This newsletter is a brief overview of agriculture-related news from the Eyre Peninsula Landscape Board.

Sustainable agriculture is one of our five priorties - the others being biodiversity, pest plant and animal control, water and community.

As part of our sustainable agriculture program, we have a Sustainable Agriculture Facilitator who is available to provide a range of support, focused on facilitating partnerships and connections that help farmers, landholders and community groups work together to achieve sustainable outcomes.

Amy Wright is our facilitator, based in Kimba. These facilitators - located across Australia's regional areas - are supported by the Australian Government through funding from the Natural Heritage Trust under the Climate-Smart Agriculture Program.

Local grower-led research and extension group, Ag Innovation and Research EP (AIR EP) is contracted to host the Sustainable Agriculture Facilitator role. Please reach out to Amy if you want to know more about how she can help you. Email amy.wright@airep.com.au or phone 0467 004 555.

Read on to find out about our current review of groundwater use, a new soils project, dry condition resources, spring fox baiting, a soil survey and case study links.

Community consultation is now open for a revision of Eyre Peninsula’s water allocation plan, which regulates how water can be taken from the region’s prescribed groundwater resources and how much can be extracted.

Under the plan, there are a number of licenced users, including SA Water who use their licence to supply mains water to households, farms and businesses across Eyre Peninsula. With the latest monitoring and scientific assessments indicating that groundwater resources in these areas will no longer be able to sustainably meet the demands for water supply on Eyre Peninsula, it is expected that licence allocations will be reduced.

Water licence holders and stock and domestic groundwater users from the two areas, plus mains water users across the region, are encouraged to take part in the review via YourSAy. There's options for a quick engagement or more in-depth look at the resources.

This consultation will be completed in mid-December and will inform the preparation of a draft revised plan. Another round of consultation will take place mid next year on that draft revised plan, with the revision set to be completed by the start of 2026, ready for new licences to be issued by the Department for Environment and Water by mid-2026.

This review is vitally important for the sustainability of Eyre Peninsula groundwater resources. The latest data is showing us that if we leave the allocations as they are, there is the potential for irreversible damage caused by salinisation from seawater getting into the basins or drawing saline water up from the underlying aquifer.

We encourage everyone who would be affected by this to look at the consultation on YourSAy before it closes on December 16.

Watch a 5-minute video that explains how the water allocation plan works.

We understand that dry conditions across Eyre Peninsula are proving to be challenging for many of our landholders.

Please have a look at our soil management page and Land Management Control Policy which provide more details on land system descriptions and land management risks; as well as setting out land management principles.

We are also currently preparing our RAPPA mobile electric fencing units for loan to assist management of stock in dry conditions. This will be promoted on our social media pages when available and you can also check in with your nearest landscape office to enquire about availability soon.

Find us on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter (X).

You may have heard that the 2024 Soil CRC Landholder Survey is underway on the Eyre Peninsula, which follows up on a 2020 Landholder Survey.

AIR EP used the results of the 2020 survey to inform its Strategic Plan for 2021-2026, and it was also used as a springboard to bring other projects and funding into our region, including the SA Young Farmer – Facilitated Peer to Peer Learning. The survey also helps us to understand the impact of other projects, including Virtual Fencing for improved climate resilience on South Australian farms and the EP Soil Moisture Probe Network.

It has also provided solid data to inform the EP Ag Vision 2050, driven and supported by ourselves, AIR EP and SARDI with a focus on ensuring that research, development and extension priorities on EP are being selected to support the industry's vision for the future.

All growers should have received a note in the mail to access the 2024 survey or to opt-out of taking part.

We encourage farmers to get involved to share local soils knowledge. Information you provide will influence how funding is used in our region and how information is accessed from AIR EP and the Eyre Peninsula Landscape Board, both organisations working to support landholders to enable viable futures on the Eyre Peninsula.

Click here to access the online survey or opt out. But either way, don’t forget to add your serial number (from your letter) so we can note your completion or remove you from our list.

Our Regenerative Agriculture Program which finished up last year, supported Eyre Peninsula farmers to trial sustainable land management practices that could benefit their farming program.

We have a range of short case studies that outline what local farmers trialled including what did and didn't work for them.

Case studies include:

• managing erosion
• managing aluminium toxicity with liming
• changing business practices to suit a low-rainfall climate
• Mallee seeps control 
• trialling deep ripping combined with mixed species to improve production and soil health.

AIR EP news
AIR EP has a weekly newsletter focused on agricultural events and information specific to Eyre Peninsula farmers. Subscribe.

EP Landscape Board newsletter
Our newsletter keeps the community informed about our priorities such as pest plant and animal control, as well as grant opportunities and key work that we've been undertaking. Subscribe.