NLIS Australia

Although it’s been almost two weeks since we returned from Australia, I still wish I was there exploring more of the agriculture and country! We saw numerous aspects of agriculture while we were there, but like many of my classmates, the most impressive to me was the National Livestock Identification System (NLIS). This was something we learned about on the second day in Australia at the Victoria Department of Primary Industries. The NLIS is a mandatory system for all cattle in Victoria and is working its way into the mandatory side of sheep identification. It tracks animals from birth to slaughter in a number of different ways depending on their life journey and the farmer’s business.

First, they are given an eID tag which is an electronic ear tag that is placed in the right ear only. It has a property number and individual ID number. You can also use an electronic bolus that is placed in the rumen rather than the ear tag. On the ranch, farmers have an electronic wand reader that can be waved over the tag or a computer reader that is connected to the scales. Owners can use this to track virtually any information they want; such as gestation length, vaccinations, age, sickness, etc. If the animal is leaving the property for another, they are scanned leaving, on the transportation trucks, and arriving. Finally, they are scanned at the abattoir to show where they are harvested and where the cuts are sent.

The most impressive part of this system is the fact that every animal’s whereabouts are always known. If there is a sudden disease/sickness outbreak, the NLIS shows exactly what property that animal was from. Investigators can be there checking other cattle or sheep on the same farm and surrounding areas within a short few hours. Farmers in Victoria also like the system because of the efficiency it offers. It makes it easier and quicker to manage a large herd.

In comparison to the United States, we currently have nothing like this mandatory by law. We have not implemented something similar largely because of the expense to farmers and the overall industry. However, if we did develop a similar system, the cost would be well worth it. With the constant increase in population and high consumer demand for more and higher quality beef, a similar system could increase efficiency of herds and help famers manage better by tracking genetics and knowing what to cull quicker causing a quicker turn around for improved beef. In a worst case scenario, it would also help tremendously in tracking disease or other concerns in the livestock industry that could appear suddenly. Overall, the technology of this system is impressive and the United States, I feel, would benefit greatly by creating something similar. 

Found with an article about US ID systems in comparison.

Grand Finale

The final Australian Blog is to compare the United States to Australia and sum up my experiences there.

It was amazing seeing the different aspects of the beef and sheep industries in Australian ranches. The major difference is that most of the desirable tastes in meat is the grass fed beef. Cargill was the industry we observed that actually had feedlots for grain fed cattle. Obviously, another difference is the fact that they have sheep as a major industry throughout the country. Lamb is served at any restaurant, and the industry is profitable. Sheep in America is mostly hobby farms for showing. They don't use black face suffolk sheep either, because the black fibers make wool undesirable. Meat and wool are huge sheep industries there.

The food was different, but it wasn't bad. We definitely didn't starve! The portions were large and lunch and dinner both had dessert. Chicken Schnitzel was a very popular menu item and became a running joke throughout the trip. They actually do drive on the other side of the car and road, say G'day mate, bloddy hell, and the toilet doesn't spin any direction. Lol. Everything is way higher priced than America, but a bartender did tell us she is paid minimum wage at $17.00 an hour. That's a lot more than our minimum wage in Kansas!

I was told before I left to watch out because Aussie's love their beer, and that is the truth! After touring the brewery where we tasted beer, drinking beer while we met with Webb's, Spry's, and at every lunch and dinner, I'm convinced that Aussie's do love their beer. It is a good thing considering the drinking age is 18 years old, I was able to partake in this cultural aspect of Australia!

Finally, I had an incredible time on this trip! I will never forget or take it for granted. The learning experience was great along with the people I went with. Getting to know everyone else was a highlight and I think I've made some great friends through Australia! I would tell anyone, if they had the opportunity to visit Australia, to go. We were lucky enough to, and lucky to learn about the agriculture there. I loved Australia. If JBS or Cargill asked me to live and work in Australia, I just might say yes! :) It was an amazing experience that I can't say enough about.

Farewell Australia

The last day... We had a farewell dinner the night before at the hotel restaurant, Bushfire Grill. It was a restaurant that served side dishes and then walked around with different types of meat and put it on our plates for us. We had beef, chicken, pork, chicken heart, lamb, and grilled pineapple. It was delicious! Graham (our tour guide) gave a little speech about how we were a great group. He was very nice! Afterward, some of us attempted to have a farewell night at Giligan's again, but made one drink and were falling asleep in our booth lol. We finished packing and got up for an early 3:30 am departure for the airport.

Little fuzzy of a sunrise from the airplane window

I was not ready to leave Australia at all. I feel like the time flew by! We finally made it to the airport and left for Brisbane. We all were asleep before we even left the runway lol. I did wake up for the sunrise which was very pretty! After a three hour layover, we boarded our long flight to LA. I'm very glad I was exhausted, because I slept hard for most of the flight which made it go faster. I couldn't even start a movie without falling asleep lol. After waiting in line for Customs, we had another layover for the flight to Dallas, then the home stretch-the flight to KCI! After hours and hours on a plane and in airports, we needed a shower and a bed, but we made it home! Lol My mom picked me up and we had a good ole Big Mac from McD's on the way home lol.

Day 2 Cairns

Giligan's the night before with Kara And Kaycie

Alright, we started our last day going in the rain to the boat for the Reef. It turned out to be cloudy weather for swimming, but it all worked out. The boat ride was an hour long to get to Green Island. With the wind and the rain, the ride was so rough! People were getting motion sickness like nobody's business. I escaped to the top level to be in the fresh air and luckily didn't get sick lol. The island was pretty cool, they had shops and the beach, but it was a little on the chilly side to swim a lot. After two hours, we rode another boat to the pontoon where we snorkeled and all. There was an option to scuba dive as well for an hour. At first I wasn't going to do that, however I decided to jump on the bandwagon after everyone else did! I'm extremely glad I did too because it was AMAZING! I loved scuba diving! We trained underwater for 30 minutes then went completely in and swam around for 30 minutes. When we first got in I was getting really nervous, but after learning how to breath and all, I felt better. We saw some cool looking coral and fish. It was unbelievable. Even with the weather the way it was, everything was still beautiful. Unfortunately I don't have pictures underwater, but others do and I will post them after I save theirs. If anyone gets to go to the Reef....Go!!

Day 1 in Cairns

Well I know this is late, but technique issues seem to find us in Australia. So after we made our flight to Cairns, the first thing we did was go to the Tjapukai Cultural Centre to learn about the Aboriginal people. We saw some paintings and their meanings, how they believe the earth started, and dancing, and weapons. In the middle of the visit we learned how to throw a boom-a-rang and a spear! Needless to say, I was not meant to hunt with either one of those items. Lol. After we finished there, we made it to our hotel for the next two nights and then ate dinner at Tha Fish restaurant. I got a delicious Barrimundi, but others said they didn't like their food so much-like Katelyn with eyes still on her shrimp lol. Cairns is a very touristy city, so we went out to see what it was all about afterward. We found a bar called Giligan's which was HUGE! It had an outside part and an inside part with bands and a dance floor. The Shaake's even went out for a beer or two with us! We actually met two girls from Colorado who live there on work visas. It was interesting to see how that was for them.

We left rather late that night, for a short nap before heading to the Great Barrier Reef!

Sydney trip

Well yesterday we ended our serious part of the trip by touring the Charles Sturt University. It is a smaller university but it is an all agriculture college which has units for sheep, cattle, and horses. They were nice facilities and we finally got to see the Dogs work the sheep, which was cool to see. After that we took a 4 hour bus ride to Sydney. It was long! Sydney is too big too see all in one night so we tried to crunch sightseeing and shopping in a few hours. We ate dinner on the cruise ship around the harbor at night and saw the opera house. It was beautiful!! I can't explain how cool it was too do that! The city was busy, of course, but fun and had amazing sites that I loved seeing as we walked around.  We woke early this morning for our trip to Cairns and now we're waiting in the airport. I can't believe the trip is almost over! I've loved it and am actually dreading going back to reality lol. This should be an amazing way to end the trip though. Snorkeling, and seeing the aboriginal parts of Australia will be awesome! More after we arrive! 

Merinos, emus, shorthorns

First stop today was the merino and white Suffolk stud farm called Trigger Vale, owned by Andrew and Mandy Bouffler, where we listened to a presentation and observed some of the studs. And we met their newest bottle calf,Tom! Mr. Bouffler was professional and interesting because he was very passionate about improving the genetics of his farm and how to be more innovative and efficient. The wool of the merino was extremely soft!! It could be used for other fine silks and Italian suits as Mr. Bouffler said.

After that we went to the emu farm owned by Ian Marston where there are over 200 emus raised for processing. We don't have that in the United States in very many places, so this was interesting to hear all about the industry. The most profitable product from emus is the oil. They can get up to 10 kilograms off one bird. The owners also provided lunch to us at their beautiful house. But....emu was not part if the food. Lol. We are told it is an acquired taste so maybe it's good we didn't.

Finally, we ended the day at the Spry's Shorthorn ranch. After seeing many of their studs and listening about their prestigious business, we had steaks and beer and socialized with the for the rest if the evening. Afterwards we made it to Wagga Wagga and everyone was so exhausted! I was in bed asleep by 8:30! Lol