Harbour Party

Sydney Harbour lit up at night.

For our lone night in Sydney we were able to do pretty much what we wanted. Some of the group went souvenir shopping, others took in the night life and many of the K-Staters went sightseeing in the beautiful Harbour City.

The main highlight of the night was when the entire tour group went on a boat cruise across Sydney Harbour.

Photographs were prevalent for our mob of Wildcats. In fact, I took over 500 pictures while we floated about the harbour.

Maybe someday my sister will be singing here. 

I couldn't help but think of my little sister, Lydia, who is an aspiring opera singer when we cruised past the Sydney Opera House several times. Lydia is currently a vocal performance student at Oklahoma State University and she is spending her summer in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, with Opera In The Ozarks. Maybe someday I can watch her perform at this world famous venue, but until now I'll just have to share the photos with her.

On the cruise we dined on a set three-course menu. Since we are in one of the world's most highly populated area for fish I had the red snapper. I'm not a huge fan of most fish, although I love to catch them, but the red snapper was NTS (not too shabby).

We're getting excited for our final stop in Cairns.

The Harbour Bridge was another major structure in the area I enjoyed photographing because of its sheer size and relative location to the Opera House.

I think I can say without a doubt that we did not get to spend enough time in the wonderful city of Sydney. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I'll have the opportunity to comeback in the future, but until now I'm looking forward to soaking up some sun in tropical Cairns.

Until next time, happy trails!  

K-State Connection

CSU is located on outside Wagga Wagga and many students live on campus.

Australia may not be home to any cats in the wild, but there certainly is a fair share of Wildcats here.

During our past day or so in Wagga Wagga we had the opportunity to meet two faculty members at Charles Strut University (CSU) who have direct ties to Kansas State University.

On Monday night Dr. Peter J. Chenoweth joined us for dinner at the Victoria Hotel, a restaurant and pub in Wagga Wagga. Dr. Chenoweth is a former K-State faculty member and still maintains contact with members of the reproductive physiology staff back in the United States.

After most of the group grabbed some steaks, we finished enjoying the night by joining some CSU animal science students at a local brewery, The Thirsty Crow.

It was a great time getting to know the CSU students and compare our educational systems, while also learning about one another's backgrounds.

The next morning we toured CSU with Dr. Chenoweth serving as our guide. He took us around campus on a bus ride and then we made our way to the College of Agriculture's farms. We stopped at various units on the farm including the beef and sheep facilities.

This dog certainly put on  a performance for the K-Staters.

At the sheep unit the group got to witness our first display of a cattle dog working in Australia. The Kelpie we watched was just two years old, but she sure knew how to muster a mob of sheep.

Kelpies are a type of working dog that was bred in Australia specifically to gather sheep.

The beef unit allowed the Wildcats to see some excellent handling facilities that Dr. Chenoweth had designed utilizing Temple Grandin style methods.

When we arrived at the unit a group of vet students was mustering a mob of cows and calves to the working barn. All of the cows received a cesarean to aid in the learning of the vet students at CSU and they were being brought in for a routine checkup.

Besides looking at the units on campus we also had the chance to tour their state of the art College of Veterinary Medicine buildings. Some of the highlights of the vet med area was seeing reproductive stations used for artificial insemination of horses and new technology for animal x-rays.

Former K-Staters talking to us about CSU.

We me another K-Stater Down Under, Dr. Tonya Collop, the resident reproductive specialist at CSU. She received her doctorate of veterinary medicine at Kansas State, so it was good for the group to see an alumni in the area.

It's great to see fellow Wildcats doing so well across the world, and maybe some of our group members will want to come back down to Australia someday.

Until we meet again, happy trails!

The Stockyard In the Australian Backyard

Today's itinerary for our K-State tour included a stop at a sale yard, a packing plant and a feedlot.

Some Hereford cattle being sold at Wagga Wagga.

First we visited the Wagga Wagga Livestock Marketing Centre, which is one of the largest cattle and sheep marketing outlets in Australia. The sale barn was started in 1979 and is operated by the Wagga Wagga City Council. Producers come from over 800 km to market their animals, and they come from both New South Wales and Victoria.

Cattle are sold on Mondays each week, while sheep are sold on Thursdays. Around 2,800 cattle were being sold when we toured the facility with an average of 500 cattle going through the ring each hour. The sheep sale is an even larger affair with over 30,000 head marketed each week.

While at the stockyard we were able to see our first display of working horses. In Australia the typical horse used for everyday cattle work is the Australian Stock Horse. It is similar to the Quarter Horse in working ability, but slightly larger in size.

Australian Stock Horses doing their thing at the saleyard.

The Australian Stock Horse is used for a rodeo event similar to cutting and team penning, it is called camp drafting. Cattle are put into a mob of 10 in a pen, then a calf must be cut out of the group and moved through an obstacle course in the open.

After the stop at the sale yard we went across the road to the Cargill-Teys packing plant. The facility slaughters and processes 1,200 head of cattle each day with a 50-50 split on grass finished and grain fed beef.

Around 35 percent of the product coming from the Wagga Wagga processor stays in Australia, with the remaining 65 being exported to Asian, European, and North American countries.

This is the sign that greeted us at the plant.

The Cargill-Teys plant was very similar to what you would see in the United States. Grading was performed by a computer camera system which could be overridden by the grader operating it. Also, the line for processing and packing the beef was much faster than what we had previously seen at JBS.

To help put a vertical integrated spin on our trip we toured the Jindalee Feedlot, which is owned by Cargill-Teys. The feedlot has a 17,000 head capacity and all of the animals are processed at the Wagga Wagga Cargill-Teys packing plant.

At the Jindalee Feedlot they have a turnover rate of about 3.75, meaning they feed over 60,000 head of cattle each year.

It was surprising to see how similarly the feedlot was managed when compared to the United States' cattle feeding industry. Implants were used throughout the feedlot and over 95 percent of the cattle were bought directly from cattle producers.

The feedlot that sends a primary share of beef to the Wagga Wagga processor

Death loss at the feedlot was low at only a percent. The morbidity rate for cattle was around 20 percent, with treatment of cattle being commonly caused by respiratory problems.

In all this was a day where we could see the most similarities to the American beef industry, but we still found enough differences that make Australia unique.

Well until next time, happy trails!

Breeding Better Livestock

The theme for the past few days has been breeding better livestock, and the Australian producers we've met have been achieving this goal.

I've been on blog writing overload so I think I'll just let the pictures with some captions do the talking for me about the past day or so of tours.

Enjoy, and good on ya, mate!

Very fine Merino sheep wool from Trigger Vale.

The bottle baby at Trigger Vale.

A type of sheep race way (or alley way) in Australia.

The Rock.

This emu is strutting it's stuff for us.

The group after our dinner at the emu farm.

Darn good looking bull at Sprys Shorthorns.

Judging cattle never ends for Dr. Schaake. This yearling bull sold for $46,000 in Australia.

The group posing for a photo with the folks at Sprys Shorthorns.

Best steaks we've had thus far. Thanks for dinner Sprys Shorthorns.

Temple Running ain't easy, but somebody has got to do it.

Funny realty sign we saw on the drive to Albury.

Multi-species grazing at the commercial operation we visited: cattle, sheep and wild rabbits.

The group talking with our host about sheep and cattle production.

And the sun sets on another great day in Australia.

Thanks for taking a look. Until we meet again, happy trails!

Black To The Future

Much like in the United States black cattle reign supreme in the Australian marketplace. For the past two days we've had the opportunity to speak with some seedstock producers in Australia who raise Black Simmentals and Angus cattle.

The group at Webb Black Simmental.

The first breeder we met was Webb Black Simmental on Friday. They are located just north of Melbourne and market around 50 head of bulls each year. The Webb operation started six years ago when Phillip Webb decided to get into the cattle business after working as a realtor in Melbourne. He had been raised on a family farm, so this was a bit of a coming home for him.

In Australia the Black Simmental breed has not been widely accepted, which has left an opportunity for expansion into this growing market. Because of the success of the Angus breed at the supermarket producers have shifted to breeding black hided cattle. However, there is limited selection in Australia for cattle that will perform well on grass and in the feedlot that are black hided other than Angus cattle.

This old Simmental was a little cold and wet.

Webb's objective is to market the Black Simmental breed to producers who are using primarily Angus genetics, but they would like to get into some northern Australian herds composed of Bos. indicus cattle as well. This will help those commercial producers capitalize on hybrid heterosis, giving the cattle the increase in carcass yield while not sacrificing quality or hide color.

On Saturday we visited Lawson Angus which is just south of Seymour and also just up the road from Webb Black Simmental.

Lawson Angus offered a unique perspective for the K-Staters because much of the genetics that have been utilized in their program date back to the Gardiner Angus Ranch in Ashland, Kansas. It also didn't hurt that one of our group members is Grant Gardiner. The visit allowed Grant and Harry Lawson, managing director, the opportunity to meet and catch up each other up on their operations.

A good looking Angus yearling bull.

This past year the Lawson family hosted their 42nd Annual Production Sale, where 200 bulls and 130 females were marketed. The family has over 2,000 head of Angus cows on various stations across the country, including Western Australia where Lawson Angus has just started breeding cattle in the past few years.

Cattle from Lawson Angus are marketed all over Australia and even in Russia. They also hope to get more cattle marketed to Australian cattle producers in the north, similarly to what the Gardiner Angus Ranch has done with the Southern Cattle Improvement Project in the United States.

                

Something similar about both Lawson Angus and Webb Black Simmental is the use of American genetics to help improve their herds. Both producers also use Expected Progeny Differences and Expected Breed Values to determine genetic merit.

Posing for another group picture at Lawson Angus.

Well, now that we've seen what the black cattle of Australia have to offer it is time for our group to see some red hide. Over the next few days we'll visit a Shorthorn seedstock producer and a commercial Hereford operation.

Until next time, happy trails!

Rinse. Lather. Repeat: Australian Meat

Day three on the Australian adventure brought with it a spell of rainstorms and learning about meat packing.

Both sheep and cattle are processed here.

We checked out of the hotel in Melbourne and made our way to the Brooklyn Abattoir, which is owned by JBS. The facility kills and processes 5,000 head of sheep and 875 head of cattle daily. JBS is the largest meat processor in Australia and the Brooklyn Abattoir is a major packing facility in the southern hemisphere.

On our tour we were able to watch all facets of the slaughter and packing process for both species of ruminants. We moved from multiple buildings and rooms throughout the facility. At each entrance and exit we had to wash/disinfect our boots and hands. This was a very important step in preventing the spread of contaminants at the abattoir.

(Warning: some slaughter practices will be explained, so if you are leery of blood and guts skip down a few paragraphs.)

Some of the K-Staters after the tour.

Something that I found interesting was the "knock box" which is used for stunning cattle and bleeding them out. The knock box is a hydraulically operated machine that restrains cattle to be stunned. After being stunned the cattle are flipped 180 degrees, upside down and the throat is cut to help bleed them out. To me it seemed like an efficient and safe process to slaughter cattle, and it offers a humane death for the animals that go through the facility.  

Marketing materials for JBS beef.

The sheep kill floor was also pretty neat to see, as this is an industry that is not as prevalent in the United States. In all it takes between 15 to 20 minutes for each sheep to go from stunning to the chill room.

Both lamb and beef carcasses are chilled for 24 hours, typically at 0 degrees Celsius before they are cut into primals like steaks and chops. After being sliced and diced into various cuts of meat everything is vacuum packed, boxed and ready to ship. It generally takes 3 to 5 days for the finished product to reach supermarkets in Australia. However, the exported product typically takes 4.5 weeks to reach its destination, which takes up more than half of the 8 week shelf life.

Marketing value added products from the Brooklyn Abattoir is something that was new to the plant just two days before our visit. Some former beef chill and boning rooms were retrofitted to handle a value added processing line that was brought in from a Tasmanian JBS plant. The value added line automatically cuts various types of meats into more consumer friendly products. During the value added process there are various labels and ingredients included with the product to help catch the consumers attention and simplify cooking.

The largest packing company in Australia is JBS.

In all it was interesting to see the similarities between the US and Australian meat packing industries, but there were some differences because of cultural taste and international marketing. Now we can look forward to our next abattoir tour in Wagga Wagga with Cargill where they specialize strictly in beef processing.

Until we meet again, happy trails!

Melbourne Maze

If there was one television show to describe our second day in Melbourne it would be Lost.

This photo put me a little behind the group

On multiple occasions I was left behind either because I was being slow, taking too many pictures, asking too many questions or waiting on others in the group to catch up. Luckily I was able to catch back up with our mob of people every time, but I did get a bit nervous on a few occasions.

The first time I got separated from the group was during some photo opportunities while we were in route to the Department of Primary Industries (DPI).

At the first stop we met with the DPI of the State of Victoria where there were representatives from the livestock industry, including the National Livestock Identification System (NLIS). Tony Britt, Director of Animal Biosecurity and Welfare, was our many presenter and he gave an overview of NLIS.

Some of the swag I scored at DPI.

We learned from Tony that identification of all sheep and cattle is federally required to help detect and prevent the spread of disease outbreaks, such as foot and mouth.

Our first group picture.

Next the group rode around on a bus tour making stops at various gardens and architectural wonders of Melbourne. I managed not to get left behind during this part of the day.

To end our day of touring we ventured to the Carlton United Brewery, home of Australian beer mainstay Foster's. We learned about the brewing process and even got to do a little taste testing. However, before I could taste any grog I had to wait with five other K-Staters because we had been locked in the bottling side of the factory.

Some darn good grog.

After waiting five minutes we were rescued by a Canadian import who was nice enough to offer the whole tour group a round of beer. Then I spent a little bit of my Australian currency on a Foster's t-shirt and a cooler full of six different types of beers to taste test throughout the trip.

The final time I was lost in the labyrinth of Melbourne happened on the way to a casino buffet. My fellow wildcats had traveled all over the downtown area of Melbourne in search of a restaurant that could seat us. In the process we had lost our tour guide Graeme Mitchell and Michael Wimer. They were both engaged in a conversation about the American and Australian beef industries. I realized this so I hung back to help direct them to the Crown Casino, but little did I know that the casino would be a maze of confusion.

Blogging ain't easy, but somebody has got to do it.

A half-hour after journeying through the casino we finally were reunited with the group and I was able to dine on various types of cuisine to quince my hunger.

Well, our stay in Melbourne is over. Now it's time to see some wide open space between Melbourne and Sydney. Maybe we'll get a little gravel in our travel too.

Until next time, happy trails!

The Law Won & Melbourne Fun

I fought the law and the law won, well I guess you can say I fought the law. Apparently, the Australian Customs and Border Patrol does not appreciate foreigners bringing in certain items to their country. My nearly finable offense was bringing some beef jerky to Australia.

Getting a little McDonald's while in Australia.

It is understandable to not allow fruits, vegetables, wood products, or even live animals because of the threat of disease. For this same reason I was asked to throw out my beef jerky that I had brought with me to snack on during my travels. I complied with the customs officer who processed me at the airport, but I did question why I could not bring beef jerky.

He told me it was because of the threat of foot and mouth disease. I then asked again to make sure because foot and mouth has not occurred in the United States since 1929.

The officer then told me it was because of a problem with the US beef herd that had happened a month ago. I then corrected the officer by stating that it was a case of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) in California that did not even enter the food supply.


Also, during the questioning process I was asked if I had been on a farm in the past 30 days. I stated that I had been on a ranch and that I fully understood why they were taking the action that was required.

The great looking views on the outskirts of Melbourne.

Finally, I was on my way out of customs and making strides towards my tour group. Once reunited with my fellow K-Staters we were off to the Healsville Sanctuary, a zoo and refuge for Australian wildlife. 


Before reaching our destination we did have to make a pit stop at an American icon: McDonald's. Many members of the group dined on some breakfast food and beverages before our bus drive to the wildlife park.

After the stop at McDonald's we drove through the city of Melbourne and several suburbs before we reached the countryside. A much needed break from the hustle and bustle of airports and metropolitan areas. 

Engaging in a staring contest with a bird. I think I was the victor.

We saw many interesting sites like a strawberry and cabbage growing operations, a lot of vineyards, cattle and sheep in co-grazing systems, and the beauty of the Australian countryside.


Upon reaching the Healsville Sanctuary we broke into two groups where we were guided by several insightful people at the park.


Highlights of the park stop included seeing native wildlife to Australia (bilbies and kangaroos), taking a ton of pictures, feeding and holding parrots, and playing didgeridoos.

No more charger parties for my power strip.

We did finally have to leave all the excitement at the wildlife park so we could check into our hotel rooms. Then some more excitement occurred for my roommate, Grant Gardiner, and I, when the electricity in our room suddenly went out.

Between a combination of my converter and power strip not liking the new power outlets in Australia, we were without power for a half hour. I thought I might have ruined the wall sockets, but luckily the manager at the hotel just needed to flip a breaker and we were back in business.


Needless to say my power strip will likely not be involved in anymore "charger parties" at airports or other fun stops along the way, because I'm pretty sure it was toasted.

I got a little gelato for desert at La Camera.

To end the night the entire group went out to dinner at a nearby Italian restaurant called La Camera. Which I thought was quite coincidental because we had all been taking a lot of pictures at the Healsville Sanctuary and there are only more to come.


Well until next time, happy trails!

And We're Off

The K-State Animal Science Study Tour has safely landed in Melbourne, Australia!

At first things looked a little hairy when the majority of our travelers made it to the Kansas City International Airport about 25 minutes behind schedule (I'll have to use that as ammunition if I'm late getting up in the morning). Then the staff at the American Airlines counter was running slow on processing our paper work, leaving us wondering if we'd make it to our connecting flight to Dallas. We also had 8 members of our group who were assigned "TBA" seats, so they had to straighten out their seating kerfuffle before departing.

Finally, we were all able to board our flight to DFW and take a look at the majestic "fly over states" to the south of Kansas City. While on our first flight we had a few first time air travelers. Both Jordan Dye and Pake Ebert had never been on an airplane, so the experience was something new for them. We were even able to get the flight attendants to announce that it was Pake's first flight and he was rewarded with his very own set of wings.

Pake got his own set of wings.

Upon arrival in Dallas the group had to load up on a shuttle to take us to the next terminal and luckily we were able to keep Dr. Schaake from stepping off at the wrong one. Two hours later at Gate D17 we were able to board our westbound flight to the City of Angels.

For our on flight entertainment the passengers had the option to watch The Vow. I'm not much on chick-flicks, but since I had nothing better to do I decided to watch and bide my time until reaching LAX.

The Office followed as our entertainment and Dwight Schrute was on his A-game. In classic Dwight fashion he had some choice words for bloggers.

"Bloggers are gross! Bloggers are obese! Bloggers have halitosis!"

Well, I've got news for you Mr. Schrute, our team of bloggers for the K-State Australia trip doesn't take too kindly to such remarks. However, we do appreciate that you are a part of the agriculture industry with Schrute Farms. Keep the beets coming, Dwight.

Watching the plane touchdown on my headset TV.

In Los Angeles the group chowed down on the various types of airport fare before our final flight to Melbourne.

The flight with Qantas Airlines was full of amenities like meals, drinks, a personal smart TV for each seat and many other items. But it wasn't a travel that was full of much sleep for some passengers, me being one. Oh well, I'll just have to make do and hope I catch up on some sleep during our Australian adventure.

Now we're in Australia and we barely even got to see Tuesday. Curse you International Dateline! (shaking fist at the sky)

Until we meet again, happy trails!

Leaving On A Jet Plane

Striking a pose with my fantasy football championship trophy.

I'm officially a graduate of Kansas State University!

Now just a week later I'm about to embark on a great adventure across land and sea to Australia. I've been prepping for this trip for my entire life. In the past months I've studied up on various agricultural and cultural topics in Australia, and I can now say the wait is almost over.

I do wish that I could have blogged about a few other topics like my dogs (two Australian Shepherds and a half-Australian Cattle Dog), music (a comparison of Red Dirt and Australian Country), and much, much more.

I might get tired of dragging around my luggage.

Just this past week I've gotten even more excited to travel Down Under after reading about other K-State groups traveling abroad. Agricultural communications and journalism students are enjoying a tour of England. The animal science equine group is also across the pond in the United Kingdom. Grain science is in Europe too, where they are traveling around Germany and Switzerland. 

I've packed my bags, which took a lot more time than I anticipated. It didn't help I had to go through all of the boxes I brought back from Manhattan to make sure that no clothing, technology or other essential items were left behind in Greenwood County.

Well on Monday, I'll be leaving on a jet plane (actually three different planes) for Australia and I'll be back again on June 1st.

Until next time, happy trails!

Wildcats: Crazy Cora & Quigley Down Under

Since cats are all the rage on the interwebs, I thought I would dedicate one blog post to my cats back home.

We have two cats that are both named after one of my favorite Australian flicks: Quigley Down Under.

Quigley and I get along swell.

The legend of our cats starts with a little black kitten who wandered into my dad's grain truck. A day after my dad hauled some cleaned barley back from the mill he was greeted by the site of this black speck darting across the floorboard. Upon further inspection he found that it was a black kitten who had either been left in the truck by its mother or dumped off by its former owner. Nevertheless, my dad took a shine to the new kitten and decided to bring him home.

After hearing the story of this tough cat surviving a ride under the seat of our grain trunk, the family decided to anoint him the title of Quigley Down Under. The cat is known simply as Quigley and he has certainly lived up to his name sake. Much like Tom Selleck's character he doesn't take gruff from anyone or anything. Quigley will jump you from the shadows just to get a rise out of you. He loves to fight our dogs even though they are five times his size.

Much like the story of his arrival on the Bechtel Ranch there was another time he stowed away on the back of our feed truck during pasture burning. Luckily we heard Quigley meowing under the cake feeder and got him thrown in the cab of the truck before he decided to jump off into the flames.

To say the least ole Quigley is quite the little scamp.

Cora wasn't too keen about having her photograph taken.

Then there is Quigley's partner in crime: Crazy Cora.

Cora showed up at our ranch during the height of hunting season. We would see her coming and going from our property for a year. Then Cora decided to take up with our family in the garage for a few months. Eventually, my mom was able to coax her into the house.

For the past year she has been a bit of a recluse. Cora will skirt by my family members in an effort not to get pet and at night she loves to run amuck, making as much clatter as possible.

Our Quigley and Cora can't stand each other this much.

She also lives up to her name by tormenting Quigley and by being a bit of loon. Recently, Cora decided to go on an Australian style "walkabout" when she fell out of my parent's bedroom window during a fight with Quigley. The next few days my mom worried if her dear, sweet Cora had been eaten by dingos (a.k.a. coyotes).

Well as the song says "the cat came back. She wouldn't stay away. She was sitting on the porch the very next day."

Both Quigley and Cora are safe and sound at my folks house, but it's a crying shame I can't take them on an outback adventure to Australia. I'm sure they could tell a whale of a tale if the made it to the Land Down Under.

Until we meet again, happy trails!