We are certainly going to
test the market for Limousin females over the next two months.
The first female sale will be
Tramahler (47 lots) on 27th May followed by Talana (50 females) on
17th June. The Home Station
Female Dispersal on 23rd June with 182 females will be followed by
the Donna Valley Christmas in July sale on 7th July.
There will be some great
opportunities to purchase quality Limousin females at all sales and the market
for females so far this year has been very strong with 206 females selling to a
top of $15,000 (twice) and an average of $3,557.
There has also been an influx
of new members who will no doubt be looking to expand their herds.
As the articles below show
the US is still battling to get back into the Japanese market and Californian
processors have been shut out of the Hong Kong market.
Japan may make a decision by June (from
Drovers Journal)
Japanese officials say they will try to resolve
the issue of resuming U.S. beef imports ahead of a trip by Prime Minister
Junichiro Koizumi to the United States in late June. Analysts say if a decision
is deferred until after the summit, Japan may give the appearance of having
bowed to U.S. pressure. However, Japanese officials have also said they will
decide whether to resume U.S. beef imports based on food safety and not out of
political concerns.
Japan wants to see
the results of a re-audit of 37 U.S. packing plants eligible to export beef to
Japan prior to talks with U.S. officials this week. Japanese Farm Minister
Shoichi Nakagawa said, “If we are satisfied with the results of our talks, we
will certainly proceed into the next phase.” Next phase? Next hurdle would be
more appropriate terminology. — G.H.
Hong Kong suspends beef imports from
California plant
Hong Kong has banned beef imports from a
California packing plant after bones were discovered in a shipment of beef from
Harris Ranch Beef Co. The presence of the bones violates import rules. Last
year, Hong Kong resumed taking beef from the United States, but only boneless
beef from cattle less than 30 months old with all of the specified risk materials
removed.
Charlotte Fox has taken over
from Maria Butler as the person at ABRI who handles all of the Limousin
BREEDPLAN data input and herd reports.
Charlotte can be contacted on 02 6773 3056 or by email limousin@breedplan.une.edu.au. We welcome Charlotte who has more than a passing
interest in Limousin and thank Maria for her courteous and efficient
service. The cut-off dates for
submitting data for the next analysis are looming up.
The recent Board meeting made
a decision that all vendors in Society Approved Sales must be current members
of the Limousin Assurance Program. The
minimum requirements are that you are submitting docility scores for all of your
calves and provide fertility and docility warranties for the registered cattle
you sell.
I am reliably informed that
the best tattooing ink available is green Ketchum paste imported from
Canada. Many breeders have purchased
this paste from Wayne Churchill over the years but Wayne has handed over the
sales of the paste to ALBS. We have
just received a shipment from Canada and the paste is available for $11.00 per
tube including postage.
Louis de Neuville has emailed
to ask if I can find work experience for a young French student Xavier Moreau
from mid July to mid August.
Xavier is 20 years old and
speaks good English and as part of his course in Agricultural Business is
required to spend two months in a non-European English speaking country. He is prepared to work for "his board
and a bit of pocket money". If you
could host Xavier for some part of this time please let me know as soon as
possible.
Robert and Marilyn Bulley's
Roma-Park Grand Zulu was crowned the Supreme All Breeds Bull at the Manning
Valley Beef Week recently. Also Ken and
Kirsten Bisley of Amber Park paraded the Reserve All Breeds Cow.
Brendan Jones purchased some
promotional gear at Sydney Royal and we need to contact him. We expect he was working as a groom for a
Limousin exhibitor. Please contact Fran
at the ALBS office if you can help.
A questionnaire has been
posted to vendors out our National Show and Sale to seek their opinions on
whether we change the date of the National from late April to March. If you have not been a vendor over that
period but may be a vendor in the future please contact the ALBS office for a
questionnaire.
The ILC Post Conference Tour
visited a very impressive 1000 cow Brahman herd run by the Titmarsh family of
Tandora Grazing Co near Maryborough in Queensland. They sold a large draft of Limousin and Charolais cross steers at
the annual Toogoolawah weaner show and sale last Friday. Their Limousin X steer weaners won Class 2
for a pen suitable for the domestic trade and later sold for $730. Those on the tour probably saw some of these
outstanding calves.
1 Limousin X 450 kg @ 222.6
c/kg = $1001 acc. J Rigano, Ferndale.
1 Limousin X 370 kg @ 225.6
c/kg = $834 acc. J Bragnolo, Trafalgar.
1 Limousin X 345 kg @ 224.2
c/kg = $773 acc. P Dunn, Ryplebrook
19th – 21st May: National Beef 2006, Bendigo, Vic.
27th May: Tramahler Female Sale, Gympie Qld. (catalogue on the web).
17th June: Talana Heart of the Herd Female Sale, Kingaroy, Qld (catalogue on
the web).
23rd June: Homestation Breeding Female Dispersal Wangaratta, Vic.
7th July: Donna Valley Christmas in July Female Sale, Holbrook, NSW.
14th July: Greenacres Limousin Bull sale, Gunnedah, NSW.
11th August: Northern Limousin Breeders' Sale, Scone, NSW.
29th August: Birubi On Property Sale, Borambola, Via Wagga Wagga, NSW.
1st September: Glenview Western Bull Sale, Roma, Qld.
2nd September: 16th Annual
Hunter Valley Limousin Sale, Singleton, NSW.
26th September: QTL Tramahler Bull Sale, Rockhampton, Qld.
29th September: Stevens Limousins Female and Bull Sale, Birriwa, NSW.
Yours in Limousin
Alex McDonald