Agricultural Economics Commons^™

When Is A Cattle Feedlot Profitable?, J T. Stoate

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

THE current surge of interest in feedlots stems from low coarse grain prices and comparatively low early summer baby beef prices. Cattle raisers sense the opportunity for higher prices by holding the cattle on the farm over summer and autumn, and grain producers see better returns from barley and oats fed to cattle than sold as grain.

This article examines the profitability of cattle feedlots and presents sample budgets for two typical situations—the farmer who produces his own cattle but buys grain, and the cereal grower who produces grain but buys in cattle for finishing in a feedlot.

A ready …

A Handbook For The Financial Control Of The Station Business, J G. Morrissey, R B. Hacker

Farm Systems and Economics published reports

The essence of good business management is planning, budgeting and financial control. This booklet is designed to help you use these business management techniques in your station business.

By concentrating on this aspect of the management of your station you can receive the best possible income permitted within the framework of wool and meat prices, cost structure and seasons.

The completed booklet will give you an inventory of your station resources and enable you to plan your production making best use of these resources.

Planning and budgeting within the station business are often dismissed as worthless. The reason given for …

Supplementing Calves With Tallow : Results Of A Trial At Wokalup Research Station, Department Of Agriculture, Western Australia

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

THE removal of butterfat from milk by separation, reduces the energy content of the milk by about 50 per cent., and must slow the growth of calves unless extra energy is provided from some other source.

In the dairying districts of Western Australia, there has been considerable interest in recent years in the addition of homogenised tallow to skim milk to provide extra energy.

Good calves have been produced by this means.

Carrying Prime Lambs Through Summer, R J. Suiter

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

The annual lamb glut in September- October has caused many farmers to show interest in feed lotting and other methods of carrying over prime lambs for a higher priced market.

Unfortunately however, little information has been available on the necessary techniques under Western Australian conditions.

This report presents the results of the first year of a trial being conducted at Chapman Research Station to examine some of the problems associated with carrying lambs through the summer for later marketing.

Effects Of Mastitis On Milk Yield And Composition, Department Of Agriculture, Western Australia

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

EVERY DAIRY farmer knows how much he spends on the treatment of cows affected with mastitis, but the actual loss in production is more difficult to estimate.

As part of the current mastitis research programme the Department of Agriculture's Animal and Dairying Divisions surveyed 37 dairy herds with a believed high incidence of mastitis.

Once Daily Calf Feeding Lowers Rearing Costs, Department Of Agriculture, Western Australia

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

The usual method of hand rearing dairy calves involves twice daily feeding of milk or milk substitutes.

This routine adds considerably to the labour necessary at milking time and may have prevented many farmers from putting much effort into dairy beef production.

The report below comes from a 1969 trial carried out at Bramley Research Station to see if once-daily calf feeding was as effective as twice daily feeding.

The trial's results should be considered as early findings from a series of trials being conducted into calf rearing regimes by both the Animal and Dairying Divisions of the Department of …

Dry Supplements Reduce Labour And Cost Of Calf Rearing, Department Of Agriculture, Western Australia

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

The conventional method of hand rearing dairy calves in Western Australia calls for the feeding of whole milk, skim milk and/or milk substitutes for periods of up to 16 weeks.

This requirement for milk and labour has often prevented beef production from becoming a major sideline on many wholemilk and butterfat farms.

The two trials reported below* were carried out at Bramley Research Station to see if milk consumption and time to weaning could be reduced by free-feeding hay and cereal based supplements.

Home Mixing Or Purchased Feeds?, P Mcnamara

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

FEED is the largest single cost in pig production, so any saving which can be made will be of major importance.

The Economics Of Transition In Farming, G D. Oliver

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

UNSTABLE income is a constant farm hazard. In addition to uncertainties like over production, obsolescence, rising costs and changes in consumer tastes which menace manufacturing industries, the farmer also has to contend with yield fluctuations arising from climatic conditions over which he has no control.

Tallow As A Substitute For Butterfat In The Diet Of A Young Calf, R. Sprivulis

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

WHILE cow's milk is the best food for a young calf it is also very expensive.

The normal substitute for whole milk is skim milk, but removing the butterfat from cow's milk reduces the dry matter content by 30 per cent and the digestible energy by 50 per cent.

Weed Control In Pastures : A Practical Approach For Sheep Areas, Geoffrey A. Pearce

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

IN the past, chemical treatments for the control of weeds in pastures have been costly and severe on pasture, and have had to be repeated over a number of years. The method outlined in this article overcomes nearly all these disadvantages.

Survival Feeding Of Cattle During Drought, D J. Barker, J. T. Stoate

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

TO obtain adequate returns from the grazing of developed land, which has involved considerable capital investment, farmers may carry stock at rates which, though normally satisfactory, are too high in exceptionally poor seasons.

A look at some slternatives and their costs to maintaine the herd in drought.

Sheep Management During Drought, Department Of Agriculture, Western Australia

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Experiencing a drought can be likened to fighting a war.

This article looks at alternatives and costs of maintaining the flock during the drought.

Eleventh Random Sample Laying Test : 1967-68 Cages, Department Of Agriculture, Western Australia

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

ELEVENTH RANDOM SAMPLE LAYING TEST,

1967-68 - CAGES

POULTRY RESEARCH STATION, WEMBLEY

SIXTH PROGRESSIVE REPORT TO 3rd NOVEMBER, 1968

Higher Stocking Rates For Cattle On Irrigated Pasture : A Report From Wokalup Research Station, Maurice C. Cullity

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

The possibility that higher cattle stocking rates than those commonly used could be economical was suggested by the results of a stocking rate trial at Wokalup Research Station

The Western Australian Pig Industry, P Mcnamara

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

A look at the pig industry in Western Austrailia.

Profitable Bacon Production In A Small Herd, B M. Goss

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

PIG HERDS are tending to become larger and more specialised, but it is still possible for the small herd of less than 20 sows to absorb by-products and spare labour very profitably.

These advantages can be lost if the scale is larger.

Bulletin No 3609 - Land Development In The South Eastern Wheatbelt, G T. Halpin, P. Nelson

Bulletins - 3000 - 3999

Interest in the development of light lands in the south-eastern wheatbelt was spurred by the many ex-servicemen seeking farms after the 1939-45 World War.

Previous attempts to develop this area had been frustrated by poor crop yields, and by the poor carrying capacity of those volunteer pastures which developed on cleared land.

Research into reasons for the poor crop results was begun in 1948-49 with trials sown by Messrs Smith and Halpin between Borden and Lake Grace. The results clearly showed the important role played by copper and zinc in successful crop growth. Since then, field trials have been conducted …

Wheat In Development Programmes For New Esperance Farmers, R J. Doyle, G. D. Oliver

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

IN the December, 1967, issue of the Journal of Agriculture, we reported on five development budgets for the Esperance region.

The aim of the exercise was to find out if a new settler concentrating on sheep, with $20,000 available for development after acquisition of land, could make a reasonable living for himself and his family while developing his farm.

Entering The Egg Industry With Laying Cages, W Ward

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

DEPARTMENT of Agriculture Bulletin 3579, "Entering the Egg Industry with Laying Cages", by W. Ward, examines various aspects of the cage system of housing laying hens.

This system is by far the most popular method of housing layers, with 90 per cent, of new farms using cages and many daep litter farms now converting to cages.

The Outlook For Wool, Lamb And Beef, Department Of Agriculture, Western Australia

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

WOOL and fat lambs have been traditional products of farms in the wetter parts (20 inches of rainfall and above) of Western Australia's agricultural areas.

The prices for both these products are causing corncern and some farmers have already changed to beef production.

This article discusses the future prices for wool, fat lambs and beef.

Space Requirements For Pullets And Layers On Litter, A H. Lean

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

UNEVEN growth, cannibalism, weakened resistance to disease, unsanitary conditions and poor production commonly arise from failure to provide sufficient floor, feed and watering space for pullets and layers.

Worms In Sheep. 4. Drenches For Treatment And Control Of Worms In Sheep, W A. Halhead

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

PREVIOUS articles in this series have described the species of worms affecting sheep in Western Australia, their life histories and the factors which lead to the seasonal rise and fall in worm burdens.

A programme of strategic (preventative) drenching has been outlined which is based on a knowledge of these seasonal changes in worm burdens.

Winter Beef Production Trial : Wongan Hills Research Station, D J. Barker, H. G. Cariss

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

IN 14-inch rainfall districts most rainfall occurs between May and October. It is d i f f i cult to keep beef animals fattening on summer dry pastures but such areas do have a ready supply of locally grown cereals.

Using these materials as the basis of a supplement it is possible to market prime baby-beef by June-July.

The higher prices obtained for this "winter" beef more than offset the cost of supplementary feed.

Cattle : And The Ord Irrigation Project, W M. Nunn

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

No abstract provided.

Beef Production In A 14 Inch Rainfall District, D J. Barker, H. G. Cariss

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Progress report on a farm scale beef-raising investigation at the Department of Agriculture's Wongan Hills Research Station.

A SMALL herd of beef cattle was established at Wongan Hills Research Station in 1964 and the first crop of calves was dropped in the autumn of 1965. The calves' growth rates were recorded and they were marketed as 18-month-old steer beef in November, 1966.

The Effects Of Shearing Time And Stocking Rate On Wool Production, R J. Lightfoot

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

THE results of the first experiment comparing "autumn" versus "spring" shearing over a two-year period were published in 1960.

In this experiment the autumn-shorn ewes cut heavier greasy fleeces (even though they also reared considerably more lambs) with less tender wool, resulting in a higher average return per head from this group.

The autumn-shorn wool carried more seed, was less attractive and contained relatively more pieces than did the spring-shorn wool.

Agriculture In Western Australia : Past, Present And Future, A W. Hogstrom

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

THE post war period has seen very rapid growth and changes in the agriculture of Western Australia.

Almost every industry and region of the State has contributed to the growth of rural production which in turn has been responsible for much of the development in other sectors of the economy.

Good Management For The Springers Pays Dividends, J Y. Langdon

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

This article gives a striking example of the advantages of calving cows in good and rising condition—and explains why condition around calving time is so important.

ALTHOUGH most farmers know that cows calving in good and improving condition will give higher yields than those calving in poor condition, few use this knowledge to improve the production from their cows.

Stocking Rates On Cyprus Barrel Medic In The Northern Wheatbelt, R J. Parkin

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

IN May 1963, some three weeks after germination, a 4th year stand of Cyprus barrel medic was stocked with Merino wethers.

These same sheep are still grazing the area after three years.