The West Midlands Group (WMG) and Gallagher have recently pledged to work together to support the pastoral beef industry through the BEEFLINKS backgrounding project. The WMG led project will focus on the collection of animal performance data that can be used by backgrounders and pastoralists to increase the productivity and efficiency of their operations. WMG executive officer Dr Nathan Craig said the involvement of Gallagher will complement the project as its core is based on collecting accurate animal production data.

Paddock Chat

A West Midlands Group Original Podcast

An increasing trend is for pastoral properties to send lighter animals to the southern region to be ‘backgrounded’, or grown out, to heavier weights to enable access to the live export trade or entry into feedlots for future abattoir supply. However, the success of this approach revolves around reducing the amount of weight that is lost in the transition phase during transport from station and settling into the backgrounding property. The aim of this project was to quantify weight gain/loss in backgrounding systems for the first two months following induction in the West Midlands region.
Data was collected on cattle that were transported to the backgrounding region in 2018 and 2019 from multiple properties within the Pilbara and Northern Rangelands regions of WA, with the backgrounding properties located near Badgingarra in the West Midlands region. The cattle in this study were transitioned in the May to October period of each year and individual animal performance data was collected to monitor weight gain from induction at the backgrounding property for a period of approximately 2 months.

Matching pasture production and livestock requirements can dramatically improve animal production while reducing the cost of supplementary feeding. The aim of this trial was to evaluate a range of pasture mixes that have the potential to fill niche pasture production windows in the West Midlands region. This pasture demonstration site was located at the 2019 Spring Field Day site near Dandaragan on a sandy loam soil type. The site was established on the 5th May using a plot seeder to dry seed 12 pasture mixes, with a volunteer pasture adjacent to the site as comparison. Up to three pasture cuts were taken from each plot during the season to assess pasture production.  The site was mowed in August to simulate grazing, and NKS21 fertiliser was broadcast to each treatment.

Matching pasture production and livestock requirements can dramatically improve animal production while reducing the cost of supplementary feeding. The aim of this trial was to evaluate a range of pasture mixes that have the potential to fill niche pasture production windows in the West Midlands region. This pasture demonstration site was located at the 2019 WMG Spring Field Day site near Dandaragan on a sandy loam soil type. The site was established on the 5th May using a plot seeder to dry seed 12 pasture mixes, with a volunteer pasture adjacent to the site as comparison. Up to 3 pasture cuts were taken from each plot during the season to assess pasture production. The site was mown in August to simulate grazing, and NKS21 fertiliser was broadcast to each treatment.

Serradella is a useful pasture species on the sandy soils of the West Midlands. But it has two major weaknesses: weed control (particularly radish and capeweed) and a lack of early biomass production. By sowing serradella with a Clearfield Barley variety (Scope or Spartacus) and using Clearfield (Imidazolinone) herbicides both of these weaknesses can be overcome. The aim of this demonstration was to highlight the pro’s and con’s of using Clearfield Barley as a cover crop when sowing serradella pastures. This trial was conducted on deep pale yellow sand west of Moora.

Global beef production is responding to sustained high prices and robust global demand, according to a newly-released industry outlook.
In its latest global beef report, Global beef production becoming more competitive and more complex, Rabobank examines the new trade dynamics, policies and consumer-driven preferences that are increasingly shaping the beef sector’s future success.