Porter Novelli Adelaide

Kevin Mitchell of Devenish in Victoria has been producing prime lambs for long enough to know that one single ingredient or input will not ensure the best outcome.

Kevin’s mix for producing good prime lambs follows the highly popular Australian mix of Border LeicesterxMerino ewes and Poll Dorset rams run on good pastures with well defined husbandry practices.

“If any of those key ingredients are not right you can’t expect to turn off profitable prime lambs,” Kevin says.

The fact that he obviously practises what he preaches is well demonstrated by his enterprise’s track record of regularly topping markets and having a regular group of eager buyers.

Kevin normally runs about 1,800 ewes on his 900 acre property, but currently, due to a shortage of irrigation water and rain and a resultant lack of good pasture, this has been reduced to 1,500.

“My biggest challenge over the last couple of years has been supplying the feed to get the maximum out of our sheep enterprise,” he said.

“Due to the dry conditions I have had to mothball our lucerne hay enterprise which in some years has produced up to 30,000 square bales of hay. Our focus is now almost entirely on the sheep. However if all goes well I hope to put some land back into irrigated wheat this year.

“Normally the rams go in at the end of March, with lambing starting towards the end of August. This year, in an effort to try to get more out of our depleted pastures, I mated 500 of our older ewes to drop their lambs in May.”

Kevin’s property has fairly small paddocks which he says helps his high (140%) overall lambing percentage even though he only runs one ram to 75 ewes at mating time.

“A few weeks before lambing we run the ewes through the yards and take out any that are obviously not in lamb and then put about 100 ewes in each specially-dedicated 20 acre paddock,” he said. Read the rest of this entry »

Applications are invited for the next course of the Australian Rural Leadership Program, which will commence from May 2009. The program, supported by growers and the Australian Government through the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC), is open to men and women already active in leadership roles in the community or industry affairs who want to help shape the future of rural and regional Australia. Applications close on July 31, 2008. For more information contact the Australian Rural Leadership Foundation on (02) 6281 0680 or visit www.rural-leaders.com.au.

Cult natural personal care brand Burt’s Bees is taking the ‘natural’ challenge to the market with a Lip Balm Amnesty offer to all visitors to this year’s Sydney Organics Show, July 25-27 at the Sydney Exhibition Centre, Darling Harbour.

To spread the word about their arrival in Australia, and to put a spotlight on the debate around the term ‘natural’, Burt’s Bees will exchange one old lip balm for a Burt’s Bees Lip Balm, free of petrochemicals, synthetic preservatives, chemical sunscreens, phthalates, artificial flavours or colours.

 “The Sydney Organics Show is one of the best showcases for organic and natural products in the country”, Burt’s Bees Australia General Manager Emma Bird said.

“We think it is an ideal opportunity to help consumers get to grips with what the term ‘natural’ really means when it’s used in relations to personal care products,” Ms Bird said.

“We know from extensive consumer studies that people are confused about the definition of the word ‘natural’ as it relates to personal care, and we know that consumers are concerned about making the right choices,” she said. Read the rest of this entry »

High profile national law firm Piper Alderman has signalled plans to increase their longstanding   commitment to the agribusiness sector by stepping up as a state sponsor in South Australia for the Agribusiness Association of Australia.

Partner Simon Venus said the decision is a natural one for a firm whose own history is so intertwined with South Australia’s agribusiness beginnings.

 “With our origins dating from the 1840s, Piper Alderman is one of the oldest legal firms in South Australia and from the earliest days the firm has acted for primary producers and the great pastoral houses that helped establish the state’s regional communities and underpin its economy,” Mr Venus said. “For over 160 years we have been advising clients in the agribusiness sector in Australia,” he said.

The Agribusiness Association of Australia aims to facilitate communication across the agri-food chain and to promote the contribution made by agribusiness to the Australian economy and community. The Association offers regular presentations on emerging trends and opportunities for members to hear from expert advisers, and a weekly emailed news digest service to keep members in touch. Read the rest of this entry »