Today’s sheep producers have access to more information than ever before, from electronic identification and pregnancy scanning to fleece weighing and carcase feedback. Here’s a look at how south-west NSW producer Emma McCrabb is turning data and measurements into practical improvements on-farm.

Lot feeding and intensive finishing are intensive forms of animal production where groups of animals are placed in yards or enclosures of a minimum size consistent with animal health and comfort. These animals are fed high quality feed rations to achieve optimal rates of liveweight gain. Feedlot design MLA has...

From cattle country in northern New South Wales to the (nutritionally-balanced) dinner plate, international nutrition leaders got a firsthand look at the people, practices and systems shaping Australia’s red meat industry.

The purpose of this project was to fund the editing and preparation of a tertiary level textbook for publication.The textbook, published as Beef Cattle Production and Trade is the first beef production specific tertiary textbook that covers all aspects of beef production in Australia.The book has been published by CSIRO...

Online Summary

Castrating and spaying are important husbandry techniques to prevent unwanted breeding in livestock. Castration is a regular part of cattle, sheep and goat husbandry in Australia. Spaying is a largely restricted to cattle in northern Australia in situations where control of bulls is difficult. Best practice procedure for castration and...

final report

Background This program of activity explored the existing relationship between meat processors and the pet food industry to gain access to the veterinary nutraceutical market - in particular use of red meat byproducts as possible next generation nutraceutical for the treatment of inflammatory diseases such as osteoarthritis (OA), and rheumatoid...

​Post mortem cut ageing is an important part of the Meat Standards Australia Australia (MSA) prediction model however presents challenges in relation to developing precise estimates due to the interactions with factors such as; animal genetics, muscle calpastatin levels, HGP use, pH and temperature during ageing which are all likely...

Tail docking and mulesing are husbandry procedures of sheep to prevent flystrike. Tail docking may also be required to meet some market requirements. Reliance on mulesing to prevent flystrike can be lessened by a breeding program aimed at reducing breech wrinkle/cover. British breed and cross bred prime lamb mothers are unlikely...