In days gone by papers like the Stock and Land carried fat cattle market reports.

It took time and effort to have this changed to prime cattle.

The consumer does not want fat on their plates. In days past we loved rump steak with a thick wad of fat or lamb loin chops with a delicious fatty tail. But no more.

Yes, it is recognised that the carcase needs a level of fat covering to protect meat in a chiller.

So, the address by Darryl Heidke, Australian Meat & Livestock, at a recent conference was pleasing where he said: “The processing sector will have a method of very, very accurately measuring carcase value, in the future.”

He added that in a buyer’s market, processors would have a greater say over prices or supply of animals that were carrying too much fat. As they say in the classics, about bloody time.

Well done MLA.

The call by the Southern Riverina farmers and Deniliquin lobby group Speak Up to release environmental water held in storage for the irrigation of crops should be enabled immediately.

Of course, we will hear a diatribe as to why this should or should not happen. The plan to borrow water from the burgeoning environmental water system is brilliant. 

The current storages were built to supply water for irrigation and rural-urban use. Also, flood mitigation was a high priority.

The environmental positive fact is that the Murray and Murrumbidgee never run dry, supporting a wide range of native fauna that perished in past droughts. 

Pleasing is the support given to the idea by the Victorian water minister.

Really, it is a no-brainer.