This week on the Head Shepherd podcast we have Rob Bell, co-founder and CTO at ProAgni and CEO and Principal Consultant at Formula Ag. In this episode, we're focusing on weaning, a process not too far away in parts of Australia. Rob initially started off as an agronomist in the cotton industry but the droughts soon led to a change of career. One thing that really struck him was that, regardless of what happened, even in the worst droughts, livestock farmers still had a product. Whereas, in the cropping game, if you put a seed in the ground, and it didn't germinate, you had nothing. So, for the past 16 years, Rob has been finding his feet as a consultant in the mixed farming game. Rob says it was really a case of taking the lessons learned within the cotton industry and implementing them into a livestock business.Six years ago, ProAgni was born after a lucky meeting with a ruminant microbiologist in Queensland led to an opportunity to create something pretty outstanding in terms of antibiotic resistance and removing those challenges from the livestock industry. The past six years have been an interesting journey of turning relatively complex science into a commercial reality.Mark and Rob discuss the process of weaning and how it shouldn't be an event, but rather a process.Rob breaks weaning down into three parts:1. The physical process of weaning - what processes can we put in place to minimise stress on animals and management?2. Pasture management - we reduce 40% of our energy requirements on the farm at weaning, which means we can build a feed reserve.3. Economic - what do those three or four extra weeks of growth and grass banking mean at the other end of the business?Rob speaks about the benefits of getting young lambs well-educated to high quality feed prior to weaning to reduce shock post-weaning. Understanding the physical AND mental transitions the lambs are going through means it's less stressful for everyone. The conversation then leads to discussing a ruminant's gut biome and how sheep should be thought of as small fermentation chambers rather than grass digesters. This is important to know, because when you wean lambs, you are essentially changing them from a monogastric to a ruminant. This process requires good management and an understanding of the internal processes within a lamb. This podcast is full of facts and information about weaning and the biology behind the animals you farm.If you'd like to get in touch with Rob, or find out more about ProAgni https://proagni.com/products/sheep/prowean/[email protected] Shepherd is brought to you by neXtgen Agri International Limited. We help livestock farmers get the most out of the genetics they farm with. Get in touch with us if you would like to hear more about how we can help you do what you do best: [email protected] to our sponsors at MSD Animal Health and Allflex, and Heiniger Australia and New Zealand. Please consider them when making product choices, as they are instrumental in enabling us to bring you this podcast each week.Check out Heiniger's product range HERECheck out the MSD range HERECheck out Allflex products HERE

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