NLIS the up and coming thing... I hope

NLIS  electronic tag

   One of the things that I found to be the most impressive while in Australia was the NLIS (National Livestock Identification System), or more so the lack of such a system in the United States. As I talked about in one of my previous blogs while in Aussie talked about how impressive this whole electronic documentation system is. Although there was a decent amount of resistance from farmers in the beginning, there seems to be a almost unanimous agreement now that the system is a benefit to all parties involved. The frequency emitting tags that are now mandatory for all cattle that move to a new property can be programed to transmit a broad range of information about that specific animal. This is much more effective and efficient than the traditional paperwork based system.

Tony Britt - Director of Animal Health and Welfare

   All of this considered, the question that comes to my mind is why doesn't the United States have a similar system in place? The only draw backs that I could find were the cost of the tags and equipment as well as the work it would take for a total transition to occur. The tags cost around $1.09 AU dollars a piece which would be a bit more expensive than in US dollars, and the reading wands start around $2,500- $3,000. This considered there would be a large initial cost to farmers which would not go over very well. I, however, think that over time the benefits would out weigh the costs of switching to a much more modern system. Some trucking companies in Australia have made reading tags and in turn documenting each cow being sold a part of their services with readers on their trucks.

  The director of Primary Industries for agriculture in the state of Victoria predicts that the tags will be a requirement for sheep as well with in the next year. So if Australia will soon have two species documented under a national electronic system it makes me wonder if the U.S. will soon follow suit, and I would hope that we do.

Looking back on my trip to Aussie there isn't a single thing that I would change except perhaps make it longer and change the weather on a few days, but that's just getting picky on my part. the trip as a whole was defiantly a experience of a lifetime that I am glad I was able to share with a great group of people. I was so excited to finally be in the trip it took the first day and a half for me to finally come to terms with actually being in Australia. Touring the Healsville Sanctuary was a great first taste of both the wildlife and the people but the first major impact for me was when we had dinner at La Camera. Both the menu and some of the differences in word meanings made it finally seem real that we weren't in Kansas anymore. This as well as meeting with the head of Primary Industries and learning about the impressive National Livestock Identification System in place were two of the biggest impacts and first impressions I had.

My birthday at Gilligan's

    Although I can't pick a favorite, the farm visits were a very high ranking portion of the trip. All of the visits helped me gain a little more insight as to what the average rural Australian family or farm are like, something that just touring the main tourist sites would never convey. Going off the beaten path and staying in small cities like Wagga Wagga and Albury were also a favorite part of the trip. although the hotels may not have been quite up to par with those in Sydney and Melbourne, but locals were very welcoming. They all were people that our group could connect with more since we had small towns and or agriculture as common backgrounds.

Dinner cruise in Sydney

  Towards the end of the trip were some of the most memorable and fun times, especially when the whole group celebrated my birthday at Gilligan's in Cairns as well as surprising me with a cake at dinner. The most indescribable sight we saw, however, would have to be the Great Barrier Reef namely the bottom of it while scuba diving. As soon as we returned home, as a matter of face before we even left I was ready to go back and do more exploring in what had quickly became my favorite place I have ever visited. I can only hope to go back someday and spend some more time in Sydney and go out to the Reef and Green Island again for sure. 

Our scuba diving group

Last day in the land down under

This was one of my favorite days of the entire trip, looking back on it I still can't hardly believe that we actually were on the ocean floor in the Great Barrier Reef. We started off the day getting on a boat that took us to Green Island where we spent two hours on the beach and getting our crash course on scuba diving. Even though it was raining and not that warm we had we still made the best of our time and adventured around the island. I found myself having multiple photo shoot with many of the Asian tourists. Not understanding why so many people wanted pictures I asked one of the fellow KSU students that had been to China and she explained that for them it was a rarity to see people with blonde people so it was a goal of theirs to get a picture with a blonde american girl.

From there we took another hour ride to the Reef where we spent the afternoon scuba diving, snorkeling, and going down in a semi-sub. After getting used to the pressure change, scuba diving was one of the most amazing experiences that I have had my whole life. None of my pictures do the coral or the fish justice.  The only downfall of the day was getting a little sea sick on the boat because the waters were pretty rough. Three Thirty the next morning came way to early, no one was anywhere near ready to get up and no where near ready to come home.