Tambo Station
The Second
Tour
Today we explored the property ‘Tambo Station’ (30 000 hectares), which is 2km east of Tambo (homestead). It was a long hike all the way down to the house yards. We were then taken on a tour around the yards giving us an understanding about how each pen and both calve race and the normal race (ones for cows and other cattle bigger than calves) works. The tour was given by Mr Nugent, the owner of Tambo Station for 15 years, which gave us a great insight into the difficulties and how a cattle station works, in more depth. Even though I live on a cattle station and are fairly familiar with the processes and the works of HGP (hormone growth promotants) on a cattle property. However today I learnt more in depth about the issues about the use of HGP. One of them was that it can cause a disease which will block-up the ‘water-works’ in a beasts guts. This means that they are not able to urinate, and furthermore causes stomach pains. If a beast is not treated, which in most cases won’t be due to the lack of monitoring each and every beast, they will potentially die. Also the use of HGP is mythological supposed to tougher the meat. Overall this trip will defiantly help us on our journey through the Archibull Prize 2015. Steele Howard, year 9 |
Uanda
If I were a
farmer
If I was a farmer I would choose to be organic because in good seasons you would get more money because everyone wants to eat organic. Not using chemicals can make the meat taste a lot better than normal meat from the butchers. It doesn’t take that much to get it all set up, it only takes about 3 years and a few tests on the cattle and soil. It doesn’t cost that much at all only about $2000 a year and doesn’t cost anything extra then farming non-organic cows. Brooke Bailey, Year 9
Non-Organic All the Way
If were to become a farmer, I would rather be a non-organic farm rather than an organic one. This is because of the different ways that you can’t help or improve your cattle. For instance through a very dry season, when you are organic, you cannot feed your cattle hay, lick, molasses etc. Also another thing that you cannot help cattle with is sickness. When a cow is sick, when you’re non-organic, you can give them medical treatment such as a penicillin shot. Also you can give them vaccinations so that major diseases will never break free through your stock. Disinfecting is something that will also stop diseases which can’t be used when you’re organic. Even though the money is better in organic cattle, you cannot use hormonal growth when you’re non-organic which can increase weight gain and add money in your pocket, which will basically close the gap between the costs. Steele Howard, Year 9 |
Isoroy
Angus-The Money
Makers
Today we went to Isoroy and learnt, in depth about genetics in Angus cattle and the way this property is run. Isoroy is a 23 000 acre property run with Angus cattle; it’s about a 20 minute drive South-West of Tambo. Our visit was very informative and educational, we learnt about the diet of the Clift’s cattle, where they send their cattle to and the benefits of a certain breed of cattle that they run. We had a look around Isoroy and got to see some of the owners’ young heifers, cows and stud bulls. Isoroy is a fairly small property for around Tambo and the owners are very particular with their cattle as they are very expensive and valuable. The average price of a stud bull, they purchase from NSW or Victoria, is around $8-10,000. All the cattle on the property are very well cared for, vaccinated and categorised. They believe that Angus cattle have very good genetics and that feeding urea supplements as part of their diet is very effective. The cattle are categorised with different coloured ear tags, they use a different coloured ear tag each year, to make it easier to identify the age of their cattle, by just glancing at them. Mr and Mrs Clift said that they are very happy with their genetic breeding as they are always making money and improving their property. Selena Still, Year 7 |