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On 2 April, speaker from the North Eastern Apiarists Association

26/3/2019

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David Briggs secretary of the North Eastern Apiarists Association, based at Glenrowan, will speak at our next Stock and Land session on Tuesday week, April 2 at 10am. David said he previously has done a couple of sessions on pollination, bees and agriculture generally. So he will cover those as well as referring to our changing climate and its  effects that beekeepers are
observing.

David Palmer.
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March - 'Lowlines come under the radar'

25/3/2019

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When Julie Knight saw the back end of a Lowline bull at the 1995 Seymour Alternative Farming Field days, she said: "I don't know what I like about it but I want what he has".
Julie told our March Stock and Land session that she and husband Greg soon after bought Lowline cattle for their farm. It is at Major Plains between Dookie College and Devenish.
Now 23 years later, as well as selling surplus cattle in the eastern states, she is flushing Wanamara Lowline females for local and overseas embryo buyers after the cream of their genetics.
Julie said the Lowline breed was derived from Angus cattle imported from Canadian stud Glencarnock by the NSW Department of Agriculture in 1929.
The Department wanted to determine whether big or small cattle had higher growth rates and it divided the imports into Lowline, Highline and control groups for that purpose. After 19 years, results were inconclusive, so the Department sold its 154 purebred animals to stud breeders in 1992 and 1993.
As the name suggests Lowline cattle are smaller - about 30 per cent - than most Angus. But Julie said she liked her cattle to be at least 1.2m tall and they generally weigh 600 to 700 kg at 18 months.
She said cattlemen could carry two Lowline cattle in the same area it would take to carry just one conventional Angus and this was a factor which appealed to her because "I wanted more cows on our small property".
Julie said she didn't really know she had an eye for superior cattle until she bought a bull which was going to be castrated, but later went on to be champion at a Royal Melbourne Lowline feature show.
Last year the Lowline breed society celebrated its 25th anniversary. But Julie thought that was going to slip by relatively un-noticed, so took on with a co-author, the huge job of producing a coffee table sized book, to celebrate the breed's coming of age. Substantial and impressive it sells for $75 and was launched in June.
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Julie Knight holds a copy of the Lowline history which she co-authored.
Julie said Lowline bulls were particularly useful as easy calving sires used over heifers of more conventionally sized beef breeds. One Riverina Wanamara customer, was delighted with the ease of calving Lowline cross calves from her large Hereford heifers. But given the difference in size, she and Julie were amazed that the Lowline bulls were capable of serving them so obviously successfully.
 

Lowline carcasses are renowned for yielding between 60 and 70 per cent beef: one Wanamara steer yielded 160kg of beef from a 220kg carcase Julie said. As its breeders say: ”Grow beef not bone”.
​

David Palmer
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    About 'Stock and Land'

    Are you a regular watcher of ‘Country Wide’ or reader of ‘Stock and Land’ or ‘The Weekly Times’?  Did you grow up on, run, still run, or downshift into Benalla from a farm?  Perhaps you studied/taught food and agriculture related courses or worked in an area related to agriculture?  Or perhaps, like most of us, you are interested in where food comes from.
    This group aims to provide a regular forum for members with interest and experience in agriculture to discuss agricultural issues and current developments in farming.  Monthly two-hour sessions will  feature well informed speakers from particular areas of farming who will share their story, their understanding of current issues and developments in their field.  This is followed by questions and discussions.   When time permits, the group also discusses current farming news and shares farming stories.  

    Meeting Times

    1st Tuesday of the month from 10 am to 12 midday.

    Convenor Contact Details

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    David Palmer 5762 4468

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    David Palmer
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