Did you know that improvements in your soil can reduce reliance on high-analysis fertilisers, herbicides, insecticides, and fungicides? Come on a journey to explore the soil sociobiome with Dr Christine Jones to gain a greater understanding of how our soils function. You will learn how phosphorus and nitrogen work and interact with soils and discover the important principles of soil health.

Don’t forget to bring all your soil questions along for a Q & A in the afternoon with soil experts Dr Christine Jones, Dr Mel Fraser, James Hall and mutlispecies crop grower Sam Schinckel.

Dr Christine Jones is an internationally renowned and highly respected groundcover and soils ecologist. She has a wealth of experience working with innovative landholders to implement regenerative land management practices that enhance biodiversity, increase biological activity, sequester carbon, activate soil nutrient cycles, restore water balance, improve productivity and create new topsoil. 

Date: Friday 10 June 2022

Place: Kybybolite Football and Netball Club - East Terrace, Kybybolite SA 5262

Time: 9 am – 3 pm

Bring: Your soil questions and your wet weather gear (just in case)!                                             

Cost: Free - including morning tea and lunch 

For more information please contact Skylea McLean on 0437 030 765 

Register through Eventbrite.

This project is funded by the Limestone Coast Landscape Board through the landscape levy.

Have you ever thought about becoming a member of Landcare Association of South Australia? Or are you a group who are keen to join? Now is the time. Landcare SA are currently offering free early-bird membership for the 2022/23 year.

This offer is available until 1 July for 1 year memberships for both groups and individuals. A reminder that you don’t have to be a classical ‘Landcare’ group to be a member of the Landcare Association of South Australia. It is instead open to anyone or any group that would like to support Landcare in SA, and will give you access to communications about training and funding opportunities and updates in the Landcare space, discounted or free attendance at Landcare SA events (including the upcoming Landcare Roadshow), and a host of other benefits.

It also allows Landcare SA to advocate for you when lobbying state and federal governments and other funders and decision-makers. With a state government commitment of $1 million to our organisation over the next four years, it is an exciting time to become a Landcare SA member.

Free 2022/23 membership can be secured here -

• Groups
• Individuals

Did you know that accredited Livestock Management Programs are available in the Limestone Coast and are offered regularly by experienced local trainers?

You can form your own group of like-minded producers in your area, or simply register your interest for future programs delivered near you.

Rural Industries Skills Training (RIST), in conjunction with key industry groups providing course fee subsidies, facilitate the following programs in the Limestone Coast:

• Lifetime Ewe Management  - Australian Wool Innovation (AWI) and RIST’s Lifetime Ewe Management course runs over the 12 month weaning to weaning cycle. The timing of each meeting is linked to critical stages in the management of the ewe’s reproductive cycle. All sessions involve a visit to each participant’s farm and focus on condition scoring, pasture assessing and feed budgeting activities that are practical and applicable to the farm business. Lifetime Ewe Management provides a pathway for you to develop a successful and productive animal production system. This program is supported and co-owned by AWI offering a fee subsidy to eligible woolgrowers.

• Heifers for Profit - Being involved in a Heifers for Profit course gives you the skills and confidence to manage your heifers’ nutrition to improve animal welfare, increase future reproductive success, optimise stocking rates, and increase whole farm profitability. Working with groups of 5-7 farmers who meet six times in 15 months where the trainer will work with the group on the principles and practices of ‘Heifers for Profit’ including getting heifers in-calf efficiently, managing pregnancy and achieving critical weights, transitioning the heifer into a cow – preparation for calving and re-breeding, managing calving ‘The fruits of your labour’ and pre-joining management and calf marking. This program is supported by Meat & Livestock Australia through the Profitable Grazing Systems initiative.

For further information or to register your interest for a program in your area email or phone Bec Malseed, National Program Manager Ph: 0407 730 943. 

Tickets are now on sale for one of the dairy industry’s most anticipated events, the 2022 DairySA Innovation Day.

After a hiatus for the past two years, up to 200 dairy farmers and service providers from across SA’s Limestone Coast and beyond are expected to attend the popular Innovation Day, to be held at The Barn, Mt Gambier on Wednesday 1 June.

Speakers will include

• Dr Bill Wales from the 100 Days project - addressing the most critical period in each cow’s lactation 
• Dr Jennie Pryce from the DairyBio program
• Tom Cosentino from the SADA Industry Fund

A mix of concurrent sessions in the afternoon will provide participants with a cross section of themes to deep dive into the topics.

Now in its twentieth year, the DairySA Innovation Day has grown to become one of SA’s premier dairy industry events and has built a reputation for attracting high calibre speakers and industry experts.

Following the full day program delegates are invited to enjoy the Top Paddock and Dinner to get together with old and new industry friends, share the day’s insights and provide feedback to the DairySA Board and team.

Tickets are now available via Eventbrite. 

Join Limestone Coast producers to work through crafting and evolving your provenance story with well known and respected Food and Wine Writer Katie Spain (Good Food, Gourmet Traveller, Wine Business Magazine), and Producer Marketing Guru Jimmy Williams (Williams and Company)! What a pair to provide guidance, input and hot tips on how your story presents to consumers.  This half day (hands on) workshop will cover

• the foundations of your story
• the best highlights of your story
• sharing it on written, visual and social media
• developing a deeper connection with consumers

By attending you will not only get to share your story with these two great regional producer advocates, you will also have the chance to mingle with other producers, and hear their story – the next food and beverage partnership or collaboration could be just around the corner!

The workshops will be interactive – and tickets are limited.  Tickets are FREE, registration is required, and numbers are limited – so book now! 

Two workshops are being run – Naracoorte (10 May, 1-5 pm) and On-line (16 May, 9 am-1 pm).  To find out more and reserve your ticket, please visit humanitix or call Toni Duka 0417 083 626 with any questions!

This project is supported by the Limestone Coast Landscape Board, through funding from the Australian Government’s National Landcare Program.

The Limestone Coast (LC) Landscape Board is proud of its association with the ‘Coorong Tatiara Local Action Plan’ (CTLAP) project, with both seeking to align the practice of environmental management with agricultural production.

As explained on the Coorong Council CTLAP webpage: some issues are too large or complicated for individuals to tackle alone, so CTLAP seeks to provide support and to build the capacity of both individuals and groups to address the larger issues.

The recent CTLAP farm walk and workshop – ‘Carbon on your farm: soil health and salinity update’ –  was supported by the LC Landscape Board’s Adaptive Agricultural project through its grant program.  As a key focus, the Adaptive Agriculture project seeks to increase awareness and adoption of land management practices that improve and protect the condition of soil, biodiversity and vegetation – with soil carbon management as one of its main themes.

In particular, SA Research and Development Institute soil carbon specialist Amanda Schapel was supported to present on ‘Soil, carbon and productivity: soil carbon baseline levels, carbon building projects in SA, and where to from here?’ With her knowledge and insight, Amanda helped to clarify soil carbon opportunities and risks, and carbon’s role in soil health and productivity.

This project is supported by the Limestone Coast Landscape Board, through funding from the Australian Government’s National Landcare Program.

These webinars with Agriculture Victoria seasonal risk agronomist Dale Grey, focus on the current seasonal climate outlook for Victoria and South Australia.
The outlook is based on model projections for rainfall using current oceanic, atmospheric and soil moisture conditions.

South Australia
Date and time: Thursday 21 April at 2.30pm ACST
Passcode: April2022!
Recording length: 45 mins
Recording here

Victoria
Date and time: Friday 22 April at 12pm AEST
Passcode: April2022!
Recording length: 51 mins
Recording here

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

To Which We Belong is a documentary that highlights farmers leaving behind conventional practices that are no longer profitable.

Years of industrialized agriculture have been a major contributor to climate change. To Which We Belong follows a new generation of farmers who seek to rebuild their businesses and their planet by embracing the interconnectedness of living things.

Date: Saturday 7 May 2022

Time: 4:00 pm – 8:00 pm ACST

Location: St Anthony's Catholic Primary School. 37 Mount Gambier Rd Millicent, SA 5280

Tickets are free through Eventbrite

Red foxes post a significant risk to both agriculture and conservation and cost the Australian economy over $200 million annually. However, they are an elusive species, and little is known about their population and dispersal dynamics in the Australian landscape. This project aims to explore the connectivity, dispersal, and population dynamics of red fox population across Australia using a population and landscape genetic based approach.

How can you help? For this project to be a success AusFox needs samples from across Australia. If you are a landholder, management professional or other who is able to collect some fox ear tissue samples and would like to contribute them to the project, please contact Will Ashley by email or head to the AusFox website for more information.

The Limestone Coast Women in Ag Network (LCWiAN) is a network for women in agriculture in the Limestone Coast to communicate with and support each other in both a social and a professional capacity, building strong connectedness in the region. 

The LCWiAN is offering Succession Planning and Business Planning workshops on 5 and 18 May, respectively.

Tony Catt, from Catapult Wealth and Pass the Baton podcast is delivering the Succession Planning workshop examining practicalities, who to get involved, how to fit in and include in-laws and partners in the business.

Business Planning presenter, Chris Scheid, Director of ProAdvice, will support participants to build business resilience and financial understanding, key financial indicators, develop a two page plan and provide a Quick Business Analysis.

For further details visit MFMG website.

AgRi-Silience will give you subsidised access to leading advisers who will deliver both on-farm support and group workshop learning to help your business bounce back in the face of changing climates and other challenges.

The program will provide tailored training to help you and your staff:
• Improve your financial literacy and, in the process, learn new ways to build the financial viability of your business.
• Become more confident in decision-making by conducting risk assessments.
• Learn new skills and techniques to build your own personal resilience, helping you to concentrate on the business at hand rather than dwell on negatives.
• Become high-performing contributors regarding decision making and operations.

Participants will finish the program with a Resilience Roadmap, which will help you build resilience and boost productivity, profitability, and sustainability over the long-term.

Each participating business is required to contribute $500 (ex. GST) and, where there is a genuine need, may be able to access reimbursement for travel and childcare costs from PIRSA.

Workshop one

Date: Wednesday 11 May 2022

Time: 8:45am – 4:30pm

Location: Furner Sports Club

To register your interest please email either Danielle or Lucy or admin@aginnovate.com.au

This project is part of the Farm Business Resilience Program and is jointly funded through the Australian Government’s Future Drought Fund and the Government of South Australia.

Do you want to learn the best ways to control pest animals and unpalatable invasive grasses?

A Masterclass will be held in the Limestone Coast:

• Coonawarra - Thursday 12 May

The Masterclass will cover the following topics:

• DeerScan
• Lures for foxes
• Fox bounty program
• Rabbit warren destruction and fumigation
• Rabbit calicivirus use
• Poison storage, signage, safety and bait laying
• Traps
• Canid Pest Ejectors
• Identification and control of Coolatai grass, African Lovegrass and Chilean needlegrass
• Kangaroo destruction permits

Contact Jen Gillis from PIRSA by email or phone her on 0447 115 053 for more information.

Southern Cross University has been engaged by the Australian Government to deliver the Pilot Soil Monitoring and Incentives Program.

The Australian Government is providing $54.4 million over two years to support farmers and land managers to access low-cost soil sampling and certified testing in exchange for sharing their data under the Pilot Soil Monitoring and Incentives Program.

Farmers and land managers may be eligible for benefits of up to $10,000 and receive assistance from Commonwealth-funded soil extension officers to interpret their soil test results.

The program may assist farmers to gather data for Emissions Reduction Fund projects.

Additional information on the program including eligibility criteria is available in our FAQs here.

Interested land managers can get in contact with Southern Cross University to apply.

Water use creates economic prosperity but also impacts the environment, community and culture – what does a balance look like to you?

The vast majority of the Limestone Coast’s water comes from underground – the confined and unconfined aquifers. We also get water from rainfall and a small amount from creeks that flow from south west Victoria. Some townships in the upper Limestone Coast are serviced by the pipeline from the River Murray.

From water allocation planning to drainage management, wetland preservation and industry water use. Water resource management concerns us all.

Have your say and help shape and inform our approach to water security in the Limestone Coast.

Visit the Limestone Coast Landscape Board website to find out more about the Limestone Coast's water and to access the Water Values Survey.

Get Involved!

AgConnect promotes the latest sustainable agricultural news and events across the Limestone Coast. If you have an upcoming event or agricultural news you would like to share contact us:

Regional Agriculture Landcare Facilitators

Skylea Mclean: skylea.mclean@sa.gov.au

Eykolina Benny: eykolina.benny@sa.gov.au