Our Art work: Theme: ‘to sustainably feed and clothe our population through the beef industry’
As your eyes are drawn towards the strong red tones of our cows head we are signifying the importance of world sustainability. The importance of our community to come together as one to maintain a healthy but productive ecosystem which will support the increasing demands of an increasing population. The green arrow directs you towards the foundation upon which this is made possible through our rich organic soil, innovative farming practices, wise land management practices, biodiversity, the National Livestock Identification Scheme and the production of a green clean future.
As you make your way through the body of our cow we are representing the local area catchment on one side and the innovative farming practices taking place from the North through to the South growing regions of Australia. The Shoalhaven catchment is a series of small streams feeding into the Shoalhaven River which helps support Agriculture in each of the townships along this river. The coastline is featured as a big part of our local area, The Sydney Rock Oyster industry is one enterprise within this estuary. In parts the river is being rehabilitated to replace mangroves that have been eaten by dairy cows along the banks. These areas have been fenced off and the mangroves are now sites for nurseries of commercial fish species.
The black and white cattle grazing on the lush green pastures in the paddocks below the Shoalhaven River are Holstein-Freisian Cattle. These cattle help to provide us with milk to drink every day. The smaller brown cow on the neck is an Illawarra Shorthorn also a prominent Dairy breed on the south coast of NSW. This particular cow has also won Reserve Champion at the Royal Sydney Show in the inter-breed competition.
Moving your attention to the other side of our cow: The weather vane at the top signifies the vastness of our enterprise from cattle production stations in the North running large herds of Bos indicus cattle on low stocking rates. This breed of cattle are an integral part of our export beef market you can see the Brahman painted in grey. Moving us into Cattle produced in Southern regions on much higher stocking rates. The prominent breeds here are Bos Taurus including the Hereford and Angus featured on our artwork. Bos Taurus breeds are better known for their marbling characteristics than Bos Indicius breeds. However through innovative breeding programs we are seeing the benefits of cross breeding for consumer and market demands. Larger frame cattle with good marbling, market fat and muscle scores and great meat colour. Intensification of our enterprise has been really improving over the years as we are discovering ways of producing more beef with fewer resources. Efficiency gains are also frequently being talked about as farmers are feeding more people than ever, with less cattle on smaller properties.
There are also some cattle feeding from a trough to represent the sustainable business of Feedlots. Feedlots are efficient ways to raise cattle as their diet is controlled to give the best nutrition to the cattle without unnecessary waste. Feedlots will enable us to make enough food to feed our increasing population. Remember the average Australian consumes around 33kgs of beef a year and we need to be able to produce enough food over the next 20-30 years than we have consumed since human history.
There are also some cattle feeding from a trough to represent the sustainable business of Feedlots. Feedlots are efficient ways to raise cattle as their diet is controlled to give the best nutrition to the cattle without unnecessary waste. Feedlots will enable us to make enough food to feed our increasing population. Remember the average Australian consumes around 33kgs of beef a year and we need to be able to produce enough food over the next 20-30 years than we have consumed since human history.
The hind of our beast represents the importance of the Meats Standards Australian logo. This symbol signifies quality beef products produced in Australia by Australian farmers. The standards are for tenderness, juiciness and flavour. We learnt a lot about this from our Young Farming Champion Stephanie Fowler. One of the major aims of industry talks is about producing red meat with fewer resources. We have also represented the meat cuts from a beast looking at the concept; 'paddock to plate', including the farmer, the butcher, and the distributor.
All of the legs represent the bedrock that weathers to form the soil with this being the foundation that holds Agriculture up, just as the legs of the cow hold her up. We have represented a windmill drawing water from an aquifer on one leg and a natural waterway with biodiversity and native wildlife on the other which draws in the importance of water, the water table and surface water and their connection to the soil. We have shown the importance of soil for roots to develop in and included lots of worms and soil mico-organisms which produce fertile soils.
As you follow the red tail down you are welcomed by a calf birthing and realising the importance of reproduction through selective breeding programs, cross breeding and Artificial Insemination. All necessary innovations to feed our population.
Lastly we would like to talk about the animals along the top of our cow. We wanted to show people how much of each produce or commodity it took to feed the local population of 98 076, per day in the Shoalhaven area. For us this has been the most frequently asked question: What do the numbers on the animals on the top of the cow represent?
We hope Bill our Farmer and his cow 'Sweetie Meaty Pie' can visually stimulate people into talking about sustainable farming methods and innovative ideas such as selective breeding programs, ideas for intensively farming arid areas, adopting zero grazing practices, efficient water management, reducing greenhouse emissions through less use of synthetic fertilisers and controlling feral animals and weeds. Maybe Bill and Sweetie Meaty Pie will prevent someone from suffering hunger in the years to come.
Thankyou from Shoalhaven High School Students and Teachers
All of the legs represent the bedrock that weathers to form the soil with this being the foundation that holds Agriculture up, just as the legs of the cow hold her up. We have represented a windmill drawing water from an aquifer on one leg and a natural waterway with biodiversity and native wildlife on the other which draws in the importance of water, the water table and surface water and their connection to the soil. We have shown the importance of soil for roots to develop in and included lots of worms and soil mico-organisms which produce fertile soils.
As you follow the red tail down you are welcomed by a calf birthing and realising the importance of reproduction through selective breeding programs, cross breeding and Artificial Insemination. All necessary innovations to feed our population.
Lastly we would like to talk about the animals along the top of our cow. We wanted to show people how much of each produce or commodity it took to feed the local population of 98 076, per day in the Shoalhaven area. For us this has been the most frequently asked question: What do the numbers on the animals on the top of the cow represent?
We hope Bill our Farmer and his cow 'Sweetie Meaty Pie' can visually stimulate people into talking about sustainable farming methods and innovative ideas such as selective breeding programs, ideas for intensively farming arid areas, adopting zero grazing practices, efficient water management, reducing greenhouse emissions through less use of synthetic fertilisers and controlling feral animals and weeds. Maybe Bill and Sweetie Meaty Pie will prevent someone from suffering hunger in the years to come.
Thankyou from Shoalhaven High School Students and Teachers
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