Sheep Updates 2007 - part 4

This session covers eight papers from different authors: GRAZING 1. The impact of high dietary salt and its implications for the management of livestock grazing saline land, Dean Thomas, Dominique Blache, Dean Revell, Hayley Norman, Phil Vercoe, Zoey Durmic, Serina Digby, Di Mayberry, Megan Chadwick, Martin Sillence and David Masters, CRC for Plant-based Management of Dryland Salinity, Faculty of Natural & Agricultural Sciences, The University of Western Australia, WA. 2. Sustainable Grazing on Saline Lands - outcomes from the WA1 research project, H.C. Norman1,2, D.G. Masters1,2, R. Silberstein1,2, F. Byrne2,3, P.G.H. Nichols2,4, J. Young3, L. Atkins1,2, M.G. Wilmot1,2, A.J. Rintoul1,2, T. Lambert1,2, D.R. McClements2,4, P. Raper4, P. Ward1,2, C. Walton5 and T. York6 1CSIRO Centre for Environment and Life Sciences, Wembley, WA 2CRC for Plant-based Management of Dryland Salinity. 3School of Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of Western Australia. 4Department of Agriculture and Food WA. 5Condering Hills, Yealering. 6Anameka Farms, Tammin. MEAT QUALITY 3. Development of intramuscular fat in prime lambs, young sheep and beef cattle, David Pethick1, David Hopkins2 and Malcolm McPhee3,1School of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences, Murdoch University, Murdoch, WA, 2NSW Department of Primary Industries, Cowra, NSW,3NSW Dept. of Primary Industries, University of New England, Armidale, NSW, 4. Importance of drinking water temperature for managing heat stress in sheep, Savage DB, Nolan JV, Godwin IR, Aoetpah A, Nguyen T, Baillie N and Lawler C University of New England, Armidale, NSW, Australia EWE MANAGEMENT TOOLS 5. E - sheep Management of Pregnant Merino Ewes and their Finishing Lambs, Ken GeentyA, John SmithA, Darryl SmithB, Tim DyallA and Grant UphillA A Sheep CRC and CSIRO Livestock Industries, Chiswick, NSW B Turretfield Research Station, SARDI, Roseworthy, SA 6. Is it important to manage ewes to CS targets? John Young, Farming Systems Analysis Service, Kojonup, WA MULESING 7. Mulesing accreditation - Vital for Wool\u27s Future, Dr Michael Paton, Department of Agriculture and Food WA, 8. Mulesing Alternatives, Jules Dorrian, Affiliation Project Manager Blowfly Control Australian Wool Inovatio

Cattle breeding in Northern Australia: Revealing how consumers react to alternative technologies

In Australia, Bos taurus cattle breeds produce high quality meat, superior in taste and tenderness characteristics. Nevertheless, these breeds do not thrive in the Northern Australian environment. Stem cell transplant technologies, that make use of adult stem cells harvested from a Bos Taurus bull and the subsequent allogeneic transplantation of testicular cells into a Bos indicus bull, could improve northern beef cattle breeding programs by facilitating crossbreeding via natural service. Focus groups were used in this study to explore consumer reaction to specific reproduction technologies and the implications for buying intentions. Findings from these focus groups were then used for development of choice experiment surveys. Survey results suggested that while some consumers indicated that they were not concerned about the specified stem cell technology being utilized in beef production, generally people were willing to pay to avoid eating steak that had been produced in this way. Moreover, it appears that they would pay more to avoid this steak when specific key words providing additional information about the technology (stem cells; radiotherapy) were used to describe the steak being valued. Even so, the wording of the technology description did not have a significant effect on this value. The relatively large discount values required by respondents to purchase steaks produced using stem cell technology may be slightly lower depending on whether consumers have a genuine aversion to the use of artificial insemination. It is beyond the scope of this study to explore the stability of preference estimates from a discrete choice experiment but from a theoretical perspective, it would be worthwhile

An economic analysis of sheep flock structures for mixed enterprise Australian farm businesses

A strategic question facing many mixed enterprise broadacre farm businesses in Australia is, ‘What sheep flock size and structure is most profitable to complement the farm’s cropping enterprises?’ This study answers this question for a typical large mixed enterprise farm business in a key production region of Australia. Whole-farm bioeconomic modelling, combined with broad-ranging sensitivity analysis, is used to examine the profitability of different sheep flock structures and sizes. We find the most profitable flock structure is to run Merino ewes and turn off finished Merino or firstcross lambs. The profitable selection of these flocks is robust to commodity price variation but does require the farmer to give more attention to sheep management. The correct choice of flock structure greatly adds to farm profit. A farm based on cropping and a self-replacing Merino flock using surplus ewes for first-cross, meat lamb production earns 33 per cent more profit than a similar farm that runs a traditional self-replacing Merino flock that emphasises wool production. Of far less importance than flock structure, as a source of additional profit, is to increase flock size or adjust cropping intensity

Sheep Preference for Fresh Leaf and Stem of Seven Accessions of Tedera Was Not Influenced by Prior Grazing Experience and Wilting Made No Difference

Tedera is a valuable high-quality forage for sheep during summer–autumn. There is evidence that prior grazing experience of novel forages influences preference and haymaking of tedera improves preference by goats. In the first experiment, it was hypothesised that the voluntary feed intake (VFI) of fresh leaves and stems of tedera by sheep would be greater for experienced vs. naïve sheep. In the second experiment, it was hypothesised that the VFI of naïve sheep fed wilted leaves and stems of tedera would be greater than fresh leaves and stems of tedera. To test these hypotheses, adult Merino sheep were fed seven accessions of tedera, in two outdoor pen feeding experiments conducted consecutively. Each of six pens had 14 feeders, two for each accession, and two sheep. In experiment 1, three pens had sheep that had previously grazed tedera (experienced) and three pens had sheep with no experience (naïve), and all were fed fresh leaves and stems of the seven tedera accessions. Experiment 2 involved only naïve sheep, with three pens fed fresh leaves and stems and three pens fed wilted leaves and stems of the seven tedera accessions. Preference was measured each day for six days in experiment 1; and for five days in experiment 2 by calculating the average differences of feed offered and feed remaining from the feeders. In experiment 1, experienced sheep showed no difference in preference (average percentage eaten) in the first hour of each day compared to naïve sheep (70% vs. 56% DM intake (kg), p = 0.27). There was an increase in the amount eaten from the first to the last day for both groups, except for the intake of one accession that was reduced for the experienced sheep. In experiment 2, there was no statistical difference in preference between accessions. However, when the average percentage eaten by the experienced and naïve groups are combined, they are strongly correlated, with significant differences between accessions. Sheep did not eat more wilted tedera compared to fresh, which did not support our hypothesis. The only differences we found in sheep preference for tedera accessions occurred in experiment 1. Further studies to investigate seasonal differences in sheep preference between accessions is required and increased replication is needed to better determine the effect of prior grazing experience on the preference for tedera accessions

Outcomes in Newly Diagnosed Atrial Fibrillation and History of Acute Coronary Syndromes: Insights from GARFIELD-AF

BACKGROUND: Many patients with atrial fibrillation have concomitant coronary artery disease with or without acute coronary syndromes and are in need of additional antithrombotic therapy. There are few data on the long-term clinical outcome of atrial fibrillation patients with a history of acute coronary syndrome. This is a 2-year study of atrial fibrillation patients with or without a history of acute coronary syndromes

Analysis of Outcomes in Ischemic vs Nonischemic Cardiomyopathy in Patients With Atrial Fibrillation A Report From the GARFIELD-AF Registry

IMPORTANCE Congestive heart failure (CHF) is commonly associated with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (AF), and their combination may affect treatment strategies and outcomes