COUNTRY NEWS, week of Tuesday, Jun 24, 2014
www.countrynews.com.au
June is wet and it keeps raining
By Cathy Walker
although rain will keep the
serious chill away.
Showers and thunderstorms
In Deniliquin, 29.6 mm fell
this week will add to already on June 1, the wettest of 14
above average June rainfall days to last Sunday, by when
figures in the Goulburn Valley 46.4 mm was recorded against
and Southern Riverina.
a
long-term
average
of
While coats and scarves are 29.6 mm to the same date.
The thermometer also went
already in evidence, winter
temperatures have been rela- into winter mode, with the
tively benign and the over- lowest minimum of 1°C recordnight minimums above the ed on June 18 — although
winter is still tracking warmer
June averages.
in terms of minimum temperaMaximum temperatures in tures with an average of 5.7°C
Shepparton this week are fore- or 1.5°C above average.
cast to be in the low teens with
After 15 days of rain to last
the warmest expected to be Sunday, Kyabram already had
Friday when 15°C is forecast, 66.2 mm on the chart for June,
against a long-term average of
39.7 mm.
As in other parts of the
Goulburn Valley and the
Southern Riverina, the cold
has yet to bite Kyabram hard,
with the average minimum
temperate of 6.3°C a full 2.5°C
above the long-term average
for the month.
Showers are forecast all
week in Echuca, which has
already recorded an extra
81 mm of rain above the average to the same time last year.
With 282 mm coming out of
the gauges so far this year,
Echuca had almost doubled its
2013 total to the same day last
year.
Further south in cattle,
horse and cropping country
around Mangalore the picture
is the same.
The average minimum temperature of 6.4°C is 2.4°C above
the monthly minimum however getting down to 0.2°C on
June 11 left no-one in any
doubt winter had arrived.
Rainfall figures too were
tracking higher than average,
although not as pronounced as
around the border.
The monthly total to June 22
was 64.8 mm, with the wettest
day opening the month with
25.8 mm.
,-().*-&/-0'12!'0/.2+34'0/
5*+1$+.-26)(/.7!"#$$#%&'()*+!'%,-.#%$'%*()!
&(*'.!/#%Ɵ!%0'1!*#!2'!3')-,'.'3!3#&%!*+'!)#&'.!
4#0)20.%! 5-,'.! *#! 6.#,-3'! $-%-$0$! !!#&1! #7!
899! *#! :;999! <=>3(?@! A+'! $-%-$0$! !!#&1! (.'!
3'1-B%'3! *#! 6.#,-3'! +(2-*(*! 7#.! "!1+! (%3! 20B1!
(%3! &-))! 2'! $(-%*(-%'3! *+.#0B+#0*! C0%'@! A+'!
&(*'.!&-))!()1#!2'!01'3!3#&%1*.'($!*#!+')6!"!))!
D(Ʃ!(+!=(E'1!%'(.!<-)30.(@!
8.*9/-2:.//97!F%,-.#%$'%*()!!!#&1!"!%-1+'3!(*!
*+'!'%3!#7!*+'!-..-B(Ɵ!#%!1'(1#%!G<(?!:HI@!!A+'!
/##)'.!&'(*+'.!(%3!%(*0.()!-%!!#&1!#,'.!&-%*'.!
&-))!'%10.'!3-11#),'3!#J?B'%!)',')1!10-*(2)'!7#.!
%(Ɵ!,'!"!1+!(.'!$(-%*(-%'3!-%!*+'!/.''E@
81'%9;2 <)--').4=2 '-42 >**4)/=2 ?!'&3=7! KŌ!'.!
%(*0.())?! 3.?-%B! #0*! #,'.! 10$$'.! (%3! 2'-%B!
20.%*!-%!L'2.0(.?;!M)(/E!(%3!N-%%(-.31!&'*)(%31!
%'(.! O0$0.E(+! .'/'-,'3! '%,-.#%$'%*()! &(*'.!
*#! .'P-%,-B#.(*'! *+'-.! ,'B'*(Ɵ!#%! G-%/)03-%B! (!
%0$2'.! #7! *+.'(*'%'3! 16'/-'1I! (%3! 6.#,-3'!
+(2-*(*! 7#.! &(*'.2-.31;! 7.#B1! (%3! #*+'.!
&'*)(%3! (%-$()1@! F%,-.#%$'%*()! &(*'.! +(1!
()1#! 2''%! 3')-,'.'3! *#! <##3-'1! Q&($6;! %'(.!
R(BB(.(%3();!*#!6.#,-3'!+(2-*(*!7#.!2.#)B(!*+(*!
2.''3!(*!*+'!&'*)(%3@!!
:*&&+-)Ɵ2/=2@*.2A'0+./2@+-4)-#
4.#061! -%! *+'! 4#0)20.%! M.#E'%! "(*/+$'%*!
*#! .'/'-,'! 70%3-%B! *+.#0B+! *+'! S-/*#.-(%!
4#,'.%$'%*T1! "#$$0%-Ɵ!'1! 7#.! O(*0.'! )(.B'!
B.(%*1!-%-Ɵ!(Ɵ!,'!-%/)03'U
V! M.#E'%! M##1'?! "<O! P! WX8H;YX9! 7#.! -*1!
*&#P?'(.! !"#$Ɵ%$#&% !#""'(% )$Ɵ%'*% +"',-$(% .%
/0++'"Ɵ%*1% (2-% $'330*4(5% ('% $'*6-"7-% (2-%
(0"80'46-%+#""'(%
V! A+'!F0.#(!K.2#.'*0$!P!W:Z[;899!7#.!-*1!*&#P
?'(.! 9*2#*$4*1% #*:% -:0$#Ɵ%*1% #;'0(% 1"#665%
<'':&#*:6%#$"'66%*'"(2.-#6(%=4$('"4#%+"',-$(
Best for buyers . . . Dookie free-range egg farmer Jo Nelson said consumers would benefit from a national free-range egg
standard.
New egg standards
By Alexandra Bathman
Free-range eggs will finally
have a national standard, giving consumers more food for
thought when making their
choice.
Australia’s state and territory consumer affairs ministers recently agreed to introduce a legally enforceable
standard for free-range eggs.
One local producer welcomed the news.
Free-range egg farmer Jo
Nelson operates Good Lookin’
Googees at Dookie with her
husband Dave and said the
range of industry accreditation models created a range of
different definitions for freerange.
‘‘If there is one set of rules
the customer will know what
product they are buying,’’ Mrs
Nelson said.
‘‘The consumer makes their
own decisions and the product
makes a difference to them.’’
The existing framework applying to free-range eggs includes CSIRO’s Model Code
for Welfare of Animals: Domestic and Poultry.
It defines free-range as a
farm with a maximum of 1500
chickens per hectare — but
only the ACT follows the
model and it is not enforceable.
The only state to have a
free-range
standard
is
Queensland, allowing 1500 to
10 000/ha. Nationally, the voluntary industry code allows
up to 20 000/ha.
Good Lookin’ Googees
farms 1500 Hy-Line chickens
across 48 ha on paddock
rotations with portable sheds
on skids.
Mrs Nelson said a standard
should
consider
whether
chook sheds were movable or
fixed as well as the number of
chickens per hectare.
‘‘You need to move the
chickens around otherwise
you can end up with muddy
paddocks because chooks just
scratch all the time and that to
me does not mean freerange,’’ Mrs Nelson said.
‘‘As long as they have grass,
they are fine.’’
Mrs Nelson said the final
standard needed to be fair
across the industry.
She believed the current
voluntary standard of 20 000
was unacceptable and considered 1500 chickens/ha to be an
industry maximum when considering the chickens’ welfare.
‘‘I would say 1500/ha would
not be enough space but
you’ve got to factor in the
bigger farms,’’ Mrs Nelson
said.
NSW Fair Trading commissioner Rob Stowe said the
framework for a national standard would be revised early in
2015.
‘‘There is a need for coordination between industry,
government and regulatory
and non-regulatory agencies
to develop a sound approach
to clearer labelling requirements for egg producers,’’ Mr
Stowe said.
In the meantime, how can
you tell if you’ve bought a
good free-range egg?
‘‘A free-range egg will have
a thicker egg white,’’ Mrs
Nelson said.
Paid parental leave changes welcomed
By Cathy Walker
The announcement last
week that some farming families would be eligible for paid
parental leave was seen as an
appeasement to country Liberal and Nationals MPs who
had threatened to oppose the
scheme in Federal Parliament.
VFF president Peter Tuohey
described the addition of farming families to the leave plan
as ‘‘an improvement’’ and has
had talks with the National
Farmers’ Federation — which
has said it was not consulted
on the issue — to establish a
position.
Mr Tuohey said last week he
believed the paid parental
leave scheme ‘‘needs turning
around’’ to make it fair for
everyone, not just the highpaid.
‘‘Of course farmers fit into
that: some are doing well and
others are struggling. I’d like
to see a little bit more work
done on it,’’ he said.
Wahring crop and beef cattle farmers Wes and Heidi
Deane say they completed
their family with one-year-old
Eliza who joined Austin, four.
Mrs Deane is a primary
school teacher and said she
was ‘‘fairly treated’’ with 14
weeks of paid maternity leave
from her school job.
Right now she’s a stay-athome mum and said news of
paid parental leave for farming mothers could only be a
good thing.
‘‘The news doesn’t really
impact us as we’re not plan-
ning on having more children,’’ Mrs Deane said.
‘‘But anything that encourages mums to stay at home
with their kids could only be a
positive step.’’
Under the paid parental
leave scheme, farming women
would have to sign a statutory
declaration stating they had
worked 330 hours on the farm
over 10 months.
A new mother would be
eligible for more than $16 000,
and superannuation.
V! =#%B&##3! \)(-%1! "<OP! W:H:;H]9! 7#.! -*1!
*&#P?'(.! >*(-1"#(-:% #++"'#$2% ('% 2#;4(#(%
+"'(-$Ɵ%'*?% -*2#*$-3-*(% #*:% 3#*#1-3-*(%
@'"%(2"-#(-*-:%6+-$4-6%+"',-$(
^%! *+'! 1$())! B.(%*! 7.#%*! 7#0.! )#/()! B.#061!
.'/'-,'3!70%3-%BU
V! =#%B&##3! F(1*! =(%3/(.'! 4.#06! P! W:_;X98!
7#.! *+'! A'*1<'':% A4*B6C% +"'74:4*1% 2#;4(#(%
@'"% <4&:&4@-% #*:% $&'6-% -*$'0*(-"6% @'"% (2-%
$'330*4(5%+"',-$(
V! O0))(! S()'! \?()#%B! R'1*! =(%3/(.'! 4.#06! P!
W:_;X[Z! 7#.! *+'! D0&&#7#&-% >*:41-*'06% /--:%
E"$2#":%+"',-$(
V! Q*.(*+2#B-'! 5(%B'1! "<O! P! W:9;999! 7#.! *+'!
/#74*1% /("4+-:% A-1&-66% A4F#":6% 4*% (2-% G++-"%
H'0&;0"*%I#($23-*(%+"',-$(
V! `66'.!4#0)20.%!=(%3/(.'!O'*&#.E!P!W:9;999!
7#.!*+'!GHAD%J'':5%J--:%I'*("'&%+"',-$(K!
B'.&2C'0/.2+34'0/
<#.'!*+(%!:99!/#%*.(/*1!+(,'!2''%!1'%*!#0*!*#!
-..-B(*#.1! 70%3'3! *+.#0B+! *+'! W_9! $-))-#%! "!.1*!
*.(%/+'! #7! *+'! S-/*#.-(%! L(.$! <#3'.%-1(Ɵ!#%!
\.#a'/*!GSL<\I@!
A+'! %'J*! /())! 7#.! 6.#a'/*1! 7#.! A.(%/+'! X! #7! *+'!
SL<\! -1! )-E')?! *#! 2'! $(3'! -%! '(.)?! X9:H@! K%?!
-..-B(*#.1! &+#! (.'! -%*'.'1*'3! -%! (%?! 70*0.'!
.#0%31! #7! *+'! L(.$! R(*'.! \.#B.($! &-))! %''3!
*#!+(,'!(!/0..'%*!R+#)'!L(.$!\)(%!*+(*!1+#&1!
*+'!6.#6#1'3!&#.E1!(*!*+'!Ɵ!$'!#7!.'B-1*.(Ɵ!#%@!
R'!()1#!10BB'1*!*+(*!-..-B(*#.1!/#%*(/*!4#0)20.%!
<0..(?! R(*'.! -7! *+'.'! (.'! (%?! /#%%'/Ɵ!#%1!
-110'1!(ī!'/Ɵ!%B!*+'!6.#a'/*!(.'(1@
b..-B(*#.1!1+#0)3!%#*'!*+(*!*+'-.!6.#a'/*1!%''3!*#!
/#%Ɵ!%0'!*#!$''*!())!')-B-2-)-*?!/.-*'.-(!(*!())!6#-%*1!
#7!*+'!/#%*.(/*!(%3!-$6)'$'%*(Ɵ!#%!6+(1'1@!!L#.!
$#.'!-%7#.$(Ɵ!#%;!1''!*+'!L(.$!R(*'.!6(B'!(*!
&&&@B2/$(@,-/@B#,@(0
!!!"#$%&'"()%"#*("'+
3