See you again, Australia.

It has been a whirlwind three weeks since I arrived in Australia and a very long three weeks in other respects.  I have travelled thousands of miles across Australia by plane, train and automobile.  I have learned about beef from hoof to hook; auction markets, branded beef programs and the show ring, about pineapples, macadamias and roses.  I’ve also mastered the art of driving on the opposite side of the road (well no one is here to prove otherwise and for the record I was only honked at twice) and I have seen some of the iconic sites.  

The big Harbour Bridge, Sydney.

The Big Pineapple (very close to the Big Macadamia Nut)

The Big Cow; an Ayshire.

The Big Barrel, Bundaberg 

The Big Bottle

Big Gingerbread Man

The Big Mower

And another photo of the Big Rock. (Sorry Okotoks, there is no comparison)

Before this trip I thought "big" roadside attractions were a North American cultural phenomenon, I was very wrong.  Australia has been an incredible experience, I am wading my way through the Nuffield experience and getting better at navigating the waters.

Overview of Traceability

The beef industry here faces many of the same challenges that we do in Canada and many different problems as well.  It has a long list of positive things that are working well; a national traceability system that is state run, a large amount of land suitable for cattle, great people and a strong industry with organizations that are working towards making it better.  Over the past few weeks I have had the opportunity to meet with a number of people involved at various levels of the industry here and have gained a perspective on how things operate here.  

Much of what happens in the industry is end user driven.  Branded beef programs (natural, organic, grass-fed and no hormone added) are gaining momentum but are not as widely used as in Canada.   All of the restaurants which sold a branded product that I visited, knew the origin of their product.  In every case they had vertically integrated supply chains and the front line workers had the information available.  There were not many, none of which I encountered outside of the major urban centres I was in; Sydney and Brisbane. I was told on a couple of occasions that branded programs are bigger in the south but I did not have the time to investigate.  Attributes are tracked from the primary producer to the retailer or restaurant and are verifiable if required.  The National Livestock Identification System (NLIS) that records animal movement is updated every time an animal moves premises.  The processors have tracking software that link the NLIS tag number to the data collected on the incoming animal paperwork and data gathered at the plant to provide a truly traceable product from box to farm of origin.  This is required as part of the State legislations and everyone seems to accept it as part of the process of doing business.  

Branded programs use separate tracking databases but have the information available when their customers (domestic and international) ask for it and I was assured they do ask.  Even their traceability system was born in part because the EU market wanted product from a country with a traceability system may years ago.

One thing that really impressed me and it is partly because of my day job why this hits home but there are a set of standards that say an animal has to be 75% of a breed before they can market product from it in a breed specific branded program.  For example, to be part of an Angus program, an animal needs to be 75% Angus.  Nothing less can be branded that way.  This was actually decided through a Court case and is now widely recognized and accepted.  In the meeting I had this morning, we had a discussion around this and to paraphrase;  regulation is required in the beginning but eventually the market takes over and drives the initiative.  In the case of breed claims I believe this to be entirely true, I am still not convinced when it comes to other attributes that are currently being used right now but I will continue to keep looking into this.

Thank you to everyone who took time to meet with me and answer my many questions.  I have enjoyed meeting and getting to know all of you.

A slight diversion.

Over the weekend, I become slightly infatuated with the production of macadamia nuts.  I spent some time learning about them and find it so different than anything I am familiar with in Canada; so very interesting not to mention a delicious.  Macadamia’s are a tree nut and the trees are native to Australia’s rainforest, on the Queensland coast.  The trees are beautiful and can grow over 10 meters high and are cultivated in neat rows as an orchard would be planted.  I read somewhere that in the Botanical Gardens in Brisbane there is a tree that was cultivated in 1858 that is still producing nuts.  When the tree is trimmed or cut down, the wood can be used to make stunning pieces.  

The harvest runs from March to September and the nuts fall from the trees when ripe; they are then mechanically or hand picked from the ground.  They are covered in a husk and a shell at this stage.  They are typically around 30% moisture and typically the husks are removed at the farm.  The factory that I was at had silos on site that dried the nuts down to 1.5% moisture which is suitable for cracking.  

All of this to produce, in my opinion, one of the best tasting tree nuts there is.  To finish off my macadamia nut day, I stopped at the roadside "Big Macadamia nut" just off the Bruce Highway north of Brisbane.  The day wouldn’t be complete without it.  It appeared as though it wasn’t the tourist draw it once was, but I managed to snap a few photos.

Photos of the trip so far.

Regional Displays at the Royal Easter Show

Angus Show at Royal Easter Show; no minimum age limit on the calves

Giant golden guitar, roadside attraction on the New England Highway

ANZAC Hill, Alice Springs

Uluru mid-afternoon up close

Uluru late afternoon

Just as the sun is beginning to set

Desert sunset

A dingo sits in the shade of a water tank at Curtain Springs Cattle Station

Curtain Springs water tanks

Hydroponic roses growing at fellow Nuffielder Nikki's greenhouse

The beach at Bargara, Queensland

Sunset over the Burnett River tonight.

I love Australia.

I have seen very little of the country even though this is my third trip but I love the laid back nature of the people, the sunshine and the unique things that are found only here…and lets not forgot the wonderful coffee.  

Australia is:

• the sixth largest country
• the largest island
• the only island that is a continent and the only continent that is a country
• a population of 22.68 million people of which more than 85% live within 50 km of the coast
• home to the largest living thing on earth; the Great Barrier Reef
• it has more things that can kill you than anywhere else
• the driest, flattest, hottest and most climatically aggressive of all inhabited continents

In the few weeks I have been here I have seen the Northern Territory which averages 7 inches of rain per year and now on the Queensland coast which averages 54 inches a year (and as I learned this number varies significantly depending on the number of tropical storms in a year).  There is actually water laying in the ditches; likely a result of Tropical Cyclone Ita that hit the east coast of Australia about a week and a half ago.  The extremes are near impossible to wrap my head around.  The cattle are different here, much more bos indicus based herds.  The grass appears plentiful and the occurrence of crops (sugar cane, macadamia trees and peanuts, I’ve seen along the road) signals that conditions are easier here. Even the trees and plants are different.  I read once that the reason Australia has so many diverse species of plants is because over time the native plants adapted to thrive in exactly the conditions that they were growing in.  For example there are over 700 species of eucalyptus trees and many species also continue to adapt dependant on their specific growing location. 

Tomorrow I am off to tour around Bundaberg, hopefully learn a little about macadamia nut production and of course a trip here isn’t complete without learning about rum the famous Bundaberg Rum so I will have to make the sacrifice and take that in as well.  

A small part of the country indeed.  There are many more places and people I wish I could visit but it will have to wait until the next time as this part of my trip is quickly coming to an end. Just five days to go now and I expect they will fly by.

Northern Territory, Australia

It has begun.  While last week was mostly work focused, I am now entirely on my own, forging my own trail on this Nuffield path.  It is a little overwhelming and a little scary, I will not lie.  Due to the timing of a couple of events that I wanted to hit in Australia and China I have ended up here over two Australia long weekends; Easter and ANZAC Day.  Since I had a four day weekend to kill, I thought I would make a few thousand kilometre detour and head to the Northern Territory to visit Uluru, it is one of those iconic Australia landmarks it seemed only right and it has turned out to be a wonderful detour.  Uluru is a beautiful place and this part of the country is beautiful, the red earth, blue clear sky and green trees make for great scenery.  I have lucked out and been here just on the cusp of the busy season (and a few days ahead of the Royal visit) and it is starting to cool down.  Temperatures in the high twenties are cool enough to get out and do some hiking yet warm enough to feel amazing with that crazy weather still wrecking havoc at home.  

At Uluru after completing the base walk; a 10.5 km trail around the rock.

They warned us that a Nuffield twist has a funny way of turning up when you least expect it and as it turns out, there is a cattle station owned and run by a Nuffield Scholar  on the main road from Alice Springs to Uluru.  I made this discovery just before I left home and was able to arrange a short visit with them on my way.  

The land is harsh, I have been trying for days to come up with a better word but harsh is all I have.  An area that averages just 7 inches of rain per year would be but nature adapts.  It takes a lot of land to raise one cow but it is land that is only good for cattle; defiantly not crops and sheep as I learned will pull the grass out by the roots leading to a dustbowl if allowed.  Proving again that cattle are very efficient utilizing land that isn't good for anything else.  These people were inspiring, they have built their station up to now be a tourist destination (even I first heard of it in the Fodor’s Australia guide) which diversifies their operation and they can still run cows on the property.  In addition to the current accommodations, restaurant, fuel and tours to Mt Connor that they run there they are also embarking on a new venture in paper making, I look forward to seeing how successful they become with this new line and it proves yet again how innovative Nuffielders really are.

On the road again....

I have been back on the road for Nuffield '14 for just over a week now and I am back in Australia.  This past week I have had a series of meetings for work to attend to and not much time for Nuffield.  However, I had the opportunity, as part of those work necessities, to attend the Sydney Royal Easter Show, which I have always wanted to see.  What a fantastic event, nothing at home even compares to it.  It was wonderful to see fall shows being hosted outdoors on green grass, we were excited last year at Agribition that it was only -5 degrees celsius.  My full report is available on the Canadian Angus blog.

I am spending the holiday weekend in the Northern Territory in Alice Springs and Uluru.  As I was leaving Sydney yesterday I finally heard the schedule for the Royal Australia Visit; apparently I am just a week ahead of Will & Kate as they are taking in the Royal Easter show this week and Uluru next week.  I was staying at Glenferrie Lodge (which I highly recommend) on Sydney's North Shore while I was there last weekend and Admiral House (Australia's Governor General's residence) where they are staying while in Sydney was just down the street.  It would have been fun to be there when they were in town but I guess there is always next time.  The Royal visit has stirred up the talks surrounding Australia's status as a Constitutional Monarchy (as is Canada) and it has been very interesting to hear the radio commentary on the issue.  The polls reported on many radio stations are favouring staying as they are.  But it makes we wonder, will Canada will ever become a republic or do we need to?  It seems to me that after all this time, why bother now?