Solutions to Suboptimal Performance in Livestock in the Field

Animal health and production management practices used on sheep and beef cattle properties in south-eastern Australia have been shown in recent surveys, and by consultancy work undertaken by the University of Melbourne Mackinnon Project, to be suboptimal in several areas. Implementation of many advances from research in animal nutrition, production and health in the field has been poor. For example, in sane districts up to 80% of sheep flocks lamb during autumn and early winter. A change to a spring lambing would enable more sheep to be run on these properties without increasing winter stocking rates. Control of internal parasites on most properties could be improved through the correct timing and use of effective anthelmintics, awareness of the emerging problem of anthelmintic resistance, and planning low risk pastures for weaner sheep. Supplementary feeding could be used more cost-effectively by monitoring the live weight of young sheep over the dry summer and autumn months. Footrot, lice, fleece diseases, blowflies, stocking rate, flock structure, genotype, genetic improvement programs, and poor financial planning cause widespread problems. Each farm presents a unique combination of factors contributing to suboptimal performance, and each farmer has a different attitude to change and risk. Since regional extension methods have generally been unsuccessful in transferring research findings to the farm gate, it seems that the solution to improving suboptimal performance in the field is to have consultants and advisers working directly with the farmer who is charged for the services provided. The most important limitation at present is the availability of consultants trained to take a whole farm approach.