AFBM Journal
volume 7
number 2
year 2010
ISSN 1449-5937 (Printed version)
ISSN 1449-7875 (Online version)
© Copyright Charles Sturt University
Contents
page
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Contents
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Editorial Board
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Foreword
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The character of AFBM Journal
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Instructions to authors
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R Herd, J Accioly, P Arthur, K Copping, M Deland, K Donoghue, N Edwards, J Graham,
M Hebart, F Jones, M Laurence, S Lee, P Parnell, W Pitchford and J Speijers
Cow maternal efficiency: “Giving the girls some credit”
PF Arthur, RM Herd and JA Basarab
The role of cattle genetically efficient in feed utilisation in an Australian carbon trading
environment
SA Barwick
Lifting beef industry productivity through genetic improvement – progress and
challenges in a changing climate
T Andrews, D Llewelyn and L Davies
Gross margins for NSW beef enterprises from 1999-2010
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15
21
29
37
45
53
65
79
85
BJ Walmsley, VH Oddy, MJ McPhee, DG Mayer and WA McKiernan
BeefSpecs a tool for the future: On-farm drafting and optimising feedlot profitability
G Casburn
The profitability of a lamb meat system is greatly influenced by lambing time
S Love
Worms – what’s new: some recent developments in worm control in ruminants and
camelids
G Casburn
Sheep enterprises and their ability to service existing debt levels when faced with the
continuation of drought feeding for 12 or 24 weeks
S Hatcher, GN Hinch, RJ Kilgour, PJ Holst, PG Refshauge and CG Shands
Lamb survival – balancing genetics, selection and management
Climate change impacts on northern NSW beef producers
T Andrews
MJ McPhee, C Edwards, J Meckiff, N Ballie, D Schneider, P Arnott, A Cowie,
D Savage,D Lamb, C Guppy, B McCorkell and R Hegarty
Estimating on-farm methane emissions for sheep production on the Northern
Tablelands: establishment of demonstration site
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Editorial Board
Special Editor for this Issue:
Animal Systems & Technology
Sue Hatcher, PhD
[email protected]
Chief Editor:
Kevin A Parton, PhD, Professor
[email protected]
Assistant Editor:
Mark Filmer
[email protected]
Scientific Editors:
Ecological Agriculture
Aaron Simmons, PhD
[email protected]
Farm Economics
Bill Malcolm, PhD, Assoc. Professor
[email protected]
Global Perspectives of Agriculture
Zhangyue Zhou, PhD, Assoc. Professor
[email protected]
Management & Decision-Making
Roy Murray-Prior, PhD
[email protected]
Social Issues of Farming
Judith Crockett, PhD
[email protected]
Sustainable Farming Systems
David R. Kemp, PhD, Professor
[email protected]
Panel of Referees:
Each scientific editor has an independent panel of
discipline-related referees who remain anonymous to
ensure a process of objective reviewing of the papers.
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Foreword
This Special Issue of the Australian Farm Business Management Journal contains a series of papers
related to innovation in livestock production. They were presented at the NSW Department of
Industry and Investment Beef and Sheep Conference, held in Tamworth, NSW in December 2010.
There are six papers related to aspects of beef production and five on sheep and lamb production.
Collectively these papers describe projects concerned with recent advances in a wide range of
areas. These include including selection to improve genetics related to feed intake; selection to
develop livestock to combat a variable climate; a re-assessment of optimal lambing times; the
ability of sheep enterprises to carry a farm through drought; and the establishment of a
demonstration site to estimate on-farm methane emissions from sheep enterprises.
These papers highlight the breadth of work undertaken by I&I NSW research and extension staff to
achieve continuous improvement in animal production and genetic technologies in livestock
enterprises in NSW. These technologies include advances in productivity, profitability and
sustainability and cover a wide range of disciplines including:
grazing management,
climate adaptation,
meat science and eating quality,
animal nutrition, growth, development and physiology,
wool biology, production and quality, and
biological and economic modelling.
The team that put together this issue of the Journal is Allan Charry (assistant-manager), together
with the editorial team of Sue Hatcher (editor of this special issue), Kevin Parton (chief editor),
Mark Filmer and Kerry Madden.
Professor Kevin A Parton
Head, Orange Campus, Charles Sturt University
February 2011
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The character of AFBM Journal
AFBM Journal is a registered publication of the Australasian Farm Business Management Network
(i.e. AFBMNetwork) and published by Charles Sturt University, Orange Campus, School of
Agriculture and Wine Sciences.
AFBMNetwork is a professional organisation supported by Charles Sturt University – Faculty of
Science, Curtin University – Muresk Institute; Massey University – College of Sciences; The
University of Melbourne – Institute of Land and Food Resources and Marcus Oldham College.
Members from these organisations and the AFBMNertwork membership are the primary users of
the AFBM Journal. However, independent and other organisational professionals are encouraged to
publish in the AFBM Journal.
AFBMNetwork vision and mission statements actively encourage the design of farming systems
matched to the environmental, social, economic and marketing conditions of Australasia. It
promotes quality education, research, consultancy and extension to service the primary sector and
its organisations. The AFBM Journal will therefore publish quality papers related to the areas of
Animal Systems and Technology; Cropping Systems and Technology; Ecological Agriculture; Farm
Economics; Global Perspectives of Agriculture; Business Management and Decision-Making; Social
Issues of Farming and Sustainable Farming Systems.
The Department of Education Science and Training of the Commonwealth of Australia – Higher
Education Research Data Collection (DEST-HERDC) defines that the essential characteristics of a
research publication are as follows:
substantial scholarly activity, as evidenced by discussion of the relevant literature, an awareness
of the history and antecedents of work described, and provided in a format which allows a reader
to trace sources of the work through citations, footnotes, etc
originality (i.e. not a compilation of existing works)
veracity/validity through a peer validation process or by satisfying the commercial publisher or
gallery processes
increasing the stock of knowledge (www.dest.gov.au/NR/rdonlyres/61C1FB66-A777-45AF-8FC5C8EE5B380B5B/6127/2005HERDCSpecificationsFinal100605.rtf; accessed on 20 June 2005)
AFBM Journal supports the above principles and while encouraging the publication of research
results, useful to the professional farming related community, will undertake a stringent process of
peer reviewing to ensure the quality of the papers published in the different issues of the Journal.
AFBM Journal is published online with free access for AFBMNetwork members and a wider
audience. Subscription to two printed issues has a cost of A$100 and can be processed contacting
the Chief Editor. Educational and research organisations pursuing a copy of AFBM Journal for
library purposes should request it at [email protected]
Disclaimer: The views and opinions contained in the papers published in the AFBM Journal are
those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of AFBMNetwork or any of its
supporting organisations.
Instructions to authors
Instructions for intending authors of papers to be submitted to the AFBM Journal can be
downloaded from AFBMNetwork webpage. Papers must be submitted online to the following email
address: [email protected]. Further enquiries must be addressed toward the same email
address to the Chief Editor of the Journal, Professor Kevin A Parton.
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