Under two weeks left to vote for the Virbac Multimin Performance Ready Challenge winner
Announcement posted by Virbac Australia Pty Ltd 23 Apr 2019
There are just a couple of weeks to go to cast your vote before one Australian livestock producer is crowned the Multimin Performance Ready Challenger King or Queen for 2019.
Launched by animal health company Virbac Australia, the Multimin Performance Ready Challenge has been running for the past 12 months. The program’s top three challengers, Don McConnel (QLD), Renee Murfett (VIC) and Ryan Willing (WA) are all in the running to win the study trip of a lifetime tailored to their farming system, valued at more than $20,000 – and with thousands of votes already cast by the public, the voting is currently neck and neck.
Challenger Don says Multimin has already helped his heifers’ immunity and fertility during what is a very hard stage of their lives, giving them the lift in production they were looking for. “We’ve learnt some really invaluable information about our herd’s health and the benefits of Multimin if given at high demand moments pre-joining, and in conjunction with vaccines to help boost the animals’ immune system,” he says.
For Renee, the challenge has been a great opportunity to see the impact of the trace mineral injections on livestock health and performance. “The trial confirmed the critical roles that trace minerals play in immunity and animal health and shows us that immunity can be enhanced by use of Multimin. There’s no doubt that optimisation of trace minerals at high demand time points can provide improved animal health and productivity,” she says.
Ryan reports that before starting using Multimin “my yearlings used to look brown and shaggy by the end of winter – but they were keeping their shiny black coats, which is the first sign of good health. Treatment with Multimin four weeks from joining lifted the average conception rate from 85% to 92% over a 9-week joining period. I also saw weight gains in my steers by using a combination of Multimin and Cydectin Long Acting Injection, with results showing a 1 kg/day average from weaning to spring sale,” says Ryan.
For all three challengers, the opportunity to learn from the overseas study tour prize awarded to the overall winner will be instrumental in helping them to improve productivity. "As young farmers, an overseas study tour would be incredibly beneficial for learning and implementing new practices, ensuring our farm’s growth and sustainability into the future," says Ryan. Renee agrees, saying that it would be “life-changing to see overseas dairy farming practices, and the opportunity would bring fresh inspiration and ideas to help improve our business.” Meanwhile, for Don the prize would be “an ideal opportunity to learn about new technologies and techniques in practice, and see how we could bring that home to help us lift production and efficiency.”
Data collected from the challenge will also assist Virbac with future research projects aiming to improve product efficacy. As Virbac Australia’s Livestock Nutrition Marketing Manager Jerry Liu explains, “nutritional science is dynamic and always evolving – and as the market leader, it’s important for us to capture data through trials with real beef, dairy and sheep producers, so we can continue to pioneer new research that benefits our local producers.”
There’s still time to vote for your favourite challenger and send them on an overseas study tour. Voting closes at midnight on May 5, so cast your vote for the Multimin King or Queen of 2019 now at www.multiminchallenge.com
Ends
Media Enquiries:
Kate Munsie - C7EVEN COMMUNICATIONS
(02) 6766 4513
kate.munsie@c7even.com.au
Photo captions:
Launched by animal health company Virbac Australia, the Multimin Performance Ready Challenge has been running for the past 12 months. The program’s top three challengers, Don McConnel (QLD), Renee Murfett (VIC) and Ryan Willing (WA) are all in the running to win the study trip of a lifetime tailored to their farming system, valued at more than $20,000 – and with thousands of votes already cast by the public, the voting is currently neck and neck.
Challenger Don says Multimin has already helped his heifers’ immunity and fertility during what is a very hard stage of their lives, giving them the lift in production they were looking for. “We’ve learnt some really invaluable information about our herd’s health and the benefits of Multimin if given at high demand moments pre-joining, and in conjunction with vaccines to help boost the animals’ immune system,” he says.
For Renee, the challenge has been a great opportunity to see the impact of the trace mineral injections on livestock health and performance. “The trial confirmed the critical roles that trace minerals play in immunity and animal health and shows us that immunity can be enhanced by use of Multimin. There’s no doubt that optimisation of trace minerals at high demand time points can provide improved animal health and productivity,” she says.
Ryan reports that before starting using Multimin “my yearlings used to look brown and shaggy by the end of winter – but they were keeping their shiny black coats, which is the first sign of good health. Treatment with Multimin four weeks from joining lifted the average conception rate from 85% to 92% over a 9-week joining period. I also saw weight gains in my steers by using a combination of Multimin and Cydectin Long Acting Injection, with results showing a 1 kg/day average from weaning to spring sale,” says Ryan.
For all three challengers, the opportunity to learn from the overseas study tour prize awarded to the overall winner will be instrumental in helping them to improve productivity. "As young farmers, an overseas study tour would be incredibly beneficial for learning and implementing new practices, ensuring our farm’s growth and sustainability into the future," says Ryan. Renee agrees, saying that it would be “life-changing to see overseas dairy farming practices, and the opportunity would bring fresh inspiration and ideas to help improve our business.” Meanwhile, for Don the prize would be “an ideal opportunity to learn about new technologies and techniques in practice, and see how we could bring that home to help us lift production and efficiency.”
Data collected from the challenge will also assist Virbac with future research projects aiming to improve product efficacy. As Virbac Australia’s Livestock Nutrition Marketing Manager Jerry Liu explains, “nutritional science is dynamic and always evolving – and as the market leader, it’s important for us to capture data through trials with real beef, dairy and sheep producers, so we can continue to pioneer new research that benefits our local producers.”
There’s still time to vote for your favourite challenger and send them on an overseas study tour. Voting closes at midnight on May 5, so cast your vote for the Multimin King or Queen of 2019 now at www.multiminchallenge.com
Ends
Media Enquiries:
Kate Munsie - C7EVEN COMMUNICATIONS
(02) 6766 4513
kate.munsie@c7even.com.au
Photo captions:
- VIC Multimin Performance Ready Challenger Renee Murfett
- WA Multimin Performance Ready Challenger Ryan Willing with Mentor Dr Enoch Bergman
- QLD Multimin Performance Ready Challenger Don McConnel