A copy of the contract specifications appears below.  

Elders Young Heifer Specifications

SELECTION TO COMMENCE IMMEDIATELY

Please note the cattle selection specifications below for the Elders Reared Holstein Calf Order

Cattle specifications

Breed:                                   Holstein-Friesian Heifers

Pregnancy Status:           Unmated

Age:                                      3-5 months at time of delivery

Weight:                               120kgs+ at time of delivery.

Price:                                  $900 – $950 per head + GST delivered

•  NO PROPERTY OF ORGIN CLEARANCE REQUIRED 
•  NO ON-FARM TESTING REQUIRED

 Pedigree

•  China pedigree requirements apply:

             ~ The heifer’s date of birth must be known.

             ~ The heifers sire must be known and must be an AI or registered animal.

             ~ Additional dam information should be shown where available.

 Cattle health

• Vendor must complete a China vendor declaration at selection.
•  There is no on-farm testing required.
• Cattle with a hernia, ringworm, warts or other sign of ill-health must not be presented for selection or delivered to quarantine.

 NLIS Tags

•  All cattle must be NLIS tagged at time of inspection.

Cattle Health

• Cattle are purchased on the basis that they are healthy at time of delivery into quarantine and are fit to export.
• Cattle with hernia, ringworm, warts or other sign of ill-health must not be presented for selection or delivered.

 Standard Fees

•  Handling Fees = $4.50
•  Database fee = $1.50

 Conformation

• Animals will be subject to Holstein Australian True-to-Type inspection at time of delivery.

             Any animal failing this inspection will be rejected from the shipment at vendor risk.

•  No docked tails.
•  Must have four white socks.
•  Polled or cleanly dehorned cattle only.
•  Must have four sound teats, no spares.

 Delivery

•  Monthly deliveries to Warrnambool, VIC.

 Australian Standards for the Export of Livestock

•  Cattle selection must comply with the Australian Standards for the Export of Livestock v2.2.

 Bookings

•  Bookings to National Dairy Coordinator, Ross Gibson 0458 845 190 or to your local Elders  agent.

We have broken away from our traditional time and venue and will hold the 2011 conference in the Ballantyne Centre, which is on the same site as International Dairy Week. It will be held on 17th January, which is the 1st day of IDW, which means that anyone planning on attending IDW will have another reason to make the trip to Tatura, in northern Victoria. The choices of accommodation in the Shepparton area are numerous but it might be a good idea to book early to make sure your first choice is available.

Updates will be posted on the website as soon as we have further information.

We visited two farms, the Horking’s, where they milk about 300 cows and use an automatic calf feeder to feed their calves, and the much larger Coomboona Holsteins dairy, which is milking around 1200 cows.

On the first farm the calves are cared for by family members, on the second, by paid staff. The differing styles of housing and approach of the calf raisers stimulated some interesting questions and attendees were shown two quite different styles of rearing.

Lunch was put on by the Sheridan CWA ladies and was delicious. It was generously sponsored by Redpath Greenhouses. The Horkings have a Redpath Greenhouse as their calf barn and are very happy with it;  Wayne and Brian from Redpath were on site to give a brief talk and to answer any queries about the shelter.  

During lunch, Dr. Rob Bonanno, from the Shepparton Vet Clinic, gave a very interesting talk, which continued on after lunch at the second farm.

The P.C.R.A.A. is very grateful to the two farms for hosting us, Redpath Greenhouses for their generous sponsorship of lunch, Dr. Bonanno for his enlightening talk and the CWA ladies for their wonderful cooking.

Field day attendees keen to learn

Lely Automatic Calf Feeder (Powder Type) which can feed up to 100 calves. It has been used for two seasons only and has two feeding stations, extra teats and all manuals.

This machine is in excellent condition but as Graeme is selling his dairy he has no further use for it.

Asking price is $12000.
Enquiries to 0417 563073

Registrations will commence at 10.30 a.m. at the farm of John and Sandra Horkings at Restdown Road, Rochester. Sandra raises their calves in a Redpath Ecoshelter and will talk about her calf rearing methods. A representative of Redpath Greenhouses will be available to answer questions about the shed.

Lunch will be at the Kyabram Masonic Hall and has been generously sponsored by Redpath Greenhouses. During lunch, Dr. Rob Bonanno from the Shepparton Vet clinic will give a talk on calf inductions and good colostrum management.

Following lunch, we will drive to the housed cow Coomboona Holstein dairy facility, at Ross Road, Undera. The calf raiser, Di Hurford will discuss their calf management practices.

There will be no cost to P.C.R.A.A. members; attendance will be $15 for non-members. 2010 membership payments are now due and will give free entry to this field day and to the annual conference in Tatura in January 2011. RSVPs are essential for catering purposes – if you don’t RSVP, you won’t get the delicious lunch provided by the Sheridan CWA group. To register and for further details phone 0428 867551.

The following dairy plant is for sale. It is installed on a farm which was converted from cropping to dairy about 2 years ago and which was sold about 2 months ago.

The new owners have no use for the plant and so would like to sell it before it deteriorates.

 Any reasonable offer will be considered.

 To arrange an inspection, contact Jeanette on 0428 867551

 Dairy plant:

·        a fully automated DeLaval 60 bale rotary platform – recording –         feeding – cup removers – teat spraying and scanning/drafting race,

·         2 x 32,000 vats with heat recovery hot water system,

·         600 head cow yard with backing gate and wash down facility,

·         Hawk roller mill with 2 augers,

·         DeLaval cleaning unit,

·         DeLaval cooling system,

·         Electric switchboard,

·         Automatic feed system, and

·         All the other assorted bits and pieces that go with the dairy.

In lieu of a 2010 conference,  we are planning a field day in central Victoria in late June/early July. The details will be finalised within the next fortnight and will be published on the website.

Existing members should have received an email with the access and pin numbers. If there is anyone who has not received an email or any non-members who would like to attend, please call Jeanette Fisher on 0428 867551 to get these numbers.  The cost of the conference call is paid by the Association.

We have made some changes so it would be good to have as many people as possible at the meeting to discuss them.

The high quality speakers we attract need around 12 months notice of an event. Consequently, due to the short time frame between making this decision and the date of the 2010 IDW, we will not hold a conference this coming year. In its place, we are planning to have a field day in the middle of the year – the details of this are not yet finalised but will be published on the website well prior to the day.

Our 2011 conference will be held in the Tatura Sports Club, which has been booked for the 17^th Jan 2011; this is the first and quietest day of IDW. The venue can seat well over 200 and can provide morning and afternoon teas and lunch as well as an à la carte dinner.

This decision to change the venue will give us greater exposure to dairy farmers, who are the people who rear the majority of calves in Australia.

This coming year we will have a stand at IDW, with a view to promoting the P.C.R.A.A. to a wider range of dairy farmers, many of whom do not know we exist.

We look forward to talking to farmers about their heifers & hearing about their successes and failures. See you there!

If anyone is missing them and would like them returned, call Jeanette Fisher on 0428 867551.