• Coronavirus (COVID-19) update
• Arm yourself with the facts this season
• Grazing tactics for autumn management
• Climate webinars: farm weather stations and what they can do
• Victoria strengthens bee biosecurity and Varroa mite preparedness
• Listen and learn: practical pulse growing explained
• PhD research fellowships on offer
• Young farmer business network
• Digital Opportunities Roadshow
• What's on

Farmers and producers are vital to all Victorian communities and play an important role during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

We are working closely with industry to ensure that the essential services provided by the agriculture sector continue to operate during the Stage 3 measures which have been implemented to combat the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19).

The situation continues to change rapidly and we urge you to regularly check the Department of Health and Human Services website for the latest update: coronavirus.vic.gov.au.

More information including: common questions and answers; advice for animal owners, commuting and accommodating seasonal contract workers during coronavirus and farm business FAQs is available on the Agriculture Victoria website.

We’re continuing to serve the community but you may need to contact us in different ways.

If you can do something online then this is the best way. You can also call us 136 186 for a range of information including how best to contact us.

Agriculture Victoria office receptions across the state are now closed in order to reduce face-to-face contact between staff and members of the community. The decision is in response to the latest advice to help prevent the further spread of coronavirus (COVID-19).

Please consider whether the activity you are contacting us about is necessary at this time. Visit the Department of Health and Human Services website for the latest coronavirus (COVID-19) advice.

As the 2020 cropping season gets underway, Agriculture Victoria is advising farmers to arm themselves with as much information about their paddocks as they can to increase the chances of a productive and profitable year.

Agriculture Victoria’s Grains Industry Biosecurity Officer Jim Moran said recent rainfall has provided perfect conditions in most cropping districts.  

He said to ensure successful sowing and emergence and to maintain excellent crop growth without pest, disease or weed pressures, grain growers should keenly monitor for, and act on, facts.

“Check what is going on and into paddocks. Collect evidence and act on fact,” he said.

To save time, money and effort, Mr Moran has advised growers to conduct soil or tissue testing before they sow.

“These tests will identify any nutrient deficiencies and will result in grain growers only applying what is needed to produce healthy crops,” Mr Moran said.

He said farmers should be aware of the origin, contents and quality of crop inputs to avoid importing pests, weeds and diseases from another region.

If farmers are backloading fertilisers and chemicals from the ports, it’s important to conduct proper hygiene protocols as per the Grain Trade Australia’s Transport Code of Practice*.

“They should check product labels to confirm the source, quality and the potential presence of other toxic substances or contaminants,” Mr Moran said.

“This will ensure that any soil fertilisers, ameliorants, conditioners, compost or other chemicals are what they say they are.”

Farmers are urged to survey their paddocks regularly.

If they notice anything unusual, they should contact their agronomist and have samples tested by the CROPSAFE laboratory at Agriculture Victoria in Horsham. You can request a sampling kit by emailing crop.smart@agriculture.vic.gov.au.

These tests will not only help to rule out the presence of exotic pests and diseases but will also enable a rapid response to eradicate any incursions.

More information is available on the Exotic Plant Pest Hotline 1800 084 881.

Many pastures have suffered over the past few years with drought and dry seasonal conditions. With recent early rain across much of the state this could be a good year to nurse them back to higher levels of productivity.

Information and practical tips on autumn pasture recovery will be delivered by Agriculture Victoria pasture specialist Fiona Baker during a webinar / phone seminar being held next month.

“Our pastures are an investment, and in many cases are ‘recoverable’, despite many years of moisture stress and/or fire damage in some areas,” Ms Baker said.

With 21 years' experience delivering in the areas of nutrient management, grazing systems, cattle nutrition and feed budgeting, as well as running a South Gippsland dairy farm with her husband, Ms Baker will share her insights into how producers can get their pastures to thrive.

During this event Ms Baker will cover a range of topics including:

• How to determine if pastures are ready for grazing;
• How long to leave stock in the paddock;
• The type of grazing strategy producers should be aiming for; and
• How much rest to give a pasture after grazing.

The specific signs producers should be looking for to determine if their pasture is recoverable will also be discussed. 

Ms Baker said understanding these signs has the potential to achieve significant cost savings for producers, as full pasture renovation may not be required.

”In situations where the pastures are failing to meet the requirements for recovery, there are effective short term options to improve pasture productivity without extensive outlays, such as over-sowing with an annual species," she said.

“There are a number of management options farmers can also adopt to develop new grazing rotations, using existing infrastructure.”

Ms Baker said best practice grazing management is fundamental to the success of livestock enterprises, allowing for good pasture utilisation and cost reduction, while maintaining optimum profitability.

“Effective grazing is also a vital tool in pasture recovery, allowing manipulation of pasture composition for more desired species,” she said.

This event is being delivered by Agriculture Victoria with funding from the Victorian Government’s 2019-20 drought support package.

The ‘Grazing tactics for autumn management’ webinar / phone seminar will be held at 7.30pm on Wednesday 13 May.

Register online at https://login.redbackconferencing.com.au/landers/page/b3b3f2.

For enquiries contact Tess McDougall on tess.mcdougall@agriculture.vic.gov.au or 0409 841 492.

The next offering in our lunchtime climate webinar series will focus on farm weather stations and what they can do.

At 12 pm on Thursday, 7 May, Agbyte Ag Technologist Leighton Wilksch will walk attendees through farm weather stations with examples of how they are being used to provide value for farmers.

In this webinar, Mr Wilksch will cover:

• how to collect and interpret weather data
• how to monitor fire danger, what to consider with soil probes
• measuring and managing inversions.

Based on Yorke Peninsula, Mr Wilksch provides weather, soil moisture and crop monitoring hardware and solutions (backed up with agronomic service) across South Australia and Victoria.  He has over 20 years' experience in the dryland broadacre market, being a research agronomist for Landmark before starting his business Agbyte in 2009.  Agbyte provides innovative solutions for decision-making based around weather that enable users to intuitively decipher data to assist them with farm management. 

This webinar will be held on Thursday, 7 May 7 at 12 pm.

To join, log on at: https://ecodev.webex.com/ecodev/onstage/g.php?MTID=e904344e5f6efe9b390b54ad471f5bca2

Recordings of other recent climate webinars are now available.

Visit our climate webinar page on the Agriculture Victoria website for more information.

By Ally Driessen, Victorian Bee Biosecurity Officer

Agriculture Victoria’s apiary team increased the national award-winning State Quarantine Response Team (SQRT) in early March this year. Training was delivered to 25 new field team leaders (authorised Agriculture Victoria staff) and 35 industry members/beekeepers who wanted to help protect the industry from incursions of exotic bee pests.

The SQRT program proved its worth when Varroa was detected in the Port of Melbourne in June 2018.

For those not familiar with SQRT training, it’s designed to equip participants with the skills to conduct in-hive surveillance in the event of a suspect incursion (Varroa mite for example) and participate in the government’s emergency response.

Our pool of industry members and beekeepers has now risen to more than 180 trained individuals.

Industry members and beekeepers were taken through important aspects of the SQRT training, including:

• International developments in Varroa and other exotic honeybee threats that may require SQRT involvement
• Emergency response equipment
• OH&S during a response
• An apiary Incident Management Team
• Arriving and conducting operations at suspect premises
• Decontamination process.

Although the day’s agenda was tweaked to allow for unfavourable weather conditions, overall feedback was positive.

Training participant Tony said beekeepers generally could work in a vacuum, so it was great to share a day with so many other people and to gain a deeper understanding of biosecurity measures in practice.

Beekeeper Krista said she enjoyed the training and felt it equipped participants with the necessary skills and attitude to support the SQRT program into the future.

The role of the SQRT members is extremely valuable to Agriculture Victoria and the industry as it provides a large pool of trained in-hive surveillance experts confident in handling bees ready to be called on as part of a honeybee emergency response.

If you would like to be part of the next SQRT training please email honeybee.biosecutity@agriculture.vic.gov.au and express your interest.

For anyone who is currently not part of the SQRT program, you can still be involved in early detection of an incursion of Varroa by conducting a sugar shake test. And remember, if you see anything suspicious (like Varroa mite or Braula fly) please call the Exotic Plant Pest Hotline on 1800 084 881 immediately.

A new podcast series and workshop webinar recording are providing practical insights into boosting nitrogen fixation in pulses for growers and advisers.

The Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) Boosting On-Farm Nitrogen Fixation in Pulses podcasts and webinar cover some of the essential information to consider when inoculating pulses with rhizobia.

The podcasts are split into four informative instalments covering pre-sowing inoculation of pulses, in-season nodulation assessment, the impact of acid soils on nodulation and tips for best practice dry sowing when inoculating.

Meanwhile, the recording from an online pulse workshop held recently to replace the previously planned workshop series across South Australia and Victoria, provides a more detailed guided talk on best practice pulse growing.

Researchers Liz Farquharson and Ross Ballard from Primary Industries and Regions South Australia’s research division, the SA Research and Development Institute (SARDI), highlight the nitrogen fixation benefits from growing pulses, and discuss tactics that can help growers optimise the nodulation of pulse crops.

Mr Ballard said the podcast series and webinar complement existing GRDC inoculation resources and guides the listener through key factors that can affect the success of the process.

“Inoculation and pre-sowing preparation can set you up to fix a lot of nitrogen in a good season if you make the right decisions,” he said.

“However, there are some key considerations around inoculation, including dry sowing and acid soils, that we’re able to explain and expand on in these podcasts.

“In-season nodulation assessment is also important to understand if inoculation was successful and we talk the listener through how and when to make a nodulation assessment.”

The podcasts can be listened to via the following links:

• Introduction and pre-sowing inoculation: https://soundcloud.com/grdc/introduction-and-pre-sowing-innoculation
• Dry sowing: https://soundcloud.com/grdc/dry-sowing
• Acid soils: https://soundcloud.com/grdc/acid-soils
• In-season assessment: https://soundcloud.com/grdc/in-season-assessment

To watch the webinar recording, visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CulLFB1hfPQ.

In partnership with the University of Melbourne, Agriculture Victoria is offering 32 PhD research fellowships in the grains, dairy and horticulture industries.

The fellowships will be based across Victoria at the department’s world-renowned research centres. Successful candidates will be rewarded with a $33,000 per annum scholarship, access to state-of-the-art facilities and opportunities for professional development and overseas travel.

To find out more visit the Agriculture Victoria website.

Young Farmers of Victoria – this is your network to talk about farm business management with other like-minded young farmers through social media, articles, online and face to face forums.

Click here to join and learn more about the Young Farmer Business Network Facebook group.

The Victorian Government in partnership with Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) are delivering online workshops in regional and rural Victoria to provide your small businesses with practical actions and tips on how to make the most of the digital economy and reduce your cyber-security risks.

Register for a FREE online workshop in your region to build your own action plan of next steps and come away with digital skills to assist planning and growing your small business.

Your small businesses will develop digital skills across a range of areas including:

• developing an online presence
• understanding and using digital tools
• managing your cyber security and safety plan.

The workshop will assist your small business in developing a fit-for purpose online presence, how your business can operate in a digital economy and identifying your online goals.

The next batch of workshops will target businesses in the following regions:

• Hopetoun - 5 May, 9 am to 11 am
• Stawell - 5 May, 2 pm to 4 pm
• Kyabram - 6 May, 5.30 pm to 7.30 pm
• Maryborough - 6 May, 10 am to 12 pm
• Colac - 11 May, 1.30 pm to 3.30 pm
• Lorne - 11 May, 9 am - 11 am

For more information and a complete listing of events in all regions log on at: www.business.vic.gov.au/digitalroadshow.
 

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