• Climate webinar this Friday
• National plan to combat climate change in agriculture
• Soils Community of Practice update
• Soil Moisture Monitoring - pastures
• Support for small-scale pig and poultry producers
• Finding Australia's next generation of lamb leaders
• Have your say on sheep and goat levy until 31 October
• Are you a Wimmera grain grower with an innovative idea or invention?
• Do your pulse crops look sick? Send in a sample
• What's on

A webinar describing how Victorian, South Australian and Tasmanian growers can assess the impact of climate drivers on regional weather patterns is available to watch.

In this recording, presenters Dale Grey (Agriculture Victoria) and Peter Hayman (SARDI) explain how growers can use the Forecasts4Profit and the Local Climate Tool to inform on-farm decision-making.

These tools were created as part of a joint initiative of the Grains Research and Development Corporation and Agriculture Victoria to support growers using forecast information to manage risk and increase profitability.

You can view this webinar by clicking the online link here.

Agriculture ministers from around Australia came together in Melbourne last week to endorse a national program, led by Victoria, that will see governments work together to help farmers meet the challenges of climate change.

Much of Australia is facing severe drought and dry conditions are set to become more frequent and extreme as a result of climate change.

It is vital that governments across Australia work together to build the country’s response to droughts and our farms’ preparedness for ongoing difficult seasonal conditions, through a coordinated national approach that gives Australian producers access to support that will provide relief immediately and well into the future.

Victorian Minister for Agriculture Jaclyn Symes welcomed the decision of the Agricultural Ministers’ Forum to commit to the national climate change work program, which will provide certainty to the agriculture and business sectors while supporting producers to build resilience against changing conditions.

Victoria led the development of the program, which focuses on four priorities:

• Delivering information and tools to improve on-farm decisions and risk management
• Driving research and innovation to support adaptation and mitigation technology
• Strengthening market opportunities and farming business models to build resilience
• Preparing for increasing biosecurity risks as the risk of pests, diseases and weeds changes

A new Climate Change Task Group will oversee the delivery of the program, regularly reporting to the Agriculture Senior Officials' Committee and Ministers on its progress.

Farmers across Australia know too well the challenges caused by climate change.

While they are good at adapting to difficult seasonal conditions, they need further support to thrive for decades, not years, to come.

Adapting to climate change makes good business sense, creating jobs for Australians and unlocking new investment opportunities.

The September/October edition of the Soils Community of Practice update is now available.

In this edition agronomist Chris Bluett discusses the expansion of crop production in the high rainfall zone, highlighting how growers in Victoria's south west region have improved their cropping practices.

Get the Soils Community of Practice newsletter delivered to you by subscribing here.

The Agriculture Victoria Pasture Soil Moisture Monitoring project provides instant soil water content and temperature data through a network of soil moisture probes.

Probe monitoring sites have been installed across a range of pasture and soil types in the medium to high rainfall zones of Victoria.

The sites record soil water content from between 10 and 80 centimetres below ground.

It’s hoped this pilot project will have application in dairy, beef and sheep grazing systems in the future.

To subscribe, click here.

Planning support for small-scale pig and poultry producers provides Victorian producers with funding of up to $3,000 to help them with the costs related to obtaining a land use planning permit.

To be eligible to apply you must:

• have an Australian Business Number (ABN)
• be seeking a land use planning permit for an existing or proposed small-scale pig or poultry farm located in Victoria
• complete a small-scale pig and poultry planning workshop prior to applying for the grant program.

Other eligibility requirements may apply.

Applications will remain open until 31 May 2020, or when the funding allocation is expended, whichever occurs first.

For informtion phone 13 61 86 or email psai@ecodev.vic.gov.au.

APPLY HERE: Planning Support Program for Small-Scale Pig and Poultry Producers VIC.

Are you, or do you know someone, aged 18 –35 years who is passionate about the Australian sheep and lamb industry?

Well, we'd like to let them know that the LambEx 2020 Young Guns competition is open!

Six finalists will be selected from round one of the LambEx 2020 Young Guns competition to attend the conference in Melbourne, receive travel assistance up to $800, and will be provided with professional development opportunities during the event.

Entering the competition is easy! LambEx wants to hear your vision on how to connect the Australian sheep and lamb industry with city consumers.

Simply capture your vision in three minutes or less using any digital medium(s) including (but not limited to) video, photography with voice overlay, digital storytelling, graphics, animation, GoPro etc.

Unleash your creativity over the coming months to prepare and submit your entry by 31 January 2020.

For information go to: https://lambex.com.au/lambex-young-guns/

Today is your last chance to have input on the duty paid by sheep and goat producers.

Sheep and goat producers and industry are invited to have their say on the future amount of the state’s sheep and goat duty, which is under review.

The duty, charged on the sale of sheep and goats in Victoria, was set at 12 cents in 1999 and has remained at that rate since.

Currently, the funds support projects and program benefitting industry, such as raising awareness of biosecurity practices.

The Sheep and Goat Compensation Advisory Committee makes recommendations to the Minister for Agriculture about expenditure. The fund also allows for compensation to be paid to producers for sheep and goats in the circumstance they are affected by a declared endemic disease.

This review comes on the back of the sheep and goat industry going through major reform, having transitioned from a mob-based identification process to an electronic identification system over the last few years.

There are six options provided for the ongoing sheep and goat duty amount.

For more information on the consultation and to submit your feedback at: engage.vic.gov.au/sheep-and-goat-duty-review.

Wimmera grain growers who have an innovative idea or product, but aren’t sure whether it’s worth developing or how to take steps towards commercialisation, can now get support as part of a series of new Growers as Innovators workshops.

Being held on October 29, the workshops are being delivered by Farmers2Founders (F2F) in partnership with the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) as part of the Birchip Cropping Group’s Building Climate Resilience event.

Farmers2Founders is an innovation and entrepreneurship program tailored to grain growers and primary producers. The GRDC has joined forces with them to support growers in the Wimmera region to take home-grown innovations through to commercialisation.

The one-hour Growers as Innovators workshops will feature case studies of innovative Australian producers, and tools to get started with an idea or to commercialise an invention.

GRDC Business Development and Commercialisation Manager – South Fernando Felquer said growers with ideas for new products or ventures were invited to come along to get support to determine whether their innovations were worth pursuing and to find out how they could get started.

The free workshops will be held in Birchip on October 29 at the Birchip Town Hall as part of the Building Climate Resilience event. The event runs from 8.45 am to 5 pm with the workshops part of the program.

The Growers as Innovators workshops are open to anyone keen to learn more about innovation in agriculture or with an idea for a new product. They offer an opportunity to:

• learn and share ideas for new products and new technologies
• obtain support to get started with your idea or take it to the next level
• hear case studies of innovative producers across Australia.

Mr Felquer said the GRDC had partnered with F2F to support growers who had creative solutions to overcome or combat problems in the grains industry.

“Growers have significant practical experience and are often resourceful and skilled when it comes to overcoming the challenges they have in the paddock,” he said.

“The Growers as Innovators workshops are about engaging with and supporting growers to develop and potentially commercialise their ideas.”

F2F is supported by AgriFutures, Wine Australia, Australian Wool Innovation, Meat and Livestock Australia and the GRDC.

Learn more at https://www.bcg.org.au/building-climate-resilience-event-blog/ or email Alexander Leat at alex@farmers2founders.com.

Register at https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/building-climate-resilience-tickets-75253173267.

Agriculture Victoria researcher Dr Josh Fanning is calling on growers and agronomists to send in pulse and oilseed samples from crops where disease is suspected.

New disease sampling kits have been developed making the collection of plant samples easier. The disease samples will help to ensure researchers are using current samples that are regionally relevant.

Dr Fanning said since diseases change from one season to the next it is important that research and breeding programs have access to the latest samples.

"The information generated from these samples ensures growers have access to current information on the resistance of each variety and researchers can continue to improve disease resistance in new pulse varieties," he said.

"We have recently received a few reports of sclorotinia in lentil and chickpea crops and samples would be appreciated."

Crop samples with suspected soil-borne diseases are also sought as part of the National Soil-borne Disease project being run by Agriculture Victoria in partnership with the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC).

Growers and agronomists are being asked to report crops exhibiting poor thrift so that they can be tested for root disease.

Dr Fanning said some of the soil-borne diseases the project was targeting included rhizoctonia and root lesion nematodes.

“In general, we don’t know which soil-borne diseases are causing losses in pulses and oilseeds,” he said.

"The results of the disease testing would enable researchers to undertake research into management strategies for the priority diseases.

“Growers and agronomists are being urged to get in touch if they suspect root disease or have seen it previously in particular areas.”

“We have sampling kits that we will send to agronomists which include instructions on how to collect the samples and a replied paid envelope. If growers don’t have an agronomist, they can contact us, and we can collect the sample with them.”

If you are able to help, please contact Joshua Fanning at Agriculture Victoria on (03) 4344 3335 or joshua.fanning@agriculture.vic.gov.au to request a sampling kit.

On Tuesday 12 November, the Victoria Gorse Taskforce (VGT) is holding its Annual General Meeting (AGM) at 1.30 pm at State Government Office in Ballarat.

The VGT will conduct a short presentation outlining major activities and achievements that have occurred over the last 12 months and announce their 2019/20 grant recipients.

The VGT are also currently accepting nominations for committee positions in 2019/20, at which all current committee positions will be vacated and a new committee will be formed.

The VGT are looking for highly motivated individuals, that have a passion for weed control and want to take positive actions to help local community groups implement integrated Gorse control programs across Victoria.

As a member of the state-wide committee you will have a shared responsibility to oversee the coordination and implementation of the Victorian Gorse Control Strategy 2014-2019 (VGCS).

Nominations for the 2019/20 VGT committee will be accepted up until Friday, 1 November 2019.

If you or your organisation are interested in attending, please RSVP to Executive Officer, Nicole Garfi on 0417 593 250 or by email to info@vicgorsetaskforce.com.au by Friday 1 November 2019.

For more information visit the VGT website and view the Victorian Gorse Control Strategy.

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