Goldfields Esperance Rural and Resources Report
Friday, November 21, 2008
Latest Report
Esperance farmer charged
The RSPCA received a complaint from a member of the public back in June this year, about sheep and cattle in poor condition on a farm in the Esperance region.
When RSPCA inspectors went to the property they allegedly found hundreds of stock dead, and dozens more that needed to be euthanised.
Five months on, and Richard Barry from the RSPCA says the farmer was yesterday charged with not providing proper food for the animals.
The RSPCA will also appeal to the judge to not let the farmer own sheep or cattle in the future.
Mr Barry says 50 percent of cases the RSPCA brings before a judge have this request as part of retribution.
He says no-one polices the request if it is granted, but if a person re-offends in the same manner after being banned from owning livestock, the penalties are much more severe.
No Truck no sheep
No truck, no sheep - that's the rule put in place by the Bahrain Livestock Company during the Eid Al Adha festival this week.
The Feast of Sacrifice is a religious festival celebrated by Muslims and Druze worldwide.
As part of the rituals, thousands of people arrive at the Bahrain feedlot in the Middle East looking for a sheep to sacrifice.
Mary Goode spoke to Peter Dundon, Meat and Livestock Australia's manager of livestock services in the Middle East, about the efforts to change welfare practices in the region.
Wool market up for second week in a row
For the second week in a row after a four month downturn, the wool market was up.
The western market indicator was up 8c to 754c/kg/clean, with 19 micron lines up 20 cents to 1040.
7950 bales were on offer in Fremantle, with 20 per cent passed in and eight per cent withdrawn prior to the one day sale.
Mike Parsons for Elders says China was a very strong buyer, and the quality of wool being sold on the market (spring shorn) is of very high quality.
Next week 10,300 bales will be on offer in Fremantle, in a two day sale.
Western Australia Features
Lobsters keep their cool
Cool lobsters are happy lobsters.
Australian Wool Innovation overhauled
Australia wool producers have voted to overhaul the board of Australian Wool Innovation. Not only does the company have a new board but a new chairman, in New South Wales fine wool breeder Wal Merriman.
To taste these strawberries you'll have to pick them yourself
The Cold Esky Challenge is about to reveal where you can find some of the freshest strawberries in the South West heading into summer.
Small herb stops development
A major real estate project in Western Australia's Ord Valley has come across a large hurdle after the discovery of a tiny rare plant.
Making a difference in Halls Creek
This year the Halls Creek District High School has been nominated for the WA Innovative School of the Year Award, and during a quick trip to the school one Friday it's obvious why they're up for nomination.
WA mining town tackles health problems
As country towns across Australia grapple with obesity, remote mining communities are finding they're also battling the bulge.
The second ever Geographe Crush...
The delicious smell of fresh seafood sizzling on the barbeque washed down with a drop of local wine was too much for the Cold Esky Challenge to resist this week.
Bees on a health-kick go missing in the Ord
A number of sunflower and melon growers in Western Australia's Ord Valley have had their yields slashed this year by an unexpected problem.
Case Study - Promoting a farmers'/growers' market
It's no secret that farmers' markets are much loved by shoppers because they're outdoors, they can talk to the people who grow what they're selling and it's a social experience.
Wheat in the Ord
It's not a crop normally associated with Northern Australia but record high prices for wheat over the past year have caught the attention of a grower in Western Australia's Ord Valley.
