After 16 months in operation the Central Tablelands Livestock Exchange (CTLX) at Carcoar has sold 560,596 sheep and lambs. 135,274 cattle have also been sold through the complex since cattle sales commenced 12 months ago. This places the CTLX third behind Dubbo and Wagga in NSW cattle sales and fifth behind Wagga, Dubbo, Forbes and Griffith in sheep and lamb sales. At nearby Cowra, stock sale numbers are still strong with 347,674 sheep and lambs yarded and 12,000 cattle were traded over the 12 month period, justifying the decision not to close the complex and join the Bathurst, Blayney and Orange Shire Councils in the $18 million CTLX project at Carcoar.

2009 MLA national lamb survey

Australia’s lamb producers are urged to participate in Meat and Livestock Australia’s (MLA) June 2009 online lamb survey, designed to gather statistics on the current state of the nation’s lamb flock. The survey aims to identify lamb production trends, and form the basis for key lamb supply forecasting activities by MLA. MLA’s Sheepmeat Analyst Kara Jones said the 2009 MLA Lamb Survey will play an important role in helping livestock producers and others involved in the industry to track lamb production trends. The survey is being conducted online and has been emailed to MLA members with the deadline for completing the survey Tuesday June 30 and the results of the survey will be made available in August 2009. Further lamb surveys are set to be conducted in October 2009 and again in February 2010.

Young farmers attended NFF Congress

Seven young farmers from NSW, Sam Gunn, Rebecca Johnson, Mark Swift, Ben Hayes, Rob Eassie, Hamish Munro and Ben Bailey joined with more than 350 farmers, peak bodies and State Farming Organisations, agribusiness and government representatives at the NFF National Congress in Brisbane. The aim of the Congress was to bring together farmers, key industry leaders, agribusinesses, Government, teachers and students, researchers and academics to discuss the major issues affecting agriculture, like the growing world population, climate change, the global food shortage and water. The theme of the Congress was ‘Modern farmers: growing opportunities today in order to meet tomorrow’s challenges’.