Hello Bald Blair Angus Community

Thank you for staying connected and reading The Boundary Rider’s Report - we really appreciate the feedback we receive and interaction we have with our community.

Please feel free to let us know if there is anything you would like to hear from us in this report. Please drop a line to kirstywhite@baldblair.com.au

Season: Guyra has received 233mm so far this year. We have experienced some hot and sunny days, which was fantastic last weekend for the Guyra Show. On Wednesday morning we finished sewing new pastures at Bald Blair and in the afternoon received 5mm and more overnight. Feels like Autumn is on its way.

Markets: Despite record high numbers in the Australian cattle herd and the MLA tipping an increase of 4.5% year on year off the back of strong female reproductive performance and genetic improvements (MLA Jan 2023) we think it’s still the time to buy.

After years of drought and then a couple of excellent seasons, thanks to La Nina the Australian cattle herd has been rebuilt. As a consequence we now see a revaluation occurring in cattle prices with a drop in prices between 20-30%; We think these economic times present an opportunity for buyers to continue to invest in herd performance for the future. 

Female Sale Thursday 27 April 2023

https://auctionsplus.com.au/auctions/cattle/bald-blair-angus-female-sale/109912

https://www.angusaustralia.com.au/event/bald-blair-angus-2023-female-sale

On Thursday 27th April this year we will have on offer both HBR and APR Registered Angus Females and a line up of Commercial Angus Maiden Females PTIC and weaner Angus heifers for sale. These HBR and APR Cows will be from 5 to 8 years of age, and are proven breeders; a list of these cows in the team is available upon request. 

The sale will be held on property at Bald Blair Angus, Guyra NSW and live streamed online with AuctionsPlus.

Inspections prior to the sale are welcome, and recommended. Please call us for an appointment Sam 0438 792140 or Kirsty 0427 722 908.

35-40 Bald Blair Angus HBR and APR stud cows PTIC. These cows have been AI’d then covered by Bald Blair Sires.

24 Bald Blair Angus commercial maiden dams PTIC joined to Bald Blair Bulls sired by Paratrooper P15. These Heifers will be offered in 4 pens of 6 Dams each. 

60 Bald Blair Angus commercial weaner heifers, these heifers are only a few weeks away from being weaned. They will be offered in 4 pens of 15 head each.

Please contact us on 02 6779 2141 or 0427 722 908 or email kirstywhite@baldblair.com.au if you would like us to send you a catalogue when they are printed. 

These animals have just recently been inspected by our Elders team, including Mark Atkin 0455 310 657 and Wayne Jenkyn 0428 293 556 at Guyra and Brain Kennedy, Elders Stud Stock 0427 844 047 and Lincoln McKinlay Elders Stud Stock Auctioneer 0400 552 458. 

Female Sale on AuctionsPlus 10am Friday 24th February

Account: Tarrawonga Pastoral

https://auctionsplus.com.au/auctions/cattle/eastern-states-cattle-sale/120240

26 Very Good Quality Front Paddock EU Accredited Angus Heifers. Heifers are pure Bald Blair Blood showing all the attributes of Quality Top Shelf Breeders. Heifers are pregnancy tested in calf to Registered Low Birth Weight Bald Blair Angus NBBR301 / NBB21S203, being the highest priced yearling bull at the 2022 Bald Blair Angus Sale. Bulls have been specifically selected for Low Birth - Negative gestation high growth, muscle & impressive IMF figures. See pedigree attached. For purchasers convenience, Heifers have been deliberately joined for a tight 7 week period to commence calving late August. Heifers are very well educated being handled with horses & dogs. Please note 1 heifer noted with a Blue Eye ( off side ). Heifers weighed 416kg to 578kg to average 484kg.

Autumn Calving: Our autumn stud and commercial herds have now finished calving and we will be submitting this data to the Angus Society shortly. There is no doubt tagging calves in summer is much more enjoyable than winter!

Sheep yards: We have pulled down the old original sheep yards at Bald Blair and will be building new ones next week with Ramange Engineering in Guyra. This will make a huge difference to our experience with sheep in the yards and we expect to be a lot more efficient! Looking forward to getting another project underway.

AuctionsPlus Updates: As you may already be aware, our new User Agreement & Sale Terms go live in 30 days. From the 1st of March 2023, all AuctionsPlus users will need to read and accept our updated terms to continue using the website. For more information on these changes, please visit this webpage. 

AgTech: Do you use much agtech on your farm and if so how is it going for you? We have water monitoring systems, moisture probes, Gallagher TWR-5 weigh system, HerdMaster software to name a few. The NSW Department of Primary Industries is providing training and funding for agtech - please check out this link to see if you are in one of a very few local government areas that are eligible to attend a course and apply. https://www.agtech.dpi.nsw.gov.au/ The website does provide links to a huge selection of ag tech - so it is a useful resource if nothing else.

Tocal: We were delighted to host Tocal College https://www.tocal.nsw.edu.au/ on Tuesday. The group of students asked excellent questions as part of their beef tour and it is good to see the future of agriculture is in safe hands with this crew of enthusiastic young people. It is great to host field days and tours at Bald Blair again after an extended break with COVID etc.

Information on buying bulls: Have you seen the information Angus Australia has put together for livestock agents to assist with buying bulls? Even if you are not an agent it provides useful information. Check it out here: Stock Agents Toolkit Overview - Angus Australia

Integrity Systems: How do you keep your farm records for the Livestock Production Assurance (LPA) program, paddock book, Agriwebb, excel?

We are preparing for our annual Cattlecare/LPAQA audit and reviewing the Integrity Systems https://www.integritysystems.com.au/on-farm-assurance/lpa-rules--standards/ website to work out how we can streamline our data entry and record keeping. We have treatment sheets from the cattle yards, spray sheets from the paddock and vendor declarations to name a few. In the past we have entered all details into the excel spreadsheets. However we have been informed we no longer have to do this - not for a long time! 

According to the LPA Audit Checklist “There is no perfect formula to record keeping. The LPA record keeping templates are used by many producers and include all details that must be recorded. All documents may now be uploaded to the producer’s LPA account for safe storage. Alternately, some producers find that keeping clear notes in a diary works well. Others use customised hardcopy record books, computer spreadsheets, or keep their records within their farm management software programs. Regardless of the method, it is important that all relevant management activities are accurately and clearly recorded for the auditor to review.”

We will continue to record Safe Date to Slaughter, Safe Date to Graze information on our worksheets and upload them to our LPA account digital record keeping portal. 

Withholding Periods: When you need a quick guide to withholding periods then check out Australian Pesticidies and Veterinary Medicines Authority, Public Chemical Registration Information System Search. The latest WHP available from APVMA at Public Chemical Registration Information System Search

Podcast - The Data Breeder: Our podcast is still available to download. We plan to make some more recordings in 2023. If you have any suggestions, please let us know. https://www.baldblairangus.com.au/podcast-the-data-breeder

Commercial Semen Available: We have also collected semen from a number of our leading bulls for our own commercial heifer AI program and to provide to clients. Please check out our Semen Sales page on our website https://www.baldblairangus.com.au/semen-sales and if you are interested in ordering semen please fill in the form and give us a call so we can assist you with your breeding program.

Bald Blair Merch: Bald Blair Angus Trucking caps, hand towels & enamel mugs are available to purchase - check out our website store if you would like to order one.  https://www.baldblairangus.com.au/store

Kelly’s Cottage: Kelly’s Cottage is open again for accommodation - so please check out our listing on Airbnb for availability or contact us directly. 

Bald Blair Angus Google Business: if you have read this far, please check out this link https://goo.gl/maps/h57s7ESRR3nNkDJB8 to our Google Business page a select "write a review".

We would really appreciate a review from you. Please let us know if you have done a review and we will send you some Bald Blair Angus merch as a thank you gift.