The 2018 Australian Salers AGM was held in Mount Gambier SA, on the weekend of the 24th and 25th of November.

Everyone arrived in Mount Gambier at some point during Friday and were ready on the Saturday morning to catch the bus so they could catch up with old acquaintances and meet new ones.

Weaner heifers at Cara Park Salers

First stop on the itinerary was Cara Park Salers where they had on display their entire herd divided into 3 groups for easy viewing.  After a brief introductory chat/welcome, members and guests wandered around the cattle at will before grabbing a coffee and biscuit and then continuing their wandering and chatting.  A few fit and adventurous souls were led on a blustery walk up the paddock to see the view toward Mt Schanck and Mt Gambier from the top of the hill.

When these windblown people returned to ground zero we had lunch in the shed due to the unpredictable nature of the weather during the morning.

James Mann from Donovans Dairy talking with ASA members

 

From there we headed toward the Victorian border where we visited a huge rotary dairy run by James Mann and his family.  The dairy runs somewhere between 1,400 – 2,400 cows at any one time.  The logistics of keeping this number of animals fed, watered, milked and healthy was just gob smacking.  This was an amazing opportunity to appreciate an agricultural enterprise which is run on such a huge scale.

 

 

 

Our stomachs called and we moved on to Jennifer Kranz’s property to have afternoon tea and view  Salers X steers and heifers.  The steers were so quiet they could have been invited into the garden for afternoon tea without a care in the world.

Weaner steers at Jennifer Kranz’s property

With our stomachs refilled and our thirsts quenched we headed back into Mt Gambier where everyone was dropped off at their accommodation to allow a quick spruce up before the AGM proper.

The AGM was held and completed punctually allowing us to head out to tea in good time.  In listening to some of the first hand experiences of members and what they are having to deal with due to the lack of rain, it makes me realize I am very lucky were I am.  Yes I have had to drop my cattle numbers but we will come out the other end with stock still in good health and reasonable condition.  My heart and thoughts go out to those who are dealing with it way tougher than I am.

Sunday morning came around quickly with a couple of people needing a wake up text to get them to the bus on time.

ASA members and guests viewing Roy McLeans Salers X females

 

Once we had gathered everyone up we headed out to Roy McLeans property where we viewed his cross bred females and calves which he intends to breed on to pure Salers.  While there Roy also talked to us about the Himalayan salt blocks he uses and also the diatomaceous earth and kelp mixture.  Both of which help to reduce the input costs of drenches and supplements.

 

 

 

Morning smoko/lunch beckoned at Tim Bowering’s property just down the road.  While the members and guests

Tim explaining what he is achieving with the Salers bulls

munched on sausages, cake and biscuits washing it down with a good brew of coffee or tea they were able view Tim’s 3 Salers bulls.  Tim told us a very funny story while there about his original bull.  This bull was very young when he was purchased and used to steal milk from the house cow before he was moved out to a main mob to start his working life.  Unknown to Tim, this young bull had also done the deed on the house cow as she had cycled while he was with her.  After the cow had calved the old girl loved her Salers boy so much she jumped fences to get back to him when she cycled again.  LOVE!!!!!

Via a number of back roads due to our  driver deciding we needed to do a scenic tour, we moved on to Jennifer Kranz’s finishing block at Kalangadoo set amongst  beautiful, big, tall red gums.  Here we had the opportunity to view some superbly finished off steers that were due to go into market the following week.

Salers cross steers ready for market at Jennifer Kranz’s finishing block

 

Moving on, we then drove on to Penola where we had a late lunch.  After lunch people had a little bit of free time to walk around the tourist town before heading back to Mt. Gambier allowing several people to leave and head back home.

 

 

Due to our early return, a group of people were able to take this opportunity to visit Steve McCourt’s property at Cape Douglas.  It was so funny watching these tall guys squash themselves into the back of Steve’s ute.  I would love to have seen them trying to get out as I think they would have fallen out, not stepped out.  Unfortunately we were not able to offer this property inspection to everyone over the weekend due to the limited vehicle access into this property.

The weekend was rounded off Sunday night by an impromptu tea at a local restaurant.

ASA members and guests on the Sunday afternoon

I personally would like to thank everyone who was able to attend as I know this year hasn’t been easy considering the weather conditions we all have had to contend with.  To those who couldn’t make it I hope we are able to see you at next years AGM.