live export **rant**

[fowler]

Some of you may know, but the current big issue in Australian agriculture and politics is the live export of animals

the majority goes to the middle east being either goats sheep and cattle
they are using mostly for meat and some for breeding animals

Like most things there is always a group of people who don't like what u are doing
then there is the group that sets out to tear it down

Basically the animals are purchased mostly on farm or at a sale yard by an agent for a company

They are then transported to a yard where they are mixed with all the other animals from around the state they are given a few days to acclimatize to tight living quarters and learn to eat pellets

They are then put on a ship and sent to the necessary port in the required country

Earlier this year footage was uncovered of animal mistreatment in an Indonesian abattoir

This got broadcast widely by the media the triggered a huge response ending in the government boycotting Indonesia

Being such a shock short notice ban there was literally animals in trucks on route to the ships, sales and contracts were only half filled, it caused chaos
A huge back log of animals and growers going with out any pay
Indonesians were shocked at first but quickly worked out they could buy animals else where

Realizing the ban solved nothing and we were about to lose millions as a costumer slipped away they lifted the ban

recently there has been a situation on a ship to Bahrain where it was rejected due to disease amongst some sheep
the shipment was redirected to Pakistan where they culled allot of sheep

This got the hippies going again with the attempt to completely ban live export
But like the little kid poking the bear they really don't know what they are dealing with they just what a response
They dont realize that it will decimate the economy and destroy thousands of jobs
but with the current labour government being so out of touch with the country people its a real worry where the future of agriculture is heading

before anyone asks the reason we cant export carcasses is because of a few reasons
first we dont have the infrastructure
they dont want 1 week old meat
but the biggest issue is the fact the biggest reason they buy our animals is for religous ceromony so the animals must be killed to muslim law often by somone of muslim trailing

just wanted to have a rant and wondering what other thought on this

 

[OzFab]

First off, some news reports stated that the animals in question were allegedly infected with diseases we don't even have in Australia, including anthrax... What the...?

The only upside to banning live exports is that our meat prices will drop but, there's a massive downside to that too: farmers will lose money hand over fist, eventually sending them bankrupt which, in turn, will destroy our economy...

This latest situation is a joke. No, the animals should not have been slaughtered the way they were but, I feel, they were making excuses

 

[machinist@large]

There's nothing like being stuck between a rock and a hard place.

About 15 years ago we (family farm) dipped our toe in the organic beef market. We had a couple of contacts from specialty meat markets that catered to the Muslim community; They were offering good money, but the animals had to be killed in accordance with Sharia customs. That's where the fun began.

We could only find one Processor in the State of Michigan that met their guidelines; to bad it didn't have a snowball's chance in H*** of passing a U.S.D.A inspection, which is mandatory if the meat in question was going to be marketed after slaughter (if you are buying an animal for your own freezer right off the farm, as long as you pay for it before it is slaughtered, you can do whatever you want). The only other option would have been to ship the animals to Chicago (where the market's were located). Apparently, they had a processor there who met their customs.

So, we started looking into what it would take to ship the kritters to Chi-Town (it wasn't just us; we had 4 neighboring farms that had also been contacted and were looking to put something together as a group). OMG. What a mess that would have been. Being a direct sale to a processor out of state, we would have had to do all the paperwork that the stockyards would normally handle; inspections of the farms, inspections of the animals, Certification that all the farms that were looking into it didn't have any known diseases that would bar the animals from being transported............There was a lot more than that; and this was before Mad Cow Disease reared it ugly head (all these steps are in place to protect the nation's food supply; every time you hear something in the news about a food recall; it's because someone halfa**'ed it, cut corners, and now someone's sick, and it's being investigated).

The final kicker was transportation; To fill the contract they were proposing, we could have shipped the required animals on one semi load, every 6~8 weeks (I can't remember how many head it was; just that it would have been a semi load). They couldn't have that; they wanted the animals delivered only on an as needed basis. If they only wanted one that day, we were supposed to only deliver just one.

I live about 30 minutes from downtown Grand Rapids, Michigan; according to my neighbor who went down to see the processor's operation, it would be a 5+ hour one way run, and that was if there wasn't a problem with traffic. Chicago's traffic problems are legendary; they used to have one radio station that did nothing but report the real time traffic times on all the major freeways leading into the city.

The potential customers just refused to understand why none of us would sign a contract under those conditions. Several of them acted offended about it. Apparently, we weren't supposed to do the math; I guess they thought we were just supposed to take the loss and be happy about it. I can tell you this much; that was absolutely the WRONG line to take with a handful of hard bitten farmers who have learned to survive with profit margins measured in pennies on the $. One of them (Chicago merch.) actually tried to file a breach of contract case in Ill. state court for a contract that was never entered into and signed.

I know that my little saga doesn't have much to do with the mess that's headed your way, other than this; You have my deepest sympathies. It's total Bull S*** that the people who have their noses out of joint and the "Holier than Thou" attitude will never be held accountable for all the innocent people they harm in their own back yard, just so they can feel good about some issue in another country; when in actuality, they haven't changed a D*** thing. The Keyboard Messiah's of this world are really getting stale.

All I can say is, "Buck up my friend; this too shall pass."

 

[fowler]

I like the way the French do it

Oh u don't want to pay that for our hay
Ok we will park it up outside your shed and burn it all

Oh u don't like our animals ok we will drive though the centre of Paris and block all business with our farm equpment

 

[Doc Sprocket]

I feel for you. This just speaks to a greater problem, what we call the "nanny state". You'll have to Google it, because I am on the cusp of a political rant that will result in me having to ban myself. Not pretty.

Get used to it my friends, it's not going to improve.

 

[machinist@large]

I feel for you. This just speaks to a greater problem, what we call the "nanny state". You'll have to Google it, because I am on the cusp of a political rant that will result in me having to ban myself. Not pretty.

Get used to it my friends, it's not going to improve.

"Nanny State".

It's either that name or the "NIMBY State".

Ohhhh, where's my blood pressure medication.........

 

[fowler]

Talking of the nanny state

A whole load of big company's in the mining industry have just banned the use of hardened steel hammers because 3 people got injured by metal fragment breaking off big punches and a few people hitting GET

I thought it was common sense u don't hit hardened steel together and u dress your hammers and punches to remove burring

So instead of telling 3 people they are fouls and telling them to leave they have spent millions in replacing every sledge hammer and all gimpys (3lb hammer) oh every employee

To the point where there is actually a severe shortage of good mild steel hammers in australia

 

[landuse]

Talking of the nanny state

A whole load of big company's in the mining industry have just banned the use of hardened steel hammers because 3 people got injured by metal fragment breaking off big punches and a few people hitting GET

I thought it was common sense u don't hit hardened steel together and u dress your hammers and punches to remove burring

So instead of telling 3 people they are fouls and telling them to leave they have spent millions in replacing every sledge hammer and all gimpys (3lb hammer) oh every employee

To the point where there is actually a severe shortage of good mild steel hammers in australia

I watched an episode of Mythbusters that dealt with this exact issue of hardened hammers. They could not get the hammers to shatter at all. They kept on breaking the handles before the metal ever came close to chipping off

 

[machinist@large]

Talking of the nanny state

A whole load of big company's in the mining industry have just banned the use of hardened steel hammers because 3 people got injured by metal fragment breaking off big punches and a few people hitting GET

I thought it was common sense u don't hit hardened steel together and u dress your hammers and punches to remove burring

So instead of telling 3 people they are fouls and telling them to leave they have spent millions in replacing every sledge hammer and all gimpys (3lb hammer) oh every employee

To the point where there is actually a severe shortage of good mild steel hammers in australia

Follow the money; was the big push sponsored by a supplier out to make a killing? At the very least it shows the total ignorance/ stupidity of the upper managers that they fell for this song and dance......

Just another sign of the approaching Apocalypse....

 

[Doc Sprocket]

I fail to see the problem. Had these people been wearing the appropriate protective equipment (due to UNcommon sense, rather than legislation) then they should be fine.

Where's the issue??? And- I saw that episode of mythbusters. I concur.

 

[fowler]

Myth busters were useing properly dressed hammers with no burrs and they were hurtling them square on

The danger is hitting a he made punch made out of a grade 8 bolt
Over the time of belting it the edges bur over
If u slightly miss hit one peice of metal flys off
Also GET is the teeth on a digger
They are sacrificial so they are a commonly replaced
Obviously they are hardened steel that has spend a few days rubbing against rock and being super heated and cooled continuously

When u remove them they offer require a little persuasion with a sledge hammer
Usually a copper one
So if u belt it with a hardened steel hammer it can crack

As for following the money
Well it leads to the high up offices of these multi trillion dollar companys being **** scared of law suits because if I use a grinder and cut my finger off in the next 15 mins its noty fault its my bosses for not somehow intervening and saving me

That is just one stupid thing we stole from America, the ability to sue for almost anything and the lack of self responsability

 

[Doc Sprocket]

if I use a grinder and cut my finger off in the next 15 mins its noty fault its my bosses for not somehow intervening and saving me

That is just one stupid thing we stole from America, the ability to sue for almost anything and the lack of self responsability

Absolutely sad, and totally true. Let me paint you a picture:\

I am a worker's representative on my company's Joint Health and Safety Committee. These committees are legal requirements for all businesses with more than just a few employees. The committee's job (in short) is to help ensure the safety of the workers by enforcing provincial safety standards and company safety policies, as well as making policy and equipment recommendations. As a worker's rep (and NOT on the management side), it is upon me to place a large portion of my focus of protecting the workers from our employer potentially endangering workers in the name of profits, etc. That said-

All the tradesmen in the company including myself are responsible to purchase, use and maintain or own tools at our own expense. If a specialty tool or equipment is required for a job, we have the ability to rent one from a rental agent, or in some cases sign one out from the company's own inventory. I tell you that to tell you this:

If I were to spot one of our capenters using his very own mitre saw with the guard missing, I MUST force him to discontinue use of HIS OWN TOOL immediately! Should anything go wrong, our employer is legally liable for an accident that results!!! What's more, if it is shown that I had knowledge of this and did not stop it, I, too can be held responsible!!! And remember- this is a grown man, an experienced tradesman operating his own tools!

This stuff's getting crazy!

 

[OzFab]

Yeah, that sounds about right...

Safety rules & regulations are there to keep the workers safe but, sometimes, they go a bit too far: If a package is over a certain size (never mind the weight) it must be lifted by two or more persons. Legally, a single bed matress or even a 32" LCD TV must be handled by two persons...

On the flipside, anything weighing more than 10kg must be handled by two persons or involve the use of mechanical lifting aparatus; this means you need two people to mount a 9hp engine to a go kart in the absence of an engine crane... crowded much...