Heck It Was So Hot Today - My Best Friend Had To Take A Dip In The Dam. Even The Working Dogs Need Time Out Every Now And Again...

Innocence Itself... that's me

I'm almost dry, Mum...

Got To Say I Feel A Lot Better Now...

Arhh! Noth'n Beats A Chewy Stick After A Splash In The Dam
Life's Good!

Oh, Except Toys, I Love My Toys!

Hint! Hint! Hint! Mum...

What Do Farmers Pay?

When selling cattle at the livestock exchange in Australia, farmers pay a whole gamut of fees, commisions and charges.

To give you an idea of these fees. We sold 12 (twelve) cattle and it cost:

Commission to selling agency: $203.10 (that was 5.3% two years ago when we sold 12 cattle).

Government transaction Levy: $60.00

Cattle Compensation: $10.25

Saleyard Fees $100.80 (that was for 4 (four) cows to stay overnight at the yards. They were sold the next day because they were feeding mothers (eg. their bags hang down too low; dead giveaway) and could not be sold in the "Fats" sales on the Tuesday and were held over for the "Cow and Calf" Sales on the Wednesday.

NLIS tags $5.00 for each animal (eg. 12 x $5.00 = $60.00)

Cartage to saleyards $120.00 (30 kms travel including pickup from farm and delivery to Livestock Selling Complex)

TOTAL: $435.35

The cost of selling the cattle equates to one and a half beasts sacrificied for selling fees each time we sell twelve cattle.

What other industry would accept a hit like that?

That's near 11% to 12% in fees and charges, AND that's NOT counting costs to get the animals to market (usually 12 to 18 months on farm care).

Note:

Commission to selling agent can vary from 3% to 10% or more.

The costs associated with rearing and caring for the animals are a whole 'nother set of costs before we even get to a sale.

They can include:

• Injections/Vaccinations (Vitamins/Protection against diseases)
• Feed (In drought and in good times)
• Drenching (ringworm, tapeworm, liver fluke, lice, ticks, etc)
• Fence repairs (some cattle like to break-out occassionally)
• Maintenance: (New Gates, stockyard repairs, etc)
• Artificial Insemination or Bulls (there are costs with both methods)
• Days away from the farm to attend sales (yes, this has a cost too).
• Fuels: (Diesel, Unleaded petrol, oils, insurance, registration, etc).
• Veterinary fees (Injuries, pregnancy testing and any other events)

The list goes on...

Advice: Don't become a farmer unless you have a lot of money that you don't need and love animals.

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Cattle Have Crèche (Day Care Centres) Too

This farmer found that if you...
Sit long enough amongst nature and you will observe more than grazing, burping, farting cows.

Cattle have a nurturing soul similar to elephants and in many cases very similar mannerisms. The slightest nod of the head, swish of a tail or twitch of an ear can signal another cow to stay away, come close or move away.

Cattle too have to organise their day so they can manage to feed, obtain water and feed their young. When they want to go off and feed (which is crucial to a new mother to keep up the milk supply to the young calf) they will often leave their calf in the care of another mother.

You will notice over a period or time that the cattle take it in turns to do this day care task.

After calving it is noticed that one particular bovine (just another name for a moo cow) will favour staying with the calves and especially a newer younger mother will often get lumped with the job of sitting with the calves while the older more experienced cows will graze.

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Can Cattle Show Affection? Are They Just Cows?

 

Find out here what a Farmer discovered...


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Can Sheep Be Affectionate? OR Are They Just Sheep?

Cat On A Wire - NOT! - Tonight They Be On Poles

Tonight, our cats Snooty & Tiger decided to get a birds eye view from on top of two poles that remain on our property (the BBQ area that hasn't happened yet)...

AND, this is Tiger up close and personal (on top of the poles)

Animals, they never cease to amaze me...

Today We Had A Visitor - Echidna Decides To Pass On Through...

Today, on the farm we had a lovely young visitor. Well, he (or she; we didn't get that close to find out) was lovely to watch - I didn't however attempt to pick it up...

Our young rooster followed it around the yard cautiously concerned but not panicking.

Later in the day the ecidna was no-where to be seen.

Ahh... the joys of living on the farm. Love it!