Page 9 - National Poultry Newspaper

QCA offers no bright spark for agriculture
THE Queensland CompetitionAuthority released its final de- termination on 2018- 19 regulated retail electricity prices for regional Queensland recently, again ignor- ing farmers and other regional businesses on transitional and obso- lete tariffs by not rec- ommending network electricity price sav- ings be passed on.
Queensland Farmers’ Federation president Stuart Armitage said while there was some good news for regional households who would see typical bills fall by 1.3 percent, and small businesses on tariff 20 who will see a 3.4 per- cent drop, there was no relief for farming busi- nesses on transitional and obsolete tariffs.
“While the reductions
for regional households and some small busi- nesses are good news, they hardly roll back the increases from last year, let alone offer any real price relief,” Mr Armitage said.
“And it is very disap- pointing that the QCA has maintained the 2017- 18 price levels for transi- tional and obsolete tar- iffs, the tariffs that many farming businesses are still on, despite QCA acknowledging that Er- gon’s network charges and generation costs are declining.”
“Irrigation electricity tariffs in Queensland have risen a minimum of 136 percent over the past decade, and for some more than 200 percent, while CPI has increased by just 24 percent over the same period.
“Yet today, we did not even see a 1 percent relief in irrigation and some business tariffs.”
Many regional cus- tomers face further bill increases in excess of 50 percent when they are forced on to stand- ard tariffs mid-2020.
“Last year there were 698 small business dis- connections by Ergon Retail – a substantial increase on the 384 dis- connections recorded in 2015-16,” Mr Armitage said.
“This year, we have seen over 200 more small regional busi- ness disconnections – a major contributor to this decline has been the high cost of elec- tricity.
“Downward pressure on electricity prices must be across the board.”
Aussie Muck-off
A NEW high-pressure wash-down rig has been developed by Aussie Pumps.
Combining both high pressure and high flow, the new Aussie Pumps machine sets records in cleaning times for live- stock waste wash-down.
The product was devel- oped in collaboration with a shed cleaning contrac- tor, Hunter Valley-based Pro Wash Poultry Service.
The Aussie Muck-off is designed for cleaning feedlots, piggeries, sale yards and chicken sheds.
The heart of the system is a Kappa 150, Udor four- diaphragm pump.
It produces a whopping 150l/pm flow combined with a maximum pressure of 50 bar (725psi).
The power is delivered to the pump through an integrated six to one re- duction box driven by a Honda 20hp industrial petrol engine.
Aussie Pumps product manager Brad Farrugia said cleaning contractors love the big pump because of its reliability.
“It makes a hard job eas- ier and less time consum- ing,” he said.
The big positive-dis- placement pump self- primes and can draw water from a vehicle- mounted tank or station- ary reservoir.
“We recommend the pump be mounted close to a source from which it can draw adequate water flow,” Farrugia said.
“With the pump’s huge flow it can empty a 1000-litre tank in seven and a half minutes.”
The big Aussie machine plays a vital role in mini- mising the time it takes to clean and sanitise.
Aussie Pumps estimates a 50,000-bird shed can be cleaned and sanitised within three to four hours.
Stock crates could also be cleaned effectively be- cause of the machine’s big flow at high pressure.
An added bonus is its multiple-gun operation.
“150 litres a minute at 50 bar is a lot of water for one person to hang onto,” Farrugia said.
“The machine can be
set up so that up to three guns can be used simul- taneously, getting big jobs done fast.”
“Aussie Pumps owes a big debt to Pro Wash Poultry, who provided in- valuable feedback and ex-
perience in development of this equipment.”
Further information on Aussie Pumps’ Muck-off range is available from aussiepumps.com.au or by phone on 02 8865 3500.
Caption
Pro Wash’s Michael Cooper completed another chicken shed clean-up with Aussie’s spray rig.
POULTRY EQUIPMENT & PARTS SUPPLY
Thank you!
The AAS team would
like to sincerely thank all who visited our stand at
and fantastic to meet
P
from our suppliers
ETE
MA
S
R
AAS ”
TH
EW
many new faces.
We are excited to work with you moving forward.
VISIT US AT PIX
BOOTHS
184-189
PIX/AMC.
It was a great success
“
Visit the AAS team at PIX to see working equipment
and meet
representatives
JERRY BAILEY-WATTS
TIM HODGETTS
EmTech
Pet
e
M
a
P
r
thews
otte
rs P
oultr
y
WEBSITE: WWW.AUSAGSERVICES.COM.AU PHONE: 07 3829 3242 EMAIL: PETER@AUSAGSERVICES.COM.AU
www.poultrynews.com.au
National Poultry Newspaper, June 2018 – Page 9