This week on the podcast we have Bill Mitchell, co-founder of Optiweigh, discussing the Optiweigh system and its unexpected impacts on the farm businesses that are already using the technology.

Optiweigh was founded 10 years ago by Bill and Jacqui Mitchell after they decided there must be a better way to closely monitor cattle weights, rather than running them into the yards every week. “There was a walk-over weighing system that I saw first in sheep. And it was just like, how on earth do I make this work on our farm without it taking more effort than it saves?” explains Bill.

However, getting cattle to put all four feet on the scales was trickier than they first imagined. “I don’t know why I even bothered,” says Bill. “But I thought, I'll collect some two feet weight and take them to the yards and weigh them there too, and see if it's any good.” It turned out that it worked, despite them both not daring to believe it. Then in 2019, the drought forced them to destock, and so they seized the opportunity to launch Optiweigh.

From then on, Optiweigh has gone from strength to strength. Every day there is a new revelation about the usefulness of their technology. The immediate nature of the data means producers can see changes in weight instantly and see the impacts of their management decisions in real time.

“People have done it to manage their grazing rotations. They've done it to look at the different pastures and different feed types, supplementary feed types or otherwise to look at a change of feeds or compare weight gains on different feeds,” explains Bill.

It’s also been used to help identify animal health issues - such as the impacts of too-high stocking rates or dirty dam water - that may have otherwise gone unnoticed until it was too late.

Optiweigh is being used around the world, from extensive grassland systems to feedlots.

Recently, the team at Optiweigh have been working with AgScent (our guests on the podcast next week - make sure to tune into that!) to measure methane whilst the cattle are being weighed. They are also looking to create a sheep weighing system.

Bill hopes that Optiweigh will become a staple in livestock farming, providing a variety of data that not only improves farm management but also contributes to environmental sustainability by continuously monitoring animal metrics such as weight, methane emissions, body condition scores and overall health status.
If you would like to know more about Optiweigh, you can visit their website here:

https://www.optiweigh.com.au/

We are launching OptiEwe, a one-on-one consulting service for commercial sheep farmers, and want your input. Please take this quick survey to share your preferences on focus groups:
CLICK HERE

Head Shepherd is brought to you by neXtgen Agri International Limited
Thanks to our sponsors at MSD Animal Health and Allflex, and Heiniger Australia and New Zealand. Please consider them when making product choices, as they are instrumental in enabling us to bring you this podcast each week.

Check out Heiniger's product range HERE
Check out the MSD range HERE
Check out Allflex products HERE

This week on the podcast we have Richard Subtil, from Omarama Station, a 12,000-hectare property in New Zealand's South Island. Over the last 26 years, Richard and his wife Annabelle have made incredible progress on the station, creating a sustainable and efficient operation for their children to take over.

There is a vast range of environments found across Omarama Station, from tussock at 1,550 metres to 4,000 hectares of irrigated flats at 450 metres and “... everything else in between,” says Richard.

Richard and Annabelle are big fans of adopting new technology and trying new ideas, including foetal aging at pregnancy. This has allowed for better management of the their livestock in the diverse range of environments on the property, explains Richard. “We will put those early twin-bearing ewes on the lower, better blocks that start to grow a bit earlier in the season and then they have access to lucerne paddocks below,” says Richard. “Then, [we can] bring the later lambing ewes down behind… that kind of thing. That makes a massive difference.”

But it’s not just about making one-off decisions based on the data; data is recorded against each ewe for her whole lifetime. Richard explains: “Once we get that lifetime data, we can also make sure that we are rewarding those ewes that regularly give us early twins every single time, every year. Especially when, at weaning time, you look at a ewe and she's looking a bit tatty. Is that because she's a poor ewe or is that because she's worked really, really hard for you?” Without EID, it is impossible to keep track of so many variables to make an accurate assessment.

When Omarama began using EID they classed these better-performing sheep as ‘Royals’. After analysing the data, the difference in performance was quite significant. “If we had been able to convert all the sheep on the place to Royals, there was $150,000 worth of profit, without spending a dollar more on animal health or feeding them more. It was just better sheep,” explains Richard. This just shows that by collecting and analysing lifetime data, collected on EID, it is far easier to make informed decisions that lead to better livestock management and overall efficiency.

It is not only technology that makes or breaks a business though. Richard and Annabelle make use of their previous life experience in logistics to make the most of what they produce at Omarama, be it wool, lamb or beef. Richard discusses the importance of long-term contracts and partnerships with brands like Icebreaker and how they impact breeding decisions and the future of the farm.

We are launching OptiEwe, a one-on-one consulting service for commercial sheep farmers, and want your input. Please take this quick survey to share your preferences on focus groups:
CLICK HERE

Head Shepherd is brought to you by neXtgen Agri International Limited
Thanks to our sponsors at MSD Animal Health and Allflex, and Heiniger Australia and New Zealand. Please consider them when making product choices, as they are instrumental in enabling us to bring you this podcast each week.

Check out Heiniger's product range HERE
Check out the MSD range HERE
Check out Allflex products HERE

As food producers, should we know more about the nutrition of the products we produce? This week on the podcast we have Dr Anneline Padayachee, a food and nutrition scientist. We dive into the fascinating world of carbs, proteins, micronutrients and more, hopefully leaving you with a better understanding of the food we produce and eat.

Anneline provides a brief history of nutrition science. This relatively new field emerged in the late 1800s, after the discovery of the elements of the periodic table, when it became possible to identify essential nutrients like amino acids, vitamins and minerals. Anneline says that nutrition science can be “ … a little bit behind … ”, as it is always reacting to changes in global diets.

Nutrition science covers the whole spectrum of diets: from the worst that lead to disease and illness, to the best that lead to populations living well past 100. Anneline discusses the concept of ‘blue zones’, regions where people live significantly longer due to an active lifestyle, a strong sense of community and a diet rich in locally sourced, plant-based foods. Anneline is quick to add that while these diets are plant-based, they are not plant-exclusive, emphasising the importance of dietary diversity and moderation in consuming animal products.

Mark asks Anneline the obvious question from a farming podcast: what is the truth about the role of meat in a healthy diet?

“If you can eat meat, go for it,” says Anneline. “Red meat is nutritionally dense. And when I say nutritionally dense, think about a concentrated cordial versus a diluted cordial. The flavour is very different, you only need a little bit of that concentrate in there. It is very nutritionally dense in protein: it has every amino acid that our body does not produce. In addition to iron, which is absolutely essential, you've also got B12. Without B12, you cannot get the energy out of your carbohydrates, so it is absolutely fundamental. And red meat is our only source of dietary B12. There's no other way we can get it, except to take a supplement or get a shot from the doctor.”

Anneline and Mark also discuss ‘lab-grown’ meat and cell culture technology in food production and how it might be used in the future. Whilst the costs to produce a kilogram of these novel foodstuffs are exponentially higher than that to produce beef at present, Anneline says there will likely be some highly useful applications of lab-grown meat, especially for the medical sector. But she finishes by pointing out: “In terms of feeding the masses, nothing is more efficient than a cow.”

This episode offers a broad exploration of food science, nutrition and health. Dr Padayachee provides valuable insight into how to maintain a balanced diet amidst the noise of marketing strategies and fad diets. Whether you're interested in the history of nutrition science, the intricacies of food production, or practical tips for a healthy diet, this episode is one not to miss.

We are launching OptiEwe, a one-on-one consulting service for commercial sheep farmers, and want your input. Please take this quick survey to share your preferences on focus groups:
CLICK HERE

Head Shepherd is brought to you by neXtgen Agri International Limited
Thanks to our sponsors at MSD Animal Health and Allflex, and Heiniger Australia and New Zealand. Please consider them when making product choices, as they are instrumental in enabling us to bring you this podcast each week.

Check out Heiniger's product range HERE
Check out the MSD range HERE
Check out Allflex products HERE