2 September 2008

2 minute read

Oceania

Students from France and Brazil are joining their Queensland counterparts in major research programs at the DPI&F's Brian Pastures Research Station, Gayndah.

DPI&F principal extension officer Russ Tyler said the students were working on a range of projects on cattle reproductive performance and adaptation to harsh environments, and were learning valuable lessons as they worked with cattle and conducted field trials.

French student Romain Vollmar has been surprised at the size of Australian beef production, in comparison with his homeland's much smaller intensive livestock farms, which only run several hundred head at most.

PhD student Diogo Costa from Brazil is working on a trial investigating algae as an economic protein source for cattle. If the trial is successful, it may be possible for the algae to be grown on-farm.

The trials are part of a collaborative research project involving DPI&F, the School of Animal Studies at The University of Queensland, and Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA).

Fellow Brazilian Bruna Queiroz from the University of Sao Paolo said she has been surprised at the efficiency of Queensland beef farming operations and the high level of water use efficiency.

Alex Thompson, who is based at Rockhampton DPI&F, is looking at mortalities and culling of breeding females in tropical beef herds.

Casey Adams, who with Alex is also from the University of Queensland Gatton campus, is working on a project investigating the effect of liveweight, rump fat and rib fat measures at the start of a heifer's first mating on her subsequent reproductive performance.

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