Solid crowd for workshop
Snowtown Town Hall was packed out last Thursday for a beneficial farming workshop.
About 50 farmers from around the region gathered for the Making a Profit from Sheep and Beef workshop which was hosted by Advantage Feeders and Alltech Lienert Australia.
This was the penultimate pit-stop for the workshop in South Australia after previously visiting Kingscote, Tailem Bend and Truro, with Wudinna the last destination on the itinerary.
The workshop featured talks from various guest speakers which aimed to provide those in attendance with information to help with their farming.
Dave Starr, Toby Doak and Deb Scammell of Alltech Lienert kicked off the day.
The trio discussed the nutrient requirements to maximise the development of lamb and calves, enhanced performance for containment feeding and protein management using Optisync.
Optisync is a safe and traceable non-protein nitrogen source by Lienert which is designed to provide a concentrated source of ruminal degradable protein.
About 50 farmers from around the region were in attendance for the workshop.
Gerard Rooney and Aaron Matheson from Advantage Feeders followed.
They discussed using feeders to get the most out of a farmers investment, harnessing the growth potential of young stock and extracting more out of pastures and stuble.
Hamish Dickson of AgriPartner Consulting was a special guest speaker for the workshop and closed out the event.
Mr Dickson discussed balancing pasture quality with the requirements of livestock, feedlot design and operation, and the management of ewes during late pregnancy.
Mr Dickson said that the right design of a feedlot for the right animal would have the right outcome.
He outlined the keys to success as having a clear reason for the animals entry to the feedlot and a simple, effective and productive design.
Good planning and monitoring of the animals performance was also key.
Mr Dickson also discussed how to manage stock during drought conditions, a key point as farmers in the region battle a dry season.
He said that conversing feed would result in a quicker recovery once the rain eventually falls.
Farmers were encouraged to hold off feed for a few days after the rain in order to manage the transition.
Tickets for the event cost $20 each, with all proceeds going to the National Centre for Farmer Health.
A barbecue was put on for morning tea and lunch, and a lucky draw also took place with a prize of $1000 worth of Lienert products.