[Title page and biographies of] George Alexander, Charles Hoani Scott Dolling, Ian Lind Johnstone, Dennis John Minson and William Henry Southcott

Abstract

Animal Production in Australia PROCEEDINGS OF THE AUSTRALIAN SOCIETY OF ANIMAL PRODUCTION VOLUME 16 SIXTEENTH BIENNIAL CONFERENCE CANBERRA, AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY, FEBRUARY, 1986 PERGAMON PRESS SYDNEY l OXFORD l NEW YORK l TORONTO l ~RANKFUR-I- Pergamon Press (Australia) Pty Ltd, 19a Boundary Street, Rushcutters Bay, N.S.W. 2011, Australia. Pergamon Press Ltd, Headington Hill Hall, Oxford OX3 OBW, England. Pergamon Press Inc., Maxwell House, Fairview Park, Elmsford, N.Y. 10523, U.S.A. Pergamon Press Canada Ltd, Suite 104, 150 Consumers Road, Willowdale, Ontario M2J lP9, Canada. Pergamon Press GmbH, 6242 Kronberg-Taunus, Hammerweg 6, Postfach 1305, Federal Republic of Germany. Copyright @ 1986 Australian Society of Animal Production Preliminary pages typeset by Rochester Photosetting Service, Sydney. Printed in Australia by Macarthur Press Pty Ltd, Parramatta. ISSN 0728-5965 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without permission in writing from Pergamon Press (Australia) Pty Ltd. OFFICE BEARERS 1984/1986 President President-Elect Vice-President Honorary Secretary Honorary Treasurer Editor of the Proceedings of the Sixteenth Biennial Conference Editorial Committee Dr Dr Dr Mr Mr Mr Dr Dr Dr Dr Dr Dr Mr Dr W.J. Pryor G.E. Robards K.A. Ferguson A. Axelsen J.L. Mort (until 18 July 1984) D. Rennell H. Dove H. Dove (Convenor) J.B. Coombe J.R. Donnelly M. Freer J. Shelton O.B. Williams M. Freer Programme Committee Convenor PAST PRESIDENTS OF THE SOCIETY M.C. Franklin* D.S. Wishart T.K. Ewer H.J. Lee Helen Newton Turner R.H. Watson N.T.M. Yeates G.I. Alexander F.H.W. Morley I.W. McDonald C.H.S. Dolling N.M. Tulloh J.H. Shepherd D. J. Minson J.L. Corbett *Deceased 1954-55 1956-57 1958-60 1960-62 1962-64 1964-66 1966-68 1968-70 1970-72 1972-74 1974-76 1976-78 1978-80 1980-82 1982-84 Armidale Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Sydney Melbourne Armidale Brisbane Canberra Sydney Adelaide Melbourne Perth Brisbane Armidale iv HONORARY MEMBERS OF THE SOCIETY Honorary members shall be members who, in the opinion of the Council of the Society, have made outstanding and continued contributions to the welfare and purpose of a Branch or of the Society as a whole. Joseph Phillip Kahler, elected February 11, 1976* Clarence James Daley, elected August 20, 1980 Ian Neville Southey, elected May 12, 1982 John Murray George, elected February 10, 1986 Andley George Ward, elected February 10, 1986 *Deceased HONORARY MEMBERSHIP OF THE AUSTRALIAN SOCIETY OF ANIMAL PRODUCTION JOHN MURRAY GEORGE John George graduated in Agricultural Science from the University of Sydney and obtained a Masterate of Rural Science from the University of New England. He joined CSIRO at Armidale in 1954 and in most of his professional career was concerned mainly with the reproductive behaviour of animals, ewe fertility and neonatal losses of lambs. He is author or co-author of about 40 scientific publications. From 1976 to 1983, he was also the Industry Liaison Officer for the reproduction research programme of the CSIRO Division of Animal Production. John George was a foundation member of the New England Branch, which hosted the Society' first s Biennial Conference at Armidale in 1956. He served as Branch Treasurer for several years, as a Committee member for many years and as Branch President in 1983. He was a member of Council for the Seventh Biennial Conference in 1968 and was Federal Treasurer during the period 1982-84 which culminated in the Fifteenth Biennial Conference. He was also foundation Secretary and served two terms as President of the Northern NSW sub-branch of the Australian Institute of Agricultural Science. For these services to the Australian Society of Animal Production and the New England Branch in particular, he is elected an Honorary Member of the Society. ANDLEY GEORGE WARD George Ward is a grazier near Guyra on the Northern Tablelands of New South Wales. A long-standing member of the New England Branch, he has been on the Branch Committee many times and was Branch President in 1984. He has been an active participant in several Biennial Conferences, especially as a Member of Federal Council in 1982-84. In particular, he was instrumental in resolving the difficult problem of negotiating Public Liability Insurance to cover Federal and Branch meetings of the Society. As a result of his efforts, such insurance cover is now established. George Ward exemplifies the practical animal producer who actively promotes the objectives of the Society, and not only at formal meetings. The interchange of ideas has continued at his property with those, including a number from overseas, who have enjoyed his hospitality. He has also been a valuable collaborator in field trials with CSIRO and the University of New England. For his many services to the Australian Society of Animal Production, he is elected an Honorary Member of the Society. FELLOWS OF THE SOCIETY Fellows shall be members who, in the opinion of the Council of the Society, have rendered eminent service to animal production in general or within Australia in particular. Charles Euston Young, elected January 25, 1956* Mervin Clarence Franklin, elected February 19, 1962* Hedley Ralph Marston, elected February 19, 1962* Phillip Gurner Schinckel, elected posthumously August 11, 1964* Helen Newton Turner, elected February 23, 1966 Keith Valentine Leighton Kesteven, elected February 21, 1968* Archibald James Vasey, elected February 21, 1968* Rodger Henry Watson, elected February 21, 1968 Eric John Underwood, elected August 17, 1970* David Sutcliffe Wishart, elected August 17, 1970 Hector John Lee, elected February 17, 1972 George Russell Moule, elected February 17, 1972* Frederick Harold William Morley, elected February 20, 1974 Alan Charles Hassall, elected February 11, 1976 Lancelot Hamilton Lines, elected February 11, 1976 Ian Wilbur McDonald, elected February 11, 1976 Patrick Reginald McMahon, elected February 11, 1976* Albert Henry Bishop, elected February 22, 1978 Victor Gordon Cole, elected February 22, 1978 Leslie Alfred Downey, elected February 22, 1978 Reginald John Moir, elected February 22, 1978 Robert Love11 Reid, elected February 22, 1978 Wallace Carl Skelsey, elected February 22, 1978 Percival James Skerman, elected February 22, 1978 Dudley Martin Smith, elected February 22, 1978 Neil Tolmie McRae Yeates, elected February 22, 1978 Graham Ian Alexander, elected August 20, 1980 Gordon Lee McClymont, elected August 20, 1980 Terence James Robinson, elected August 20, 1980 Derek Edward Tribe, elected August 20, 1980 Sydney John Miller, elected May 12, 1982 Norman McCall Tulloh, elected May 12, 1982 Henry Greig Turner, elected May 12, 1982 William Maxwell Willoughby, elected May 12, 1982 William George Allden, elected February 15, 1984 Robert Henry Hayman, elected February 15, 1984 James Irwin Faithful1 Maple-Brown, elected February 15, 1984 Jim Harcourt Shepherd, elected February 15, 1984 George Alexander, elected February 10, 1986 Charles Hoani Scott Dolling, elected February 10, 1986 Ian Lind Johnstone, elected February 10, 1986 Dennis John Minson, elected February 10, 1986 William Henry Southcott, elected February 10, 1986 *Deceased FELLOWSHIP OF THE AUSTRALIAN SOCIETY OF ANIMAL PRODUCTION GEORGEALEXANDER George Alexander graduated with first class honours in agriculture from the University of Melbourne in 1947 and in that year joined CSIRO, then CSIR, to work on reproductive wastage in sheep. During his 39 years with the Organization he has achieved an international reputation of the highest distinction in the area of perinatal lamb mortality. His first appointment was as a temporary Assistant Research Officer in the Division of Animal Health and Production, where he worked with R.H. Watson to develop a biological assay for oestrogenic activity of subterranean clover. This work gained him the degree of M.Agr.Sc. (Melb.) in 1952. In 1949 he was awarded a CSIRO studentship which enabled him to further his work on foetal physiology, first during 1950 at the University of Sydney with C.W. Emmens, and then in 1951-1952 at Yale University in the U.S.A. with D.H. Barron. He then returned to Australia and commenced work on lamb losses with Watson at Parkville. In 1954 George moved from Parkville to the Sheep Biology Laboratory at Prospect (later the Ian Clunies Ross Animal Research Laboratory). Here he developed a battery of techniques for investigating neonatal physiology and metabolism, and mother-young behaviour in sheep and he is still an active researcher at Prospect. He pays special tribute to the influence of R.L. Reid and I.W. McDonald during his early years at Prospect. George' 140 papers, most of which concentrate on the thermal physiology and behaviour of the news born lamb, have given a firm scientific foundation to our understanding of this most important source of reproductive wastage in the national flock. George became the first agricultural science graduate of the University of Melbourne to be awarded the degree of Doctor of Agricultural Science (Melb.). This was conferred in 1964. He has been frequently invited to international symposia, some medically orientated, on topics such as prenatal physiology, the physiology of the new born, animal behaviour, and lamb losses. Despite the basic nature of much of his research, he has always tried to maintain a continuum of field work, initially in Western Victoria with Watson and then largely at the CSIRO Pastoral Research Station at Armidale. The principles of lamb survival that he has established have already been put into practical use. For example, 'the graziers' alert', now a feature of weather forecasts, is based on his research. His contributions to agricultural science were recognised by the Australian Institute of Agricultural Science, when he was awarded the Institute' Medal in 1974. s George Alexander joined the then newly formed Society of Animal Production soon after returning . to Australia in 1952. He was New South Wales Branch President in 1968. In 1964, he was the Federal Editor and managed to play a creative role in implementing Council's insistence upon the highest standards of presentation in the papers submitted, use referees widely and also make a substantial editorial input. In 1973, with O.B. Williams, he co-edited a substantial multi-author book The Pastoral Industries of Australia. This book was presented to delegates at the Third International Congress in Animal Production in Melbourne, and has since become a widely used text. For his outstanding contributions in the field of reproductive wastage in sheep and for his contributions to the Society, the Australian Society of Animal Production is pleased to enrol him as a Fellow of the Society. vii CHARLES HOANI SCOTT DOLLING Scott Dolling joined the staff of CSIRO's National Field Station, `Gilruth Plains', Cunnamulla as Research Scientist. in 195 1 immediately after graduating in agricultural science from Adelaide University. From 1953-1967 he was Officer-in-Charge of the Station, working on the wool selection experiments as well as his own investigations relating to characteristics under single gene control (horns and wool pigment). For the work on horns he was awarded an M.Agr.Sc. from Adelaide University, and also became Honorary Adviser to the Poll Dorset Association, for whom he published a pamphlet on poll dorset breeding. His interest in the inheritance of pigment led later to the organization of an international conference in Adelaide on breeding coloured sheep, which involved breeders as well as research workers. Both these activities illustrate his perpetual interest in seeing the results of research carried into practice. He took an active interest in leading the Cunnamulla Show Society towards measured performance, and was instrumental in establishing a prize for the fleece of greatest commercial value. Scott' contribution to meticulous techniques of data recording at ` s Gilruth Plains' was outstanding, and paved the way for his current work as Convener of the Sheep Performance Recording Coordinating Committee, appointed by the Animal Production Committee to develop recording systems for breeders of both wool and meat sheep which will be acceptable throughout Australia. In 1967 CSIRO closed ` Gilruth Plains' and since 1968 Scott has been Principal Livestock Research Officer with the South Australian Department of Agriculture (and Fisheries), directing research on sheep and wool. Throughout his career, Scott' interests have been wide. He has always been keen to help students s from developing countries, and has served with the United Nations Development Programme in India as well as with the Australian Development Assistance Bureau in China. His publications include a text, Breeding Merinos (1970), as well as many research and extension papers. He has served the Australian Society of Animal Production in many capacities, including State and Federal President. For his outstanding contributions to animal production, the Australian Society of Animal Production is pleased to enrol him as a Fellow of the Society. VIII ... IAN LIND JOHNSTONE Ian Johnstone B.V.Sc., Ph.D., M.A.C.V.Sc. was born in Queensland in 1914 but spent most of his preuniversity life in the New England district. He joined the New Zealand Department of Agriculture in 1937, spending two years as a general veterinarian. Assigned to research into facial eczema, he set up a series of meteorological stations in the Waikato, and these provided basic data for the later definition of the problem. In late 1939 he returned to Australia and spent the next 15 years with CSIR (now CSIRO). He was stationed at the McMaster Laboratory, ` Gilruth Plains' Cunnamulla and then at Armidale, and worked , on external and internal parasite problems. In 1940 Ian Johnstone and Norman Graham were responsible for the development of the Modified Mules Operation, and he travelled through Queensland training technicians and graziers in this new technique. He also worked on sheath rot, a disease of wethers, establishing that the disease could be cured by changing the pH of urine by restricted food intake. Transferred to Armidale in 1945, he became Officer-in-Charge of the CSIR Parasitology Unit at University College at the University of New England. The unit was involved in the field testing of the anthelmintic phenothiazine and in parasite epidemiology and from this work, originated by Dr Hugh Gordon, arose an appreciation of the need for a fully controlled area for parasitology studies. Ian Johnstone was personally responsible for the selection and purchase of CSIR field station ` Chiswick' and became first Officer-in-Charge of the Regional Pastoral Laboratory. In conjunction with Richard Roe of Plant Industry, the concept of soil, plant and animal relationships was developed as the basis of the experimental programme. During 1951-52 he was Australian Scientific Liaison Officer in London. Between 1954 and 1961 Ian Johnstone operated as a private pastoral consultant being one of the first in this field with commitments as far afield as New Caledonia. In 1962 he was appointed Associate Professor in the School of Wool and Pastoral Sciences at the University of New South Wales, lecturing in parasitology, preventive medicine and farm management. As Director of Field Stations, he was concerned with the acquisition of the Wellington Field Station and the attachment of the property ` Fowlers Gap' to the University and was responsible for the development of these two properties. By invitation he became Acting Director of the University of New South Wales' University College of Broken Hill. In 1968 he spent a sabbatical year in Patagonia surveying sheep parasites and their control in that environment. After retirement from the University of New South Wales in 1972, seven years were spent as Director of Applied Research with Merck Sharp and Dohme. Parasite research centres were established at Armidale and at Hamilton (Victoria) and he undertook lecture visits and consultations in Peru, Brazil, Romania and China. He has also been an external lecturer in Parasitology at the University of New England, served on the Wool Production Research Advisory Committee of the Australian Wool Corporation and spent two eight-week terms as a consultant in parasitology in China. Ian Johnstone was involved in the foundation of the New England Branch of the Australian Society of Animal Production and was foundation President for three years and later President of the New South Wales Branch of the Society. He has over forty scientific publications. For his contributions to the livestock industry, the Australian Society of Animal Production is pleased to enrol him as a Fellow of the Society. DENNIS JOHN MINSON Dennis John Minson, Ph.D., D.Sc., F.R.S.C., F.I.Biol., was born on a farm in Sussex, England. He was awarded the Robert John Brook Gill Scholarship by Reading University where he graduated with an honours degree in agricultural chemistry in 1953. In 1958 he was awarded a Ph.D. for studies on the measurement of pasture intake. His major area of research has been the nutritive value of temperate and tropical pastures. From 1953-1960 he worked at the Grassland Research Institute, Hurley. In 1960 he was awarded an NRC Postdoctoral Fellowship to work at the Animal Research Institute in Ottawa, Canada. The following two years were spent at the Ruakura Animal Research Station in New Zealand. In 1963 Dennis joined the CSIRO Division of Tropical Pastures at the Cooper Laboratory, Lawes where he commenced his work on the factors limiting the nutritive value of pastures and on methods of improving their quality. He became leader of the Animal Nutrition Programme in 1967, a position he still holds. When he moved to the Cunningham Laboratory in 1969, the programme was expanded to include studies in milk production, intake under grazing conditions and co-operative developments with plant breeders. His work has led to major advances in our knowledge of the environmental, chemical, genetic, and physiological factors which limit the digestibility and intake by ruminants of grasses and legumes. Dennis has also made major contributions in the development of techniques and rationing systems. This work has already had an important impact on both plant breeding and pasture management. Published in over 150 papers and reviews, his work has been recognized by the award of a D.Sc. by Reading University in 1977 and by the award of the Medal of the Australian Institute of Agricultural Science in 1979. Dennis was a Visiting Professor at Kyushu University, Japan in 1979 and Chairman of the Organising Committee for the International Symposium on Nutritional Limits to Animal Production from Pastures in 1981. He is currently Vice-Chairman for the Second International Symposium on Herbivore Nutrition to be held in 1987. Dennis has played a prominent role in the Australian Society of Animal Production at the state, federal and international level. For twenty years he has been an enthusiastic member of the Queensland Branch Committee and was Branch President 1970-l 97 1. Dennis was a member of Federal Council from 1968-1970 and from 1978-1984, and was Federal President from 1980-1982. He was a member of the committee which established the Asian-Australasian Association of Animal Production Societies in 1968 and has taken an active part in the Association' subsequent development. s He has also been an active member of many other societies including the Australian Institute of Agricultural Science, the Institute of Biology in Australia and the Nutrition Society of Australia. Dennis is the current President of the Tropical Grasslands Society. For his contribution to animal production and for his service to the Society, the Australian Society of Animal Production is pleased to enrol him as a Fellow of the Society. X WILLIAM HENRY SOUTHCOTT William Henry Southcott gained the degree of Bachelor of Veterinary Science from the University of Sydney in 1941, and in 1972 he was awarded the Degree of Doctor of Veterinary Science for the published work Studies on Posthitis and Vulvitis of Sheep. The originality and importance of this work had previously been recognised by the award of the Payne Exhibition by the University of Melbourne in 1966. After graduation he spent five years in Tasmania as a veterinary officer with the Department of Agriculture performing general disease investigations, quarantine duties, and was also in practice under the Nationalised Veterinary Service that had recently commenced. He then joined the firm of William Cooper and Nephews as an adviser and research veterinarian and this appointment provided valuable contact with commerce and with the problems of the cattle industry in Queensland. In 1947 he joined CSIR as a research officer. On retirement in 1982, he had completed 35 years of service as a scientist and scientific administrator in CSIR, (later known as CSIRO). During this time he was stationed at the Pastoral Research Laboratory at Armidale and worked successively in the Divisions of Animal Health and Production, Animal Physiology and Animal Health. In 1976 he was appointed Assistant Chief in the Division of Animal Health with special responsibilities in research administration at Armidale and the Division' laboratories in Queensland. In the inaugural years of the Faculty of Rural s Science at the University of New England, he organised and taught the parasitology course and he has supervised candidates for Ph.D. and Masters degrees. Throughout his professional career he worked principally on the applied animal health and production problems of the Australian grazing industry. Although his scientific study of ovine posthitis and vulvitis attracted most recognition, perhaps of greater importance was his continuing work on the epidemiology, effects on productivity, and control of the gastro-intestinal nematodes of sheep and cattle. He is the author or co-author of more than 60 scientific papers. William Henry Southcott has held office in the Australian Veterinary Association, the Australian Society for Parasitology, and the Australian Institute of Agricultural Science. He was a Foundation Member of the New England Branch of the Australian Society of Animal Production, and has been President, Secretary, and Treasurer of the Branch. During 1966-1968 he was Federal Vice President and a member of the Editorial Committee. He was also a member of Federal Council 1982-1983 and was Editor of Volume 15 of the Society' Proceedings. s For his contributions to the livestock industries in research and practice the Australian Society of Animal Production is pleased to enrol him as a Fellow of the Society. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The Australian Society of Animal Production gratefully acknowledges the support and financial contributions received from the following organisations. Australian Meat Research Committee Australian Pig Industry Research Committee Australian Wool Corporation ANZ Bank Limited Coopers Animal Health Australia Ltd Gallagher RSM Pty Ltd SmithKline Animal Health Products Trans Australia Airlines The willing assistance of authors, referees, typists and secretarial staff th roughout Australia in the preparation of these proceedings is acknowl .edged and greatly appreciated. CITATION OF PAPERS Papers in this publication should be cited as appearing in the Proceedings of the Australian Society of Animal Production (abbreviation: Proc. Aust. Soc. Anim. Prod.). It is suggested that individual contributions in Contract Reviews should be cited as follows: DAVIDSON, F.M. (1982). In: Hopkins, P.S. ` The Sheep Industry in Australia' Proc. Aust. Soc. Anim. Prod. 14: 7-22.