Station Pets

With nearly one million acres of land to kick around on, it gives us plenty of opportunity to keep a few pets.  Indeed it is certainly one of the joys of station life to have plenty of pets of various shapes and sizes.  

The obligatory pets of course are of the canine variety.  We have a little boxer called Taylor (after Taylor Swift although she is much cuter).  

We have a peacock called Fowl.  He is a refugee from Sandfire Roadhouse and enjoys playing with the chooks.  Speaking of chooks we have plenty of them who in addition to being pets also provide us with eggs.  

No station would be complete without a few horses to ride on.  With most mustering now carried out by helicopter, the horses are for recreational purposes.  

One of our more interesting pets is our pet camel "Chewy".  She was rescued as a calf and brought to the homestead. She now wanders about and looks after the poddy calves.  Research has shown that cattle can gain a benefit from grazing with camels.  Camels are ruminants like cattle and generally have a broader spectrum of bacteria in their rumen allowing them to more fully digest plant material.  These bacteria can pass to cattle if they drink from the same trough or graze in close proximity.  So it is obvious that Chewy is much more than a pretty face.

There is also the odd unusual pet like Charlie – the black headed python. 

And last but certainly not least are our cattle herd.  With about 15,000 to choose from, there are always some friendly ones amongst them.  

Superannuation Industry

It is somewhat ironic that the Federal Government of Paul Keating which undertook the Hilmer review of Competition Policy also introduced the policy of compulsory superannuation. 

The Hilmer reforms drove policy reforms through a number of sectors including agricultural industries with reforms to statutory marketing authorities.  A new Regulatory regime was introduced with substantial reforms to the Trade Practices Act.  While the Hilmer reforms are generally regarded as a success in increasing competition throughout the economy and therefore contributing to higher economic growth, a number of industries managed to escape the reforms. 

The Hilmer report was released in 1993, not long after the commencement of compulsory superannuation for all Australians in July 1992.  The introduction of superannuation is rightly regarded as one of the great achievements of the Hawke/Keating Government. 

Despite the success of compulsory super, it has created a massive gravy train, secured by Government mandate to financial industry professionals.  It is great industry to be in where this money just rolls in every month for the industry to invest and skim the cream off the top.  And what is more the Government has legislated an increase in the level of super from 9 percent to 12 percent by 2020. 

The fees generated for now massive pool of superannuation funds is about $30 billion annually and growing steadily.  Market competition has obviously failed to generate the competitive marketplace necessary to reduce these fees so the Government must step in. 

It must be a great business to be in where the money literally rolls in the door every month and you get to clip the ticket on all of it.  If ever there were an industry that had lost its social licence (whatever that is) then this would be it.

Northern Australia

It is great to see comments and policy announcements from the coalition about developing the north.  The policy announcements recognise the enormous potential in northern Australia in a range of industries.  

There are numerous industries that could prosper in the north - agricultural pursuits, mining, tourism, medical services to high end consumers in Asia and no doubt other industries that we have not thought of yet.  This will create benefits to the entire nation in addition to the people who live there.  This will create benefits to the entire nation, in addition to the people who live there. 

It is a choice whether Australia captures the opportunities available for northern Australia.  The opportunities will not materialise for the nation, rather it will take effort to capture them. 

 In the past Government policies and actions about northern Australia have never matched the rhetoric.   It has been all too easy to talk about the opportunities and not take the hard decisions necessary to capture the opportunities.  Indeed many Government policies in the past have negative consequences for industry development in the north – the suspension of the live cattle trade to Indonesia being a prime example. 

The decisions required of Government will be difficult especially given the state of Federal Government finances currently.  The investment required to capture the opportunities available to northern Australia will be substantial due to the large geographical area involved.  A major requirement of Governments will be investment in infrastructure which is likely to be extremely costly. 

Despite that there is some low hanging fruit that an incoming Government could pick.  Reinvigorating existing industries will obviously require less initial investment and give an almost immediate return.  My own industry, the northern cattle industry could be reenergised by improving trade relations with Indonesia. 

I hope that the latest round of political rhetoric translates into action on the ground as soon as possible.  

Darkest Hour

The darkest hour is the hour before dawn.

I have always liked that saying for the hope that it brings.   I don't think that it is actually true and that the darkest hour is generally sometime in the middle of the night.   Never mind, I like the saying and I will stick to it.  

I interpret the saying to mean that when everything is at its bleakest, better times are just around the corner.  It certainly feels that things are at their bleakest at the moment and hope there are improved times ahead. 

The parlous state of the beef industry in Queensland has garnered media attention recently with cattle selling for as little as twenty dollars recently.  In a similar situation but for different reasons are fruit growers in Victoria who have had their contracts cancelled by SPC and are faced with the agonising decision of whether to pull out their trees.  

In my industry, the northern cattle industry, we currently have no markets for our cattle.  At a time of the year when we should be at our busiest, it is a waiting game to see whether cattle markets can be re-established.  The most frustrating thing is knowing that the people on the ground want and need what we produce but politicians get in the way to stop trade happening. 

There is plenty to be positive about when it comes to Australian agriculture such as increased demand from key markets in Asia and rising demand from agricultural products generally.  There have been some positive signs for other farming groups.  Dairy farmers have recently been the recipient of price increases for the coming season.  Good opening rains have been received in much of the winter cropping areas around Australia. 

I am just hoping for some positive news here to get the northern beef industry back on track.  

Cattle in Indonesia or people in Bangladesh?

What is more important - cattle in Indonesia or people in Bangladesh?

My industry - the cattle sector in the north of Australia - has been rocked by animal welfare abuses in export markets, notably Indonesia and Egypt.  These incidents were truly shocking to all those involved in the sector.  The response of the industry to these incidents was swift and involved investing more into animal welfare in these markets.  

To participants in the industry like me the response of the Australian Government to the problems seemed to be completely disproportionate to the magnitude of the issue.  To completely close the trade overnight crippled a successful industry in addition to offending an important trading partner and close neighbour.  

The contrast between the response to animal welfare problems in Asia and human rights abuses could not be more stark.  Recently a factory in Bangladesh collapsed killing more than 1000 people making it the worst industrial accident since the Bhopal disaster in India nearly 30 years ago. The factory collapse was the result of shoddy building standards and overcrowding in the building. 

The factory in Bangladesh produced cheap clothing enjoyed by consumers in affluent countries including Australia.  Judging by the reaction to animal welfare abuses, you would have expected a bigger reaction to this disaster and demands to rectify the situation.  After all human lives were involved and not just the lives of  farm animals.  The expected reaction would have involved a boycott of similar products made in Bangladesh or at the very least, the boycott of the companies involved, some of which were well known international brands.  And it is not as if the factory collapse was an isolated incident.  It was merely the latest in one of a string of incidents.  

To say the reaction in Australia and around the world to these incidents is muted would be the understatement of the decade. They barely create a ripple in the Australian media and no calls for blacklists from Green Party politicians.  

Of course any such boycott would not have been welcome in a desperately poor country such as Bangladesh.  The workers in such factories are no doubt grateful for whatever meagre wages they are paid.  Instead the industries involved should do a similar thing to the Australian livestock industry - work with the local companies to improve their standards. Isolating countries such as Bangladesh or even industries within the country is likely to be counter productive.  

Positive Media for Livestock

It is easy to get downcast in the livestock industry.  Not only do you have to cope with low prices, high costs and increasing Government regulation, but there are also ridiculous claims from environmentalists that livestock production is bad for the environment. 

It is always good to see positive media about the sector when it comes along.  Once piece of media that has gained a lot of traction recently is the video by Allan Savory on the potential to reverse desertification in the world’s grasslands through the use of livestock.  Not only can there be food production from now degraded areas, economic and political stability can be improved in areas prone to violence. 

Allan Savory also mentions the role of regenerating grasslands and its positive effects on reversing the global warming.  The video challenges much of what is regarded as conventional thinking – that livestock production adversely affects the environment and that less is better.  To those of that produce livestock in the rangelands it confirms what we already know.  That is running livestock in the rangelands is one of the most environmentally benign forms of food production.  The rangelands are teeming with life and capable of producing large amounts of food. 

Further Reading

Allan Savory: Grassland ecosystem pioneer.  http://www.ted.com/speakers/allan_savory.html

The Farming Gene

I think we all have the farming gene in us somewhere.  For many people the gene is latent and remains that way for their whole life.  In others who live in towns and cities it may manifest itself through people growing fruit and vegetables in their backyard along with a few chooks.  Some people exercise their farming gene by visiting friends and relatives who live on rural properties. 

For farmers the “gene” is fully expressed through daily activities as they go about producing food and fibre.  Often the farming gene can reveal itself when someone marries a farmer.  Traditionally this happened when a woman from the city married a farmer and moved to the bush.  Now there are many men who follow their wives back to farms that may have been in the family for generations. 

On our property in Northern Australia, we often see expression of the farming gene when a backpacker comes to the station with no experience in handling livestock and takes to it like a duck to water.  Of course we encourage expression of the farming gene as much as we can by on the job training and encouragement. 

The farming gene also becomes evident in jobs around the homestead such as feeding the poddy calves or tending the chooks.  Again people with little or no experience in dealing with animals soon have a real connection with the animals in their care. 

Despite most people becoming further and further removed from their food production, the farming gene means that everyone could get back to some form of food production without too much trouble.