| South East |
| Visions |
- A profitable long term (>5 years) wool supply chain for specific end products.
- To produce a wool type specification with a set price for >5 years. Ditto for the meat market.
- Profitable segmented markets for wool and meat
- More young people given the opportunity to enter the Industry
- Profitability of meat and wool
- Commodity driven by wool type and by lamb specifications. All animals to be easy care for - flies, lice worms and labour
- Triple bottom line outcomes to be acknowledged as important and achieved
- New technology for production and usage
- More efficient production per ewe
- Flexible industry structure to handle change quickly
- Long term future for grand children in industry
- Meat oriented with fine wool and easy care sheep
- That commodity perception of industry is good
- Price security with risk management
- Recognition of quality (wool/meat)
- Young people back in the industry
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| Objectives |
- Marketing - All aspects of wool and meat chain
- Nutrition - Particularly drought, pre-lambing, production and supplementary feeding
- Genetics - MVP project results, dual purpose sheep, feed conversion, lifting lambing performances.
- Management in a 3BL context.
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| Committee Details |
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| | | Name: Neil Cameron | | Role: Producer | | Phone: 07 4668 0248 Office BMO Accountants 07 4662 3722 | | neil.cam@bigpond.com |
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|  | | Tony has extensive experience in the sheep and wool production, harvesting and education systems. He has also been a sheep and wool instructor at both Longreach and Dalby Colleges and is a registered teacher and wool classer. During his 7 years with DPI&F he has worked at Blackall, Charleville and is now based at Goondiwindi. In this time Tony has led the Sheep CRC Vocational and Industry Training project developing specialist training programs and resources. Tony was contracted by AWEX to review the Australian and New Zealand wool classing curricula which led to the updating of training delivery and resources. He is also contracted by MLA to developing guidelines for a National Code of Practice for Lamb Finishing. | |
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|  | | Veterinarian and sheep producer Noel O’Dempsey has taken on the role of regional coordinator for Leading Sheep South East.
Mr O’Dempsey runs fine wool sheep at “Linallie” in the Traprock country between Texas and Inglewood, and within that business he puts special emphasis on selecting sheep for worm resistance.
He is an accredited facilitator and will work with the Leading Sheep South East regional committee in the pursuing knowledge and skills to help develop more profitable and productive sheep enterprises.
Mr O’Dempsey was previously a sheep husbandry officer with the Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries for more than 20 years and also now runs a vet consultancy. | |
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| Southern Inland |
| Visions |
To create the opportunity for 100% of sheep and wool producers in this region to be aware of Leading Sheep Project activities, and 50% to participate in an activity over the life of the project;
- identifying environmentally sustainable productivity gains
- creating a positive social network for sharing knowledge and building skills
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| Objectives |
- To explore various strategies for managing climate variability
- To create awareness of the importance of monitoring and managing sheep at an optimal weight for production
- To create awareness of the factors driving reproduction improvements
- To provide exposure to possible productivity gains through genetics and how to select for them
- To create awareness of the importance of measuring and recording pasture availability
- To provide the opportunity to identify short and long term marketing opportunities/strategies for meat and wool
- To provide the opportunity to understand the impact of stocking rate (per ha) and influence on production per hectare (as opposed to production per head)
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| Committee Details |
 | | Duncan owns and runs “Dunwold” at Dirranbandi with wife Gerry Grant and with occasional help from two teenage sons. The property is 4000 ha and was mixed farming/grazing but in the past three years 1000 ha of old cultivation country has been planted to Oldman Saltbush. When fully in production, this should lift carrying capacity to 10,000 DSE. The entire property is managed using cell grazing, which enables Certified Organic food and fibre production. Duncan and Gerry are breeding large frame fine wool merinos and trading cattle. Lambs are grown out for the fat market. | |
|  | | Lloyd Harth runs a mixed grazing and farming property in the Surat district with the help of his wife Margaret and son Chris. The sheep enterprise consists of a Merino wool growing and breeding flock. His interest in the Leading Sheep project stems from a desire to get practical solutions communicated to the producer to enable them to make sustainable and profitable decisions. | |
|  | | James Hetherington runs a Merino breeding and woolgrowing enterprise with his wife Fran south-east of Dirranbandi in conjunction with properties in the St George and Thallon areas run by his brothers and their wives. His property does not have fodder crops and/or areas of sown improved pastures and relies on a set stocking management system. He believes there are many research findings and individually discovered initiatives within the 'wool industry' which have not been disseminated to the remainder of the industry. It is his belief that the industry does have a future if some new breakthroughs in productivity enhancements and marketing strategies can be found and implemented to facilitate return accretion. Within the industry there are certainly enough people with enough intelligence and passion to get the job done, if they can be brought together, and he feels that Leading Sheep can be used to facilitate this goal. | |
|  | | Geoff is the manager of Leading Sheep and has qualifications in Animal Husbandry, Wool Science and Applied Research (Rural Extension). He has had a long and varied career in research and extension with DPI&F and over the years has managed a number of sheep and wool projects. He is currently based in St George and has spent all his working life in western Queensland. | |
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|  | | Don Perkins runs a woolgrowing and breeding property at Dirranbandi with his wife, Belinda and sons Tom, Lachie and Nicholas. His main focus is to improve the productivity of the property through pasture improvement and genetic gains. He is also particularly interested in investigating ways to improve the communication between woolgrowers and their customers with a view of better supplying what the customer requires. Don thinks that Leading Sheep has a role to play in boosting the morale of Queensland sheep producers. | |
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| South West |
| Visions |
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To promote long-term profitability, prosperity and confidence in the wool industry by providing access to good information for implementing improvement programmes and to challenge or assess current practices.
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| Objectives |
- To increase participation in predator control programmes
- To promote excellence in sheep management
- To demonstrate best practice management in environmental management and animal welfare
- To encourage young people into the sheep and wool industry by enhancing the industry’s profile
- To improve knowledge and understanding of sheep nutritional requirements
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| Committee Details |
| | Brigitte is a partner and has been actively involved in running Autumnvale Pastoral Co, for the past 25 years. The sheep and cattle enterprise is in the Bulloo and Quilpie Shires. | |
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|  | | Guy Newell is a Sheep and Wool Extension specialist based in Charleville. He has been with DPI&F for the last 6 years. During this time, Guy has provided training and technical assistance in wool marketing, value adding, on-farm fibre measurement, sheep reproduction and sheep nutrition. Guy works with the Sheep CRC demonstrating and trialling "E-Sheep" technology in on-farm situations. Guy uses this automated individual sheep management technology in managing the data collection process for the Queensland Central Test Merino Sire Evaluation Project and has assisted in automating the data collection involved with DPI&F and Sheep CRC sheep nutrition research work. | |
|  | | Will and Narda Roberts live at “Victoria Downs” Merino Stud, Morven, where they raised their four daughters. They run 3500 breeding ewes and about 350 cows, when possible. Will is currently President of the Australian Association of Stud Merino Breeders and has a positive view for the future of Merino sheep and wool. He is on the 2006 WoolPoll Panel, has been involved in facilitating the merger between AWI and AWS and is keen to do work towards improving the viability of Merino enterprises. The Roberts’ are continuing to develop their sheep with the use of objective and subjective measurement, and using modern technology where they can see a benefit. | |
|  | | Kylie and Brian Rutledge live at Moble, south-west of Quilpie where they run a sheep and cattle breeding enterprise as well as a small goat business. They have four daughters who are actively involved with the running of Moble when time allows. They aim to produce 19-20 micron soft-handling wool on a robust animal with as few inputs as possible. During the past 15 years, the Rutledges have incorporated a ram breeding programme into their management plan with encouraging results. Their interests lie in sustainable and profitable wool, sheep and beef production. | |
| | | Kylie and Brian Rutledge live at Moble, south-west of Quilpie where they run a sheep and cattle breeding enterprise as well as a small goat business. They have four daughters who are actively involved with the running of Moble when time allows. They aim to produce 19-20 micron soft-handling wool on a robust animal with as few inputs as possible. During the past 15 years, the Rutledges have incorporated a ram breeding programme into their management plan with encouraging results. Their interests lie in sustainable and profitable wool, sheep and beef production. | |
|  | | Nicole Sallur is an extension officer who has worked for DPI&F in Charleville for the past 10 years. During this time, Nicole has been involved in the following projects: total grazing pressure, sheep genetics, sheep reproduction, producing vocational and educational training materials and environmental management systems. Charleville is also Nicole’s home town. | |
|  | | Kathy has spent her life on sheep properties, first at Albury in NSW, then west of Warwick and for the past 32 years at Cunnamulla. She is a passionate woolgrower who is proud to wear wool clothing and believes more producers should show their conviction by wearing wool. | |
|  | | Sue Stirton and husband James live at "Armoobilla" Cheepie, 175 km SW of Charleville. They operate a family enterprise with Dohne and Merino sheep and Droughtmaster cattle. They are intending to increase the Dohne content of their flock, thus allowing them to breed an animal well-suited climatically and producing both meat and medium (19-21micron) wool. They believe this mix in their beef/sheep enterprise allows them to spread the risk across three market sectors. | |
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| North and Central West |
| Visions |
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To grow a more profitable and sustainable sheep industry and lift its profile in the Central West region of Queensland
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| Objectives |
- To increase profitability
- Improve management practice
- Raise awareness of diversification options
- Improve technology adoption
- Increase awareness and support for stakeholders
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| Committee Details |
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| | | Buckles came to “Laidlaw” Longreach at age 15 from Emerald District. Studied Farm Management at Q.A.C. Gatton and then returned home and worked on Laidlaw and district. Spent four years at “Cooreela” Roma (1988-92) where we took our sheep and cattle during the 87/88 drought and also grew wheat for a few years (and had a few babies). Returned to “Laidlaw” in 1992 and we took over the running of the “Laidlaw”, a Braford Cattle Stud and self replacing merino ewe flock 92 kms South /South West of Longreach. We have always had a keen interest in breeding livestock (sheep and cattle) and a great believer in objective measurement which we have been doing since 1984. Slowly we have reduced our micron and held fleece weight over the last 20 years or so as well as trying to breed a plainer more easy doing fertile ewe.
Basically you could say I have a keen interest in all aspects of the sheep industry (merino and fat lambs) and it is a pleasure to be involved with Leading Sheep. If we could get a couple of decent seasons it may give us renewed energy and keep our interest up.
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|  | | Wendy Sheehan lives at “Trinidad”, with husband Pete, their two daughters and Wendy’s mother, Margaret Pegler. They operate a mixed grazing enterprise with a Shorthorn-based herd and a medium-fine Merino flock. They are using current technologies to increase their flock value and are keen to adopt other relevant technologies to make further improvements to their enterprise. | |
|  | | Virginia grew up near Isisford on a Merino stud and over the past 24 years has lived and worked on various sheep properties including Alice Downs at Blackall where she and her husband Michael have been living for the past 12 years. As Co-ordinator of the North and Central West Qld Region of Leading Sheep, Virginia is keen to assist in the implementation and delivery of relevant and meaningful information, services and activities for people associated with the sheep and wool industries in the North and Central West Region. Virginia believes Leading Sheep is an ideal avenue for such delivery and encourages producers and associated stakeholders to maintain regular contact with Committee members [we like to hear what you have to say] and freely participate in any of the Leading Sheep activities as they occur. | |
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