WEBVTT - Forecasting feed: Data for year-round management 0:00:06.300 --> 0:00:09.420 This is Seeds for Success, a show where we have 0:00:09.420 --> 0:00:12.390 a good yarn about ag life with producers who are 0:00:12.390 --> 0:00:15.120 having a go. On the show you'll hear from farmers 0:00:15.120 --> 0:00:18.329 in New South Wales who are out there battling the elements, 0:00:18.450 --> 0:00:22.290 making tough calls, and getting the job done. You'll get 0:00:22.290 --> 0:00:24.600 a laugh out of some of their stories and also 0:00:24.600 --> 0:00:27.330 pick up some know- how along the way. I'm your 0:00:27.330 --> 0:00:35.040 host Neroli Brennan. Today we're catching up with Paul Jameson. 0:00:35.310 --> 0:00:39.690 Paul runs a livestock business on Pine Knoll Park, a 460- 0:00:39.690 --> 0:00:43.080 acre property near Geurie. Paul is currently the New South 0:00:43.080 --> 0:00:47.370 Wales Livestock Stud Manager for Elders and utilizes this experience 0:00:47.370 --> 0:00:49.950 to run sheep and cattle on what was once a 0:00:49.950 --> 0:00:53.400 blank canvas 10 years ago when he purchased the property. 0:00:53.820 --> 0:00:57.510 Over this period, Paul has invested in improving the infrastructure 0:00:57.750 --> 0:01:03.210 and establishing permanent pastures, including tropical pasture mixes, temperate pastures, 0:01:03.510 --> 0:01:06.720 and the additional dual- purpose crop when the season allows. 0:01:07.020 --> 0:01:11.250 Paul is also part of our Farming Forecaster network, which 0:01:11.250 --> 0:01:14.610 is recently ventured into the central west region and as 0:01:14.610 --> 0:01:18.720 you'll hear him explain, he identifies why he's so excited 0:01:18.900 --> 0:01:22.830 about this opportunity to forecast pasture growth and get real- 0:01:22.830 --> 0:01:26.280 time data from his farm. You'll also hear Paul speak 0:01:26.280 --> 0:01:29.910 to his experience as a stud livestock specialist and shares 0:01:29.910 --> 0:01:32.370 with us some of the important things to consider as 0:01:32.370 --> 0:01:36.180 producers coming out of the silly sale season and bringing 0:01:36.360 --> 0:01:40.770 those new purchases home. Local land services cropping advisor Tim 0:01:40.770 --> 0:01:44.100 Bartimote sat down with Paul early one morning to have 0:01:44.100 --> 0:01:46.140 this chat in our Dubbo office. 0:01:49.800 --> 0:01:53.610 Right. Well, welcome back listeners to the Seeds for Success podcast. 0:01:53.940 --> 0:01:56.790 Today I'm here with Paul Jameson. How are you going today, Paul? 0:01:56.910 --> 0:01:59.220 Yeah, really well, Tim. Thank you. Thanks for the opportunity. 0:01:59.220 --> 0:01:59.880 Good to have a chat. 0:01:59.880 --> 0:02:02.520 Thanks for squeezing this in. A bit of an early 0:02:02.520 --> 0:02:05.400 morning start, which is great. Maybe we get a conversation 0:02:05.400 --> 0:02:07.710 that's firing on all cylinders, but we're going to have 0:02:07.710 --> 0:02:10.560 a chat about Pine Knoll, your place just outside of Dubbo. 0:02:10.680 --> 0:02:12.870 Can you let the listeners know a bit about that? 0:02:13.110 --> 0:02:16.770 Yeah, just 10 years ago now, Tim, I guess I'd 0:02:16.770 --> 0:02:19.739 been decades or a long time trying to scratch enough, 0:02:19.800 --> 0:02:21.750 a few funds together to buy a bit of land. 0:02:21.750 --> 0:02:23.400 I grew up on a property, so I've always had 0:02:23.400 --> 0:02:27.660 my roots on the land I guess. Fortunately about 10 0:02:27.660 --> 0:02:30.360 years ago now, we're able to buy the property Pine 0:02:30.360 --> 0:02:32.400 Knoll Park. It wasn't named that at the time, but 0:02:32.790 --> 0:02:35.340 we changed the name. So it's just a beautiful little 0:02:35.340 --> 0:02:40.320 450, 60 acre place just in the Geurie district. So yeah, 0:02:40.320 --> 0:02:43.260 just a mix there of mostly livestock, obviously in my 0:02:43.260 --> 0:02:45.960 career where the livestock background and so that's where my interest is. 0:02:45.960 --> 0:02:48.990 But yeah, just a nice little weekend style block I 0:02:48.990 --> 0:02:49.800 suppose you'd call it. 0:02:50.070 --> 0:02:52.260 Yeah, right. So 10 years ago now, how did it 0:02:52.260 --> 0:02:53.820 start when you got it 10 years ago? 0:02:54.000 --> 0:02:57.299 So when we purchased it, I saw the opportunity there 0:02:57.389 --> 0:03:00.900 to improve it quite a bit, both in terms of 0:03:00.900 --> 0:03:04.380 the infrastructure there, fencing and so on, but I guess 0:03:04.380 --> 0:03:07.470 more importantly, the upside in the productivity side of it. 0:03:07.470 --> 0:03:11.460 So that was really appealing to me to see that opportunity. 0:03:11.460 --> 0:03:15.090 So we set about initially with I guess just hitting 0:03:15.090 --> 0:03:17.700 it with heap of fertilizer and stuff straight up just 0:03:18.480 --> 0:03:22.260 to stimulate some growth and pasture and so on, running 0:03:22.260 --> 0:03:25.290 just cattle initially just to keep it simple but then 0:03:25.350 --> 0:03:27.810 in a way, because it was a blank canvas, that's 0:03:27.810 --> 0:03:30.090 where we saw the opportunity and why we were so 0:03:30.090 --> 0:03:31.860 sort of keen to get our hands on it. 0:03:32.040 --> 0:03:35.880 Yeah, great. So can you kind of describe the landscape there, 0:03:36.060 --> 0:03:37.980 maybe the soil type as well? 0:03:38.160 --> 0:03:40.770 There's a mix there, Tim. It's got quite a long, 0:03:40.830 --> 0:03:43.920 about a two kilometer creek frontage, not a permanent creek. 0:03:43.920 --> 0:03:47.040 So all of that land, those paddocks along that creek are, 0:03:47.670 --> 0:03:50.130 I would describe them as a red sandy loam and 0:03:50.130 --> 0:03:54.480 they rise up to some lighter stony or probably a 0:03:54.480 --> 0:03:57.570 sand stony sort of ridge I suppose. So there's a 0:03:57.570 --> 0:04:01.230 really good mix, a good balance, but particularly those flats 0:04:01.230 --> 0:04:04.170 along the creek are quite fertile and productive. 0:04:04.350 --> 0:04:07.770 Yeah, I remember I've been there once or twice now 0:04:07.770 --> 0:04:10.050 and yeah, it definitely strikes me as a bit more alluvial. 0:04:10.980 --> 0:04:14.670 Definitely you see the pastures responding in those particular paddocks 0:04:14.670 --> 0:04:17.789 quite well, which is good to see. And so talk 0:04:17.790 --> 0:04:23.550 me through that blank canvas. So basically completely no permanent pastures, 0:04:23.550 --> 0:04:26.940 anything like that is purely just native or maybe pastures 0:04:26.940 --> 0:04:28.080 that have been let go a bit. 0:04:28.170 --> 0:04:33.029 In was primarily just native pastures. So I could see that 0:04:33.029 --> 0:04:36.870 the place had been many years ago it had been farmed. 0:04:37.080 --> 0:04:39.960 It was quite evident just with clearing and the stacking 0:04:39.960 --> 0:04:42.120 up of a bit of stone, that type of thing 0:04:42.420 --> 0:04:45.210 that obviously it had been cropped or pastured many, many 0:04:45.210 --> 0:04:47.610 years ago. As I say, we hit it with a 0:04:47.610 --> 0:04:52.080 fertilizer initially and just got that initial rapid response, 200 kilos, 0:04:52.080 --> 0:04:56.130 a hectare of single super straight up in that first year. 0:04:56.550 --> 0:05:01.380 And then I guess as the income started to come 0:05:01.380 --> 0:05:03.510 from a few livestock and so on, there were a 0:05:03.510 --> 0:05:06.180 couple of pretty good years through that period in the 0:05:06.180 --> 0:05:08.400 early part of that 10 years that we've owned the place. 0:05:09.000 --> 0:05:11.790 I guess it generated enough revenue or cash flow then 0:05:11.790 --> 0:05:15.000 to start to work on our infrastructure, but the primary 0:05:15.120 --> 0:05:19.110 focus initially was just to boost that productivity with a 0:05:19.110 --> 0:05:21.089 view down the track at the point that we're at 0:05:21.089 --> 0:05:24.180 now to start to really put some proper permanent pastures 0:05:24.180 --> 0:05:25.380 and so on onto the place. 0:05:25.470 --> 0:05:29.100 Well that's a great segue. Fast forward 10 years, you've 0:05:29.100 --> 0:05:32.400 now got a few more paddocks set up like fenced off, 0:05:32.460 --> 0:05:35.190 but you've also got, like you said, some permanent pastures 0:05:35.190 --> 0:05:38.460 set up. So you've just recently put in some temperate pastures, 0:05:39.000 --> 0:05:41.760 but you've also got tropicals and then you also do some 0:05:41.820 --> 0:05:44.729 grazing crops. Can you walk us through the process with the... 0:05:45.029 --> 0:05:46.950 What have you got in the temperate pastures? What have 0:05:46.950 --> 0:05:48.659 you got in the tropicals and what are you doing with 0:05:48.660 --> 0:05:49.740 the cereal grazing? 0:05:49.890 --> 0:05:52.529 We've just systematically sort of paddock by paddock. So it 0:05:52.529 --> 0:05:56.610 started with a process of just using grazing cleaning type 0:05:56.610 --> 0:06:00.870 crops I suppose you call them, so generally oats. And we've 0:06:00.870 --> 0:06:03.060 run through that cycle for a couple of years and 0:06:03.060 --> 0:06:06.870 then in the recent sort of fruit... Well one to 0:06:06.870 --> 0:06:10.950 say five years, we've started to plant permanent pastures starting 0:06:10.950 --> 0:06:15.779 with a tropical mix of Bambatsi, Gatton Panic, Sabi grass and so on. 0:06:16.200 --> 0:06:20.339 Into probably a couple of our tougher paddocks just understanding 0:06:20.339 --> 0:06:24.720 that those grasses would probably perform there pretty well and again, 0:06:24.779 --> 0:06:27.930 just continue to clean the broadleaf weeds and so on out of 0:06:27.930 --> 0:06:31.050 that grass pasture for a couple of years. And ultimately 0:06:31.050 --> 0:06:34.020 over sowing it with some clovers, with some legumes. So 0:06:34.529 --> 0:06:36.539 that worked really well for us. So we went on 0:06:36.570 --> 0:06:39.210 to do three years ago. Now the paddock that we're 0:06:39.210 --> 0:06:42.002 at the point now, we have it clean enough weed-wise 0:06:42.120 --> 0:06:45.719 to over sow with legumes probably in this next autumn 0:06:45.720 --> 0:06:49.500 coming up. And then this early this year we planted 0:06:49.560 --> 0:06:55.080 a temporary grass pasture paddock, so Cocksfoot, Phalaris under sown 0:06:55.080 --> 0:06:58.109 with Arrowleaf Clover and lucerne. So it's just a really 0:06:58.110 --> 0:07:00.480 good mix and it's firing away. It's just fantastic. 0:07:00.900 --> 0:07:03.960 Right. So walk me through that thought process of having 0:07:04.380 --> 0:07:07.560 the temperate pasture. Because I guess the listeners can't see 0:07:07.560 --> 0:07:10.050 it obviously, but there's a temperate pasture and across the 0:07:10.050 --> 0:07:13.050 fence is a tropical pasture. Is that just more of 0:07:13.050 --> 0:07:14.880 a feed gap trying to fill that? 0:07:15.000 --> 0:07:18.120 Yeah, absolutely. So as recent as the last couple of 0:07:18.120 --> 0:07:20.460 days when I was having a look, so the legumes 0:07:20.460 --> 0:07:23.580 in that temperate pasture now are flowering, so we're ready 0:07:23.580 --> 0:07:27.390 to move a few livestock off that paddock. And straight 0:07:27.390 --> 0:07:31.620 through the fence of the tropical grasses, identical soil types 0:07:31.620 --> 0:07:34.170 and so on. But just the converse in terms of 0:07:34.170 --> 0:07:36.929 that grazing window I suppose. So fingers crossed with a 0:07:36.930 --> 0:07:39.390 bit of moisture perhaps in the coming weeks and a bit 0:07:39.390 --> 0:07:42.600 of urea over the next few days that tropical grass 0:07:42.600 --> 0:07:46.110 paddock in another month will have absolute power feed. So 0:07:46.110 --> 0:07:49.080 those livestock will just move pretty much through a gate, 0:07:49.170 --> 0:07:50.940 straight onto the next grazing system. 0:07:51.180 --> 0:07:55.290 Do you anticipate any issues with the transition from the 0:07:55.290 --> 0:07:56.520 temperates to the tropicals? 0:07:56.760 --> 0:08:00.930 I'm hoping not. I think souped-up or fertilized up, I think 0:08:00.960 --> 0:08:03.960 just the bulk of those tropicals... I think the livestock will... 0:08:04.260 --> 0:08:06.900 There might be a week or two of adaptation, I guess 0:08:06.900 --> 0:08:10.260 just from one system to the other, but I don't anticipate any great 0:08:10.260 --> 0:08:11.970 setback for them in that process. 0:08:12.480 --> 0:08:15.750 And I guess with the feeding of that tropical pasture, 0:08:15.870 --> 0:08:18.360 obviously there's a correlation between the feed quality and how 0:08:18.360 --> 0:08:21.300 much fertilizer you put on it, so that's hopefully minimal. Coming 0:08:21.300 --> 0:08:23.760 off on the grazing cereals, can you walk us through 0:08:24.000 --> 0:08:24.450 what happened this year? 0:08:24.450 --> 0:08:28.170 This year, Tim, we brought another new paddock into the 0:08:28.170 --> 0:08:30.510 system with a view to two or three years time 0:08:30.570 --> 0:08:34.469 again going to a permanent pasture. So we were able 0:08:34.470 --> 0:08:39.540 to procure some barley close by, Spartacus Barley. So it's 0:08:39.540 --> 0:08:43.050 an awn variety, so not brilliant for grazing or haymaking 0:08:43.080 --> 0:08:46.170 but certainly plenty of good vegetative growth early. But we 0:08:46.170 --> 0:08:48.360 struck that warm week at the end of August and 0:08:49.050 --> 0:08:50.969 pretty much over the course of a week it came 0:08:50.970 --> 0:08:53.490 into head, so we basically sort of flicked a switch 0:08:53.490 --> 0:08:56.520 and we'll use that this year, hopefully get it through 0:08:56.520 --> 0:08:58.740 to harvest for a bit of grain, but we'll certainly 0:08:58.740 --> 0:09:01.440 put there in the first instance as part of a 0:09:01.440 --> 0:09:04.800 grazing plan, but we've decided now to potentially harvest that. 0:09:04.800 --> 0:09:07.230 So yeah, looking forward to seeing what yields we get there. 0:09:07.530 --> 0:09:09.570 Do you think that'll be a part of your process 0:09:09.570 --> 0:09:15.059 going forward, utilizing, perhaps those cereal varieties that aren't typically 0:09:15.059 --> 0:09:19.140 identified as dual purpose per se, but have the opportunity 0:09:19.320 --> 0:09:22.079 for an initial little graze and then locking up later? 0:09:22.350 --> 0:09:25.440 Definitely. I think bearing in mind that it is primarily a 0:09:25.440 --> 0:09:29.939 grazing system or operation, so I think I'd stay away 0:09:29.940 --> 0:09:34.140 from an awn variety of grazing cereal for that reason, just 0:09:34.140 --> 0:09:36.210 to keep the focus on that grain. So I've got 0:09:36.210 --> 0:09:39.720 more options I think. I feel like I've gotten into 0:09:39.720 --> 0:09:41.880 a corner a bit with it going to head I suppose. 0:09:41.880 --> 0:09:44.760 I mean I'm not really disappointed, but it wasn't the plan. 0:09:44.760 --> 0:09:48.089 The ultimate goal is to have that paddock all clean 0:09:48.090 --> 0:09:50.910 and tidy. It was sprayed. We used in- crop sprays 0:09:50.910 --> 0:09:53.429 to take the weeds out so it's well on its 0:09:53.429 --> 0:09:56.100 way to being all clean and tidy for a permanent pasture. 0:09:56.100 --> 0:09:58.950 Right, okay. It's just making the most of it while it's there, 0:09:59.280 --> 0:10:01.920 but end goal is to turn it into part of 0:10:01.920 --> 0:10:03.809 that pasture mix. That might be a good place to 0:10:03.809 --> 0:10:09.540 transition into chatting about Farming Forecaster network. We were talking before, 0:10:09.540 --> 0:10:11.309 just before we started the podcast and you mentioned that there 0:10:11.309 --> 0:10:13.979 was a bit of a cold snap, was it - 5 or something like that? 0:10:14.160 --> 0:10:17.309 So where I met you Paul obviously was we were 0:10:17.309 --> 0:10:20.849 establishing a Farming Forecaster site, which is part of an 0:10:21.000 --> 0:10:24.179 LLS program to put weather stations around and trying to 0:10:24.210 --> 0:10:27.390 forecast pasture growth in a few months in advance and 0:10:27.900 --> 0:10:30.600 see what the weather's doing. So can you just walk 0:10:30.630 --> 0:10:33.929 us through your interest in that project and how it 0:10:33.929 --> 0:10:35.429 might help your operation? 0:10:35.760 --> 0:10:38.700 When it was mentioned to me, I jumped at the opportunity, 0:10:39.210 --> 0:10:42.660 any of that sort of stuff, particularly given that I 0:10:42.750 --> 0:10:47.130 don't live on site on the farm. So I've grabbed 0:10:47.130 --> 0:10:51.329 the opportunity to use tank monitoring systems, anything that I 0:10:51.330 --> 0:10:54.719 can get my hands on to know and understand what's 0:10:54.720 --> 0:10:57.990 going on there. At times I can be a week 0:10:57.990 --> 0:11:01.140 or 10 days away and not have a clue with 0:11:01.440 --> 0:11:04.949 what's happened there. But we were talking about that morning, 0:11:04.950 --> 0:11:08.190 so a mid- September, particularly cold morning in the Farming 0:11:08.190 --> 0:11:12.210 Forecaster or the weather station recorded a - 5. 2 temperature, 0:11:12.840 --> 0:11:15.390 at a pretty critical stage I thought in that barley 0:11:15.390 --> 0:11:18.660 crop that we were talking about. So it's just really 0:11:18.660 --> 0:11:21.270 interesting to have your hand... Not that you can change 0:11:21.270 --> 0:11:24.540 what the weather's doing, but certainly knowing what's going on 0:11:24.540 --> 0:11:27.600 and I look at it every day and happy to show 0:11:27.600 --> 0:11:31.140 other people how it works. And I just think for me 0:11:31.140 --> 0:11:35.280 particularly not being there, it's just a really, really handy 0:11:35.280 --> 0:11:37.559 tool to have access to all that information. 0:11:37.740 --> 0:11:39.780 And so do you think there's application there, not just 0:11:39.780 --> 0:11:42.179 for the person who's not always on site, but also 0:11:42.179 --> 0:11:45.809 for the person who's got such a broad farm, perhaps 0:11:45.809 --> 0:11:48.960 a fair bit of scale and so they can't physically 0:11:48.960 --> 0:11:51.420 access all those to have a look and they can 0:11:51.420 --> 0:11:52.439 just see that on their phone? 0:11:53.160 --> 0:11:57.690 Even more so for those large operations. Mine is relatively small, 0:11:57.690 --> 0:12:02.820 but most definitely. It's just the ease to be able to just log on and just to 0:12:02.820 --> 0:12:05.001 have all of those recordings and there'll be more (inaudible) 0:12:05.001 --> 0:12:07.590 courses, as we know with the probe stuff when 0:12:07.590 --> 0:12:10.350 it comes online telling us what's happening under the ground 0:12:10.350 --> 0:12:13.650 as well. I mean even if you're on site, that's 0:12:13.650 --> 0:12:16.530 stuff that you can't see or feel. So it's just 0:12:16.980 --> 0:12:19.949 to have an understanding of what's going on, soil moisture 0:12:19.950 --> 0:12:23.220 and temperature wise with these sorts of systems is just, 0:12:23.460 --> 0:12:24.751 it's an amazing thing to have. 0:12:24.751 --> 0:12:27.329 Yeah. And I guess it's probably worth me mentioning that. Yeah, 0:12:27.330 --> 0:12:30.840 so the Farming Forecaster network, like you said, incorporates a 0:12:31.020 --> 0:12:34.559 capacitance probe to determine moisture as a weather station, but 0:12:34.559 --> 0:12:38.100 it also has a forecasting arm to try and predict 0:12:38.130 --> 0:12:40.319 pasture growth. And I think it's three months off the top 0:12:40.320 --> 0:12:42.960 of my head, but it's situated across the whole state almost. 0:12:43.470 --> 0:12:46.740 And so you can see eventually central west will pop 0:12:46.740 --> 0:12:48.510 up on this big map that shows you what's going 0:12:48.510 --> 0:12:51.030 on across the entire area, which would be interesting. Do 0:12:51.030 --> 0:12:53.579 you think there's benefit in terms of not just seeing 0:12:53.580 --> 0:12:56.730 your own place but also seeing how you reflect across, 0:12:56.730 --> 0:12:59.130 say the rest of the region or the rest of 0:12:59.130 --> 0:13:01.530 the state? Is that helpful information? 0:13:01.620 --> 0:13:05.880 Most definitely. And I guess in the industry that I'm in, 0:13:05.880 --> 0:13:09.780 the livestock agency industry, that's one of the tools we 0:13:09.780 --> 0:13:13.319 have as a network of businesses and I guess services 0:13:13.320 --> 0:13:17.610 to rural people is to have that knowledge of what 0:13:17.700 --> 0:13:21.300 the seasonality is across different areas for the information of 0:13:21.300 --> 0:13:25.140 other people, whether it's looking for agistment or whatever 0:13:25.140 --> 0:13:28.980 it might be. So with these systems monitoring a lot 0:13:28.980 --> 0:13:33.360 of that information digitally over such a vast area, it's doing 0:13:33.360 --> 0:13:34.949 our job for us in a lot of ways just 0:13:35.010 --> 0:13:37.620 without having a conversation. It's right there in your palm 0:13:37.620 --> 0:13:38.250 of your hand. 0:13:38.460 --> 0:13:42.809 It actually reminds me of a cricket saying, when someone strikes 0:13:42.809 --> 0:13:46.170 a ball really hard and it's going to the boundary, 0:13:46.170 --> 0:13:47.970 what they say? They say save your legs or something like that, 0:13:48.300 --> 0:13:49.170 like don't bother running. 0:13:49.200 --> 0:13:50.160 Yeah, don't bother running. 0:13:50.160 --> 0:13:52.080 Yeah, it's a bit like that with this. You don't have to go out and mosey around. 0:13:53.850 --> 0:13:56.069 You can just know exactly what's going on. In terms 0:13:56.070 --> 0:14:00.420 of just generally, not just Farming Forecaster, but utilizing technology 0:14:00.420 --> 0:14:02.670 and apps and things, do you think it's pretty easy 0:14:02.670 --> 0:14:04.560 to pick up or is it a bit of like, oh, 0:14:05.429 --> 0:14:06.809 this is how it works and it takes a couple 0:14:06.809 --> 0:14:07.170 of weeks to sort that out? 0:14:07.860 --> 0:14:10.320 I guess I picked it up and I'm certainly no 0:14:10.320 --> 0:14:13.650 technology guru, but I picked it up straight away and 0:14:13.650 --> 0:14:16.290 I feel like I've been in this game now for 0:14:16.290 --> 0:14:20.700 40 years thereabouts, and I think that the generations that 0:14:20.700 --> 0:14:23.820 we're seeing coming through now on the land or in 0:14:23.820 --> 0:14:27.480 the ag industry, without any disrespect to the older people, 0:14:27.480 --> 0:14:31.830 but they're that way inclined. So there'll be no issue with 0:14:32.340 --> 0:14:35.070 the understanding of how it works and along with any 0:14:35.070 --> 0:14:38.640 other technology and that's being adopted, whether it's in the 0:14:38.640 --> 0:14:42.210 animal world or the animal production world or the cropping world. 0:14:42.210 --> 0:14:45.300 It's just like what we're seeing and the speed of it 0:14:45.300 --> 0:14:48.390 happening now is the likes that I've certainly never seen in 0:14:48.390 --> 0:14:49.020 my time. 0:14:49.110 --> 0:14:52.950 The availability that is of various technologies for like off- 0:14:52.950 --> 0:14:54.060 site monitoring and things. 0:14:54.390 --> 0:14:58.920 Yeah. Availability and I guess just the accuracy of it, 0:14:59.160 --> 0:15:01.860 if it's in the planning or the spreading of fertilizer 0:15:01.860 --> 0:15:05.280 in the cropping world or if it's in the data 0:15:05.280 --> 0:15:09.300 collection and extraction around the DNA and the genetics in the 0:15:09.300 --> 0:15:13.410 animal world, or the breeding livestock world. It's just getting 0:15:13.410 --> 0:15:14.130 pretty close. 0:15:14.430 --> 0:15:18.750 So Paul, your official title is the Stud Stock Manager 0:15:18.780 --> 0:15:21.570 for New South Wales for Elders. Can you give us 0:15:21.570 --> 0:15:24.420 a bit of an insight into what that role looks like? 0:15:24.750 --> 0:15:27.690 Yeah, so I've had, as I mentioned before, I've had 0:15:27.750 --> 0:15:31.050 now 40 years this year with Elders. I've always, even 0:15:31.050 --> 0:15:34.470 as a kid, had an interest in livestock. So I 0:15:34.470 --> 0:15:37.170 was very fortunate, I suppose coming out of Farrow to 0:15:37.170 --> 0:15:40.860 be one of the chosen trainees, I suppose by Elders 0:15:40.860 --> 0:15:43.380 at the time to join their company with a view 0:15:43.380 --> 0:15:47.070 to being involved in livestock somehow. So I've come through 0:15:47.100 --> 0:15:50.190 branch manager of a few different locations across New South Wales. 0:15:50.190 --> 0:15:53.160 And here at this stage in my career, find myself 0:15:53.160 --> 0:15:56.580 in what we call the stud stock section, stud livestock section. 0:15:56.580 --> 0:16:00.570 So I've done that role now for the last probably 0:16:00.570 --> 0:16:03.600 six or seven years, I suppose, based out of Dubbo. 0:16:03.600 --> 0:16:08.400 So pretty much we service and look after... We do 0:16:08.400 --> 0:16:14.010 about 150 or 60 events and stud sales across the state each 0:16:14.010 --> 0:16:17.730 year with a really big dominance in the springtime. So we're 0:16:17.880 --> 0:16:20.790 just rolling out of that period now. So pretty much 0:16:20.790 --> 0:16:24.900 it just involves marketing rams and bulls on behalf of 0:16:24.900 --> 0:16:29.040 our clients, matching up buyers with them as sellers, I suppose. 0:16:29.100 --> 0:16:31.170 And it's an exciting game to be in. We see 0:16:31.170 --> 0:16:33.480 some big numbers and some big prices at times. It 0:16:33.480 --> 0:16:36.690 really has a direct correlation with what's going on in 0:16:36.690 --> 0:16:41.130 the commercial world, just your general sheep and cattle markets 0:16:41.130 --> 0:16:43.260 that happen every day of the week across the country. 0:16:43.800 --> 0:16:46.740 But where I guess we're seeing that the clients are 0:16:46.740 --> 0:16:50.400 making decisions today to buy a bull or a ram, 0:16:50.820 --> 0:16:54.120 they won't really see the progeny from technically for another 0:16:54.180 --> 0:16:56.220 year or two and not even get to sell it for 0:16:56.220 --> 0:16:58.920 another two or three years. So it's a long game, 0:16:58.920 --> 0:17:00.990 but it's fascinating to watch it evolve. 0:17:01.050 --> 0:17:03.630 So from someone who's been in the industry for a 0:17:03.630 --> 0:17:05.669 fair while now, what do you think has been the 0:17:05.670 --> 0:17:10.139 impact of, say, online platforms to sell stock and even 0:17:10.410 --> 0:17:15.180 stud stock perhaps and people utilizing that to less so 0:17:15.180 --> 0:17:17.010 do face- to- face sales and things? 0:17:17.070 --> 0:17:21.060 It's had a massive impact. So certainly really took off 0:17:21.060 --> 0:17:26.040 through the COVID period, Tim. So when people weren't allowed 0:17:26.040 --> 0:17:28.830 to travel so much, although we were still able to 0:17:28.890 --> 0:17:32.129 conduct sales, they were considered at the time an essential service. 0:17:32.130 --> 0:17:35.699 So you could have somebody turn up and film and 0:17:35.700 --> 0:17:39.960 photograph animals and still run an online sale and people 0:17:39.960 --> 0:17:42.150 could just continue to do their jobs and to get 0:17:42.150 --> 0:17:45.660 their animals out there to the marketplace, I suppose. But 0:17:45.660 --> 0:17:50.940 definitely the advent of online platforms has changed the landscape 0:17:51.060 --> 0:17:53.160 a lot. I also do have a view that it's 0:17:53.160 --> 0:17:56.100 nice to have the people on site given that it 0:17:56.100 --> 0:18:01.500 is an auction situation. So that whole atmosphere of having 0:18:01.800 --> 0:18:05.340 a crowd of people there bidding at a sale in 0:18:05.340 --> 0:18:08.760 many ways is I guess a lot... There's a lot more activity, 0:18:08.760 --> 0:18:11.910 a lot more stimulating, a lot more sort of theater 0:18:11.910 --> 0:18:14.100 to it, I suppose, to have the people on site. 0:18:14.100 --> 0:18:16.560 So it's a double- edged sword. It won't go away. 0:18:16.920 --> 0:18:20.100 It's here forever. It's still a growing space, that online 0:18:20.100 --> 0:18:24.960 space with marketing livestock and I guess with talking about 0:18:24.960 --> 0:18:29.369 technology and data... So it's all there right in front of you. 0:18:29.910 --> 0:18:33.060 It's written the information, the EBVs, all the statistics on 0:18:33.060 --> 0:18:35.880 the animals are very visual when you've got an online 0:18:35.880 --> 0:18:38.040 platform to work with as well. 0:18:38.369 --> 0:18:40.859 That provoked a thought in my mind, and I wonder 0:18:40.859 --> 0:18:45.869 what you think about this. Do you think that having say a face- to- 0:18:45.869 --> 0:18:50.460 face auction versus something online, and you talked about it 0:18:50.460 --> 0:18:53.730 being almost an event and there being a certain atmosphere, 0:18:53.730 --> 0:18:58.380 do you reckon that influences people's decision- making significantly to 0:18:58.380 --> 0:19:02.850 have say, not to say in an emotional decision, but definitely if 0:19:02.850 --> 0:19:05.190 they're face- to- face that you might be more likely 0:19:05.430 --> 0:19:07.859 to buy or not buy versus online where it's a 0:19:07.859 --> 0:19:09.840 bit more cold, I guess? 0:19:10.170 --> 0:19:14.730 Yeah, no, you are spot on. I mean, it's a fine line to have 0:19:14.730 --> 0:19:18.119 a conversation with a producer about which path they should go. 0:19:18.330 --> 0:19:23.699 We run some sales exclusively online and it is a 0:19:23.700 --> 0:19:26.460 bit pedestrian to be honest, but it's a best fit 0:19:26.460 --> 0:19:30.480 for that style of operation, I suppose. So you're 100% correct. 0:19:30.540 --> 0:19:35.310 If you're at a sale where the interest and the levels 0:19:35.310 --> 0:19:38.280 are very high and for whatever the reason is that 0:19:38.280 --> 0:19:42.750 people want that article, it happens all the time that 0:19:42.750 --> 0:19:45.270 buyers will just have that extra one or two or 0:19:45.270 --> 0:19:48.510 three bids or just because they're caught up in the moment, 0:19:48.540 --> 0:19:49.590 there's no risk about that. 0:19:49.890 --> 0:19:52.680 What's currently going on in the stud stock world that producers 0:19:52.680 --> 0:19:54.090 should be mindful about? 0:19:54.419 --> 0:19:57.090 Yeah, so we're just coming towards the end, Tim, of 0:19:57.090 --> 0:19:59.910 what we term in our industry, the silly season, I suppose. 0:19:59.910 --> 0:20:02.460 So two or three months of bull and ram sales, 0:20:02.460 --> 0:20:04.890 particularly here in the central west of New South Wales. 0:20:04.890 --> 0:20:07.740 It is a seasonal thing that's sort of coupled up 0:20:07.740 --> 0:20:12.060 with when the joining periods are for the commercial producers 0:20:12.060 --> 0:20:14.399 when they put their bulls and their rams out. So 0:20:14.790 --> 0:20:17.460 we're a couple of weeks from sort of closing out 0:20:17.640 --> 0:20:21.150 a really hectic two or three months of sales. I 0:20:21.150 --> 0:20:25.800 guess from this point forward, mid- October, those joinings will 0:20:25.800 --> 0:20:28.409 be happening. People have just spent the last few months 0:20:28.560 --> 0:20:32.280 securing their bulls or their rams to join up with 0:20:32.280 --> 0:20:36.900 their females at home primarily through this month, October, November, 0:20:36.900 --> 0:20:39.900 in this part of the world, certainly. So I guess 0:20:39.900 --> 0:20:44.190 it's important that with that in mind, the condition scores 0:20:44.190 --> 0:20:47.939 of those animals, the general health of them, the females 0:20:47.940 --> 0:20:50.400 that is, and the bulls I suppose too, or rams, 0:20:50.790 --> 0:20:54.840 it's a critical period given that most joinings are sort 0:20:54.840 --> 0:20:58.290 of five or six weeks in terms of duration. So 0:20:58.859 --> 0:21:02.520 you've got that tiny little snapshot or that window of time to 0:21:02.520 --> 0:21:06.570 get it right to get those females pregnant. So it's 0:21:06.570 --> 0:21:11.520 all about just making sure that everything's healthy, forwarding condition 0:21:11.520 --> 0:21:14.280 and it's got every opportunity to go in calf or 0:21:14.280 --> 0:21:14.820 in lamb. 0:21:15.180 --> 0:21:17.730 And I guess it makes sense. You've just spent inordinate 0:21:17.730 --> 0:21:21.480 amount of money on a particular animal and you want their 0:21:21.480 --> 0:21:23.820 genetics passed on, so you want to put them in 0:21:23.820 --> 0:21:26.310 the best position to be able to do that and 0:21:26.310 --> 0:21:26.850 do their job, I guess. 0:21:26.851 --> 0:21:30.570