UQ Gatton Open Day opens doors for graduate

University of Queensland Gatton graduate and PhD student Darryl Savage has a very big backyard – 4.4 million acres to be precise and the world’s second-largest cattle station.

Twenty-eight-year-old Mr Savage is researching the link between nutrition and beef cattle reproduction at the giant Alexandria Station, 350kms from Tennant Creek in the Northern Territory.

Already a Bachelor of Applied Science – Rural Technology (Honours) from UQ Gatton (1995), Mr Savage is completing his PhD thesis as an external student.

He encouraged anyone interested in campus programs to attend the upcoming UQ Gatton Open Day on Sunday, August 25, from 9.30am until 3pm.

The Open Day will feature talks about programs in the animal studies, agriculture and horticulture, agribusiness and environmental management areas as well as tours of the dairy, equine unit, library, halls of residence and plant nursery. There will also be equestrian events and many other activities available to visitors and prospective students.

“UQ Gatton’s Open Day opened the door of opportunity for me. It was at the Open Day that I realised the courses offered at UQ Gatton were best for my interests in agriculture. The people I met at UQ Gatton have become life-long friends and invaluable contacts in my work life,” Mr Savage said.

“The balance of theory and practice gives UQ Gatton graduates a fantastic career head-start recognised by many employers in agricultural industries.”

Mr Savage is currently the Senior Animal Production Officer for the Northern Territory Department of Business, Industry and Resource Development.

The research forms part of his work and is financed by the station’s owners (The North Australian Pastoral Company), the Northern Territory Government, Meat and Livestock Australia and Ridley Agri-Products.

Mr Savage’s job also requires him to co-ordinate a number of on-station training programs for young people in pasture and reproductive management.

He is the Northern Territory representative for the Young People in Rural Industries Working Group and the North Australian Nutrition Steering Committee, as well as a committee member of the North Australian Rural Careers Network, which develops initiatives to attract and retain more young people in rural industries.

“There’s a lot of opportunities for young people in the country that they wouldn’t get elsewhere and I’m just trying to do my part to get that message across,” Mr Savage said.

His attempts have not gone unnoticed. Last year he won the Regional Initiative category and was a national finalist in the Young Australian of the Year awards, received the Foundation for Young Australian Achiever Award and was also selected as one of 40 young Australians to attend the inaugural Young Rural Leaders Course in Canberra.

His research results to date are equally as promising. He has so far uncovered an interesting link between rainfall intensity and cows’ fertility levels.

“Surprisingly, the preliminary findings indicate that when and how rain falls is significantly more important than actual rainfall levels in affecting the nutritional quality of grass which in turn impacts on a cow’s fertility levels,” Mr Savage said.

“We measured the quality of grass in various paddocks to determine the minimum amount of feed supplementation needed to achieve the optimal weight and fertility level required for a cow to produce one calf every 12 months.

“We found that by matching nutritional management with measured seasonal conditions, we could halve supplementation costs whilst still achieving the same level of production.”

The four-year recording trial involved weighing and pregnancy testing more than 10,000 cows, measuring pasture and dung quality every month, and continually recording the rainfall in four paddocks.

Mr Savage said he planned to submit his thesis at the end of the year and already had a number of other research projects under way.

A detailed program for the UQ Gatton Open day can be found at: www.studyatuq.net

For more information, contact Darryl Savage (email: darryl.savage@nt.gov.au, telephone 08 8962 4487 or 08 8962 4488 or mobile 0417 878 599) or Anthony Smith at UQ Gatton (telephone 07 5460 1229 or email: asmith@uqg.uq.edu.au) or Shirley Glaister at UQ Communications (email: s.glaister@uq.edu.au or telephone 07 3365 2339). We also have clear, colour images of Darryl at work on the Station if required.