesand a plant pest.

This will be one ofthe few occasionsthat plant and animalindustry interests will be workingsimultaneously together for a com-mon benefit.

A second workshop is proposedfor early in the new financial year

to look at other arrangements iferadication is not feasible.

AHA and the Department ofAgriculture, Fisheries and Forestryare assisting PHA with the projects.

The Rural Industries Researchand Development Corp-oration (RIRDC), Hort-iculture Australia Lim-ited (HAL) and Poll-ination Australia are allpartners in the projectproviding funding.■ Contact DougSomerville, Goulburn,

(02) 4828 6600,[email protected]

Nosema disease iswell established

Planning workshop against varroa incursion

Solomons’ bee biosecurity warning

NOSEMA ceranae is a cause ofnosemosis of honey bees.Nosemosis is the mostwidespread of adult bee diseasesand causes significant economiclosses to beekeepers worldwide.Nosemosis was originally thoughtto be caused by a single Nosemasp, Nosema apis, but in 1994, asimilar microsporidian wasdescribed in Asian honey bees(Apis cerana) from China.The parasite was called N.ceranae and was subsequentlydetected in European honey bees(Apis mellifera) in Taiwan.Pictured: Recent sampling ofhives in Robinvale in Victoria fornosemosis.

Dr MichaelHornitzky.

More on the challenges to maintainingfood security in July Agriculture Today.

Two Varroa destructor mites on a drone pupae. A single mite is not much biggerthan a pinhead.

RON AGGSCamden

Australia’sHoneybee News“The voice of the Beekeeper”

Published bi-monthly Annual Subscription $33.00

Contact: The EditorPO Box 352, Leichhardt NSW 2040

Phone: (02) 9798 6240Email: [email protected]

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Important Event for theBee IndustryThe New South Wales Apiarist Association Inc will holda State AGM and Conference on July 9 and 10 atRydges Parramatta. One day prior, on July 8, the RIRDCresearchers will have the opportunity of informingbeekeepers of their work and research results (UWS). Tofinish the eventful week there will be a Beekeeper’sAnnual Field day, hosted by Sydney MetropolitanBranch.The Beekeeper’s Field Day provides a uniqueopportunity to not only view the latest products,services, technologies and trends, but allows people tomeet face to face with the industry’s leading suppliers.The event is cut for the beekeeping and associatedindustries. The field day is a great place to purchasebee hardware, extractors, etc as well as to speak withgovernment services representatives. There will belimited stalls available for Arts and Crafts, Homemadefood goods, Market gardeners and hobbies.The Field Day will be held whether it rains or shines andis open to the public. It is an alcohol free event. It is aMUST ATTEND day for any person or group involved inthe bee industry as a commercial or as an amateurbeekeeper.

When: Saturday, July 11, 2009Time: 9 am to 3 pmWhere: Hawkesbury Showground at Racecourse Road,

CLARENDON (opposite Richmonfd RAAF Base)Further details: Eric Whitby (02) 0427 013 028 or

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All welcome to attend the NSW Apiarists’Conference. A very informative agenda todo with all aspects of beekeeping.To be held at Rydges, Parramatta, July 9& 10, 2009 (a field day will be held atHawkesbury on Saturday, July 11).Contact Julie Lockhart for all conferencedetails, pricing, agenda [email protected] or0427 815 181

NSW Apiarists’ Association’sAnnual Conference

TL1706294


Next month:The next edition of Agriculture Today willpublish on July 2, 2009.It will cover Food Security, Beef, CatchmentHealth and Urban Agriculture.You can read Agriculture Today on the weband download the full edition each month.Visit www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/agtoday for recenteditions and archives from September 2005.

Diesel to gas cuts costsALTHOUGH the price of diesel

has dropped dramatically in thepast six months, many farmers

are sceptical that it will stay low forlong.

Tim Leo, the manager of “Longacres”irrigation farm on the banks of theMooki, near Gunnedah, believes tomake profits today it is necessary toreduce costs.

“Diesel substitution is one way ofdoing this – by mixing small amountsof gas with diesel, the motor runs moreefficiently,” Mr Leo said.

At “Longacres” they’ve converted oneof their pumping engines from dieselto diesel-gas.

Gas supplied to the farm is mixedwith diesel on site into the six cylinderturbo charged Perkins phaser diesel.

If the trial on works out, Mr Leo sayshe will incorporate gas substitution inanother five pumps and possibly trac-tors too.

He has no doubt the cost of conver-sion would be paid back in one seasonon a 300 horsepower motor if he used

his ground water entitlement – but sofar he has not had to use the bores on“Longacres” this year.

If more good rain does not fall byJune 30 they will pump ground waterand Mr Leo is fairly confident, basedon flow rate data, the numbers willstack up.

According to Matt Derrig, director ofDieselGas Technologies, the Sydneycompany doing the conversion, theburn rate goes from 75 to 98 per cent,the motor runs better and needs lessdiesel to maintain its load.

The reduction in diesel costs isapproximately 30pc, Mr Derrig says.

NSW DPI’s Water Smart project offi-cer at Gunnedah, Stuart Bray, says “thisis acceptable now, but will be evenmore enticing if diesel revisits the 170cents a litre level”.

Tim Leo regards ground water as aprecious resource, and because it is themost expensive water to use, is alwayspumped last and sparingly to get itabove ground with the most efficientuse of energy.

Hence his interest in any system thatwill reduce pumping costs.

DieselGas Technologies completedforty gas conversions in the north westduring the last two years, during thepeak of the fuel crisis.

High fuel prices are not the only rea-son to convert.

“Large corporations are looking atconversion as a way of minimisingtheir carbon footprint – nitrous oxideis a targeted greenhouse gas that can besubstantially reduced through thisprocess,” Mr Bray said.

At the conversion stage, motors areassessed to check that they’re runningat the correct speed.

Where an overworked motor isadjusted to optimise performance, fuelefficiency is claimed to increase by upto 50pc.

Conversion at current cost is approx-imately $9000, depending on thedegree of difficulty.■ Contact Stuart Bray, Gunnedah,(02) 6741 8367,[email protected]

Chance for PygmyAN endangered fish species isbeing given a chance at survival,thanks to an innovative project.

Scientists have relocated approxi-mately 1500 Southern PygmyPerch (Nannoperca australis) to theDepartment of Primary Industries’Narrandera Fisheries Centre.

The aim is toensure the Pyg-my Perch has achance of surviv-ing the drought,which continuesto take its toll onwaterways acrossthe State.

The waterholes the fish call homeare drying up rapidly, so the fish areextremely vulnerable to predatorslike birds.

As a temporary emergency meas-ure, the Pygmy Perch (pictured)have been relocated from BillabongCreek near Holbrook, BlackneyCreek in Yass and CoppabellaCreek in the Upper Murray.

Southern Pygmy Perch were oncewidely distributed throughout the

southern Murray Darling Basin, aswell as coastal streams in SouthAustralia and Victoria, north east-ern Tasmania and King andFlinders Islands in Bass Strait.

Over the last 30 to 40 years therehas been a large scale reduction intheir numbers.

They arenow listed asendangered inNSW, withthree knownremnant pop-ulations rem-aining.

The fish willbe returned to the location of cap-ture when conditions allow.

A breeding program is being considered as a way of conservingthe remaining Southern PygmyPerch.

There are heavy penalties forharming, possessing, buying orselling these fish.■ Visitwww.dpi.nsw.gov.au/fisheries forinformation about the species.

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A PILOT-SCALE project pro-gressing by NSW DPI res-earchers, to investigate techni-cal issues associated withestablishing a biofuels indus-try that produces ethanolfrom lignocellulose feed-stocks, such as agriculturaland forest waste residues.

The project was developedthrough the Primary Ind-ustries Innovation Centre (analliance between the Univer-sity of New England and NSWDepartment of Primary Ind-ustries) and is funded by aNSW Climate Action Grant.

“One of the objectives of theproject is to identify potentiallignocellulosic feedstocks thatcould be used to produceethanol. This will include pro-viding an assessment of thebiomass’ sustainability, supplyand economic viability,” saidNSW DPI research scientist,Dr Tony Vancov.

“Lignocellulose forms thestructural framework of plantcell walls and is the mostabundant renewable carbonsource on Earth. It is com-prised of cellulose, hemicellu-lose and lignin.

“Residues such as sugarcanebagasse and cereal straws,including wheat, sorghum,barley, rice and rye, are amongthe lignocellulose feedstocksthat can be used to generatebioethanol.

Dr Vancov said the secondtechnical objective of the proj-ect is the evaluation of exist-ing and new bioprocessingstrategies for the conversion oflignocellulosic feedstocks toethanol and other potentiallyvaluable products.

He said global warming, aforecast decline in world crudeoil reserves and growingdemand for petroleum prod-ucts had all contributed toincreased activity in biofuelresearch and development.

“Ethanol from renewablefeedstocks is regarded as anideal supplement and crediblereplacement fuel,” he said.

“Ethanol currently producedfrom sugar and corn starchclashes with food productionfor human use and, moreimportantly, does not signifi-cantly diminish greenhousegas (GHG) emissions.

“GHG savings approaching90 per cent may be realisedfrom cellulosic ethanol com-pared with petrol usage.

“The US Department ofEnergy projects that by 2020twice as much ethanol fuel willbe produced from lignocellu-losic raw materials than fromsugar and starch-based crops.”

Dr Vancov said pilot-scalestudies were being carried outin a number of countries inresponse to the need for tech-nological “breakthroughs”, forexample in pretreatment,enzymes and recombinant fer-mentation microorganisms,and more accurate cost esti-mates for ethanol productionfrom lignocellulosics.

“Given our particular cli-mate and potential to utiliselocal residues such as wastewood, wood and crop residuesand bioenergy crops, there is asignificant need to under-stand, apply and advance thesetechnologies in an Australiancontext,” he said.

Dr Vancov said efficient util-

isation of lignocellulosic bio-mass requires pretreatment to liberate cellulose from itslignin seal.

“This is by far the most cost-ly step of the process, stronglyinfluencing the success andfeasibility of the entire fuelproduction operation,” he said.

He said the project team atWollongbar Agricultural Insti-tute had exploited and opti-mised bench-scale pretreat-ment platforms based on pHand temperature and had tai-lored enzymatic hydrolysis tosuite.

“To date, most of the datareveals that crop straw residuesyield higher sugar content perweight than, say, woody typefeedstocks.”

Dr Vancov said trees poten-tially offer better feedstockoptions for biofuel productionthan agricultural crops becauseof their higher energy conver-sion factor and sugar content.

“Native trees, particularlyeucalypt species, hold thegreatest promise because oftheir ability to grow on mar-ginal lands thereby minimis-ing encroachment on foodcrop terrain,” he said.

“In due course, dedicated bio-fuel crops such as grasses andshort-rotation coppice speciessuch as eucalypt will becomepopular.

“Breeding programs are alsobeing employed to tailor plantbiomass with lower lignin andhigher polysaccharide content,thereby facilitating bioprocess-ing and boosting sugar andethanol yields.”■ Contact Tony Vancov,Wollongbar, (02) 6626 1359.

Biomass to ethanol fuel

Vignerons’ breakfastTHERE was no champagne and orange but plentyof sharp questions when 23 Central Westvignerons attended a breakfast seminar in Orangethis month to explore issues the industry faces.

Mainly from Orange but also from Cowra andYoung, they heard staff from the National Wine andGrape Industry Centre outline the latest in wineresearch.

Charles Sturt University (CSU) researcher,Andrew Hall, has been exploring remote sensing,the use of spatial data and climate modelling invineyards.

Dr Hall discussed how to target vineyardsampling to calculate accurate yield estimates andclimate change predictions for Australianviticulture.

His CSU colleague, research leader, Dr AnthonySaliba explored the links between consumerpreferences and viticultural and winemakingpractice.

Dr Simon Clarke discussed winegrape nutritionand Dr Jonathan Holland covered berry spitting.


SCIENTISTS from the AsiaPacific region visited Woll-ongbar Agricultural Institute

last week to witness trials that areunlocking the potential of biochar –a product being hailed as a possiblesaviour for Australia’s carbon-depleted soils that also has multiplegreenhouse gas benefits.

“The scientists were on a field touras part of the 1st Asia PacificBiochar Conference held on theGold Coast last week,” said NSWDepartment of Primary Industries(DPI) director of climate and waterresearch, Rob Young.

“NSW DPI scientists from Woll-ongbar were key organisers of theconference which attracted speakers

and participants from countriesincluding the US, Japan, India,Indonesia and New Zealand andfrom all Australian states,” MrYoung said.

Wollongbar-based DPI resear-chers, Dr Lukas Van Zwieten, SteveKimber and Katrina Sinclair, pre-sented papers at the conference,along with other DPI scientists, DrAnnette Cowie and Dr Bhupin-derpal Singh, from Pennant Hills.

Executive director of Science andResearch with DPI, Dr RenataBrooks, highlighted the importantrole played by DPI across a broadrange of research topics to supportprimary industries in NSW, includ-ing local research on biochar.

Mr Young said NSW DPI researchinto the potential for biochar hasbeen leading the world.

“Biochar is a charcoal-like productthat is the residue of a renewableenergy production process calledpyrolysis,” he said.

“Products like paper mill waste,green waste or other biomass can berecycled by heating to 450 degrees inthe absence of oxygen to provideheat energy, and the char residue.

“Adding biochar to soil providesan economical way to sequesteratmospheric carbon, and also hasmany soil health benefits which willhelp farmers adapt to climatechange and increase productivity.”

Mr Young said a number of scien-tific projects within NSW DPI wereresearching biochar, testing its valueas a soil amendment and developingit as a tool for climate change miti-gation.

At the Gold Coast conference, the

DPI scientists outlined their workon the greenhouse gas mitigationbenefits of biochar, the impacts ofbiochar on productivity and nutri-ent availability and the value ofbiochar for long term carbonsequestration in soil.

Dr Van Zwieten also gave an agro-economic valuation of biochar andspoke on using greenwaste biocharon soils to improve nitrogen useefficiency.

“Recent studies have found a 150per cent increase in corn yield whenbiochar is applied at 20 tonnes ahectare,” Mr Young said.

The keynote speakers at the con-ference were Professor JohannesLehmann of Cornell University inthe US and Professor MakotoOgawa from the Osaka Institute ofTechnology, Japan.

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NORTH Coast low chillstone fruit growers are tri-alling new methods to

reduce the risk of frost damageafter last season’s disastrous crop.

“Over the last two seasons grow-ers in the Bangalow valley haveexperienced the worst late seasonfrosts in recent times wiping outmore than 60 per cent of theirdeveloping crop of early peachesand nectarines,” said Philip Wilk,NSW DPI district horticulturist.

“With the highest risk periodapproaching this year, some grow-ers have been trialling a portablewind machine to ensure they don’tsuffer a repeat of the recent dam-age,” he said.

“The machine draws warmer airfrom above and directs it down-wards into the orchard.

“This stops colder air from set-tling in lower places and mixes thewarmer air from above whicheffectively stops frost from form-ing.”

Mr Wilk said the machine wouldtreat an area of about three hectaresso more than one unit would beneeded to cover the whole valley.

“The unit operates with an elec-tronic sensor that alerts growers

who may be asleep, that the criticaltemperature for crop damage isapproaching.”

Mr Wilk said the colder valleyssuch as Bangalow were better placedthan most other North Coast areasto gain sufficient winter chillingnecessary to produce each season’sstone fruit crop – based on predic-tions of slightly warmer local tem-peratures due to climate change.

“Even with these climate changepredictions, late minus six tominus nine degree centigradefrosts are still capable of wipingout small pea-sized developingfruit,” he said.

“Growers targeting the earlier

season low chill stone fruit marketare at greatest risk of frost damage.

“But the market premium is sig-nificant as the fruit is harvestedtwo months ahead of traditionalstone fruit regions of southernNSW and Victoria.”

Mr Wilk said Bangalow valleystone fruit growers had used anumber of devices in the past tominimise late frost damage to treesand fruit with only limited success.

“These methods have includedapplying anti transpirant sprays,using overhead sprinklers, burningsmudge pots and driving up anddown rows with tractor mountedair blast spray units.”

Environmental Health Officersfrom Byron shire council havemeasured noise levels of the trac-tor driven machine at a number ofdistances and stated that if themachine was strategically placedon the farm it should cause a min-imum disturbance to nearby vil-lage residents.

The worst case scenario maymean the machine would only be used between three and tennights per year for a number ofhours, usually from midnight todawn.■ Contact Phillip Wilk,Alstoneville, (02) 6626 [email protected]

Stonefruit battling frosts

A NORTH Coast blueberry farmwas the venue for scientists fromNSW and Vietnam to share theirinsights from complementary on-farm trials in their home countries.

NSW DPI scientists at Wollong-bar are leading a collaborative proj-ect with the Vietnamese partnersthat aims to improve efficient utili-sation of water and soil resources inhorticultural tree crops in southerncentral coastal Vietnam and NSW.

The project is funded by theAustralian Centre for InternationalAgricultural Research (ACIAR).

Dr Brad Keen from NSW DPIhosted the visitors, Nguyen ThaiThinh (pictured left), Director forthe Ninh Thuan Plant Researchand Development Centre for Semi-Arid Regions and Dr Hoang MinhTam (centre), Director of theAgricultural Science Institute forSouthern Central Coastal Vietnam.

“As part of the Australian com-ponent of the project we haveestablished a field experiment atMountain Blue Orchards nearWollongbar,” Dr Keen (picturedright) said.

“The experiment aims to evalu-ate the application of water budg-eting, deficit irrigation and partialrootzone drying (PRD) for achiev-ing water use efficiencies in blue-berry production,” he said.

“So far, each irrigation strategyhas shown substantial water useefficiency gains in comparison tothe standard farmer practice.”

Dr Keen said outcomes from theproject would have applications inother perennial horticultural cropsin NSW and the field experimentwould also provide practical train-ing opportunities for Vietnamesescientists and technical staff whowould visit Australia later this year.

He said southern central coastalVietnam was the driest part of thecountry where the dry season last-ed eight to nine months of theyear.

“The region is also characterisedby extensive areas of sandy soilswhich have low nutrient and waterholding capacity so agriculture ishighly dependent on irrigationwater to which access is often lim-ited,” he said.

Six irrigation trials in Binh Dinhprovince and two in Ninh Thuanprovince have been establishedwith the aim of demonstratingyields of cashew and mango can beincreased by extending irrigationbeyond flowering (current prac-tice) through to nut set, fruit filland harvest periods.

Dr Keen said the cashew andmango experiments would intro-duce mini-evaporation pans, usedfor irrigation scheduling, andgravity fed drip irrigation systemsto local farmers.

“These simple and cost effectivetechnologies are also being intro-duced to table grape growers inNinh Thuan province via a field

trial that aims to demonstrateimproved irrigation and fertiliserpractices,” he said.

In addition to the irrigation tri-als, two field experiments have alsobeen established to investigatebiochar as an amendment toimprove the water and nutrientholding capacity of sandy soil.

Dr Keen said data collected bythe Vietnamese team for the firstcropping season of both thecashew and groundnut crops indi-cated promising results fromamending the soil with biochar.■ Contact Brad Keen,Wollongbar, (02) 6626 2421,[email protected]

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LEFT: A portable wind machinecould ensure low chill stonefruitdoesn’t suffer a repeat of frostdamage that decimated previouscrops. About 40 growers attendeda field day at Bangalow, northernNSW, staged to showcase methodsgrowers are trialling to reduce therisk of frost damage. The day wasorganised by NSW DPI inconjunction with Low Chill Australiaand sponsored by Norco ruralstores.

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Caparoi less likely to lodgeAT SOWING time after all the rain, Caparoi, the newdurum wheat variety developed by NSW DPI standsout as a variety not likely to lodge too readily.

Caparoi is being promoted to growers thisseason, said John Oliver, a NSW DPI director offood security and productivity.

The variety is a mid season maturing semi-dwarfdurum wheat cultivar suitable for pasta andcouscous production in Australia and overseascountries.

The sowing window in the prime target area ofnorthern NSW and southern Queensland isbetween mid-May and late-June, although cropssown later than the middle of June can performsatisfactorily.

Caparoi is expected to largely replace Wollaroi.


SCREENING of the Australiancollection of a valuable foragelegume, berseem clover, to

identify and understand the rangeof genetic diversity within the col-lection is on track as an importantfirst step in developing new culti-vars.

Berseem clover is grown inAustralia mainly for silage or haycutting or as part of a mixture as aone year forage crop.

It is also one of the most impor-tant forage legumes grown inIndia, Pakistan, Egypt, the MiddleEast and the United States.

“Berseem clover can no longer befound growing wild, thereforedevelopment of more diseaseresistant and productive cultivarrelies heavily on accessions held ingenetic resource centres,” NSWDPI’s Dr Brian Dear said.

Also known as Egyptian clover,its origin has been debated, butmodern molecular techniqueswhich Dr Dear and his colleagueDr Harsh Raman are using at theWagga Wagga Agricultural Instit-ute are helping track down its ori-gin and domestication.

“It is now thought to have originated in the fertile crescentand been taken into cultivation

in the Nile Valley,” Dr Dear said.“From there it went to Syria and

Palestine, as occurred with thedomestication of other importantcrops such as barley and wheat.”

Dr Dear says a project under-way in the molecular biology labo-ratories at Wagga Wagga is the firststep in developing an effectivebreeding project and demonstratesthe benefits of international col-laboration.

Dr Dear and Dr Raman areworking with Professor DevendraMalayiva from the IndianGrassland and Fodder ResearchInstitute located at Jhansi andSteve Hughes from the SARDIGenetic Resource Centre inAdelaide.

Dr Malayiva is working in theDepartment of Primary Industrylabs at the Wagga Institute forthree months.

The EH Graham Centre atCharles Sturt University and theIndian Department of Biotech-nology are sponsoring the project.■ Contact Brian Dear (02) 6938 1856,[email protected] orHarsh Raman (02) 6938 1925,Wagga Wagga,[email protected]

Berseemcultivars

Dr Harsh Raman, Dr Brian Dear and Dr Devendra Malaviya inspect one ofmany accessions of Berseem clover being analysed at Wagga Wagga forgenetic diversity, using molecular marker technology.

A RESEARCH team is unrav-elling the genetic reasons whysome bread wheats performbetter than others under vari-able moisture conditions.

They expect the researchwill ultimately lead to vari-eties capable of producingmore grain in both wet anddry environments.

The aim of the project is toidentify the genes in wheatthat contribute to yield insouthern NSW.

The project forms part ofNSW DPI’s response to a rap-idly changing productionenvironment for farmers.

A unique set of NSW DPItrials has been established onvarieties grown with andwithout irrigation.

Major wheat breeding companies in Australia havecontributed 1000 of their best varieties, grown at two locations, Yanco Agricul-tural Institute and Colleam-

bally Demonstration Farm.At each location the geno-

types are grown under con-trasting conditions of non-stressed, with unlimited waterand nutrients and stressed,with low rainfall at moisturestressed locations.

The trials are part of thelargest irrigated winter cerealtrials in Australia consistingof 4000 plots at each location.

“Our first year of trials,recently collected, has shownpromising and surprisingresults,” project leader, NSWDPI senior plant pathologist,Andrew Milgate said.

“In broad terms we achievedexcellent contrasting yieldresults in the two treatments.”

“The non-stressed treatmentaverage yields were 8.8 tonnesper hectare at Coleamballyand 8.6t/ha at Yanco and thestressed treatment yielded4.3t/ha at Coleambally and4.7t/ha at Yanco.

“We were able to clearlyindentify groups of varietieswhich were able to maintainhigh yield under both treat-ments.”

There were also groups ofvarieties that showed imp-roved performance in eitherthe stressed or non-stressedtreatments.

The trials are a collabora-tion between NSW DPI, theGrains Research and Dev-elopment Corporation, Irrig-ated Cropping Forum, NSWBiofirst and the support ofAustralian wheat breedingcommunity – Intergrain,Enterprise Grains Australia,Australian Grain Techno-logies, High Rainfall Zoneand Longreach Plant Breed-ers.■ Contact Andrew Milgate,Peter Martin, Neroli Graham,Wagga Wagga, (02) 69381999, or John Lacy, Yanco,(02) 6951 2738.

Analysis of bread wheats

LEFT: Contrastingtreatment in the Yancotrials – stressedtreatment of breadwheat varieties (left)and non-stressedtreatment (right). Thevarieties are part of thelargest irrigated wintercereal trials in Australia,consisting of 4000 plotsat Yanco and the samenumber at Colleambally.

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RECENT wether trial shearingshave provided strong evidenceto contradict the talking

down of the profitability of Merinowool.

Provided you have the right sheep,there’s still a profit to be made, saysNSW DPI sheep and wool officer,Sally Martin.

“There have been four wether trialshearings around NSW over the pastthree months and the same messagecan be drawn from each set ofresults,” Ms Martin said.

“The top performing teams in thesetrials are earning an extra 35 to 40per cent more in wool value on a dol-lar per head basis than the bottomperforming teams.”

Ms Martin says the weather trialteams were randomly drafted, nothand picked, to replicate an averageflock performance.

“This extra income per head hasbeen demonstrated in different cli-matic environments and manage-ment systems, from high rainfall,high stocking rates to lower rainfalland more conservative stockingrates,” she said.

“Even wool prices based on a fiveyear or 12 month or current (spot)

wool market show the same variationin profitability.”

At one site, there was a $297 perhectare net profit difference betweenthe top performing 20pc and the bot-tom 20pc of teams, after all variableand overhead costs were taken intoconsideration.

The body weight differences are rel-atively low between teams withintrial sites, demonstrating that certainflocks are more efficient, producingmore wool per hectare.

“You might feel that wether trialinformation is not relevant to yourenterprise or business because youdon’t keep wethers more than 12months old,” Ms Martin said.

“However the trial informationgives the best picture of what a flock’sewe base would contribute in addi-tion to the contribution from onewool clip from wether lambs prior tosale at 12 months.”

A full Merino Bloodline Perform-ance comparison will be available inthe next two months that comparesall the Merino bloodlines entered inwether and ewe trials across Australia.■ Contact Sally Martin, Young,0427 401 538,[email protected]

A DROP off in compulsory ear tag-ging of sheep since the start of theyear follows saleyard audits showingalmost half the producers sellingsheep have not been correctly com-pleting required paperwork.

“There is a clear need for moresheep producers to tag their sale ani-mals correctly to conform to theNational Livestock IdentificationSystem for sheep and goats,” NSWDPI livestock officer, Ed Joshua, said.

So there’s a new catchphrase ofencouragement to anyone sellingsheep.

“What could be a neater fit than theacronym NVD as a slogan for sheepNational Vendor Declarations being‘Not Very Difficult’ to complete?” MrJoshua asks.

Comprehensive saleyard audits in2007 and 2008 showed very highcompliance with tagging – at least96pc – but a lot of PropertyIdentification Codes (PIC) missingfrom NVDs.

“Early indications from 2009 auditsshow the level of tagging has droppedoff and there is still a problem withcorrect and full completion of move-

ment documents,” Mr Joshua said.The tag lag may be occurring

because there were exemptions priorto January 1, 2009, with some pro-ducers not up to speed with the rules.

Since January 1, all sheep, includ-ing those born before January 2006,must be ear tagged before they aremoved from any property to a sale-yard, abattoir or another property

The tag must be printed with thePIC of the property the sheep aremoving from.

“A movement document – the ‘notvery difficult’ National Vendor Dec-laration (or transported stock state-ment) must be fully completed andaccompany the sheep,” Mr Joshua said.

“If the mob is non-vendor bred ormixed (that is, stock have beenbrought in) and contains tags withdifferent PICs, all PICs must be writ-ten on the movement document, or apink post breeder tag must be used.

“From the 2007-08 saleyards auditfigures, 46pc of sheep and goat pro-ducers need to pay more attention todetail.

“Anyone who thinks the ‘Not VeryDifficult’ is in fact all too hard is

risking a hefty fine,” he warned.“Penalties of up to $11,000 will be

imposed if sheep are found nottagged and NVDs without PIC infor-mation properly filled out.”

The National Livestock Identific-ation Scheme (NLIS) Sheep andGoats is Australia’s system for identi-fying and tracing sheep, lambs andfarmed goats.

Mr Joshua says the system enhancesAustralia’s ability to maintain access tokey export markets and would help toquickly contain a major food safety ordisease incident.

It is being implemented by industryin partnership with governmentsacross Australia.

“Making sure that all sheep andgoats are tagged where required andthat movement documents are com-pleted properly is the best way to pre-vent the need for more expensivealternatives being introduced,” MrJoshua said.■ Contact Edward Joshua, Dubbo,(02) 68811275, [email protected], your local NSW DPIlivestock officer, your livestockagent, or the local Livestock Healthand Pest Authority.

Wether trials show Merinos’ profit

Sheep and wool officer, Sally Martin, crunched numbers to determine each wether team’s value on the day of the shearing.

‘Not Very Difficult’ to fix tag, paperwork dropEditorial appointeesTHREE contributors to this edition’sSheep and Wool feature have beenappointed to the editorial board of aninternationally respected scientificjournal.

Dr Sue Hatcher, Dr Sue Mortimer andDr David Hopkins have all recentlybeen appointed to Animal ProductionScience, published by CSIRO.

The 19-member board includesrepresentatives from New Zealand,Switzerland, Uruguay, Spain and SouthAfrica.

Primary Industries Minister IanMacdonald said the appointmentsacknowledged the expertise of NSWDPI in animal production.

“Dr Sue Hatcher has beenrecognised for her contribution to andknowledge of wool production andquality, and the breeding, nutrition andreproduction of sheep,” he said.

“The appointment of Dr SueMortimer acknowledges her as anauthority in sheep breeding, geneticsand genetic improvement.

“The appointment of principalresearch scientist, Dr Hopkins, wasmade on the basis of his contributionto carcase measurement, meat qualityand production effects on growth andquality of sheepmeat and beef.”


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UNMULESED Merinos,lamb survival, sheepreproduction, body

wrinkle, e-sheep managementand improved meat qualitywere topics for discussion at arecent open day at the CowraAgricultural Research andAdvisory Station.

More than 250 producers,industry representatives, proc-essors and researchers attend-ed.

The event showcased resultsfrom the Co-operative Res-earch Centre for Sheep Ind-ustry Innovation (Sheep CRC)Information Nucleus (IN)project which aims to trans-form the future of theAustralian sheepmeat andwool industries.

NSW Department of Prim-ary Industries principal res-earch scientist, David Hop-kins, said the day was a greatopportunity to discuss withstakeholders what the projecthad achieved to date and itsaims.

“We had some very valuablefeedback and it was great tosee the level of confidence(which exists) in the future ofwool and sheep meat,” DrHopkins said.

Sessions on improving theSunday roast rivalled the pop-ularity of the lamb lunch pre-pared by local TAFE students,and there were some passion-ate exchanges on micronwidth and fleece quality.

The project is recording up

to 150 different traits whichcould lead to genetic improve-ments in local flocks.

Producers welcomed theopportunity to see the 2007and 2008 drops from theCowra 500-ewe IN flock.

NSW DPI researcher, Gor-don Refshauge, said the world-first project was using 5000ewes and 100 sires from a broadrange of breeds across thecountry to create an enormouswealth of genetic information.

“Results were of interest toboth breeders and commercialproducers with traits evaluat-ed for heritability and poten-tial genetic markers, so futurebreeding plans can better meetchanges in the environmentand consumer demand,” MrRefshauge said.

“The massive scope of thefive-year project will deliver a

vast repository of geneticinformation to transform theindustry and take it well intothe future.”

NSW DPI has another INflock of 500 ewes at the TrangieAgricultural Research Centre,with the remainder of theSheep CRC IN flocks located atArmidale, Katanning, WesternAustralia, Turretfield, SouthAustralia, Struan, SA, Hamil-ton, Victoria, and Rutherglen,Vic.

IN is supported by Meat andLivestock Australia, AustralianWool Innovation, MerinoSelect, Lambplan, industryrepresentatives, processors andresearch agencies from NSW,Victoria, South Australia andWestern Australia.■ Contact David Hopkinsand Gordon Refshauge,Cowra, (02) 6349 9777.

DIFFERENCES between lambsin tenderness and predictedmeat yield are apparentlyattributable to their genes, notjust their environment.

Flocks at Cowra and Trangieagricultural research stationsare contributing to world-firstresearch within the Co-opera-tive Research Centre for SheepIndustry Innovation (SheepCRC) that aims to gather thegenetic information needed tobreed for improved produc-tion, eating quality and nutri-tional value of lamb.

The progeny of these flocksare part of the Sheep CRCInformation Nucleus (IN)flock.

They are being measuredextensively for key traits rele-vant to growth, meat yield andeating quality that would befamiliar to producers, plussome new and novel traitswhich may improve the nutri-tional value of lamb.

Knowing the potentialimpact of industry breedingprograms on these traits iscritical to keeping lamb tasty,healthy, value for money anddemanded by consumers.

NSW DPI researcher, SueMortimer, will analyse the level of inheritance (heritabili-ty) of meat traits and thegenetic relationships amongthem.

She will work with res-earchers from the CRC’s NextGeneration Meat QualityProgram, who will do the

measuring and some relatedanalysis.

“Components of yield, ten-derness, eating quality andnutritional value of lamb sam-ples have now been measuredfrom about 4000 animals ofthe first two drops of the INflock, with more measure-ments to come on a furtherthree drops,” Dr Mortimersaid.

“Very early results from theseunique data are promising – itappears that the differencesbetween animals in tendernessand predicted meat yield areaffected by their genes and notsimply by the environment inwhich they grew.

“More data will confirm ifthis is indeed the case, but justas importantly will examinethe genetic relationships amongthe meat traits as well as rela-tionships with growth and livescanning traits.

“This information is neededto predict the consequences of

selection from current indus-try breeding programs, allow-ing monitoring of changes inunselected traits important toconsumer demand.

“Where these changes arelikely to be unfavourable thenadjustments can be made tobreeding programs to ensurethat lamb retains its consumermarket position.

“Already it is known that therelationship between musclingand tenderness may not befavourable, as earlier researchby NSW DPI’s David Hopkinshas shown that selection formuscling may result in greatertoughness of some lamb cuts,”Dr Mortimer said.

Animals born at Cowra andTrangie (pictured) are theprogeny of Merino and firstcross ewes from AI matings tokey industry sires drawn froma range of breeds.■ Contact Sue Mortimer,Trangie, (02) 6880 8008,[email protected]

THE majority of Merino rambreeding flocks only collectpartial pedigree records.

Some progeny only have sirepedigree and some have nopedigree at all.

This is due largely to thelabour intensive and thereforecostly nature of collecting andmanaging pedigree records.

However, the lack of pedi-gree records comes at a cost togenetic improvement.

Effective sire and damrecords can:

● improve reliability of theinformation from which bree-ding values are predicted

● enable accurate geneticcomparison between animalsover time and

● provide genetic links bet-

ween flocks so that across-flock evaluation is possible.

The use of a PedigreeMatchMaker (PMM) walk bysystem and analysis of the datagenerated enables cost effec-tive collection of female pedi-gree through dam and lambassociation.

PMM costs about three dol-lars per lamb compared withan estimated $12 for mother-ing up and more than $30 asample for DNA analysis.

NSW DPI developed the ideaand staff first trialled theprocess in 2006 and thePedigree MatchMaker Servicefor data analysis is now pro-vided commercially byAdvanced Breeding Services.

To obtain a service report,

three things are required – afile containing all dams’ radiofrequency identification dev-ice (RFID) numbers in thegroup of sheep under inves-tigation, a separate file con-taining all of the lamb RFIDsand the file or files contain-ing the walkover raw data downloaded from a data log-ger.

The fee for a standard PMMreport is $40.■ For more informationabout setting up a PMMsystem, contact SteveSemple, Orange, (02) 6391 3881,[email protected] Advanced BreedingServices, (02) 6291 3901,[email protected] aboutthe service and reports.

LEFT: A walkby system andanalysis of thedatageneratedenablescollection ofpedigree datathrough damand lambassociation.

Cheaper walk by pedigree

Tastier value-for-money lamb Vast repositoryof genetic info

2007 drop first-cross sheep from the Sheep CRC InformationNucleus flock, yarded for the 250 visitors to inspect at the open dayat Cowra.

www.dpi.nsw.gov.au, www.primex.net.au

Primex: Primary Industries Exhibition

for the latest training and

events log on to our website

www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/eventsThursday 11 to Saturday 13 June 2009at Bruxner Highway, Casino

Primex is the premier agricultural field day in Northern NSW, covering almost every aspect of primary industry in Australia. Visit NSW DPI at site N12 where you can gather information on: pasture plants, soils, horticulture, soybeans, cattle ticks, beef

cattle and biochar – a charcoal-like product that has many greenhouse gas and soil health benefits.

See the fisheries display, learn all about our underwater life, how we can play a part in preserving it, and the rules that apply if you are fishing in NSW waters.

Agronomists, horticulturists and livestock officers will be available to discuss issues with you between 10 am and 2 pm.


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FINE wool producers are nowseeking to breed “easy care” plain-er-bodied animals which would beless susceptible to flystrike.

However, until now there hasbeen no genetic information avail-able on the consequences of select-ing for reduced wrinkle in finewool bloodlines, as most previousresearch was undertaken withmedium to broad wools from the1950s to 1970s.

NSW DPI senior research scien-tist, Dr Sue Hatcher, has recentlycompleted an analysis of the genet-ic relationships between wrinklescore and a wide range of woolproduction and quality traits on amixed bloodline flock comprisingfine wool wethers.

Her results clearly demonstratevariation in wrinkle score accountsfor more than 90 per cent of thetotal variation in these traits,between and within animals.

In addition, wrinkle scores in finewools were both highly repeatableand highly heritable.

“These results indicate that wrin-

kle scores in fine wool sheep areunder a similar degree of geneticcontrol as fibre diameter and cleanfleece weight,” Dr Hatcher said.

In agreement with previous workusing broader bloodlines, correla-tions between neck and bodywrinkle were strong and positive.

This indicates either score willprovide a reliable visual descrip-tion of the degree and quantity ofwrinkles on an individual animal.

“Fine wool producers looking to breed plainer-bodied animalscan select for reduced wrinklewithout any major detrimentaleffect on the wool production andquality of their flock,” Dr Hatchersaid.

“In fact, selection for reducedwrinkle will actually lead to denserfleeces with a softer handle.”

However, greasy and clean fleeceweight both had economicallyunfavourable relationships withwrinkle.

“But the good news is that thisunfavourable relationship is simi-lar in magnitude to that occurring

between clean fleeceweight and fibre diam-eter and experience hasshown us simultane-ous improvement inthese two traits isachievable,” Dr Hat-cher explained.

“So fine wool pro-ducers can includewrinkle score in theirselection index andreduce wrinkle scorewhile maintaining oreven increasing fleeceweight.”

Selection for plain-bodied fine woolsheep would have apositive impact onwool quality.

Dr Hatcher saidplainer-bodied fine wools wouldtend to produce finer, higher yield-ing fleeces with longer staplelength, lower variation in fibrediameter, improved resistance tocompression and measure colour.

“Liveweight was only weakly cor-

related with wrinkle, indicatingthat selection for plain-bodied finewools will not affect carcassweight.”■ Contact Dr Sue Hatcher,Orange, (02) 6391 3861.

OPTIMUM fertiliser applica-tion rates do not changemarkedly as fertiliser prices

increase, even up to very high fertilis-er costs, according to modelling ofthree sheep enterprise types.

When phosphorus fertiliser priceswent through the roof, there was con-siderable debate as to whether apply-ing them remained financially bene-ficial.

The question was: could less fertilis-er applied at a higher price result in agreater net profit for a grazing enter-prise?

Three enterprise types were mod-elled: Merino wethers, self-replacingMerino ewes, and crossbred ewes attwo locations, Bookham (NSW) andHamilton, Victoria.

The grazing system decision sup-port tool GrassGro was used to assesshow price changes affected optimallevels of maintenance fertiliser appli-cation.

Data from fertiliser trials at bothlocations validated the GrassGro sim-ulations.

Superphosphate prices examinedwere historic at $250 per tonne,

approximate current price at the timeof simulation, $540/t, and two higherlevels, $750/t and $1000/t.

The GrassGro modelling showedoptimum fertiliser application ratesdid not change markedly as fertiliserprice increased, even up to the high-est cost.

For example, at Bookham the high-est gross margins were consistentlyachieved at a fertiliser rate of 90 kilo-grams superphosphate per hectare ayear (the highest level modelled), evenup to a fertiliser price of $1000/t.

The consistency of optimal fertiliserapplication rate, regardless of fertilis-er price, was found for all three enter-prise types examined at bothBookham and Hamilton.

The grazing systems modelling withGrassGro was extended by applying acash flow analysis, to identify finan-cial risk associated with differentcombinations of fertiliser applicationrate and long term stocking rate.

Increases in fertiliser pricedecreased the combination of fertilis-er application rates and stockingrates that were financially viable inthe long term (see graphs).

None of the enterprise typesassessed at Bookham or Hamiltonwere financially viable without somefertiliser input.

Paradoxically, conservative stockingrates and low fertiliser applicationrates became less financially viable asfertiliser price increased, becausegreater income was required to coverthe higher input costs.

Applying fertiliser at the rate whichmaximised gross margins also pro-vided the greatest range of stockingrates which were both financiallyviable and environmentally sustain-able (see graphs).

The results from the GrassGro sim-ulations suggest that despite increas-es in phosphorus fertiliser prices,there were still significant benefits tobe gained from long term application.

This was based on a flock of averageproduction.

The same response would not beachieved for a low producing flock.■ Contact Phil Graham, Yass,(0428) 272 552,[email protected]

– PHIL GRAHAM and KAREL MONKANY

Effects of fertiliserprice on management

LEFT: Breeding for plain-bodied fine wools willhave a positive impact on wool quality, saysNSW DPI senior research scientist, Dr SueHatcher. It will also bring finer fibre diameter,higher yields and longer staples.

Next month in Agriculture Today:The next edition of Agriculture Today will publish on July 2, 2009.It will cover Food Security, Beef, Catchment Health and Urban Agriculture.

Breeding plain-bodiedfine wools – no problem

THE graphs show financiallyoptimum stocking rates (thickblack line), the maximumsustainable stocking rate (thickgrey line), and the stocking ratebelow which there is more thanfive per cent chance of longterm financial losses (curvedline) as maintenance applicationrate increases.

At $540/t, stocking rates belowthe five per cent chance of lossline are understocked andunviable in the long term.

Stocking rates above themaximum sustainable stockingrate (thick grey line) areenvironmentally unviable in thelong term due to erosion riskand/or pasture degradationfrom over-stocking.

The light blue area represents the combinations of stocking rate and fertiliser application rate which are both financially viable and environmentallysustainable.

Viability combinations

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Skip the dip · gets around dipping. A sensitive new laboratory test that can diagnose lice infestations at shearing will be available for wool producers from July. Researchers who

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