Thursday 6 February 2025

Will emergency services be able to access your property?

Make sure roadside numbers are visible, vegetation around gates, culverts and bridges has been cleared, and gates are wide enough and easy to open.

Check out the tips and templates in the Farm Fire Preparedness Toolkit. 

Get it right – is your animal fit to load? 

Dr Jeff Cave, Agriculture Victoria Senior Veterinary Officer 

It’s important to remember, if you are the person in charge of an animal it is your responsibility for its welfare. Community values and expectations will not accept anything less. 

It always pleases me when someone reaches out to ask, ‘is this animal fit to load?’ 

If you are in doubt about an animal’s suitability for transport, you can always ask your private veterinarian the question also. 

Furthermore, there is a Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA) guideline titled ‘Is the animal fit to load?’. This guideline can be viewed on MLA’s website. 

In summary, an animal is not fit to load if it’s:  

• 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 identify an animal that is unfit to load you have a few options. You could treat the animal and transport it when it has recovered and is fit to load. Naturally, this is not an option in cases that are not readily treatable.  

Alternatively, you could humanely destroy the animal. A knackery service is available in many areas to help with this option.  

Finally, you could consult a veterinarian and only transport under veterinary advice. 

Apply for an On-Farm Drought Infrastructure grant today

Eligible drought-affected farmers in the south west can now apply for up to $5,000 in co-contribution grants to support establishing on-farm infrastructure such as:

• 💧 water infrastructure upgrades (pipes, tanks, troughs, dams)
• 🐑 stock containment areas
• 🌾 grain and fodder storage.

For more information visit agriculture.vic.gov.au/dryseasons or call 136 186

Monitor and manage your water – it’s a critical farm asset

Water is a precious commodity and with the current dry seasonal conditions it’s a critical farm asset to manage and monitor.

Agriculture Victoria Livestock Industry Development Officer Christopher Blore said having the right quality of stock, domestic and commercial water, where you need it, when you need it and, in the quantity, you need, is critical for all farm businesses.

‘There are some simple tools that you can use to monitor water supplies in dams and tanks across your farm.

‘Tools can be as simple as a couple of floats and a bit of bar to give you an indication of the water left in your tank, or a DAMDEEP tool.

‘A video of how to make a DAMDEEP measuring tool can be found on the Agriculture Victoria website.

‘More advanced options such as ultrasonic or hydrostatic sensors to measure the depth of tanks or dams or flow meters to measure water flow rates from pumps and tanks, can be set up to send automatic alerts like when a tank or dam is low.

‘If you are looking to compare options, visit agtechfinder.com as this website has a large range of available AgTech solutions for water monitoring. Just search the term ‘water’ to browse a range of options,’ he said.

‘Chat with your local rural store about options and the ongoing support available at a local level.’

For further information on calculating livestock water needs and how much water you have on farm, refer to the Stock Water Resources page on the Feeding Livestock website or contact Chris at christopher.blore@agriculture.vic.gov.au

As part of the Victorian Government’s $13.53 million drought support package, eligible south west farmers can apply for on-farm drought infrastructure grants of up to $5,000.

Further information, including how to apply can be found at ruralfinance.com.au.

For more information about drought and dry seasonal conditions support visit agriculture.vic.gov.au/dryseasons or call 136 186.

In case you missed it 📰

Media articles and releases

Be on the look out for Brown marmorated stink bug

Victoria's ToBRFV eradication response continues

Don’t forget the benefits of farm laneways

Monitor for blue-green algae in stock water

Ask questions before upgrading farm water equipment

Grazing sheep on stubble in dry seasons

What's On

Details about Agriculture Victoria events can now be found in one spot at agriculture.vic.gov.au/events.

On-Farm Emissions Action Plan Pilot update

Join our upcoming webinar to hear from our On-Farm Emissions Action Plan pilot team. The team has been working with 250 farm businesses across Victoria to estimate their emissions profile and identify actions to manage and reduce emissions while maintaining productivity.  

 The team will provide an update and share insights on the emissions pilot and participant Jonathan Jenkin will discuss his experience with the program and how they have used their action plan and knowledge of their emissions to make changes on the farm.

Click here for more information and to stay up to date with our upcoming climate webinars.

 Register for the webinar

Date: 27 February, 12 - 1 pm

Pasture Recovery Workshop

An event to assist farmers impacted by recent floods, fires and drought.

Register on Eventbrite

Location: 4 Codrington Street, Raglan
Date: 12 Feb, 2-6:30 pm

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

Privacy | Disclaimer

This newsletter is distributed by the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action.

Were you forwarded this email? Subscribe now.