THE livestock team at Primaries is trying something new with the announcement of the company’s inaugural online Grow Safe weaner sale set to be held on AuctionsPlus on Friday, January 5, 2018.
The sale represents what the Primaries team hopes will be the first of many such sales across cattle and sheep, where the product being offered will be sold directly from property and guaranteed Grow Safe certified.
Primaries livestock manager Paul Mahony said there were two main reasons behind the decision to put the sale together.
“By using the AuctionsPlus format, there is less stress on the animal because there is no need to spend time in saleyards which impacts on productivity,” Mr Mahony said.
“This is in line with the Grow Safe animal health strategy.”
The sale is still open for nominations of weaner steers and heifers from Grow Safe certified producers with Primaries expecting to offer at least 300 head of cattle from across the State during the sale.
On the buying end, Mr Mahony said there would be something for all interests from lotfeeders to graziers to exporters.
“There’s a multitude of market options and Primaries is looking at making it an annual event at the very least,” he said.
Primaries has already received nominations for the sale including from Brian Trigwell, who runs a Banksia Grove bloodline Angus herd at Donnybrook.
“I’ve been using Grow Safe fertilisers for about four years and the cattle have performed very well during that period,” Mr Trigwell said.
“I wanted to try it out because we were suffering some water quality problems and because Grow Safe doesn’t use chemicals it seemed like a good idea to try it out.
“Since being on the program those issues have gone away which means our marron enterprise, which we run alongside the cattle, isn’t harmed by water problems.
“On the cattle side of things, we were having issues due to grass tetany (hypomagnesaemia) which is a serious problem but the soil testing and needs-based fertiliser mix from Grow Safe seems to have fixed that issue.”
Earlier in the year, Primaries hosted two information sessions in conjunction with Grow Safe with Mr Mahony saying he thought producers were receptive to the idea.
“The idea behind the collaboration between Primaries and Grow Safe is to shine a light on the positive effects of utilising the tailored fertiliser product which is not only good for the environment, because it’s a mineral fertiliser as opposed to chemical, but also to demonstrate the benefits having the right sort and correct amount of minerals in your soils, which flows onto your pastures and onto the end product which is the animal,” he said.
“From our perspective, anything that has positive down supply chain effects is good for the entire supply chain.
“We’re working closely with Gary Dimasi at Paradise Beef feedlot who has been tracking the performance of Grow Safe cattle in his operation and he sees a significant difference in the quality of those cattle.”
Mr Dimsai keeps a close eye on data outputs in his operation and said since having cattle from a Grow Safe program enter the system he has been seeing steady increases in performance, regardless of the season.
“It’s clear the Grow Safe program isn’t a 12-month fix but is showing long-term improvements,” he said.
“We notice it on our end with better welfare and weight gain outcomes and the producers I speak to notice it on their end with improved fertility and growth rates.
“The animals that come through the Grow Safe program are more robust and they stand out clearly in the yards.
“That robustness comes back to a dollar value for producers because if lotfeeders know they’ll be turning over more productive animals, they’ll be able to justify paying top rates at auction so I think this sale is a very exciting opportunity for producers and buyers.
“And at the end of the day, the market is screaming for a cleaner product so any animal which has been exposed to less chemicals during its life is a plus.
“From a lotfeeding perspective, I just can’t get enough of cattle that have come from Grow Safe backgrounds.”
The online yarding of weaners is expected to be of very high quality, with weights set to range between 300-450 kilograms.
Further details on the sale will be made available closer to the date in Farm Weekly and online via auctionsplus.com.au
For more information about the sale or to nominate cattle contact a local Primaries livestock representative or Simon Green on 0429 136 029.
