Day 069 - 19 Dec 94 - Page 57


     
     1        of what is available worldwide, where can we purchase
     2        beef.  So we visit it in Australia to talk to the Trade
     3        Association to find out what can they do for us.  We met
     4        with research institutions to see what kind of practices
     5        are available in all of the areas from feeding to
     6        slaughtering practices, to just about everything.
     7
     8   Q.   When was that?
     9        A.  That was September last year.
    10
    11   Q.   The feed lots that you visited, did the cattle have any
    12        shelter?
    13        A.  No.  They were testing that, the effectiveness.  The
    14        feed lot that we visited, they were testing that, so it had
    15        some cover.  They had done some previous research.  They
    16        had found that under the Australia conditions they did not
    17        have an effect on the animals, and they were testing other
    18        methods of providing cover to the animals.
    19
    20   Q.   Aside from where they were doing the tests, the cattle that
    21        formed the majority of the feed lots, were they just in
    22        open pens?
    23        A.  Yes, they were.
    24
    25   Q.   And the food troughs are on the outside of those pens, are
    26        they not?
    27        A.  Yes, they are.
    28
    29   Q.   So the animals have to put their heads through the fences
    30        to get the food?
    31        A.  That is correct.
    32
    33   Q.   The fences are just like bars?
    34        A.  They are pipes.
    35
    36   Q.   Maybe one or two pipes, kind of thing?
    37        A.  That is correct.
    38
    39   Q.   So they would not provide any shelter from the wind, or
    40        anything like that?
    41        A.  No.
    42
    43   Q.   The place that you visited near to Tawoomba, do you know
    44        what capacity that had?
    45        A.  No, I do not.  I could not tell you the capacity.
    46
    47   Q.   Do you know whether a figure of 80,000 cattle a year,
    48        processing 80,000 cattle a year, would be reasonable?
    49        A.  Yes, it could.
    50 
    51   Q.   Do you know what size the pens were and how many cattle 
    52        they had? 
    53        A.  They have pens of different sizes and the stocking
    54        capacity varies.
    55
    56   Q.   Would 80 metres by 30 metres housing 300 cattle sound about
    57        right?
    58        A.  I would have to make the calculations.  Normally, they
    59        would base it on the stocking density which could be the --
    60        normally you go around half a metre per cattle -- a square

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