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QFF renews calls for recovery program following devastating floods
Carla Wong
The Queensland Farmers’ Federation (QFF) has renewed its calls for a ‘shovel ready’ government-assisted recovery program, as farmers begin their salvage process in the wake of the devastating floods that swept through the state last week.
The floodwaters, which have raged across Queensland since late last week, have left many houses and properties underwater and up to an estimated 500,000 cattle dead. CEO of AgForce, Michael Guerin, has called it a “humanitarian disaster”.
While the government acted rapidly in response to the unprecedented floodwaters, activating the jointly-funded Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements to provide loans, subsidies and recovery grants to farmers, QFF President Stuart Armitage says that farmers need more immediate and targeted support.
“We are grateful for the $75,000 on offer to help the recovery process, but the damage caused by this event will require more than just money, and the on-farm problems farmers face differ across industries,’’ Mr Armitage said. “If the government acted quickly, they could utilise the Industry Recovery and Resilience Officers already in place from Cyclone Debbie recovery before this funding stops and the capacity is lost.”
Mr Armitage says the industry has also been calling for the deployment of Industry Recovery and Resilient Officers (IRROs) immediately after a natural disaster to provide support and advice to accelerate recovery.
“These officers are proven to help with strategic, long-term farm recovery that ensures farmers recover faster, stronger and are better prepared for future events,” he said. “Natural disasters are part and parcel of farming in Queensland, so it is essential that we learn from each weather event and ensure recovery processes and resilience across our sector continue to improve.”
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Trace minerals are required for optimal growth, reproduction, and immunity. Optimising trace mineral status relying solely on oral supplements across a herd may fail because of variation in individual intake and reduced absorption due to antagonism of other ration components and minerals. The use of injectable trace mineral supplements has been associated with positive reproductive outcomes including improved conception rate, increased odds of pregnancy and greater final in calf rate. A study conducted on 2,168 dairy cows, administered injectable trace minerals, four weeks prior to calving and again four weeks prior to the start of mating showed treated animals had a 3.3 per cent greater final in-calf rate, and a reduced time from start of mating to conception, compared to control animals 1 . The Importance of B12 Dr Carl Eden, Technical Services Veterinarian with Boehringer Ingelheim says “Vitamin B12 is sometimes referred to as a ‘super vitamin’ because it is only required in very small amounts but vital to many essential metabolic pathways. However, demand for B12 can vary considerably during the year and we see serum levels of B12 fall at critical times, such as the first few months after calving.” Vitamin B12 contains cobalt, so deficiency in cobalt can lead to deficiency in vitamin B12 because ruminants get most of their B12 as a byproduct of ruminal fermentation where the bacteria in their rumen assemble B12 from cobalt for use by the cow. Sub-optimal trace mineral and vitamin B12 status at calving, mating, and drying off has been shown to negatively impact growth, reproduction, and immunity. Using a trace mineral injectable containing vitamin B12 can improve trace mineral and vitamin B12 status at these critical times. Marks-Min with Vitamin B12 – The Evidence In the largest trace element study to date, Marks-Min Injectable Trace Mineral with Vitamin B12 demonstrated remarkable results when compared to a reference trace mineral injection. “Given the differences between Marks-Min and other products on the market, we wanted to generate a compelling data set to demonstrate how effective it was compared to the pioneer product. We entrusted this work to a third-party research company” says Dr Eden. “We chose farms that were at the top of their game from a reproductive perspective. We made sure that the farms had no evidence of trace element or vitamin B12 deficiencies or excess.” Across all outcomes of interest, Marks-Min demonstrated clear non-inferiority when compared to the reference product. Outcomes measured included submission, pregnancy and conception rates, and six week in-calf rate. Marks-Min demonstrated it is highly suited as an alternative treatment to the reference product. Reference: 1. Hawkins, D., and B. V. S. Franklin. New Zealand Dairy Veterinarians Newsletter 24 (2007): 12-16 Company website: livestockfirst.com.au Company email address: CustomerCare.Australia@boehringer-ingelheim.com Company video: https://vimeo.com/1138807630?fl=pl&fe=cm
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