One extreme to another...

We started off be going to Trigger Vale sheep ranch. There we learned that he raised around 2,500 sheep, White face suffolk ana merinos. He showed us how the merinos had better fleece than the Suffolk's and we also felt how much softer that the Suffolk's were than the Marino's. We also learned that the Trigger Vale sheep ranch uses embryo transfer work and AI methods. They will AI about 200 lambs and will natural breed the rest. He said that he tries to breed for structure, muscle, and fat within the ewes. From there we went to a very interesting farm, an Emu farm! At this farm we learned that emu oil is worth $25 per kilo! In the pen that we lookednatbthere were about 100 emus in there and he said that he had around 200-300 emus on the farm! He harvesters about 10 kilos of fat from each emu and that is the major source of income from them. He also told us that he uses the feathers to make army plumes. To me I thought this was pretty neat to help support the army! After feeding the emus bread, that they didn't want, we had a BBQ, and let me tell you that thenAustralian's know how to have a BBQ! From the emu farm we went to a shorthorn ranch, where they had they had around 500. Sprys raised a bull that won the Sydney Royal. I was very impressed the by the quality of the cattle that they had! They then fed us dinner (a good ole steak) and then conversed with us for awhile.Today was a good day, we went from one species to another and with a little exotic birds in between! Catch ya later....Schaake