Livestock Tech Talks – Details, episodes & analysis

Allandale Station is located between Oodnadatta and Lake Eyre. The property contains a high proportion of floodplain country associated with the Neales River and consequently it has the capacity to grow high amounts of feed and contains many natural waters following rainfall events that support good grazing. Andrew and Donnagh Clarke run a maximum of about 7500 head of mostly Angus and Sangus, but this can be very much reduced during a succession of dry years. They are currently running just under 4500 head and are in a rebuilding phase.

The Clarkes select bulls and breeding cows to maximise calving and feed conversion in order to achieve the greatest possible gains when grazing conditions are favourable. This case study focusses on the use of pregnancy scanning and individual animal data to inform management of breeders and grazing.

Peter Whittlesea shares his experience with pregnancy scanning and remote monitoring technology at his sheep enterprise in central South Australia, running 10,000–13,000 self-replacing Merino ewes. 

Dr. Mary Carr, chief veterinary officer at PIRSA, talks about how Biosecurity SA is safeguarding our red meat and wool industries, and about One Biosecurity's role in maintaining market access.

Nathan Scott,  Director, Achieve Ag Solutions, explains biosecurity and talks about how an emergency animal disease outbreak can affect producers. He also discusses the role of electronic identification (eID) in traceability.

Keyneton Station is a progressive sheep enterprise run by Georgie and Toby Keynes at Keyneton with 2,700 Merino ewes mated to Merinos and Border Leicesters. Georgie discusses the benefits of eID, pregnancy scanning and AgriWebb technologies and improving land quality and lamb survival. 

Penny and Jason Schulz run Coolaroo, a 1000 hectare sheep and cattle farm in the upper south east of South Australia with Merino ewes joined to Border Leicester rams. They discuss their plans to update sheep and cattle infrastructure and making better use of eID, as well as AgriWebb and water monitoring technology.

Mentara Park is a 6000 ha mixed cropping sheep operation with 3200 Merino ewes, near the Coorong. David Eckert discusses the business's recent adoption of technology for livestock management including use of a new sheep handler, scanning for multiples and SafeAg software.

Chris Lymn runs a 4,000 hectare mixed farm enterprise including 1,500 Merino ewes, 2,000 hectares of cropping across two properties at Wudinna and Minnipa on the Upper Eyre Peninsula. Chris discusses individual animal selection and the benefits of eID technology. 

Robert Pocock runs a 3,000 hectare mixed cropping and self-replacing Merino sheep enterprise in the SA Mallee called Lampata, and was an early adopter of livestock technology in sheep management.  Robert discusses how these technologies have helped him achieve business and enterprise goals. 

Scott and Fleur Harlock are from a dairying background, where individual animal management is an important part of getting the best out of a dairy. To do that successfully requires data management skills. It's something they've applied to their 1,400 hectare sheep and cattle property at Bool Lagoon in the south-east of South Australia.