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Grampians Ag News
 
Thursday, 1 April 2021
In this edition:
Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Keep up to date with all the latest restrictions and requirements at coronavirus.vic.gov.au.

Latest News
Are your livestock fit to load?
sheep being loaded into a truck

Dr Jeff Cave, District Veterinary Officer

Any person in charge of an animal, which could include producers, farm workers, transporters and livestock agents, must not allow any animal to be loaded onto transport that is not fit for the journey ahead.

Unfortunately, we occasionally see animal welfare issues associated with transporting livestock.

In each case this has been partly due to the owner not having a good understanding of what was fit to load and what was not.

An animal is not fit to load if it is:

  • not able to walk normally or bear weight on all its legs - this may be due to a recent or old fracture, an injury, a deformity, or an infection
  • not strong enough to make the journey
  • suffering from severe distress or injury
  • in a condition that could cause it increased pain or distress during transport
  • blind in both eyes
  • in late pregnancy.

If you discover an animal is unfit to load you can either:

  • treat the animal and transport it when it has recovered and is fit to load - naturally this is not an option in cases the animal is not readily treatable
  • humanely destroy the animal - a knackery service is available in many areas to help with this option
  • consult a veterinarian and only transport under veterinary advice.

If in doubt about an animal’s suitability for transport you should contact your private veterinarian or Agriculture Victoria.

For more information go to https://go.vic.gov.au/dXkGyE

There is also a guideline titled "Is the animal fit to load?" produced by Meat & Livestock Australia and available on the MLA website.

Remember, the person in charge of the animal is responsible for its welfare. Community values and expectations don’t accept anything less.

Hive of activity at Victorian ports to protect our bees
nikki jones in her bee suit looking at bees

Caption - Agriculture Victoria biosecurity officer Nikki Jones

Artificially intelligent beehives are being installed at Victoria’s ports to bolster protection from exotic pests and diseases, in an initiative backed by the Victorian Government. 

Minister for Agriculture Mary-Anne Thomas was at the Port of Melbourne recently to launch new Agriculture Victoria agreements with Bega Cheese and HiveKeepers, which will trial technology for rapid detection of pests at Victoria’s ports. 

Bega Cheese’s Purple Hive project is being installed alongside sentinel hives managed and monitored by Agriculture Victoria.

Purple Hive is a solar-powered device that detects bee pest Varroa destructor, providing alerts in real-time using artificial intelligence and 360-degree camera technology.

Purple Hive has been tested in New Zealand where the mite is established, to prepare for installation at the Port of Melbourne. 

HiveKeepers will install a smart hive at the Port of Hastings, which operates by identifying pests and recognising diseases through bee health and behaviour, and sending alerts to a remote computer or mobile device.

The National Bee Pest Surveillance Program has hives located at the ports of Melbourne, Geelong, Hastings and Portland that are monitored for exotic pests and diseases like Varroa mite every six weeks.

These ports are identified as a high-risk pathway for bee pests to enter Victoria, with bees from Varroa-infested countries hitchhiking on ships that enter Victoria, which could threaten the state’s honey bee population.

In 2018, Varroa destructor was detected on a ship that had entered the Port of Melbourne.

The government worked with industry and community to act swiftly to ensure the detected Varroa destructor didn’t spread through Victoria’s bee population and become an outbreak.

If Varroa mite was to become established in Australia, an estimated 20,000 cropping and horticulture industry businesses would be affected, as well as home gardeners and the wider community.

There are more than 12,800 beekeepers with almost 135,000 registered hives in Australia, which contribute to the state’s $17.5 million apiary industry.

These new partnerships align with Victoria’s agriculture strategy to protect our bee population by ensuring we are well placed to respond to new pests, and modernising Victorian agriculture through new technology.

To find out more, visit Agriculture Victoria.

Farm Safety Creative Competition
drawing of a farmer a child and farm animals

Think Farm Safe, Be Farm Safe. 

Support the primary schoolers in your life to create something amazing for the KidSafe Victoria creative competition. 

The competition is part of Agriculture Victoria’s Smarter, Safer Farms commitment to improve safety and skills outcomes for Victorian farmers and their families.

Enter at the Kidsafe Victoria website.

Recording of Stubble, Straw and Carbon - Panels, pellets and alternative uses
stormy sky image

Listen to the recording of Stubble, Straw and Carbon - Panels, pellets and alternative uses

Presented by:

  • Graeme Anderson, Agriculture Victoria
  • Steve Layfield, Ortech Industries
  • Ray Davies, Central Highlands Straw Alliance.

Stubble management can be a complex issue for farmers. Stubble retention has well-documented benefits, including nutrient recycling, reduced erosion, improved rainfall infiltration and reduced moisture evaporation.

Retaining stubbles also improves soil health and biology. For seasons with large stubble loads there is room to put some of it into other productive uses.

In this webinar recording Graeme Anderson explains the basic carbon cycle and the benefits of putting stubbles into building products to capture carbon for the long term.

Steve Layfield from Ortech Industries  shares how they are contributing to positive carbon farming by using straw stubbles in building products which would otherwise be burnt after harvest contributing to carbon emissions.

Ray Davies from the Pyrenees Shire Council discusses how local farmers are converting stubble straw to energy as one means of alleviating the need to burn stubbles in autumn.

Ray shares a pilot project at the Skipton Hospital where straw pellets will be used as a replacement for LPG to meet the thermal demand for hydronic heating and hot water.

Other investigations include opportunities for combined heat and power in manufacturing and potential for a biogas plant.

Sheep Notes - autumn edition
graphic for Sheep notes with sheep images

Sheep Notes informs sheep producers about general sheep health and welfare, production, market protection and biosecurity issues.

It also provides details about specific department and industry programs to guide improvement in the productivity, profitability and sustainability of sheep enterprises.

Subscribe to the Sheep Notes newsletter on the Agriculture Victoria website.

In this issue:

  • Staggers
  • LiveFeed - seasonal webinar
  • Underperforming animals in a paddock full of feed
  • Assess feed and animal requirements
  • Online learning - stock containment; irrigation, soil
  • Digital tips
  • Resistance to insecticides in blowflies
  • Farmer tips on autumn saving
  • High performance maidens, grazing weeds
  • Livestock Farm Monitor Project results
  • Free benchmarking and profit assessment
  • NEXUS
  • Did you know?
  • Do you mules your lambs?
2021 cereal and pulse disease guides out now
chickpea pod infection

Image: Chickpea Pod Infection

Grain growers will be better equipped to manage their disease risk this season with the release of Agriculture Victoria’s cereal and pulse disease guides.

Produced with support from the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC), the annual crop disease guides detail how new and commonly grown wheat, barley, oats, triticale, lentil, chickpea, field pea, faba bean, lupin and vetch varieties will react to a range of crop diseases.

Agriculture Victoria Senior Research Scientist, Joshua Fanning said the ratings are developed nationally and released in February, providing the most up to date information for Victorian growers.

Dr Fanning said a reasonably wet spring during 2020 was conducive for many diseases including botrytis grey mould in vetch and lentil and chocolate spot in faba bean. The later rainfall also caused chickpea ascochyta blight pod infection in some crops.

“The significant disease symptoms observed during 2020 will allow for greater disease carryover into this year.

“To reduce the disease pressure on 2021 crops, growers should avoid planting the same crops in the same paddocks or adjacent paddocks where there was a high disease load during 2020,” he said.

For cereal growers, the Cereal Disease Guide, provides updated information on crop disease ratings and advice on how to reduce the risk from fungicide resistance.

Agriculture Victoria Senior Research Scientist Grant Hollaway said cereal diseases will need proactive management during 2021 as there will be disease carry over on both volunteer cereals growing over summer and on stubble.

“The wetter conditions during summer will increase the risk posed by rust and aphid spread viruses due to the green bridge.

“Soil-borne diseases are a risk to cereals, so growers should test prior to sowing to identify paddocks at risk and inform what crop or variety should be sown.”

Dr Hollaway said resistance to fungicides is becoming an increasing threat to cereal crops across Australia.

“There are strategies that growers can adopt to slow the development of resistance in pathogen populations and therefore extend the longevity of the limited range of fungicides available.

“These include avoiding susceptible crop varieties, rotating crops, using non-chemical methods to reduce disease pressure, spraying only if necessary and applying strategically and rotating and mixing fungicides."

The ratings provided in the pulse and cereal disease guides are based on an understanding of the diseases present in Victoria and on data collected from plant pathologists working across Australia with support from the GRDC.

The 2021 Pulse and Cereal Disease Guides are available on the Agriculture Victoria website:

Cereal Disease Guide
Pulse Disease Guide

Fox and wild dog bounty collections
close up of a fox in the grass words Fox and Wild Dog Bounty collections

Victorian fox and wild dog bounty collections resumed on Monday 1 March, in line with current COVIDSafe requirements.

Agriculture Victoria has a COVIDSafe Plan for each bounty collection centre.

If you are attending a collection centre, you must comply with COVIDSafe requirements including physical distancing, good hygiene practices and wearing a face mask indoors and where you can’t distance outdoors.

Electronic funds transfer (EFT) is the preferred method of payment so please bring your EFT details to the collection centre.

Stay safe by following the COVIDSafe requirements and, if you feel unwell, get tested and stay home.

Acceptable entire fox scalps and entire wild dog body parts will be collected from eligible members of the public at specific dates and times, and from sites scheduled as collection centres.

Please note that no entire-fox scalps or entire wild dog body parts will be accepted at any public counter or state government office.

Collections will only be accepted at the designated times.

The 2021 bounty collections will run until the end of October.

Go online to find out more or call the Customer Service Centre on 136 186.

Collection dates and times for Grampians region are listed below

Horsham collections
Fox and wild dog (wild dog by appointment only)

Address: 180 Horsham-Noradjuha Rd, Vectis
Collection type: Fox only
Time: 1.30  to 3.30 pm

Dates:

  • Wednesday, 14 April
  • Wednesday, 12 May
  • Wednesday, 9 June
  • Wednesday, 7 July 
  • Wednesday, 4 August 
  • Wednesday, 1 September 
  • Wednesday, 29 September 
  • Wednesday, 27 October.

St Arnaud collections
Fox only

Address: 4 Montague St, St Arnaud
Collection type: Fox only
Time: 10.30 am to 12.30 pm

Dates:

  • Thursday, 15 April 
  • Thursday, 13 May 
  • Thursday, 10 June 
  • Thursday, 8 July 
  • Thursday, 5 August 
  • Thursday, 2 September 
  • Thursday, 30 September 
  • Thursday, 28 October.
 

Ballarat collections
Fox only

Address: 25 Vickers St, Sebastopol
Collection type: Fox only
Time: 1 to 3 pm

Dates:

  • Tuesday, 6 April 
  • Monday, 3 May 
  • Monday, 31 May 
  • Monday, 28 June 
  • Monday, 26 July 
  • Monday, 23 August 
  • Monday, 20 September 
  • Monday, 18 October.


Hamilton collections
Fox only

Address: Depot, Hamilton Centre, Research Station Road, Hamilton
Collection type: Fox only
Time: 1.30 to 3.30 pm

Dates:

  • Thursday, 8 April 
  • Wednesday, 5 May 
  • Wednesday, 2 June 
  • Wednesday, 30 June 
  • Wednesday, 28 July 
  • Wednesday, 25 August 
  • Wednesday, 22 September
  • Wednesday, 20 October.
Helping pets find a loving home
brown dog lying on the floor being patted

The Victorian Government is ensuring more pets get the loving homes they deserve with a new taskforce dedicated to rehoming animals.

Minister for Agriculture Mary-Anne Thomas was at Lort Smith Animal Hospital recently to announce the Taskforce on Rehoming Pets, comprising Member for Western Victoria Andy Meddick (Chair), Member for Bendigo West Maree Edwards and Member for Narre Warren South Gary Maas.

The taskforce will provide recommendations to the Victorian Government on how to improve and better support the rehoming of pets in Victoria, including research animals.

It will recommend regulatory options to improve the welfare and survival rates of dogs and cats that need rehoming, and establish ways to make the movement of animals between shelters, pounds and rescue groups more transparent.

Working with industry and community stakeholders, the taskforce will ensure a range of perspectives are considered and will provide its final report and recommendations to the government by the end of this year.

The taskforce is just one way the government is working to ensure that Victorian pets are well cared for on the journey to their forever homes.

Minister Thomas congratulated the Lort Smith Animal Hospital on being awarded a $50,000 Animal Welfare Fund grant to grow its services.

Lort Smith is one of 15 recipients of funding under the ninth round of the fund, with money to go towards the development of an animal adoption centre in a soon-to-be completed clinic in Campbellfield.

Round nine of the Animal Welfare Fund program supports not-for-profit animal shelters and foster care organisations to rehome animals, as well as community vet clinics to establish or expand their services in areas of need throughout Victoria.

For more information visit Animal Welfare Victoria.

In case you missed it – top stories from March
Autumn pest animal baiting program

Having an autumn baiting program is generally part of a well-planned pest animal management program for many producers and land managers.

Agriculture Victoria is reminding all users of 1080 pest animal bait products of the possible risks to non-target animals.

READ THE MEDIA RELEASE IN FULL

What's on?

Details about Agriculture Victoria events can now be found in one spot on our website. Log on to agriculture.vic.gov.au/events to find out what's on.

GRDC Farm Business Update – Online

Wednesday 21 April, 1 – 2 pm.

Description
Fundamentals of Operations Management - Key Points to Get Right (a Cropping Enterprise Case Study)

GRDC Farm Business Update National Livestreams are topic specific, interactive, interview style discussions that address key farm business management improvements common to grain growing businesses across Australia.

More details coming soon. Registration for the live-stream events is free. The recordings will be uploaded to the GRDC website for people to view at a later date.

Register here.

Soil erosion survey

Have you been itching to share your thoughts on wind erosion?

We would like to hear from you!

The Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC), through Mallee Sustainable Farming (MSF), are looking to farmers for their knowledge and experience with wind erosion, to help best understand, prevent, manage, and rehabilitate its impact within our current farming systems.

Please take a couple minutes to complete our farmer friendly questionnaire. Most are multiple choice and strictly no long-winded answers required. Your future-self will thank you.

Complete the survey here.

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Contacting Agriculture Victoria

Call 136 186 from anywhere in Australia for the cost of a local call (except for mobiles and public telephones).

If you are deaf, or have a hearing or speech impairment contact the National Relay Service on 133 677 or www.relayservice.gov.au

All contact points can be found at: agriculture.vic.gov.au/about-us/contact-us

Don't forget to check out Agriculture Victoria's social media sites for up-to-date information and news.

 

 

'Like' our Agriculture Victoria Facebook page.

 

Follow us on Twitter @VicGovAg

 

Subscribe to the Agriculture Victoria YouTube channel. 

 
 

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