Livestock entries for Royal Adelaide Show are down as producers struggle with drought
Rainfall across the state so far this year has been the lowest on record – slightly drier than 1929. It’s reflected in the reduced number of animals entered at the Show, which is starting this week.
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- Dry times lead to tight livestock supplies
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Tight feed supplies and high buy-in costs for hay have severely impacted livestock entry numbers at this year’s Royal Adelaide Show.
Entries numbers in the Boer goat section have almost halved, while numbers are also down for sheep, cattle and pigs.
It comes as preliminary figures for January to August, averaged across the state, show rainfall has been the lowest on record, coming in slightly drier than 1929, the previous driest period.
Unfortunately, the Bureau of Meteorology’s outlook for spring indicates that drier than average conditions are likely to continue for some months.
These dry conditions have flowed through to numbers for this year’s show, which starts on Friday, which are:
* Boer goats have 37 entries this year, down from 70 in 2018.
* There are 537 entries in the beef cattle section, down from 666 in 2018.
* The dairy goat section has received 71 entries this year, a drop from 97 last year.
* Pig exhibits are sitting at 171 entries this year, dropping from 183 last year.
* The sheep section has received 1591 entries this year, down from 1671 in 2018.
* More than 30,000 overall entries, which is on par with figures for the past seven years.
Despite the struggle, Unity College Year 10 student Hannah Starick is excited by her school’s entries in the Boer goat category.
A teacher from the Murray Bridge College Jessica Burpee said generous donations from the local community had been key to helping the school take part in the Show this year.
“All of our hay has been donated from the local community,” she said.
“It’s meant we could afford to still participate in the Show.”
Ms Burpee, who is a stud breeder in her family’s Drayton Park Red Angus and Black Angus stud, said it had been hard for producers to donate stock for schoolchildren to take to the show to exhibit.
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“Drayton Park used to donate 15 steers to the school’s led steers competition, and this year we donated five,” she said.
“As much as we want to help the school, it’s just hard with lower stock numbers due to the drought.”
The Drayton Park stud, which has properties at Meadows and Tintinara, is also exhibiting far lesser numbers themselves this year.
“Some years we’d take 40 cattle down to the show, and it’s usually 20 to 25. This year we’ve only got three exhibits,” she said.
Barossa Valley goat breeder Tracy Bonython who is also a teacher, has done all she could to help students across the state continue to gain the valuable skills in livestock handling learnt at the Show.
“I’ve supplied goats to four schools this year, which is the most I’ve ever done,” she said.
“I usually supply goats to the Faith Lutheran College at Tanunda and the Mount Compass Area School, but I’m also helping out Unity College and Nuriootpa High School this year.
“I knew a lot of schools were finding it hard to source goats for the led wether competition, and the drought was playing a big part in that.
“I wanted to help because it would be such a shame if students missed out, because they love working with goats, and they’re a really good animal for younger students in particular to work with.”
Cathy Evans from the Balmarden goat stud at Upper Sturt is exhibiting eight goats this year, compared to 13 last year.
“I was only going to bring six along, but because numbers were so low, I was asked if I could bring a couple more along,” she said.
“This year has just been a tough year, especially as far as feed goes. It is quite an expensive operation to get your animals ready for the show, because they have to be in peak condition.
“In a year like this when feed is very expensive, it does come down to how much you can afford.”
Australian Fodder Industry Association chief executive John McKew said hay prices had more than doubled in the past year.
“You’re looking at paying between $400 a tonne to $500 a tonne for good quality cereal hay, and that’s if you can find it,” he said.
Bureau of Meteorology senior climatologist Darren Ray said while year to date rainfall was generally below average across the state’s agricultural regions, it was the pastoral areas where the lack of rain was at record lowest levels or close to it.
“From the preliminary figures, averaged across the state, the year to date rainfall has only been 40 per cent of the average,” he said.