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2007 Rabobank Trans-Tasman Exchange News

Posted 5th February, 2006

Natalie Mapp - 2007 Rabobank Trans-Tasman Exchange

10 January – 14 January
After arriving in Sydney I took a 10 hour trip to Glenn Innes where the Landfall Angus Youth Roundup was held. This is a heifer show where local (up to 8-9 hours away) studs donate cattle for kids, not only those involved in Angus, but those interested in show cattle, to show for the event.
There were 120 children and 130 cattle at the event which went from Thursday through to Sunday. Thursday was pretty relaxed and was when everyone arrived and the cattle were washed and a few get together games were played. On Friday there was a day of lectures which covered everything from halter making in the juniors to EBV’s and Business Management for the seniors. Saturday and Sunday were show days, with Saturday the judges assessing the cattle and Sunday the handlers. It was good fun and everyone walked away with a ribbon by the end of the event.

15 January – 21 January
After the Roundup I headed out to Outwest Angus in Coonamble, which is in the “outback”. It was unreal as the people I stayed with had been in a drought for six years and the cattle were living on not much more than dirt. The landscape was completely flat, not a hill in sight. While I was there I spent a lot of time hand feeding the young stock and the bulls which were feedlotted in the yards and mustered on horse back. On the Friday that I was there the stock were EMA scanned and went back into Armidale with the scanner.

22 January – 28 January
I have spent the last week at Dorrigo with Betty and Bill Gibson and their son David. It is a completely different landscape to outwest, with green grass and hills.  It has been an awesome week, the Gibson’s have been great hosts and taken me out and about in the district to see a few things while I was here in between doing some farm work.
I have spent the week with David, the Gibson’s son who is to take over the farm sometime in the next few years. We spent the first few days fencing and the have done AI, CIDR’s, and pregnancy scanning.