Katherine Research Station
PO Box 1346, Katherine NT 0851
Phone: (08) 8973 9739
Fax:
(08) 8973 9777
Krs.DPIF@nt.gov.au
ISSN 0394-9823
E D I T I O N
3 1 4
A p r i l / M a y / J u n e
2 0 1 3
www.nt.gov.au/d/
Diversity aplenty at this year’s Farm and Garden Day
The Katherine Research Station’s
Farm & Garden Day was once
again held on the 6th of April,
focussing around the theme of
“Celebrating the diversity of
agriculture
in
the
Northern
Territory”.
The event was well
attended
with
1,470
people
attending and more than 25
exhibitors from both Katherine and
Darwin on display.
Farm tours proved popular with the
local residents as research staff
presented the upland rice variety
trials, explained the reasons behind
the different cattle breeds in the Figure 1. Winners of the "Most outstanding exhibitor award"
NT, mango rootstock trials, biofuel Territory Rural accept the plaque from Minister for Primary
crops and recent developments in Industry and Fisheries, Hon. Willem Westra van Holthe.
the mahogany plantation. Several
presentations were made in the
Department of Primary Industry and Fisheries tent by DPIF staff members including Berrimah
Farm’s Extension Officer for Plant Industries, Megan Connelly.
Megan provided a demonstration on the different methods of propagating plants commonly found
in the garden. These ranged from starting plants in
water to general soft and hard wood cuttings to
starting plantlets from veins in leaves of begonias. CONTENTS
Megan stated that the three key factors to keep in The Katherine Rural Review is prepared by the Department of Primary Industry
mind when propagating plants are to be clean at all and Fisheries, Katherine.
times when propagating, keep the humidity up It is designed to provide advice to people in primary industry in the Katherine
where possible and not to place plants in full sun region.
afterwards.
For further information please contact Jodie (08) 8973 9730.
Tahnee Thompson, Regional Weed Officer from the
Department of Land Resource Management, Weed
Management Branch, gave a comprehensive
presentation regarding the benefits of managing
weeds, how to plan weed management, identifying
common weeds and an outline of useful herbicides
and cost effective application. Tahnee also talked
about the type of service the Weed Management
Branch is able to provide landholders, and gave
information on the current landholder assistance
programs that the government is providing through
support from Territory NRM, which include
This edition includes information about:
Diversity aplenty at this years’ Farm and Garden Day --------------------------- 1-2
Polledness in cattle --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3-4
FutureBeef and Twitter ----------------------------------------------------------------------
5
What the heck is Guar? ---------------------------------------------------------------------
6
Hendra virus vaccine -----------------------------------------------------------------------
7
Rural business support continues -------------------------------------------------------
8
New faces – Renae McLean ------------------------------------------------------------- 8
Round the region -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
9
Pastoral Market Update --------------------------------------------------------------------10-11
provisioning of herbicide
and equipment for the
control of Chinee apple and
Gamba grass. Katherine
Landcare also received an
important mention, as the
Weed Management Branch
have been working with this
group
to
provide
landholders with help to
manage a range of woody
weeds. She also reminded
listeners that the Crawford
Street Weeds compound is
staffed
every
Friday
afternoon from 1.00pm 4:15pm for members if the
public who would like to
participate
in
these
programs or ask questions
Figure 2. Megan Connely, Extension Officer, provided a presentation about weed management
titled "Why not take a garden cutting?"
on their property.
Katherine Research Station’s Plant Industry Technical Officer Khamla Mott, gave a hands on
demonstration regarding how to successfully graft mangoes. The demonstration was very
informative and was not limited to mangoes, as it is possible to graft fruit trees and certain
vegetables as well. The benefits of grafting were explained for both the back yard gardening
enthusiast as well as the commercial grower.
Entomologist Austin McLennan gave the background on fruit fly research being conducted out of
Katherine Research Station and why this is important for the national mango industry. Audience
members had the chance to hear about and see some of the tools used to track the risk of fruit fly
infesting mangoes, and have their questions answered about how this research might relate to fruit
fly problems in the home garden.
The Research Station also ran a number
of competitions throughout the day
including “What crop’s what?”, “How many
fruit flies in the jar?” and the controversial
“Hayathalon”. The Hayathalon was an
Ironman style event where participants
were required to participate in a hay bale
carrying running race as well as a hay
bale toss. Thirteen people participated in
this unique event which hoped to raise
awareness among consumers of the
different qualities of hay and the existence
of official standards that consumers can
be on the lookout for to ensure the quality
of their purchase. The winner of the hay
toss component was Mark Fleming from
the Watershed Katherine exhibit, with a
toss distance of 8.52m, while Aaron
Hockey from the Bendigo Bank exhibit
was the overall event winner.
Figure 3. Winner of the Hayathalon, Aaron Hockey (centre)
from Bendigo Bank with activity organisers, Andrew Owens
(left) and Khamla Mott (right).
Page 2 of 12
Katherine Rural Review, Issue 314
Polledness in Cattle
Tim Schatz, Principal Pastoral Production Research Officer, Berrimah
Whether cattle are horned or polled is determined by their genes. The main gene that influences
polledness is the horn/poll gene and all cattle have this gene. In some cattle this is the only gene
affecting polledness, but there are 2 other genes that can also affect polledness in some cattle.
These are the Scur gene (which can occur in all breeds) and the African horn gene (which only
occurs in tropical breeds). The frequency of the African horn gene (Af) in different breeds is not
known but is generally considered to be quite low. The frequency of the Scur gene is more
common than the African horn gene, but both of these genes play a minor role in affecting
polledness in comparison to the horn/poll gene, and in fact only interact with or modify the
expression of the horn/poll gene.
The way the genetics of polledness works is as follows: All animals inherit a pair of alleles (form of
a gene) for the horn/poll gene (they get one copy from each parent). The gene for polledness (P) is
dominant to the gene for horns (H) and so when an animal has copy of the polled gene it will be
polled even if its other copy of the gene is for horns. Animals with one of each copy of the gene (i.e
PH) are known as being heterozygous polled and appear polled even though they carry one copy
of the gene for horns. Heterozygous polled animals can produce horned offspring when they pass
on a copy of the gene for horns (H) to their offspring, and their offspring also get a copy of the gene
for horns (H) from their other parent (and so are HH). Therefore if a producer is trying to breed a
polled herd it is better to use homozygous polled (PP) bulls as they will always pass on a polled
gene (P) to their offspring.
The following table shows the percentage of polled progeny that result from parents with different
combinations of the horn/poll genes. However it should be noted that when the Scur and African
horn genes are present in a herd that the percentages of offspring that are visually polled and
horned are likely to be different as some of the cattle with the horn/poll genes for polledness (ie.
PP and PH) can have scurs or horns due to the effects of the Scur and African horn genes (this will
be explained later in this article).
Table 1. The percentage of polled and horned offspring from parents with different horn/poll genes.
Parents
Offspring
Bull
Cow
Homozygous
polled (PP)
Heterozygous Homozygous
polled (PH)
horned (HH)
Homozygous
polled
Heterozygous
polled
50%
50%
Homozygous
polled
Homozygous
horned
Homozygous
polled
Homozygous
polled
100%
Heterozygous
polled
Heterozygous
polled
25%
Heterozygous
polled
Homozygous
horned
Heterozygous
polled
Homozygous
polled
100%
50%
50%
25%
50%
50%
50%
Note: Homozygous polled (PP) appear polled, Heterozygous polled (PH) appear polled, Homozygous
horned (HH) appear horned.
Unfortunately where the Scur and African horn genes are present in a population (herd), then the
genetics of polledness is more complicated and the proportion of polled and horned offspring is
more difficult to work out. These genes interact with the horn/poll gene to determine whether
Page 3 of 12
Katherine Rural Review, Issue 314
progeny appear polled, horned or scurred. (Scurs are generally loose and movable beneath the
skin ie. they are not attached to the skull. The size of scurs is quite variable; ranging from small
scabs to growths about 15 cm long, although they are usually short).
The gene for scurs is transmitted separately to the horn/poll gene and so has no effect on the
presence or absence of horns. Scurs can only be seen in animals that have the horn/poll genes for
polledness (ie. PP and PH), as all animals with the horn/poll genes for horns (HH) will have horns
and this will not allow any expression of the Scur gene to be seen.
As with the horn/poll gene, animals inherit one copy of the Scur gene (either Sc or Sn) from each
of their parents. However the gene for scurs is expressed differently to the horn/poll gene. The way
the gene for scurs is expressed depends on the sex of the animal. In males the Scur gene (Sc) is
dominant, so heterozygous males (ScSn) appear scurred, and to appear polled a male must have
2 copies of the gene for no scurs (SnSn). In females the Sc is recessive so heterozygous females
(ScSn) appear polled and only females with 2 copies of the Scur gene (ScSc) have scurs.
Table 2 shows how the horn/poll and Scur genes interact to determine the horn status of animals.
Table 2. Horn, poll and Scur interactions
Horn/poll
Gene
Scur gene
Females
Males
PP
ScSc
Scurred
Scurred
PP
ScSn
Polled
Scurred
PP
SnSn
Polled
Polled
Note: the outcomes are the same for heterozygous polled (PH) animals, but all horned (HH)
animals will have horns and this will not allow any expression of the Scur gene to be seen.
While the frequency of the African horn gene is much lower, it can also effect whether animals
appear horned or polled when it is present. The African horn gene works similarly to the Scur gene
in that the African horn gene (Af) is dominant to the polled gene (An) in males and recessive in
females. Therefore if an animal has the African horn and Scur genes (as well as the horn/poll
genes); for a male to be actually polled it must have the horn/poll genes for polledness (ie. be PP
or PH) and 2 copies of the Scur genes for polledness (SnSn) and 2 copies of the African horn gene
for polledness (AnAn). It is generally believed that the incidence of the African horn gene is very
low but where a homozygous polled (PP) bull is used over Brahman females and a small
percentage of the male calves have horns then this would be due to the African horn gene (Af)
being present in the cows.
As a result of the way the genetics of polledness works, it is not possible to predict with accuracy
the incidence of polledness in the offspring from PP or PH bulls in herds where the Scur and
African horn genes are present. In these situations the
percentage of polled animals will be affected by the
frequency of the Scur and African horn genes in the
cow herd (and there are not currently tests for these
genes). However if homozygous polled bulls (PP) that
are actually visually polled (and so must be SnSn and
AnAn if they have Scur and African Horn genes) are
used, then over time the frequency of the Scur and
African horn genes will be diminished and the
incidence of polledness will increase. While the
breeding of a polled herd will be quicker if only PP
bulls are used (identified by DNA testing) and cows
that are not polled are culled, selecting for a single trait
such as polledness is not advised as it can be at the
expense of other economically important traits (eg.
growth, fertility etc.). Rather a more balanced Figure 1. A first cross Senepol mickey, naturally
approach to selection with a priority for polled animals polled
is recommended.
Page 4 of 12
Katherine Rural Review, Issue 314
FutureBeef and Twitter
Have you considered registering for a FutureBeef webinar? How about following FutureBeef on
Twitter to get links to the latest research articles?
FutureBeef joined Twitter on 2nd May 2012 and has since attracted over 900 followers. Twitter is
often described as a text-based messaging system or microblog. There are 140 characters in each
tweet – that’s it! You can upload an image or video in your tweet or even incorporate a link to a
favourite website or news item. Those people who follow you on Twitter will receive your tweets.
Each quarter, FutureBeef tweets over 150 updates with links to tools, articles, events and
information relating to RD&E in the northern beef industry. Twitter is proving to be a strong medium
for promotion of events and training as well as encouraging the reading and sharing of new
information and research.
If you are new to Twitter or yet to leap into the Twitter space, don’t worry, you’re not alone! A great
way to learn more about this networking tool is to talk to those who are using it! Why not ask them
what they tweet about? Why they tweet? Or what’s in it for them?
If you’re considering joining Twitter, think carefully about what interests you and what information
you would like to share with others. When you set up an account (https://twitter.com/signup) you
will need to choose a Twitter name as well as enter a short sentence that tells people a little bit
about you. Once you have a log-in and password you can ‘tweet’ and reply to other tweets, as well
as ‘re-tweet’ others and ‘favourite’ tweets.
Recently, FutureBeef hosted a free webinar in partnership with BeefCentral.com titled, “Beef up
your Twitter effectiveness”. The web-based seminar featured presentations from Meat & Livestock
Australia online manager Matthew Dwyer in Sydney, Feast Fine Foods marketing manager Vince
Minervini in Adelaide and AgChatOz co-founder Sam Livingstone in Canberra, who each offered
advice on how people in the beef industry can “beef up” their Twitter effectiveness. A total of 322
people registered for the webinar.
On the webinar, information was shared about how people in the beef industry are using Twitter. It
was highlighted that people used Twitter to pass along information, to engage in conversations
with others, and to promote their industry, product or service.
FutureBeef webinars are a great way to listen and learn first-hand from industry professionals.
They enable participants to watch and listen to a presentation from their mobile devices or
computers and ask questions via their keypad/board.
Webinars run every few months and anyone can register to attend. Topics and dates are
advertised a few weeks in advance at the FutureBeef calendar http://futurebeef.com.au/events/.
If you would like to suggest a topic for a future webinar, you can email BeefCentral at
feedback@beefcentral.com.
The FutureBeef Program is a collaborative extension program aimed at bringing the latest research
technologies and best management practice knowledge, skills and training to northern beef producers.
The industry website www.futurebeef.com.au allows those
working in or seeking to enter the beef industry to freely access a
range of technical production resources and tools in areas of
animal improvement, grazing land management and business
management.
Page 5 of 12
Katherine Rural Review, Issue 314
What the heck is Guar?
Malcolm Bennett, District Agronomist, Katherine
This year the Northern
Territory has experienced a
renewed interest in the
production
of
guar;
approximately 20ha of guar
was sown by John Etty on his
property, Sandy Creek, west
of Katherine.
So what is guar?
Guar,
(Cyamposis
tetragonoloba) also known as
Cluster Bean, is a summer
growing grain legume. This
annual crop is indeterminate
(continuous) in flowering, prefers light sandy soils and is highly drought resistant. Guar grows
between 0.4 to 3.0 metres tall, with a growing period of approximately 120 days. Commercial grain
yields range from 0.4 – 2.0 t/ha dry land and irrigated crops have yielded up to 2.5t/ha. In Australia
guar is grown for its endosperm, which is milled to a fine powder known as guar flour or guar gum
(food ID no 412). Once milled, guar flour is used to add viscosity to liquids, such as ice cream,
cream cheese, BBQ sauce, orange juice, and cat and dog food. Guar flour has major applications
in the paper, explosives, and oil and gas industry (including use in the ‘fracking’ of coal seam gas).
The by-product of milling guar seed is guar meal made from the germ of the seed. Guar meal is
high in protein (approx. 47%) and highly suitable as a stock feed.
In Australia, climatic conditions suitable for growing guar are in a band of country from northern
New South Wales up through southern and central Queensland round to the NT and across to
northern Western Australia. The band generally coincides with the 500mm to 750mm annual
rainfall. In the NT guar has being successful grown south of Katherine in the late 70’s and again in
the mid 80’s.
Seed coat is lost in processing. The endosperm contains 60-70% guar gum and the seed germ
contains 47% protein.
Last year the Australia Guar Company (AGC) established broad-acre trials of guar in central QLD,
using the old cultivar CP177 to
produce sufficient seed to allow
commercial areas (approx. 2000 ha) to
be planted in Australia in 2012/13.
New superior selections were also
released for commercial testing. John
Etty from Katherine was given seed of
Selection 07 to evaluate.
In March 2013, Tony Matchett
(Manager AGC) and Malcolm Bennett
(District Agronomist Katherine) visited
Sandy Creek to inspect John’s guar
crop. All were very impressed with
guar’s drought tolerance and thought
1.5t/ha was achievable especially
since the Easter rainfall has restored a
full soil moisture profile.
Figure 2. An excellent stand of guar on Sandy Creek
Page 6 of 12
Katherine Rural Review, Issue 314
Vaccine arrives to boost the fight against the deadly
Hendra virus
About Hendra virus
Hendra virus is a serious infectious disease transmitted by flying foxes shedding the virus in their
saliva, urine, aborted foetuses and/or reproductive fluids. Hendra is a zoonotic disease that can kill
both horses and humans.
Where does the Hendra Virus come from?
Horses are thought to contract Hendra virus by ingesting contaminated feed or water. The virus
can spread from horse to horse and horse to human through close contact with respiratory
secretions and or blood from an infected horse. The virus was first discovered in the Brisbane
suburb of Hendra in 1994.
Rapid development of the vaccine Equivac
CSIRO provided the safe handling of Hendra virus and testing of the Equivac HeV at its high
containment facility in Geelong, Victoria, the only laboratory in the world capable of such high-risk
work.
With the introduction of Equivac® HeV vaccine, which is available from accredited veterinarians, the
vaccine will assist in breaking the cycle of transmission that puts humans at risk of contracting this
potentially lethal virus from horses. With no known cure for Hendra, the Equivac HeV vaccine is
positioned to become the most effective defence against this virus and significantly decreases the
risk of exposure to Hendra virus for horse owners, handlers and veterinarians. For that reason, the
Australian Veterinary Association recommends that all horses be vaccinated against the Hendra
virus. The vaccine will also help to protect the health of horses and is a major win for anyone
working in the equine industry. The development of a horse vaccine was crucial to breaking the
cycle of Hendra virus transmission from flying foxes to horses and then to people, as it can prevent
both the horse developing the disease and then passing it on. For the first time, we have a Hendra
specific tool that provides both veterinarians, owners and handlers with a greater level of safety
when they come into contact with sick horses.
Conditions of use of the EQUIVAC HeV VIRUS VACCINE FOR HORSES .
 The vaccine must only be used by registered veterinary surgeons who have been
accredited.
 Each vaccinated horse must be permanently identified by a microchip which carries a
unique identification sequence.
 Record of each vaccination is to be entered into the HeV vaccine national online registry
within 48 hours of vaccination.
Details to include breed, sex, age,
batch of vaccine used and the
unique microchip identification
details. Details of the owner or
manager and location of the
equine at the time of vaccination.
 Any adverse reactions resulting
from the use of the vaccine is to
be reported as soon as possible.
Vaccination.
It is recommended that in horses 4
months of age and above, two 1ml
intramuscular shots be given 3 weeks
apart, followed by a periodic booster shot.
Page 7 of 12
Katherine Rural Review, Issue 314
Rural business support continues
Christine Long, Policy Director, Darwin
A free financial support service to assist primary producers,
fishermen and small rural businesses is now available in the Top
End during 2013.
The Australian and Northern Territory Governments have allocated
funding for a pilot scheme in 2013 and one of SA’s rural business
support officers, Mr Charlie Goode will be based in the NT at
various times throughout the year. Some will be familiar with
Charlie from his time here following the live export trade crisis.
The rural financial counselling program, run by Rural Business
Support, can assist clients with short and long term planning as
well as support in dealing with banks and lenders and referrals to
other professional service providers.
Charlie’s next visit to Katherine will be at the Katherine Show with
further dates to be advised in due course.
Figure 1. Charlie Goode of the
SA Rural Business Support, Recently and for the first time in NT, a local primary producer was
now available to assist NT successful in securing a special Federal Government grant for
businesses in the primary businesses experiencing short-term cash flow problems.
industries and fisheries sectors.
While details of debt reduction through low interest and other loans
announced by the Australian Government through the Farm Finance Package are still undisclosed,
Rural Business Support is able to provide further information as it comes to hand.
The rural financial counselling service is free, independent and confidential with flexible
appointments at the Darwin or Katherine Offices or on your property by arrangement.
As Charlie is already heavily booked for his next visit, please book early for future visits by calling
him as per below to make an appointment:
Free call 1800 836 211
Charlie Goode 0418 850 251
Renae McLean
Born: Griffith, NSW
Raised: Darwin, NT
Position: Livestock Biosecurity Officer
Story before now: Having grown up around stations in
her youth, it was always in Renae’s plan to become
involved in the beef industry as an adult. You may
recognise Renae from the 2 years she has previously spent
working for Elders in Darwin and Katherine as a
merchandise salesperson. Before this, Renae completed a
Bachelor of Agribusiness.
Role at KRS: Renae has taken over Nick Krebb’s position in the Biosecurity Team and has been
out conducting inspections, post mortems, taking blood samples from the sentinel herds and
conducting audits. Renae is looking forward to getting out and about to stations in her new role.
Page 8 of 12
Katherine Rural Review, Issue 314
Round the Region ~ Yesteryear
Above: Greg Scott as a bright eyed and bushy-tailed 18 year old ringer on Wave Hill
Station in 1968 with an earlier version of the stock camp Toyota.
Below: A Pastoral Production meeting sometime in the mid to late ‘90’s. Back: Rohan
Sullivan, Reg Andison, Bruno Hogan, Daryl Parker, Peter Ridley, Tony Moran, Bluey
Lewis, Michael Cobiac, Tom Stockwell, David La Fontaine, Neil MacDonald. Front: Rodd
Dyer, Jack Wheeler and Linda Cafe.
Page 9 of 12
Katherine Rural Review, Issue 314
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Katherine Rural Review, Issue 314
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Katherine Rural Review, Issue 314
Katherine Region Events Calendar
Event
July
Location
Date
Katherine Show
Katherine Showgrounds
19-20 July
www.katherineshow.org.au/
Newcastle Waters, Beetaloo
and Anthony Lagoon
6-8 August
Helen.MacMillan@nt.gov.au
Katherine
10 August
Warren.Hunt@nt.gov.au
12-15
August
28 August
30 August
www.nbruc.
www.nbruc.org.au
org.au
August
Barkly Herd Management Forum
Mango
Integrated
Workshops
Pest
Management
Northern Beef Research Update Conference
Cairns
MLA Beef Up Forum
MLA Beef Up Forum
Adelaide River
Mataranka
Arthur.Cameron@nt.gov.au
Jodie.Ward@nt.gov.au
Please email with updates of events happening in your area: jodie.ward@nt.gov.au
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Disclaimer
While all care has been taken to ensure that information contained in this publication is true and correct at the time of publication, the Northern
Territory of Australia gives no warranty or assurance, and makes no representation as to the accuracy of any information or advice contained in
this publication, or that it is suitable for your intended use. No serious business or investment decisions should be made in reliance on this
information without obtaining independent and professional advice or both in relation to your particular situation.
Reproduction of Rural Review Articles
The Department of Primary Industry and Fisheries (DPIF) welcomes the reproduction of articles appearing in this newsletter, but requests that the
technical information be confirmed with the editor or author, prior to publication. The department also requests that acknowledgement be made for
any original work sourced from the Katherine Rural Review.
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Katherine Rural Review, Issue 314