The NR Times Rural News
October 26, 2023
36 RURAL NEWS
Managing livestock in dry times Low rainfall across much of the North Coast over Autumn and Winter means that many producers are facing a lack of suitable feed coming into Spring. North Coast Local Land Services
District Veterinarians are offering advice to primary producers that, with declining pasture levels and quality, a decision must be made to sell, agist or feed cattle. The combination of lower cattle prices,
high feed and fuel costs on the back of several challenging seasons means it is critical for stock owners to make decisions in a timely manner. Jocelyn Todd, North Coast Local Land
Services District Veterinarian, said, “Selling all or some cattle might be the most financially sensible decision at this time, even if that is at a loss. “In most operations, it is more efficient in both costs and labour to sell animals, even if that is at a loss, than to feed them for an extended period.” High prices of grains, limited availability of many feedstuffs and high freight costs for hay means feeding of cattle is extremely expensive and needs to be carefully budgeted for. It is also vital to consider an exit strategy and decision points for feeding programs if the budget is
exhausted and there still has not been a break in season. Sending cattle away to agistment is another option, however freight costs and the travel, time and labour for inspection need to be taken into consideration. If cattle are to be transported to sale or agistment, they must be suitable for transport and ‘fit to load.’ Jocelyn continued, “The most important part about making all these decisions, is to ensure they are made in a timely manner BEFORE cattle have lost too much weight and are unsuitable for sale or transport.” Every operation is
unique, with different drivers, financial reserves, motivations and pressures impacting options, decisions and outcomes. There is no “one size fits all” approach for managing a herd through challenging seasonal conditions. North Coast Local Land Services has an experienced team who can assist with feed, sell or agist decisions, and can provide advice to livestock producers on feed, transport and animal health. Contact your LLS office to be put in touch with one of our team 1300 795 299.
NFF urges a rethink on fraught industrial relations Bill The National Farmers’ Federation (NFF) has sent a clear message to the Albanese Government: The Closing Loopholes Bill is fraught with issues that will make it harder and more expensive than ever to create employment opportunities in farming. The NFF Workforce Committee Chair Tony York told the Senate Committee responsible for the Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Closing Loopholes) Bill would only add layers of complexity to the industrial relations system, push up costs and make doing business more difficult than ever before. “Farmers are managing a deluge of headwinds at the moment - they’re on the cusp of drought,
commodity prices are falling through the floor, and inputs have skyrocketed on the back of inflation,” Mr York said. “Add to that to one of the industry’s biggest ongoing challenges – building a reliable, committed and capable workforce. “The NFF welcomes rational and wellconsidered reform to industrial relations and labour policy, yet we have a Bill in front of us that will do the opposite. “These reforms will create a spiderweb of complexity, making the rules near impossible to navigate for the average small farming business that doesn’t have a dedicated HR department. “The Government has a choice here to create
meaningful reforms that will boost productivity and help solve one of agriculture’s biggest challenges. “Instead it is choosing a path that will drive up the costs to engage employees and create a system people will walk away from.” The NFF also sounded alarm bells on several other aspects of the Bill: • It establishes a regime for dictating
pay arrangements in labour hire and service contractor situations. • It gives the Fair Work Commission power to make decisions beyond its traditional workplace remit, authorising it to control commercial arrangements. • It gives unions enhanced rights to enter farms unannounced, potentially intruding on personal privacy and creating biosecurity,
animal welfare, and health and safety risks. • Changes to the meaning of casual employee will deprive businesses of certainty and flexibility. Mr York said the NFF wasn’t drawing a line through all the measures in the Bill. “Small business redundancy reforms, and protection for victims of family and domestic violence represent good policy. “While we are frustrated at the missed opportunity to make good on Labor’s election promise to introduce national labour hire licensing, we support increases to penalties for underpayment. “But these are small wins that don’t offset the poor policy in the rest of the Bill.”
Mr York said Australian agriculture had a bright future and the industry-wide aspiration to become a $100B industry by 2030 was within reach. “However the immediate outlook is less positive. Only last week ABARES painted a grim picture with farm incomes to be slashed a staggering 41% and this Bill will do nothing to turn that around. “Australian agriculture has enormous untapped potential, but we need an industrial relations system that supports workers and businesses. “It’s not too late to fix this Bill and we call on this Government to come to the party and create policy settings that ensure farms are competitive and desirable workplaces.”
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