Farmer,

Pay him no mind.

I can see your genuine and seem to know your stuff and you are genuinely care about the welfare of your animals..

You dont have to justify yourself to him, if he's that bored thats his problem.

Cruelty is inflicted by farmers and producers only caring about their own bottom line and nothing for the animals in their care.You are quite right.

Yes I would send him your next feed bill.

I have been waiting for someone to suggest just how you keep 10 boxes of frozen or chilled sheep, in a pen, at the back of a butcher shop.
Yes, thats right, many of the butchers, where a lot of live exports go, don't even have electricity, or if they do, they don't have it regularly, or reliably.
Perhaps you've noticed, but probably not, that live sheep don't go rotten when the power fails.
Talk some sense, & mabe get a life .

"I have recently turned down an offer for my prime lambs from a farmer up in the irrigated areas of Victoria, wants to fatten wethers for export."

Whew alleged farmer, with your knowledge of farming, no wonder
you can't make a living at it. Perhaps best to just go on that
pension hey, or do housework or something :)

Any farmer would know that its merino wethers that go on the
boat trade, not prime lamb wethers. Prime lamb wethers can be
sold for far better money to the American carcass trade, then
the live trade would ever offer. Merino wethers are cheap as
chips in Victoria, no need to buy prime lambs for that.
Hajj lambs are different again, they are generally merino lambs
with long tails and testicles, grown under contract especially
for the Hajj festival each year.

If you were a farmer you would also know that hundreds of thousands
of sheep from WA are trucked East every year, because of lack of
slaughter capacity here and thus lack of competition in the saleyards. But of course to be a real farmer, you would have to
read real farming papers....

So just for now, I'll stick to my Ozgirl theory lol.

Dear hasbeen ... I see you have been taken in by the propaganda that the live export industry and the government spins as defences for the indefensible. Think about it - who owns most of the world's oil, and spends more on infrastructure than anyone else? Of course they have power and refrigeration. They already import over 50,000 tonnesof frozen meat a year. The other element of the propaganda is the "religious" or "cultural" argument. The Qu'ran states that animals are not to be treated cruelly, are not to see the knife, the knife must be razor sharp and they must not be slaughtered within sight of one another. Take yourself to www.animalsaustralia.org, Middle East Investigation and you won't see a pretence of religious observance, nor the adoption of the other precepts.
Yabby, I am so sorry - I missed that idea, and I think it is excellent. I shall pass it on to some people who may be able to do it. I understand that Siba Ships is building two carriers, but I think you'll find they will be smaller, and more likely for short-haul trips (see the emphasis shift from the Middle East to South East Asia, and possibly cattle over sheep.
I think older ships CAN be fine, but just SOME of those from which the crew has "jumped" are (and this is certainly not exhaustive)_the Al Messilah, Al Shuwaikh, Al Kuwait, Danny F II and more. It's a matter of public record in Hansard.
A ship's officer I met a year or so ago told me that in many cases, although the requirements for ventilation are specific and exacting, many of the ships he knows simply don't bother to run it once they are outside Australian waters, because of the cost. Hence the heat exhaustion and suffocation. And although the ALES (Standards) are specific too about length of wool, some I've seen being loaded certainly did not comply with that. Lodge a complaint? I did - and got precisely nowhere. They can't even comply with their OWN standards.
Bye for now,
Nicky

It is a well known fact Yabbies make good bait on a hook to feed the fish. Have all the opinions you like Yabby, you are wrong. My contact in upper Vic is selling to an Exporter for live export. The sheep will probably be trucked quite some distance. Tatiara Meat Company is currently calling for forward contracts for farmers. I spoke to Dale Cameron myself today, but again it appears some will be shipped live and some probably chilled meat. As far as WA is concerned, I know how many animals are trucked. Also Yabby seeing you know all, maybe you would like to tell us how many abattoirs have been closed down over there. How many cattle died just recently on a shipment to Israel, was it over the 400 mark, Nicky you may be able to clarify that for me. Apparently an investigation is happening into the incident. Or seeing Yabby is so well informed, maybe the information can come from you. As far as Merinos are concerned going overseas, I know very well what goes overseas. Refer to footage taken by Animals Australia some time ago. Merino crosses, colour on the face, most likely Merino/Suffolk. The two sheep being carried in the wheelbarrow were Merino X (colour on noses).Sheep being thrown from truck onto the ground, was a Wiltshire Horn. If only Merino wethers go live export, why was there footage and an uproar by Animal Advocates about Merino ewes on live export ships dropping lambs during the voyage. I might be an old farmer, but I know my sheep mate. Live export is cruel, whether it be cruel due to the inability of workers on the ship to understand the correct handling of livestock, the lack of ventilation, the dry feed causing eye irritation it is cruel. Anyone who says live export is not cruel needs to stand 24 hours a day in their own body waste for three weeks minimum, suffer from lack of correct ventilation, and high temperatures. Then tell me its not cruel. Leave it with you Yabby.

By the way Yabby, farmer in upper Vic, is wanting lambs to grow out on lucerne, he has irrigation. He is not selling immediately they will not be going until June or July 2007. This farmer also only breeds full blood Wiltshire Horn. It is a Stud. If you know anything about Studs, only the very best which are few, are kept for stud registration as Rams or Stud Ewes. All other rams are wethered. If you also know anything about sheep, you will also know that the Wiltshire Horn breed is a very old breed around 2000 years old. Dates back possibly to Rome and was taken over to England many hundreds of years ago. Also the Wiltshire Horn needs no shearing or crutching. The Wiltshire Horn also gives a better carcass percentage over the hooks. The meat of the Wiltshire Horn is extremely lean and the taste is at the top of the list, but I am just a dumb "alleged" farmer. Up until about fifteen years ago, the Wiltshire Horn numbers were very few, and as a species was endangered. The Wiltshire Horn is now in America and New Zealand due to the breeding program started here many years ago by a guy in Shepparton. I also have Shropshires which are endangered and their numbers very few in this country. Want to know anything else about sheep Yabby, just ask away. Farmer.