1. business and industrial
2. agriculture and forestry
3. crops and seed

1
NEWSLETTER
11 February 2015
Roberts 150 Newsletter
NEWS FLASH
In This Issue
Headlines taken from the Roberts Facebook, Twitter and Blog
Newsfeed

News flash

Roberts is celebrating
150 years
farmers" (ABC)

Wool report
*** "Bruny Island in Tasmania claims the world's southern

Mecardo report
most wheat crop" (ABC)

Importance of
identifying poor
drainage on your
property

Toping up lambs at
weaning

Twitter—out and
about in the field

Clearing sale
Glenorchy

Staff profile

Feature rural property
for sale

Store contacts
*** "Tasmanian hemp industry law changes welcomed by
*** "National Variety Trial (NVT) data is now available for
growers online" (Stock and Land)
*** Farmers urged to rethink safety after quad bikes cause
15 deaths & countless injuries in 2014 (ABC Rural)
*** "Centenary of ANZAC remembered with Flanders
poppy crop maze" (ABC Rural)
Follow us on
www.robertsltd.com.au
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2015 marks a significant milestone for Roberts
2015 marks a significant milestone for Roberts, one of Australia’s iconic rural businesses
Roberts have planned a series of events to celebrate its remarkable achievement of 150 years
in the agricultural industry in Tasmania in 2015.
Allan Barr, Roberts’ General Manager, said the company has played a major role in the history of
Tasmania, and in the fortunes and lives of its clients. He said as in most areas of life, it is the people
who create the worth, the success and the vitality of a business and an industry. “Our goal and our
vision are very simple. To grow and develop the Tasmanian Agricultural Industry – our clients’ success
is our future.” Allan said the success of Roberts relies on the company being part of the bigger picture;
that is, contributing to the industry as a whole. To that end, he says, Roberts must always be looking to
‘add value’ for its clients.
“Value means different things to different people. Sometimes value is simply being reliable: the truck
turns up on time with those deliveries; there is somebody at the end of the phone that
understands your needs and wants,’’ he added. For other clients, Allan says it might be that Roberts is
identifying new wool and livestock markets, or developing ideas for promoting Tasmanian produce.
Others might look to Roberts to provide support with technical knowledge, agronomy or animal
health and nutrition.
Enterprise development is an additional area where clients may need support or guidance – traditional
sheep and woolgrowers, for example that are interested in expanding into dairying or investing in
centre pivot irrigators that will allow them to move into more sustainable and profitable cropping
practices. “When we do interact with our clients, we are working really hard at understanding what their
goals and their personal visions are, and making sure that we’re working with them on
those things and they’re taking their businesses forward,’’ Allan said.
Roberts maintains its commitment to agriculture and the wider prosperity of Tasmania. Proud of its role
in the history of the state to date, Roberts is energised by the milestone of it sesquicentenary and the
prospects for its future.
“It’s exciting times for Tassie. It really is,’’ Allan added
www.robertsltd.com.au
3
Wool App
Have you downloaded the
Roberts Wool App on your
mobile device yet?
Click here for Apple
version
Click here for Android
version
Wool Report
This week saw the largest Tasmanian offering of wool for the season in Melbourne. Roberts Limited offered 7,000
bales of mainly spinners type wool for sale on Tuesday with encouraging results.
With the superfine end of the market being quite fickle over the past 12 months or more, it was important not to
oversupply the trade with too much 16-17.5 micron fleece wool, hence the total volume on offer was less than 12
months ago.
The market held up very well on Tuesday, more than consolidating the solid rises seen last week. Lots suited to
European buyers sold at levels 20-30 cents clean above last week, while the lower spec types more suited to China
sold at levels comparable to last week.
We should of course keep the price levels in perspective, particularly on the finer end, but these types have
appreciated by anywhere between 100 to 150 cents over the last month, however we still need to see a further 200300 cent rise before we get back to a level where we would be more comfortable.
The broader we go the better the prices are, medium microns, as well as crossbred wool continues to sell well, while
all skirting's are at very attractive levels.
It is worth mentioning the carding market on its own, which is performing extremely well. Merino lambs, crossbred
lambs, stains and the stand out, locks are red hot at the moment. To be selling merino locks at very close to 1000
cents clean is almost unheard of?
A number of buyers are telling me that cash, or lack of it, is becoming an issue, with banks tightening up on their
facilities. I guess this is not surprising when you consider this weeks Tasmanian sale alone was worth approximately
11 million dollars and then of course there is a further 20,000 bales to be offered for sale just in Melbourne over the
following two days.
Another point that is becoming more and more apparent as weeks go by is the selective nature of buyers on lots that
seem on paper to be pretty similar? Buyers are focusing very heavily on CVH (co-efficient of hauteur) mid point break
and greasy length. An example of this is two lots from last week, both 17.8 micron, the first one was sound (45+nkt) a
low mid break, 80 mm long and the other had a high mid-break and low staple strength (25 nkt), the difference in
price was over 400 cents clean.
Well done again to Allan & Carol Phillips, for this time producing 2 1PP bales, taking their tally to four over the past
few months. Both these bales were sold to Reda in Italy through New England Wool.
Don't forget next week is the Roberts 2 tooth ewe competition.
Judging starts on Wednesday and continues through until
Friday. This is a great chance to have a look at what other
people are doing and hear from 2 highly regarded judges.
www.robertsltd.com.au
Click here to read the
Roberts
wool reports
Alistair Calvert
State Wool Manager
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Graphic via Flickr
Mecardo Report - Is the Wool Market Moving
Sideways?
Wool prices in Australia have been relatively stable in recent years, at good levels for over half
of the clip. Can wool prices continue to track sideways in such a fashion?
Figure 1 shows the median merino micron category price (in A$ and US$). The median micron
category is used as it represents the middle of the clip, with half of production finer and half broader.
The fibre diameter of the merino clip has changed so much during the past 30 years that using a
micron category such as 21 or 19 micron brings in a host of issues in terms of supply and the effect on
price.
The most recent major price cycle of
2011 stands out in figure 1. At this time,
the median price in A$ terms nearly
touched 1600¢/kg clean. Following
2011, the price fell until late 2012 and
since then has ranged roughly between
1100 and 1350¢/kg clean, a 20% range
in price.
In the 30 years since the mid-1980s,
the median price movement for a
12-month period has been 18% and,
for a 36 month period, 26%. The
biggest changes have been in the order
of 100% and 150% for 1 and 3 years
respectively, but such moves in price
do not occur very often.
Click here to read the full report
www.robertsltd.com.au
5
Roberts Blog
Snippet
Identifying and exploring
drainage options for the
waterlogged areas is one
step towards maximising
the yield potential of your
paddocks, be it cropping
or grazing country.
There are many types of
surface and subsurface
drainage options that
exist. There are also
specific crops and
pasture species with a
greater tolerance to wet
areas which could help in
planning an autumn
pasture renovation or
cropping program. Soil
testing is another useful
tool in understanding the
potential of the soil in
those wetter areas. Poor
soil structure can also be
a reason why some areas
of the paddock lay wet
and don't produce as well
as the other parts of the
paddock.
Spiny Rush are often
found in saline and
waterlogged areas
Importance of Identifying Poor
Drainage on your Property
Identifying poorly drained areas on your property in summer
will help you plan paddock renovations come autumn. This
time of year it's not likely that those wet areas will be
saturated with water, but certain weed species are helpful at
indicating troublesome areas.
Docks, Sags and Yorkshire Fog are weed species that can be
easily identified this time of year in areas with poor drainage.
Other things to look for can be pugged soils that have set hard over
the summer, bare or saline areas.
Please talk to your local Roberts agronomist in Tasmania if you
have any questions about soil testing, paddock layouts and
drainage options for troublesome areas on your farm.
Celie van Engen
Sales Agronomist
Roberts Ltd
www.robertsltd.com.au
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Roberts Blog
Snippet
When to supplement
When considering trace
mineral supplementation
it is important to consider
strategic supplementation
or ‘topping-up’ via
injection for the
optimization of minerals
at the economically
critical time of weaning.
The topping-up concept is
not about correcting a
long term deficiency.
Rather, topping-up aims
to meet a short-term
demand and optimize the
trace mineral status of the
lamb at weaning. This in
turn assists in immune
function, growth and
ultimately reproduction in
replacement male and
female sheep.
Topping-Up Lambs at Weaning
MULTIMIN® is a unique concept of trace mineral supplementation
for Australian sheep producers. This multi-mineral injection is
designed to be administered strategically to ‘top-up’ essential trace
minerals – selenium, zinc and manganese – at the critical time of
lamb weaning.
Young growing stock are under increased levels of stress, even
more so after they are weaned. The lamb is undergoing a change
in diet and suffering separation stress from the ewe. As a result
feed intake at weaning can drop, thus reducing mineral intake from
pasture and other sources.
Weaners are undergoing growth where the animal’s body is
producing muscle and bone tissue. Trace minerals are integral to
this process. For optimal growth, the nutritional status of the animal
including trace elements must be adequate.
Young sheep also have an underdeveloped immune system and
are more susceptible to parasite challenge and disease. Minerals
have strong links with immune function and overall healthier
animals. This is particularly important at weaning time as it is the
immune system that is challenged and often compromised during
this stressful event.
Click here to read the full article
www.robertsltd.com.au
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ROBERTS TWITTER ~ out and about in the field
Harvesting Ranger Russet potatoes for Simplot
in Tasmania. These spuds will be chips within 8
hours!
With the warm temp's, Verasion is happen
quickly. Putting on the bird nets at Tolpuddle
Vineyard TAS. (Brenden Green)
Onion harvest at Campbell Town central
Tasmania. Who would have thought?
(Terry Horan)
Inspecting potato roots for powdery scab galls
which are reducing crop potential in Tasmania.
(Stuart Millwood)
www.robertsltd.com.au
8
ROBERTS TWITTER ~ out and about in the field
Warming up for the last day of poppy
harvesting on Flinders Island (Terry Horan)
Millet going well on Flinders Island
(Terry Horan)
Ranger Russet crop at 110 days with 30t/ac
yield potential. North East Tasmania.
(Stuart Millwood)
Checking out the Pinot Noir forum block @
AWRI Grape and Wine Roadshow Pressing
Matters Tea Tree TAS (Brenden Green)
www.robertsltd.com.au
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CLEARING SALE - GLENORCHY Wednesday 18 February 2015
11am Butchery Plant & Equipment
Click here to
Shop 2 Eady St, Glenorchy
view more photos
Account: Tassie Discount Meats
Due to closure of business - Everything MUST go!
Complete cool room 8’x 18’ x 7’6” high inc railings, 3 fan chiller (has capacity of 5 x beef bodies & 60 x
lambs, HT Barnes 3ph bandsaw, Hall 3ph mincer with 3, 5 & 10mm plates, Cryvac 3ph packer, Hall 15kg
3ph sausage filler, Brice s/ph slicer, BMSS s/ph elec tenderiser, Nuweigh s/ph & Global s/ph plastic
wrappers, Grundfoss s/ph pickle pump, Nelson s/ph bug zapper, 2 x Avery M202 electronic scales, CMI
comb safe, stainless steel wall panels, 4 x S/S work benches (2m x 1m), S/S work bench (3m x 1m), two
tier display stands (5m x 3m), ice cream freezer, EC04 security system inc cameras, moniter, recorder,
2 x Karcher pressure cleaners, 2 x Uniwell cash registers, timber counter, chillers & compressors, large
qty of tubs, floor mats, baskets, trolleys, signs, sinks & associated equipment
Enquiries: Kevin Matkovich 0417 325936
kmatkovich@robertsltd.com.au
Clearing Sale Terms
Strictly cash on day of sale unless prior arrangement has been made with Credit Department 63916564.
All intended bidders must register with PHOTO ID prior.
www.robertsltd.com.au
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www.robertsltd.com.au
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1060 Wilmot
Road, Kindred
Reduced to
$420,000
A piece of paradise on Wilmot
Road
Enjoy the peace and tranquility of this fully-fenced, 2.5 acre
block, only 20 minutes from Devonport, Ulverstone and
Sheffield.
Built in 2002, this spacious 4 bedroom home, plus study, has many
timber features including cathedral ceilings, polished timber floors
and a unique staircase of Huon Pine, Celery Top Pine and
Blackheart Sassafras. Four of the bedrooms have double glazing.
The large timber kitchen is well- appointed with ample bench
space, dishwasher and gas cooking.
Watch the sunrise and set over the Forth River valley from the
master bedroom/parents retreat, which also features an
en-suite, walk in wardrobe and French windows leading to a rear
balcony, overlooking landscaped gardens, complete with a lily pond
and fountain.
The garden has been designed for outdoor living with a paved
courtyard & seating around a fire pit/brazier. There is also a level
lawn for games of cricket or croquet. Colourful garden beds attract
many native birds, while a 1/2 acre chook run (with chooks), means
a constant supply of free range eggs. The well laid out herb and
vegie gardens provide fresh food throughout the year.
Inside, the house is heated by a large wood heater and/or 2
reverse cycle heat pumps (one downstairs, one upstairs). It has full
broadband access to receive all TV channels and a school bus stop
is just across the road.
There is ample parking for 2-3 cars in the carport, plus extra space
in the fully-lined garage/workshop. A must see!
Contact ~ Isabelle Guilbert Phone: 0417 118 816 Email: isabelleguilbert@robertsre.com.au
www.robertsltd.com.au