May 12th

Day 5 Blog Post –

Day 5 kicked off with an engaging stop at the Pepperton Rams farm. The Pepperton family has been in business since 1854. They own 1200 Poll Dorset & White Sulffolks raised on over 900 acres. The family’s main goal is meat production rather than wool. Over time, they have been able to change from horned to polled sheep. They breed using laparoscopic artificial insemination from high value Australian rams. They split the flock breeding into two different groups: one in August and the other in March. The Pepperton family has high standards, seeking to change the breed for better meat qualities. Some qualities they select for include shear force and intramuscular fat. Their herd is above average on most breeding traits. We were fortunate enough to be able to help dock their lambs for the morning. The group was really impressed with their herding dogs and loved the opportunity to interact with the producer and learn.

The lambs waiting to be brought inside for the docking process. 

Students took turns vaccinating the lambs. 

The docking process began by sorting the lambs from the ewes. The lambs were moved inside using efficient sorting gates. Students rotated through the different steps of the process. The lambs were loaded onto the lamb cradle and vaccinated before banding to dock tails and castrate. The group was able to help with each part of the process. We really appreciated the farmer, Roger, for being so willing to teach, especially students who have not had much interaction with sheep.

A few of the students interacting with the lambs.

Next we traveled down to Echuca for lunch at Henry’s Bridge Hotel for burgers, making many feel back at home with American comfort food. We had a guest speaker from Dairy Australia join for lunch visiting with several and then addressing the group to explain the role that Dairy Australia plays in the state of Victoria which is the largest dairy producing state as well the contributions across the entire country. Their role varies from advocacy, research and development, and helping facilitate many processes such as succession planning. Dairy Australia is equivalent to our check-off programs such as Dairy Management Inc. or Midwest Dairy. Farmers are taxed a levy of 3 cents per kilogram of milk solids. Bec Wyper discussed the future of succession planning within the dairy industry as well as school programs involved in their promotion of their industry.

We got to celebrate Anna Schaefers birthday after our guest speaker and enjoyed a delicious chocolate cake.  The afternoon included time of leisure to wander the port town and take in the several attractions and shops around the area. There were a variety of sights from historic steam engines powering a sawmill that was in the process of being overhauled to several artisan shops and trades. Some students took the opportunity to take a ride on a stagecoach around the block. Many enjoyed this stop as it allowed for shopping and overall time to stretch out the legs.

Steamboat on the Murray River. 

Agritourism was experienced and displayed with a stop at the Billabong Ranch just outside of Echuca on the Murray. This ranch offers many different options to those who visit ranging from horse riding, pedal boats, over night camps, to more education-based events and camel rides. Richard explained how they started out with just a few horses and now have 150-180 horses at any given point, 20 camels, sleeping accommodation for 180 guests, and many other livestock. Through persistence, Richard explained how the Billabong Ranch continued to evolve and grow through a variety of difficulties and struggles to become a successful ranch that can allow many people to experience agriculture. During Covid, to overcome the shutdowns, he shared how the family diversified with new ventures. They include pet delivery because travel was extremely limited at this time. There was a lot to take away from this stop as there is always more than one way to arrive at a goal, one just needs to keep an open mind.

A few of the camels we met.