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With the Sydney, Australia Harbour behind them, members of AgLead VI include the following (l to r): Bart Roye of Ralls; TFB Organization Programs Director Si Cook; Travis Adams of Odem; Keith McIlvain of DeLeon; Kevin Hamlin of Big Spring; Rodney Schmalriede of McGregor; Jim Gibson of Dublin; Dale Caffey of Red Rock; Brian Jones of Edcouch; Chuck Burns of Raymondville; Brian DeVault of Mexia; and Boyd Jackson of Lockney.
By Si Cook
Organization Programs Director
When most Americans hear the world "Australia," they usually respond by assuming a wistful expression and muttering something to the effect of "I'd really like to go there some day."Visions of the Outback, Aborigines, kangaroos and landmarks like Sydney Harbour and the Great Barrier Reef quickly come to mind. This past fall, Texas Farm Bureau's AgLead VI Leadership Development Class got the opportunity to make the much-sought-after trip to the "land down under."
As is true with all memorable experiences, there are always a few things that must be "endured"—the first of which was the long trip there. After spending almost 24 hours in airports and airplanes of various sizes, it was emphasized to our group that our destination was—to use a native Australian term, "A bloody long way!" Once we arrived, however, it was evident that the trip was going to be well worth the effort.
Australia is almost equal in area to the lower 48 United States. The population, however, is drastically different.
While we have approximately 290 million people here in the U.S., the Australian population is only about what we have here in Texas—22 to 23 million. These two statistics proved to be very important throughout the course of our trip.
Australia is the only country on the globe that makes up its own continent. When you travel to this fabulous land, you must cross both the equator, which means that the seasons are the reverse of ours—as well as the international date line, which means that they are a day ahead of us. The result of all of this was that this group of Texas farmers and ranchers found themselves experiencing Spring in October, in an English-speaking country with a 15 hour and one day time difference! We quickly adjusted, however, and got down to the business of learning about this country that has historically been one of our best allies within the world community.
Our arrival city of Brisbane was our first impression of what our trip would be. Upon landing, we found a clean, cordial, relatively new city with friendly people and all the amenities that one would expect in a city of 1.2 million people. One of the first things that you learn about Australia is that it was originally established as a convict outpost for Great Britain. Many of the residents will tell you, with a twinkle in their eye, that they come from "convict stock." We found that Australians have a wonderful sense of humor and humility mixed with strong national pride, and that they are careful not to take themselves too seriously.
Since Brisbane is the capital city for the state of Queensland, one of our first visits was the headquarters of the Queensland Department of Primary Industries—the equivalent of our Texas Department of Agriculture. Here we learned many of the specifics of the state and national agriculture industry. We were told that 45 percent of Australia's 29 million cattle are located in Queensland, which makes it the number one cattle state in the nation. We were also quickly informed that Queensland was larger in size than our beloved state of Texas, even though we boast approximately 14 million head of cattle by comparison. Australia's national herd of 29 million head compares to ours in the U.S. at approximately 94-95 million head.
We were also made aware of Queensland's efforts to develop and maintain a viable National Livestock Identification System (NLIS). As of July of 2005, it will be a requirement that all animals leaving a property must have a permanent NLIS device. This most likely will be in the form of an ear tag with a transmitter button that can be read by a scanner device. It was explained that it would be the responsibility of the person receiving the cattle to make sure that this device was present and that the information was transferred to the national database. The Department of Primary Industries will have responsibility for this program. We were told that there were approximately 52,000 registered properties in Queensland.
Throughout our trip, it was evident that water and water rights was an important issue—just as it is in Texas. At the offices of Dunavant Enterprises in Brisbane, a cotton marketing firm based in Memphis, TN, with offices around the world, we learned that the Eastern seaboard of Australia is just now emerging from its worst drought in 50 years. Dunavant markets about 18 percent of Australia's total cotton production, which ranges from a high of 3.7 million bales to a low of 1.5 million bales. Yields for irrigated cotton ranged from 3.6 to 4 bales per acre.
We were told that water rights in Australia can be held separate from the land. Throughout our trip, we were able to visit with many livestock, grain, and cotton producers and water was always a topic of discussion. Australian agriculture universities, like ours, are continually researching water conservation methods.
We learned that water law in Australia is a bit vague. There is currently no real ownership of water. It is considered owned "by the Crown" and is a resource that is free for everyone to use. Currently, those who get to the water first and have the best situation to get the water have an advantage. Most all of the agricultural water we discussed was impounded in surface storage facilities called "ring tanks"and captured from runoff during the rainy season. The farmers who live higher up in a watershed have an obvious advantage over those who live farther down because they get the first chance at the runoff. In some areas, farmers pay for a water "entitlement." A common average for water in the most productive areas was $200 per megaliter. A megaliter is the amount of water is takes to cover one hectare (about 2.5 acres) four inches deep.
Our group was split up one evening and each of us spent the night with farmers and livestock producers in an area known as "The Darling Downs." This region is known as one of the most agriculturally productive in all of Australia. A variety of crops, including cotton, corn, sorghum and lucent (alfalfa), are produced. Without exception, we found our hosts extremely cordial, outgoing and willing to share the specifics of their individual operations. We were all made to feel at home and gained a great deal of knowledge from our farm stays. The farmers in this area told us consistently that the Australian government does not subsidize them. There are options available for crop insurance, and the government matches research dollar for dollar, but other than that, the farmers are at the mercy of the market.
Agriculture producers in the United States pride themselves on embracing the very latest technology available in the business. Producers in Australia are no different. On the farms and livestock operations that we visited, we witnessed the use of the very best in crop and livestock genetics, as well as research dealing with mechanized agriculture and plant and animal breeding.
Many of the brand names that we recognize in the United States were very visible throughout our trip. Because of Australia's relatively small population, they are not able to develop or support a large machinery manufacturing industry, so most of the tractors, implements and harvest machines we saw were the reds and greens that are familiar to U.S. producers.
One of the most notable differences on the farms and ranches that we saw was the absence of the full-size pickup that we all know and love. Fuel prices of $3 to $4 per gallon encourage Australian producers to drive much smaller vehicles and then hire the heavy hauling done. Weight limits for trucks on Australian roads vary, but generally exceed 100,000 lbs. Total length did not appear to be a consideration, as several trailers are often hooked together to form "road trains," especially in the less-populated western part of the country.
In Australia, the farther west you travel, the more unpredictable the yearly rainfall becomes. Because either timely rains or irrigation are necessary to sustain a cropping operation, the largest portion of the continent is engaged in varied forms of livestock production.
We were able to visit an historic sheep station and learned much about the beginnings of the Australian livestock industry. Sheep were once the mainstay and Australia produced a large portion of the world's wool. Fortunes were made during the two World Wars when demand for wool to make military uniforms was at its peak. We were able to tour an authentic old-time sheep station headquarters at Jondaryan where the industry sponsors a collection of historic buildings and machinery as well as demonstrations of everyday farm chores. During our tour, an old-time sheep shearer from England was visiting and offered to demonstrate his skill for the group.
Next we visited Kerwee feedyard—a modern, privately-owned facility that is part of a vertically integrated company that produces beef "from paddock to plate." This facility, which had a capacity of approximately 7,000 head, was indicative of the Australian feeder industry.
This particular feedlot has built relationships directly with a number of Japanese supermarkets. They host annual visits for the Japanese to inspect the facilities so that the Japanese feel that they have some ownership in the process. The Kerwee yard basically has three types of cattle: Short-fed that come in at 1,000 lbs. and are fed for 60-70 days; medium-fed that come in at 900 lbs. and are fed for around 220 days; and long-fed, that come in at about 650 lbs. and may be fed as long as 450 days.
The latter group usually consists of half or full-blood Wagyu cattle bred, fed and slaughtered for a specialized Japanese market. Full-blood Wagyu cattle, which are prized for their intense marbling, may cost as much as $1,000 a head coming into the feedyard. They are then fed to a live weight of approximately 1,600 lbs. at 27 months of age before slaughter, at which time they are worth around $3,000 a head at current prices! The cost of gain was about $1.10 per pound U.S. We found that the Australian feeding industry is not as developed as ours, as they can only feed about 750,000 head at a time nationwide.
The group also visited a cattle operation outside the city of Tamworth, which is known more or less as the Country Music Capital of Australia. Goonoo Goonoo Station (an Aboriginal name) is owned by Colonial Agricultural Company, the third largest beef producer in Australia. Goonoo Goonoo is one of nine properties owned or leased by Colonial that total more than 25 million acres.
Most of the larger agricultural companies have a number of properties spread out over the country to protect against the damaging effects of drought. This property, which encompasses around 5,500 hectares (13,500 acres) raises stockers on alfalfa and oat pastures as well as a registered herd of Santa Gertrudis cows that carry King Ranch genetics. The manager is expected to produce a 10 percent return on investment each year or he may be shown the door or demoted to Jackaroo (ranch hand.) Once again, the original use of this property was as a sheep station, and many of the old buildings on it were constructed by convicts.
One thing was made abundantly clear to us throughout our entire visit—Australia is absolutely dependant upon exports for the viability of its agriculture industry. In the U.S., we must export roughly one-third of our agricultural production for prices to remain stable. The Australian agriculture industry must export three-quarters of their production to achieve the same goal.
Remember what I said at the beginning of this article about a country the size of the U.S. with a population the size of Texas? These folks just can't eat their way out of a surplus! Everyone from the producer to the processor to the marketer to the politician is focused on one thing—exporting production! Australia is known for a variety of commodities that it ships world-wide. Beef is the number one agricultural export to the U.S., representing 42 percent of the total. Most Australian beef shipped to the U.S. is "manufacturing beef" that is mostly lean. Our fast-food industry takes this lean meat and mixes it with the fat trimmings from our fed-cattle industry to achieve just the right blend for our hamburger patties. Wine (26 percent) and mutton/lamb (11 percent) round out the top three agricultural exports to the United States.
I think this was the most common sentiment expressed by AgLead members concerning our trip. Most members of the group had never been so far away from home for so long, but they all realized that they were experiencing something special. The chance to travel to another country to learn about its origins, culture, government and traditions is indeed a unique opportunity to grow. Visiting places with names like Too-woomba and Goondiwindi and being referred to as "mate" several times each day—all make a lasting impression on you.
We will never forget the warmth, hospitality and openness that we experienced while we all tried to grasp the essence of this large, diverse, rugged land. Most of us may never again see the Southern Cross in the night sky or a kangaroo in the wild, but we will always remember that we did at least once.
Our impressions and understanding of the world that we live in became just a little bit bigger as a result of our adventure.
I have no doubt that Texas agriculture will be all the better for it as the 12 members of the AgLead VI Class use what they have learned within their industry.
