Welcome back to Getting the Upper Land, where senior journalist Denis Howard and livestock editor Rebecca Nadge give a rundown of some of the stories featured in the paper. Making news this week:
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Promoting soil health, not destroying it is a major goal for a young couple at Stubbo, who purchased their property just over 12 months ago to begin their own Simmental stud. Kain Rafferty and Alana Wade are currently supplementary feeding their herd because the property is only holding summer grass with little to no nutritional value. Before they can get adequate pasture to grow, Mr Rafferty said their strongly acidic soil needs some serious work.
![Soil health, bewilderment at prime sales, dry season plans and an unconventional ag entry Soil health, bewilderment at prime sales, dry season plans and an unconventional ag entry](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/213266301/74bc4ad2-abf8-4937-9f50-a10448f0fedf.png/r0_0_3600_2024_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
There were feelings of bewilderment following the lack of interest and significant price reductions across most types of cattle at Monday's prime sale at Wagga Wagga. The yarding was down 1200 on the previous sale which may have been in response to the market correction last week, but there had been a bit of rain across the south which may have encouraged producers to hang onto their stock and put more weight into them.
Producers have been urged to have a plan in place in preparation for a dry season. Brett Littler, Local Land Services Mudgee, says while rain in the next few weeks could make a big difference, it's important producers plan ahead. He says there's already a lot of dry feed around and many producers are guilty of supplementing several weeks too late.
An unconventional entry into agriculture has proved no barrier for Elders stud stock agent Ryan Bajada, who looks back on his upbringing in Malta and how it contributed to his career. The 24 year old already has an impressive resume - including selling the record-breaking bull at this year's Shorthorn nationals - and will now be based out of Wagga Wagga.
The scale of the issues in regional health are beyond the scope of any one government to solve, say advocates, and the nation's Premiers and health ministers have backed calls to make regional health a key priority at an upcoming National Cabinet. Dozens of rural organisations are pushing for the strategy, which would place all regional health policies under one umbrella.
![Soil health, bewilderment at prime sales, dry season plans and an unconventional ag entry Soil health, bewilderment at prime sales, dry season plans and an unconventional ag entry](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/JJAXMCtTuAnFPeUKCfF8jc/d2fde73f-661d-48af-9e82-200c60d5d8d4.png/r1_0_3599_2024_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)