• Coronavirus (COVID-19) update
• Avian influenza – know your biosecurity basics
• Victorian dairy farmers prove cream rises to the top
• Dairy Farm Monitor Project - South West briefings
• Simple steps to improve cash flow management
• The Fast Break - seasonal climate webinar
• Supporting more rural women in agriculture
• Soil moisture monitoring newsletter is out now
• Lucerne hay rivals costly supplement diet
• Bessiebelle farmer joins the WestVic Dairy Board
• Maintain grain quality with hygiene essentials
• Apply now! Young Farmers Leadership Program
• Latest AgVic Talk podcast episodes
• RuralSnapShot competition
• Farmer mental health project seeking participants
• What's on

Safely reopening Victoria

A roadmap for reopening Victoria has been announced by the Victorian Government.

There are two separate roadmaps in Victoria: one for metropolitan Melbourne and one for regional Victoria regarding how we live and how we work.

Each roadmap outlines safe, steady and sustainable steps to COVID Normal.

The Roadmap for reopening: regional Victoria provides steps on easing restrictions, dependent on how many active coronavirus (COVID-19) cases are in the community and public health advice.

From 11.59 pm on 16 September 2020 regional Victoria moved to the Third Step on the roadmap.

From 11.59 pm on 27 September 2020 metropolitan Melbourne moved to the Second Step on the Roadmap for reopening.

This step included some small but significant changes to the planned roadmap based on current case numbers and the latest modelling and projections.

Visit Roadmap for reopening for more details.

COVIDSafe Plan now required for regional Victorian businesses

From 11:59 on 13 September 2020, it is mandatory for every Victorian business to have a COVIDSafe Plan.

To ensure compliance, random spot checks are underway in metropolitan Melbourne and commenced in regional Victoria from 29 September 2020.

Your COVIDSafe Plan must set out:

• your actions to help prevent the introduction of coronavirus (COVID-19) in your workplace
• the level of face covering or personal protective equipment (PPE) required for your workforce 
• how you will prepare for, and respond to, a suspected or confirmed case of coronavirus (COVID-19) in your workplace
• this plan must demonstrate how you will meet all the requirements set out by the Victorian Government. Some higher-risk industries or workplaces have additional requirements of employers and employees.

Businesses must review and update their COVIDSafe Plans routinely, especially when restrictions or public health advice changes.

Organisations with multiple worksites must complete a COVIDSafe Plan for each worksite.

For more information and for templates and guidance on how to create your COVIDSafe Plan, visit coronavirus.vic.gov.au

What should you do to help limit the spread of avian flu? Here are 8 key things you can do:

• Report sick or dead birds, including wild birds to the 24/7 Emergency animal Disease Watch Hotline – 1800 675 888 or contact your vet
• Always wash your hands before and after handling birds or eggs
• Restrict contact between your birds and wild birds, including bird-proofing housing and feed storage areas
• Keep poultry sheds, yards, aviaries and equipment clean
• Limit visitors to your birds and use clean footwear
• Ensure that any visitors to your birds wear protective clothing and walk through a viricidal footbath before going into your bird areas
• Quarantine new birds before integrating them with your existing birds
• Prevent your birds from accessing water sources that may have been contaminated by wild waterfowl (e.g., ponds, lakes, creeks, channels, dams, puddles and water troughs) or only use an appropriately chlorinated water source.

Have questions? Call the avian influenza hotline (03) 4334 2715 or go to agriculture.vic.gov.au/avianflu

The Victorian Government’s annual economic snapshot of dairy farms has revealed a lift in average performance across the state.

Minister for Agriculture Jaclyn Symes today released the 14th Dairy Farm Monitor Project (DFMP) which shows a challenging first six months of 2019-20 were followed by favourable conditions in the second half of the year to lift average performance across Victoria’s dairy regions.

While nearly all DFMP farms experienced positive profits, with consistent performance reported across the regions, many farms are still not fully recovered from the recent years of drought and challenging conditions.

Respondents say Victorian Government and Dairy Australia support services have played a role in assisting them navigate both seasonal and business challenges.

Farms showed resilience and innovation to lower costs and with a 17 per cent increase in milk price, average earnings before interest and tax was $1.68 per kilogram of milk solids or $346,000 per farm.

Farms in the South-West and Gippsland lifted milk production by sourcing relatively cheaper feed or capitalising on greater pasture availability.

Northern farms budgeted for high water prices and many chose to purchase fodder in favour of irrigating which lowered costs and contributed to the better performance.

Most participant farms across all regions are expecting profits and milk prices to either remain stable or increase in 2020-21.

The project is a collaboration between Agriculture Victoria and Dairy Australia and the full report is available for download here agriculture.vic.gov.au/dairyfarmmonitor.

Tuesday 20 October, 9.30 - 11 am

With a favourable year experienced by many in our region, join AgVic's Claire Waterman as she presents the results of the 2019-20 Dairy Farm Monitor Project. This respected program allows our regions farmers to benchmark their business against others facing similar conditions and challenges - highlighting potential areas for improvement.

Farm consultant, Fiona Smith will then discuss how these results can be used to drive profitability on local farms.

DA Industry Analyst, John Droppert will discuss the latest Situation and Outlook report and look at current and potential influences on the industry, locally, nationally and internationally.

Register here.

Managing and forecasting cash flow is essential for any business. For farmers it’s particularly important given the highly variable income that comes with seasonal conditions, market fluctuations and unforeseen circumstances such as fire or floods.

Agriculture Victoria Livestock Extension Officer Greg Ferrier said being prepared, both on the farm and on the books, will assist farmers when it comes to managing challenging situations.

“For individual farm businesses, financial forecasting is equally important as seasonal forecasting in terms of being prepared as best a producer can be to manage changing markets, seasonal conditions or the impact of floods or fires,” Mr Ferrier said.

“Having good cash flow management will also allow farmers to take advantage of the opportunities, good seasons and good markets provide when they arrive.”

Now all farmers can improve their cash flow management skills with Agriculture Victoria and AgBiz Assist’s Farm Cash Flow 101, a free two-session course designed in conjunction with farm business specialists to help farmers understand cash flow budgets, and develop confidence using spreadsheets for cash flow management.

Using case study figures from a farming operation, farm business specialist Jim Moll, from AgBiz Assist, will illustrate how to develop a simple cash flow budget to manage income and expenditure over the next 12 months.

Once mastered, these simple Excel® spreadsheets can be adapted to a number of farm businesses and become an integral part of financial planning and management, revised regularly to reflect current circumstances.

“This course will provide farmers with a straightforward approach to cash flow budgeting on a spreadsheet that can be adapted to a range of farm businesses depending on the individual’s needs,” Mr Ferrier said.

“The aim is to start to build confidence to use spread sheets to manage projected and actual farm cash flows so it as an ongoing process, not just as a one-off exercise.”

The course will run on Monday 26 October and Wednesday 28 October, from 11 am to noon.

Monday, 26 October 11 am - noon:

• Introduction to cash flow budgeting, spreadsheet basics, and why cash flow budgets are important and how they assist farm business

Wednesday, 28 October 11 am - noon:

• Refining the spreadsheet, and adapting cash flow budgets to different production systems

To register visit farm-cash-flow-budgets.eventbrite.com.au

For more information phone Greg Ferrier on 0438 738 634.

This webinar with seasonal risk agronomist Dale Grey, will focus on the current seasonal climate outlook.

The information presented will be of particular relevance to the grains industry in Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia and NSW.

The outlook will be based on model projections for rainfall utilising current oceanic, atmospheric and soil moisture conditions.

This webinar is simply an online presentations which allows you to ask questions.

It will be recorded, so if you miss the live presentation you can watch it later at a time that suits you.

Date and time: Friday 16 October at 12 pm 
Event number: 165 827 5852
Event password: DaleGrey

Register here for the combined state webinar.

Note: If you need to dial into the webinar, ring (03) 9070 6482 (note charges will apply) and, if prompted, enter the event number.

To join a webinar you’ll need access to a computer that has a good internet connection, and a headset or built in computer speakers and microphone.

You can also watch via computer and phone in (if you can’t access audio on your computer), or you can watch and interact in the webinar via your smartphone or tablet.

For more information about this webinar, email the.break@agriculture.vic.gov.au

The Victorian Government is helping more rural women to reach their leadership aspirations with more funded places being made available through the Victorian Rural Women’s Network Leadership and Mentoring program.

To mark International Day of Rural Women, Minister for Agriculture Jaclyn Symes encouraged Victorian rural women in agriculture to apply for the program.

Applications to take part in Leadership Victoria’s new ‘Women Leading Now’ program are now open, with four funded places on offer. This new two-day leadership is being delivered online in November.

While a third of Victorian farmers are women and many more work on-farm as a secondary occupation, Victorian women remain underrepresented in leadership and decision-making roles.

The $500,000 Victorian Rural Women’s Leadership and Mentoring program was launched in 2018 to upskill more than 40 women over three years. The initiative offers access to programs covering board skills, governance, financial and business management, team-building, community collaboration and networking.

Central Victorian farmer Carly Noble is one of 24 Victorian women who have so far used the Leadership and Mentoring Program as an opportunity to turn ideas into tangible outcomes for their communities.

This year Carly was one of three rural women to accept a funded place on a Regional Leadership program through the Victorian Rural Women’s Network. During the program, Carly developed ideas to connect and advise small farm businesses and has also launched a gift hamper initiative supporting people doing it tough in rural communities.

Applications are now open for the Women Leading Now program, with funded places for Regional Leadership’s three community-based programs based in Ballarat and the Western, Goulburn Murray and Wimmera regions set to open soon.

For more information and to apply, visit the Victorian Rural Women’s Network website at extensionaus.com.au/VRWNetwork/leadership-and-mentoring-program

This newsletter introduces the new soil moisture monitoring website that makes it easier to access all the soil probe site data.

While winter and spring rains have filled a number of soil profiles across the state, there are still some notable exceptions in Gippsland.

This report was produced with data up to 7 October and does not include the effects of recent rain across the state. We have also included the spring pasture predictions for the Harrow and Baynton sites, produced as part of the local groups' Enhanced Producer Demonstration Sites (funded by Agriculture Victoria and MLA), investigating the use of soil moisture data for spring management decisions.

By Dale Boyd and Jane Court.

You can read the newsletter here.

Agriculture Victoria scientists have shown that using lucerne hay as a feed supplement can improve the productivity and nutritional value of sheep meat in a changing climate.

Agriculture Victoria scientist Eric Ponnampalam said this latest research further confirms more than a decade of studies that demonstrate adding lucerne to sheep diets provides a host of benefits.

“This research is the first in the world to prove a diet supplemented with lucerne hay is equal to a feedlot diet,” Dr Ponnampalam said.

“Climate change is causing the yield, persistence and nutritive value of pastures to decline in many parts of southern Australia, particularly during the summer and autumn months.”

Supplementing diets with cereal grains, legume seeds or concentrates over summer and autumn can maintain animal growth rates during periods when pastures are sparse.

However, supplements are costly and may cause digestive problems such as acidosis or bloating unless appropriate feeding strategies are maintained.

Dr Ponnampalam said this project compared feeding a low-energy diet supplemented with lucerne hay to a high-energy diet supplemented with a barley-oat grain mix, to both crossbred and Merino sheep.

The results demonstrated that using lucerne hay rather than grains as a supplement had a range of advantages and didn’t negatively affect liveweight or carcass weight at slaughter of both breeds.

“Lucerne hay is a win-win. It maintained the animal’s body weight equal to the grain diet and was better at both providing essential nutrients and preserving the meat’s red colour,” Dr Ponnampalam said.

“Colour is very important, as consumers don’t buy meat that has turned brown – the cuts are immediately removed from retail display and turned into mince or go on sale.

“Our findings offer farmers a cheaper, home-grown solution to maintaining year-round productivity on-farm, particularly when faced with the impacts of climate change on their feedbase.”

Dr Ponnampalam said farmers can harvest lucerne in spring, store it as a hay or silage, and subsequently feed to livestock in summer and autumn when required. Therefore, farmers can sell larger carcasses at a lesser expense.

“Lucerne is also easier for farmers to store than grain, and it can improve soil fertility via nitrogen fixation when used as a rotational crop.

“Our research is identifying lucerne as having the potential to be a ruminant diet, not only for sheep, but for cattle and dairy as well.”

Image: Bessiebelle farmer Will McDonald

The WestVic Dairy Board welcomed new Associate Director, Will McDonald at its recent Annual General Meeting. Mr McDonald farms at Bessiebelle with wife Melissa and her parents, John and Naomi Pye.

An appreciation of the important role extension plays in the dairy industry was a driving factor in applying for the role.

“Extension services were incredibly valuable to me when I started out. Using the available resources and attending various events helped me to increase my knowledge and develop the business to where it is today.

“Keeping this focus is important to aid new entrants to the industry, but also in helping established farmers run profitable, sustainable businesses by delivering the latest in research and development,” Mr McDonald said.

Milking 500 Holstein cows on 454 hectares, the people space is a priority for the new Board member.

“Attracting good people into the industry, and then ensuring they are well looked after with a safe workplace and good training opportunities will help retain them and allow them to develop their careers in dairy.

“I am very confident that the dairy industry in south-west Victoria will thrive over the coming years and I want to assist WestVic Dairy to deliver relevant, valuable extension services to the region’s farmers to help achieve this.”

The AGM also saw Treasurer Rhonda Henry reappointed for a second term, and former Associate Director, Brad Collins move to a full Director position.

WestVic Dairy Chair, Simone Renyard is looking forward to the year ahead.

“We are thrilled to have Will join us on the Board. He brings with him a huge passion, great enthusiasm and a drive to ensure our farmers get their extension needs met through the services we offer. Bringing new voices and thinking to the Board table is incredibly important.

“The WestVic Dairy Board is committed to providing the best possible service to our farmers. We always welcome their input and feedback. Together we look forward to advancing the dairy industry here in the south-west,” Mrs Renyard said.

State-wide rainfall late in the cropping season sets Victorian grain growers up for a terrific harvest this year.

Agriculture Victoria grains industry Biosecurity Officer Jim Moran said to maximise financial returns from this year’s harvest, growers must maintain grain quality by implementing excellent hygiene practices.

“Hygienically harvesting, transporting and storing grain requires active and ongoing interventions to ensure the harvest income isn’t reduced by storage pests and diseases which can reduce quality, price and consequently limit your market options,” Mr Moran said.

Hygiene strategies that should be put in place now, include;

• Clean up grain residues and spills around silos, bunkers and sheds
• Clean out empty grain storages, grain handling and harvesting equipment and machinery (apply a structural treatment such as a desiccant dust to each surface prior to using)
• Repair seals around hatches, latches and chutes to prevent access by insects
• Plan for the capability to aerate the new crop in the silo as a cooler environment slows down the insect breeding cycle, making it easier to control arriving insects
• Get advice on chemical grain protectants to use on new grain and how best to apply if you plan to store grain for lengthy periods
• Stay informed: Get a free copy of the Monitoring Stored Grain on Farm  booklet and the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) publication Grain Storage GrowNote from Agriculture Victoria
• Ensure grain from this year’s harvest isn’t mixed with grain from previous harvests to prevent the risk of cross-contamination from any persistent insects or disease
• If using a contractor, ask these five important questions; Where did you last harvest?, Did the property have any hard-to-kill or herbicide-resistant weeds?, What was the last crop harvested?, When, how and where did you clean down? Did you use a desiccant dust to eliminate stored grain pests?

Mr Moran said he recommended farmers insist any contractors coming to work on their property cleans vehicles and equipment before entering.

“Soil and plant material can carry weed-seeds and pests when left on tyres, radiator grilles, wheel arches, floor mats and work boots.
“Make sure you check any machinery or vehicles that are going to be working on your farm and remember if you are not satisfied with their cleanliness, you can direct them to your vehicle clean-down station or a designated area which can be monitored.

“If there are no clean down facilities on farm, explore other options in the community that can provide wash down facilities or similar service. There are other options to doing nothing.”

If you would like a free biosecurity gate sign or other grain biosecurity information please contact Jim Moran at Agriculture Victoria on (03) 5430 4479.

Mr Moran is also wanting to test grain storage insects for Phosphine resistance under a GRDC program and is looking for sites for setting Khapra Beetle surveillance traps under the Sentinel Silo program.

More essential grain hygiene information is available here www.farmbiosecurity.com.au and here www.agriculture.vic.gov.au

Agriculture Victoria has a fantastic new opportunity for young farmers!

We are partnering with Regional Leadership to offer a fully funded place in each of their ten regional leadership programs for 2021.
Are you keen to:

• connect with other people within your community who are interested in improving their leadership skills?
• deepen your understanding of where your agriculture business sits within your region?
• identify and develop your leadership style and identify your strengths?
• gain support in improving your management and resilience skills?
• participate in study tours in multiple different businesses across the region?

This is a fantastic opportunity for any young agriculture professionals or farmers looking to get more involved in community leadership.

Read further about the opportunities and benefits of the 2021 program and find out which region-specific program you are eligible for on the Regional Leadership website.

Applications for the Alpine Valleys Community Leadership program and Great South Coast Leadership program are now open.

All other programs will open soon so keep an eye out on the Young Business Network Facebook group or on the Regional Leadership website.

Applicants are required to be 18 to 40 years of age, residing in regional or rural Victoria, and involved in agriculture or the agriculture supply chain.

You may be eligible to claim some out of pocket expenses, so please contact your program for more information.

For more information please contact Sarah Wallis, Young Farmer Project Coordinator at sarah.wallis@agriculture.vic.gov.au

Have you listened to the new AgVic Talk podcast yet?

We have several episodes out now, including:

• Spring pasture management of fire affected pastures with Fiona Baker
• Getting a foot in the door using drones on-farm with Clay-Gowers
• Balancing wet winters and dairy farming with Craig Dwyer
• Managing a dairy farm in a variable climate with Kevin Fitzsimons
• Using soil moisture monitoring to help manage seasonal risk with Dale Boyd.

Listen here

#SnapshotRuralVic, an initiative of the National Centre for Farmer Health is bringing Victorians from Buchan to Bendigo, and Kyabram to Kennedys Creek together to tell a unique story of rural life in Victoria during the second wave COVID-19 lockdown. 

Since launching over seven weeks ago, over 1,000 people have shared their photos and stories of everyday rural life over a number of social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and the website.  

During a time when people are more disconnected than ever, it has proved to be a valuable outlet for people to connect and share aspects of how life goes on during lockdown. 

One participant noted #SnapshotRuralVic 'picked me up when feeling down and I enjoyed the positive and motivating pictures.'

Social media analytics show both rural and metropolitan areas are joining in with feedback received from the participants overwhelmingly positive.

‘Seeing other people’s photos/experiences keeps me engaged and motivated’ and ‘I love seeing photos of other farmer’s places and the things that they do’. 

Project Officer, Hilary McAllister says ‘It has been encouraging to see that the simple act of sharing a photo or story is keeping other people motivated during this lockdown.'

Each week, there is a new theme with the most recent Covid cooking, masks on farms and stories from the shed.

'Some of the photos of the projects that people have been doing have been simply amazing’, Ms McAllister said. 

A weekly shortlist of the entries also go in the running to win the People’s Choice Award with the lucky winner receiving a $100 voucher to a local Victorian business of their choice.

With only a few weeks remaining, the National Centre for Farmer Health is hoping to see the community continue to grow. 

The campaign will culminate at the #SnapshotRuralVic Awards which will take place virtually in early November. 

The Awards will consider all #SnapshotRuralVic submissions and provide those who haven’t yet participated with the opportunity to be in the running for the many prizes still on offer. 

All submissions across the 10 weeks of the campaign will be considered for judging, with categories including ‘Celebrating the Next Generation’, ‘Lamb of the Year’ and ‘Best Covid-Kitchen Creation’.  The campaign will conclude on Friday 6th November.

For further information, click here or reach out to the Snapshot Online Project Officer, Hilary McAllister, directly at hmcallister@wdhs.net or on 0490483548 for more information. 

Are you interested in improving the mental wellbeing of farmers and people in farming communities?

Are you a member of a farming community OR a service provider/stakeholder providing support for farming communities in the Great South Coast region?

Have you experienced depression or psychological/situational distress OR have you cared for or provided support (formal or informal) to someone who has?

The National Centre for Farmer Health are seeking farmers and service providers/stakeholders for a number of exciting new project roles:

1. Community Working Group for guidance on project development, participant recruitment and development of new mental wellbeing resources (Expected commitment required: monthly meetings over an eight-month period)
2. Co-design participants to help inform the development of a new way of delivering peer-supported mental health support. (Expected commitment: 1–2 online workshops for 2–3 hours, one follow-up online survey for 30 minutes).

Financial reimbursement for your time is available for farmers and self-employed farming community members.

For more information or to express your interest in participating, please contact Alison Kennedy via a.kennedy@deakin.edu.au or phone (03) 5551 8587 or visit the Farmer Health website.

Details about Agriculture Victoria events can now be found in one spot on our website.

Do you know the NLIS requirements for goats sold at public and online auctions?

Participants will learn about the national traceability system, how to complete a Property to Property (P2P) transfer and use the NLIS database features.

Date and time

Part 1: Wednesday 21 October, 7– 8 pm

Part 2: Wednesday 28 October, 7 – 8 pm.

Note: Attendance at both sessions is required.

Topics

Overview of the Victorian traceability system. Setting up, navigating and using the NLIS database and completing Property to Property (P2P) transfers on the NLIS database.

For both sessions, register with eventbrite.

For more information, or if you have trouble registering, please call (03) 5761 1647.

Numbers are limited to allow for an interactive session, so be quick to secure a spot!

Other information

Participants are required to set up their NLIS account prior to attending the webinar, further information on how to do this and how to join the webinar will be provided at registration.​

Agriculture Victoria is delivering a webinar for livestock producers with a focus on applying nutrients based on soil test results.

​Topics covered:

• How much nutrient to apply
• When to apply
• Prioritising nutrient resources
• Balancing the removal of nutrient ​

Thursday 22 October, 12.30 – 1.30 pm

Join the applying soil test results webinar via Zoom.

Contact Tess McDougall 0409 841 492 or tess.mcdougall@agriculture.vic.gov.au

Managing and forecasting cash flow is essential for any business.

For farmers it’s particularly important given the highly variable income that comes with seasonal conditions, market fluctuations and unforeseen circumstances such as fire or floods.

Being prepared, both on the farm and on the books, will assist in preparing for and managing challenging situations.

Farm Cash Flow 101 is a two-session course designed to help farmers understand cash flow budgets, and develop confidence using spreadsheets for cash flow management.

The course will run over two days:

Monday 26 October and Wednesday 28 October, from 11 am to Noon.

Monday, 26 October

• Why cash flow budgets are important and how they assist farm businesses
• Introduction to cash flow budgeting and spreadsheet basics.

Wednesday, 28 October

• Adapting cash flow budgets to different production systems
• Refining the spreadsheet.

Using case study figures from a farming operation, Farm Cash Flow 101 presenter farm business specialist Jim Moll, from AgBiz Assist, will show you how to develop a simple cashflow budget for your farm business, to get a better handle on managing income and expenditure over the next 12 months.

Once mastered, these simple Excel® spreadsheets can become an integral part of farm financial planning and management, revised regularly to reflect current circumstances.

DETAILS

How to participate:  Register on Eventbrite: farm-cash-flow-budgets.eventbrite.com.au

Join-in information and an Excel® spreadsheet template will be provided prior to the sessions.

For more information contact Greg Ferrier at greg.ferrier@agriculture.vic.gov.au or call 0438 738 634.

The webinar is provided in partnership with AgBiz Assist and the Rural Financial Counselling Service, through the support of the Victorian and Federal Governments.

Higher summer temperatures and greater frequency of extreme temperatures events, along with water scarcity, are likely to be the major climate change related threats to irrigated agriculture in the Mallee.

In this webinar, the project team will summarise the findings from a recent project to assess the likely impact of future climates on dominant irrigated crops in the Mallee.  We will hear how the results from this work have provided input into the development of adaptive management strategies.

Presenters

Natalie Mason, Agriculture Victoria
Anna Roberts, Natural Decisions
Don Arnold, Mallee CMA

Register here to attend.

Date: Thursday 22 October

Time: 12 pm AEST

Duration: 1 hour

Cost: Free

You can join our webinars via your web browser, the WebEx app on your phone, tablet or iPad or by dialling in.

For more information about these webinars, including assistance joining the webinar, email climate.webinars@agriculture.vic.gov.au

Webinar - Wednesday 21 October, 7.30 pm

Retain, bale & graze, or slash & burn?

There’s a lot to think about at harvest and managing your stubble load will help you with your cropping program next year.

Stefan Schmitt, Yorke Peninsula agronomist and researcher from Ag Consulting and Research, will cover the key agronomy considerations of stubble retention farming. This will include the decisions that need to be made now to aid the establishment of crops into retained stubbles next year.

Stefan was involved in the GRDC’s ‘Stubble Initiative’, which developed regional guidelines for managing stubble retained systems.

This webinar will prepare landholders to:

• Understand the cost benefits of retaining stubble
• Understand the benefits to soil health
• Learn how to calculate stubble loads
• How to set up stubbles for 2020

This webinar is for people who are considering the options of managing stubble.

Please register using the details below. You will receive a link to the webinar by email, you need this link to join. We suggest joining early at 7.20 pm.

To register or for more information please contact:

Martin Hamilton (Agriculture Victoria, Bendigo) on 0429 946 149 or martin.hamilton@agriculture.vic.gov.au

A call out to dairy farmers in the south west. On Wednesday, 21 October Agriculture Victoria scientists Dr Jo Newton and Dr Phuong Ho, and Murray Dairy’s Ross Read will be answering questions about the application of milk mid-infrared spectroscopy (MIR) technology on farms. The virtual forum will begin at 12.30pm. To register, go to Dairy Australia’s website https://tinyurl.com/ATRMIR

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