A flock of 32 weaner wether sheep (Border Leicester x Merino) and 32 weaner male goats (Australian cashmere) were grazed (37 animals/ha) on a common pasture of N-fertilised pangola grass from early March until June. One half of each group (16 animals) was supplemented with cobalt, and one half of each of these groups (8 animals) was dosed with approximately 500 infective helminth larvae at 2-week intervals throughout the trial. The final treatment was a drenching regime for one half (4 animals) of each of the above groups, levamisole (Nilverm) at 0, 2, 4 and 7 weeks and rafoxanide (Ranide) at 2-week intervals thereafter. There was no significant effect (P>0.05) of either cobalt supplementation or dosing with larvae on liveweight change, parasite egg concentrations in faeces or daily parasite egg excretion. Sheep gained significantly (P<0.05) more weight (50 g/day) than goats (31 g/day) in the first 7 weeks, and sheep also responded significantly (P<0.05) to drenching in this period whilst goats did not. In the second 8 week period, goats and sheep lost weight at a similar rate (-11 g/day), and both sheep and goats responded significantly (P<0.05) to drenching. The drenching program significantly (P<0.05) decreased faecal egg counts in sheep but not in goats. Undrenched sheep generally had higher concentrations of eggs in faeces than did undrenched goats, and with the exception of 1 sampling period, sheep also excreted significantly (P<0.05) more faecal eggs daily than goats. Undrenched sheep had significantly (P<0.05) lower haemoglobin concentrations in blood (82 gL) than drenched sheep (97 g/L). Undrenched goats also had lower blood haemoglobin concentrations (88 g/L) than did drenched goats (92 g/L). Cobalt supplementation did not exacerbate intestinal parasite burdens in either sheep or goats, and whilst goats did not appear to be more susceptible to intestinal parasites than sheep, the drenching strategies used for sheep were not effective in these goats.

Liveweight and carcass traits of 3-way Africander (A) x Simmental (S) x Hereford (H) crossbreds and purebred Herefords were monitored predominately on native pastures at Dirranbandi, Queensland, for 2 calf crops over 6 years. The relative breed compositions of the crossbreds were A4S2H2, A4S 1 H3 and A4H4. The mean liveweight of the A4S2H2 cattle ranked highest from about 250 days post-weaning to slaughter (520 days post-weaning) for steers, and at first joining for heifers (560 days post-weaning). Differences in liveweight were not significant at all times. The A4S2H2 and A4SlH3 steers had the highest (P<0.05) post-weaning average daily gains. Differences in weaning weight between crossbreds were carried through to slaughter for steers and to joining for heifers. The A4S2H2 steers had the highest (P<0.05) mean final liveweight (433 kg) and mean carcass weight (232 kg). There was no difference in carcass weight between the other crossbreds and Herefords. Fat depth at the P8 rump site of A4H4 crossbreds (8.5 mm) was higher (P<0.05) than that of Herefords (5.5 mm) and other crossbreds. Dressing percentages were similar for all breed types. The A4S2H2 maiden heifers had higher (P<0.05) liveweights at first joining (369 kg) than the A4S1H3 (353 kg) and A4H4 (337 kg) heifers. These data show that beef producers in southwestern Queensland can increase carcass weights with A4S2H2 crossbreds and produce carcasses that primarily meet the Korean-EC market and the requirements of domestic supermarket outlets.