• Facing tough conditions? Don’t go through it alone
• Worms – what’s the spring risk?
• Have you signed up for Newsflash?
• Free financial counselling available now
• Avian influenza information pop ups
• Check out our free hay calculator
• Downer cows need prompt attention and assessment
• BestWool/BestLamb and BetterBeef conference recordings
• Will my dam fill this year?
• Dry seasons webinar recordings available here
• Farmer pleading guilty to animal cruelty receives $8000 fine
• Balancing dingo conservation and management
• Your Pet, Our Pest
• Fox and wild dog bounty
• In case you missed it
• What's on

Agriculture Victoria is encouraging farmers to take up ongoing support and assistance to help manage current difficult seasonal conditions.

Agriculture Victoria’s Aimee McCutcheon said Agriculture Victoria continues to monitor conditions across the state.

‘We know there’s been below average rainfall across most of Victoria during autumn and winter and that it’s a critical time for cropping, livestock and dairy production.

‘It’s important that farmers know that support is available to them to help make early and informed decisions.

Ms McCutcheon said the Agriculture Victoria website explains what support is available to farmers, including financial support and assistance, mental health and wellbeing support.

‘One example is the Australian Government’s Farm Household Allowance which is a fortnightly payment for eligible farmers.

‘Our website also provides access to other organisations that can help, such as the free services from the Rural Financial Counselling Services and the National Centre for Farmer Health.’

Ms McCutcheon said Agriculture Victoria offers extensive practical information, resources, tools and calculators to help farmers with forward planning, feed budgeting and livestock management.

‘All these free resources are available online 24 hours a day, or you can speak with staff at your local office.’

Visit the Agriculture Victoria website today agriculture.vic.gov.au for more information plus details of events coming up in your region or online.

For information on technical support, contact Agriculture Victoria on 136 186 or email recovery@agriculture.vic.gov.au

The reduced pasture heights for much of Victoria are increasing the susceptibility of sheep (and cattle) to internal parasites. 

Grazing below a pasture height of 4cm will increase the ingestion of infective larvae. 

While most egg contamination occurs in the summer-autumn period, up to 40% can come from eggs deposited during late spring and early summer.

Typically, in spring there is an abundance of quality pasture which allows your sheep to cope with the worms they have.

However, given the challenging season this may not be the case.

Farmers who are early weaning due to low feed availability need to prioritise worm control as weaners are the most susceptible livestock class to internal parasites. 

Livestock that are in poorer condition and potentially on restricted nutrition can have a reduced resistance and resilience to internal parasites.

It’s crucial to assess worm burdens during high-risk conditions, which in the current seasonal conditions could include lighter stock grazing shorter and highly contaminated pastures.

It’s also important to have worm-free paddocks set up for weaners. Ideally, paddocks that weaners are put into will have only been grazed by sheep who received an effective summer drench. 

The best paddocks to put weaners into may be ones that have been hay paddocks, are new pastures or paddocks that have been grazed by mature cattle.

Sheep that are infected with worms may show signs of scours, weight loss or event death. It is essential to monitor worm burdens using Wormtest 4-6 weeks after the weaning and treat based on results.

Summer drenching is the key to minimising this worm carryover into next year - by making sure there are few worms in your sheep getting a free ride to autumn.

Management of internal parasites is essential for animal production and welfare, especially during high-risk times when stock are in light condition.

Seek advice from your animal health professional such as a veterinarian or consultant to assist with developing a worm management strategy.

For more information about managing in dry seasonal conditions visit agriculture.vic.gov.au or call 136 186.

References: wormboss.com.au

Livestock producers, have you subscribed to the BestWool/BestLamb and BetterBeef Newsflash?  

Newsflash is our monthly email newsletter produced by our BetterBeef  and BestWool/BestLamb network team. 

Newsflash contains:  

• beef and sheep news 
• technical articles 
• upcoming events 
• BestWool/BestLamb and BetterBeef Network profiles 
• government and industry information. 

Subscribe to the BestWool/BestLamb and BetterBeef Newsflash here.

Funded by Agriculture Victoria and Australian Wool Innovation.

The Rural Financial Counselling Service provides a free and confidential financial counselling service to eligible farmers and small related enterprises who are experiencing, or at risk of, financial hardship.

They can help you to access available support, analyse your business situation, negotiate with lenders and develop strategies to improve your financial position.

To find your closest service visit rfcsnetwork.com.au or call 1300 771 741.

Agriculture Victoria continues to reach out to local communities at our pop-up information stalls. 

• Friday 27 September: Colour Terang Festival – 9:30 am – 3 pm
• Saturday 5 October: Golden Plains Farmers’ Market: 8:30 am – 12:30 pm
• Saturday 5 October: Terang Local Market: 9 am – 1 pm.

To learn more, visit agriculture.vic.gov.au/avianinfluenza

Heard about our hay versus grains calculator?

This tool calculates the gross margin of grain and hay production in dollars per hectare. It helps with deciding whether a crop should be left for harvest or cut for hay.

Just click on this link.

Then fill in the white boxes – the grey boxes will automatically calculate it for you.

Talk about easy!

Dr Jeff Cave, Agriculture Victoria Senior Veterinary Officer

Being the spring calving season, you may find a downer cow in your herd. There are several potential causes of this, and the correct diagnosis and treatment could help save your cow, time and money.

Physical injuries

Calving paralysis is usually, but not always associated with heifers and a difficult calving. During calving a cow’s nerve, known as the obturator nerve, may be crushed between her pelvis and the calf.

A cow with calving paralysis will appear bright and alert but have no control over one or both hind legs. The only treatment is time and careful nursing; anti-inflammatory drugs are useful if used early.

Calving paralysis needs to be distinguished from injuries such as dislocated hips and back injuries. Such injuries can occur in any aged animal often after an accident such as slipping.

A cow with these injuries will also be bright and alert and usually eat and drink normally. A veterinarian should be called to assess these animals.

Metabolic diseases

Metabolic diseases can be distinguished from physical injuries by the presence of other clinical signs. Milk fever is seen in older, high producing, fatter cows. A cow with milk fever will show fine muscle tremors, staggering and weakness.

Grass tetany is seen during times of stress such as bad weather on short grass dominated pastures. An affected cow will become aggressive, excited, go down and paddle and convulse violently. Both milk fever and grass tetany should be treated urgently with 4 in 1.

Pregnancy toxaemia or acetonemia is an energy deficiency problem seen in cows losing weight or calving in poor condition. Behavioural signs will be seen before the cow goes down. Cases may indicate a dietary deficiency being experienced by the whole herd.

Toxaemia (blood poisoning)

Mastitis, metritis or any other generalised infection causes toxaemia or blood poisoning. A cow with toxaemia will appear depressed, with a dry nose and sunken eyes.

It is important to check the udders of downer cows for mastitis, and the uterus for tears or severe infections.

Care of the downer cow

Prompt treatment with appropriate veterinary drugs and good care are key to successfully treating a downer cow. The first step is to determine why the cow is down and to treat appropriately.

Cows should only be nursed if they have a realistic chance of recovery. Otherwise, they should be humanely destroyed.

When nursing a downer cow move her to dry sheltered shed and provide her with comfortable, dry, soft bedding on a non-slip surface. Sit her on her chest, position her correctly, and roll her from side to side at least two times a day. Provide her feed and water.

Use hip clamps only for a few minutes to get her on her feet.

For further advice please contact your local veterinarian or Agriculture Victoria veterinary or animal health officer.

Sheep and beef farmers! Did you miss the BestWool/BestLamb and BetterBeef conference or feel like revisiting the sessions?

Recorded presentations are now available for viewing on our website.

Watch Cam Nicholson’s talk on ‘The challenge of aligning pasture and animal needs’ HERE.

Cam said, 'It’s a challenge because while we know what the animals need and we can know all the theory about how to grow the best plants and the right way of doing it, there’s numerous times when those two don’t align.'

Watch John Francis’s talk on ‘Growing the farm’ HERE.

John talks about opportunities for growth that exist ‘within the four fences’ of your farm.

Explore more from the 2024 BestWool/BestLamb conference.

Plus find the 🐄 2024 BetterBeef conference presentations here.

Farmers can access support and assistance today to help manage the current dry seasonal conditions at agriculture.vic.gov.au

Farmers in Victoria are encouraged to closely monitor their soil moisture and dam water levels over the coming months to ensure water availability is included in future planning.

Agriculture Victoria Land Management Extension Officer, Clem Sturmfels said during an extended period of below average rainfall and a change of season coming, the lack of runoff into farm dams is something to keep track of.

‘Farmers need saturated soils to generate runoff, the exception being when dams are located below a road or rocky hilltop.

‘Ensuring soils get to the point of saturation and generate runoff at this time of the year may be a challenge due to the rapid growth of crops and pastures and increasing rates of evaporation. Above average or high intensity rainfall will be needed to fill dams.

‘High intensity rainfall or thunderstorms can quickly fill dams, however they can pose a pollution risk and shouldn’t be relied on in a dry year’, said Mr Sturmfels.

Agriculture Victoria manages soil moisture probes in various locations across the state. The probes provide real time soil water content data by recording soil water content from 30cm down to 1 metre as a reference point for a paddock.

‘The probes have been calibrated to the specific soil type in the paddocks and reflect a moisture percentage based on the maximum and minimum soil moisture available to plants. This has been determined by monitoring over many years and a range of seasons’, said Mr Sturmfels.

‘These probes can be a useful guide to general conditions in your area however it is also important to check conditions closer to home. A more detailed assessment can be made using a post hole auger or by driving a crowbar or steel probe into the ground.’

Subscribe to the Soil Moisture Monitoring newsletter and find out more information on the Agriculture Victoria website.

Information on preparing your farm for dry seasonal conditions can be found on the Agriculture Victoria website.

The recording of the recent webinar ‘Growing more feed’ with Agriculture Victoria Livestock Extension Officer Fiona Baker - can be found HERE

Additionally, here are some resources that you might find useful:

• Feeding livestock website
• Agriculture Victoria dry season and drought support page 
• Soil Moisture monitoring sites can be found HERE
• Information on navigating farm developments online tool can be found HERE 
• A MLA guide to managing breeding ewes in containment can be found HERE
• Stock containment areas design webinar can be found HERE.

A West Gippsland farmer, Mr Barry Hillbrick recently pleaded guilty to aggravated cruelty and a failure to fulfil a Notice to Comply, in the Latrobe Magistrates Court and was fined $8,000 with conviction.

In April 2023 Agriculture Victoria officers attended the property at Coalville, to follow up an animal welfare report.

On this visit to the farm a Notice to Comply was issued to Mr Hillbrick to provide veterinary or other treatment for a cow with a significant discharge and lesion present on the right eye socket.

Agriculture Victoria officers attended the following week to assess compliance with this notice. The cow was in an unchanged condition and no treatment or other attention had been offered to the cow.

The cow was humanely euthanised on-farm by Agriculture Victoria officers due to the large cancerous growth which had engulfed the eye, causing significant pain and suffering.

The Magistrate commented that livestock are entirely reliant on us to care for them.

‘Animal cruelty matters must be taken seriously.’

Agriculture Victoria Acting Compliance Manager Penny Lucas said the weight of the fine with conviction sends a very clear message to livestock producers that animal cruelty will not be tolerated by the Victorian Government or our community.

‘Apart from the obvious pain and suffering of the animals, animal welfare breaches can jeopardise Victoria’s reputation as a humane and responsible producer of food, which can, in turn, affect all producers.’

Anyone wishing to make a specific complaint regarding livestock welfare can contact Agriculture Victoria on 136 186 or aw.complaint@agriculture.vic.gov.au

The Victoria Government is setting out the future of dingo conservation and management in Victoria and supporting farmers with an additional $2 million investment into non-lethal dingo controls and population research.

Minister for Environment Steve Dimopoulos and Minister for Agriculture Ros Spence recently announced the continuation of the dingo unprotection order in north east and eastern Victoria, which permits the control of dingoes on private land and along the boundaries of public land until 1 January 2028.

Dingoes will continue to be protected in the north west of the state where the dingo population is critically low. Lethal controls will not be permitted on private or public land in the north west.

There is little evidence that dingoes are present in large numbers in these parts of the state.

To support farmers to protect their livestock the government is investing more than $2 million to undertake dingo monitoring and support for north west farmers to adopting non-lethal dingo management strategies.

The new support package will fund trials, research and on-ground advice on non-lethal dingo management strategies that minimise the risk of livestock predation in the north west – building on the work already underway as part of the $550,000 North West Vertebrate Pest Management program announced in March this year.

The Wild Dog Management Program will be expanded to include extra supports for farmers through targeted controls of a wider range of vertebrates including deer, foxes, pigs and wild cats and to reflect this expansion, will be renamed the Vertebrate Species Management Program.

The wild dog component of the Victorian Fox and Wild Dog Bounty program will cease, with the final opportunity to submit wild dog parts at Maffra on 16 October 2024.

The bounty for foxes will increase from $10 to $14 per scalp until 30 June 2025.

The remaking of the new dingo unprotection order follows a review of dingo conservation and management with feedback from Traditional Owners, farmers and landholders alongside scientific research.

For more details about the order visit wildlife.vic.gov.au and for farmers support visit agriculture.vic.gov.au.

The ‘Your Pet, Our Pest’, campaign urges illegal exotic pet owners to surrender them now — no questions asked — at one of 4 new surrender locations. 

Discovering the harsh realities of the illegal exotic animal trade - it endangers public health, wildlife, and the farming community. 

Click here to visit our website for more information and surrender locations.

Victoria’s bounty collections continue.

Please continue to check our website for the latest information, collection centres and dates. CLICK HERE

For any assistance, please speak to our bounty collection staff on collection days or call our Customer Service Centre on 136 186.

Farmer pleads guilty to animal cruelty gets $10,000 fine

Goulburn Broken farmer, Mr Peter Sandals, recently pleaded guilty to animal cruelty, at the Shepparton Magistrates Court and was fined $10,000 with conviction. 

The accused pleaded guilty to 3 aggravated cruelty charges and 1 failure to provide veterinarian or other appropriate attention or treatment under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1986 (POCTA).

READ THE MEDIA RELEASE IN FULL HERE

Avian influenza restrictions eased

Further changes have been made to control orders surrounding avian influenza cases in Victoria, given that no new cases have been detected since 24 June 2024.

READ THE MEDIA RELEASE IN FULL HERE

Tools available to assess dam water levels

Agriculture Victoria has a range of online tools available to assist farmers in assessing the volume of water in their dams and how long that water may last.

READ THE MEDIA RELEASE IN FULL HERE

Details about Agriculture Victoria events can now be found in one spot on our website. Log on to agriculture.vic.gov.au/events to find out what's on.

The Farm Business Program is supporting farmers to develop the knowledge and skills they need to improve their farm business and be better equipped to manage the impacts of drought and a changing climate.

Course details:

• Monday 30 September, 11 am to 2 pm - People success 
• Monday 14 October, 12 to 2 pm - Plan review. 

Register online today.

Visit the Agriculture Victoria website  for all the program details.

Join Agriculture Victoria Land Management Officer Clem Sturmfels for breakfast and a discussion about managing farm dams in a difficult season.

DATES:

• Tuesday 8 October – Nangeela
• Wednesday 9 October – Nareen
• Thursday 10 October - Karabeal.

TIME: 8 – 10 am

TOPICS:    

• rainfall and runoff update
• dam volume calculations
• how long will my water last?
• management strategies.

COST: Free

REGISTRATION ONLINE HERE.

Please register to assist with catering and note this is an outdoor event so suitable clothing is required.

For more information contact Hannah Manning on 0400 532 595 or email.

DATE: Tuesday 8 October

TIME: 12 - 1 pm

REGISTER HERE FOR ONLINE WEBINAR

Are you pinkeye ready?

Online webinar for dairy farmers with cattle veterinarian and pinkeye researcher Mac Kneipp.

Hear from Mac about the current understanding of pinkeye, key preventative strategies and optimising treatment outcomes. Opportunity for Q&A with Mac at the end of the webinar.

DATE: Wednesday 9 October
TIME: 9:30 am – 12 pm
WHERE: Graham Faggs – 189 Grahams Road, Mt Mercer.

REGISTER ONLINE HERE

Beef and sheep producers are invited to join Agriculture Victoria and Precision Agriculture at a field day on precision soil mapping and variable rate fertiliser use in the livestock industry.

This producer demonstration site (PDS) was established in 2021, with funding from Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA).

The 4 demonstration sites are on properties owned by members of the Smeaton and Pyrenees BestWool/BestLamb groups.

Results and insights from the 3-year demonstration will be presented.

Workshop topics

• visit one of the project demonstration sites and discuss in field variability of soils and some of the drivers of that variability
• soil variation at the paddock scale
• variable rate spreading
• soil testing and fertility
• economics of precision soil testing and variable rate spreading.

For information about upcoming workshops, dry seasonal conditions or further assistance go to: www.agriculture.vic.gov.au/dryseasons

DATE: Wednesday 9 October

TIME: 12:30 - 1:30 pm

REGISTER ONLINE

Agriculture Victoria invites beef producers to a webinar about bull selection and soundness.

Fertility is a significant driver of profitability in beef breeding enterprises so join Dr Craig Wood, pervious President of the Australian Cattle Veterinarians to learn more.

Dr Wood has over 20 years experience in large animal veterinary medicine and works with many leading beef studs.

The webinar will cover general bull management and describe what a veterinary bull soundness examination involves and discuss the benefits.

You’re invited to attend FAR Australia’s Crop Technology Centre annual field day located in Winchelsea where you will have the opportunity to view a range of innovate grains research trials, reinforcing the adage that ‘seeing is believing’.

DATE: Thursday 10 October

TIME:10 am - 4:15 pm

WHERE: 660 Inverleigh-Winchelsea Road, Winchelsea.

REGISTER ONLINE HERE

DATE: Tuesday 15 October

TIME: 10 am - 12 pm

WHERE: Albion Hotel, 25 Henty Street, Casterton

REGISTER ONLINE HERE

Agriculture Victoria has engaged National Centre for Farmer Health to deliver ‘Calm the Farm’ in Casterton.

Join us for an interactive and engaging 2-hour workshop that explores ways of reducing work related stress.

Connect with other local farmers as you focus on practical solutions to improve job satisfaction and effectiveness for you and your team.

Continue the conversation over a meal – on us.

Key focus areas:

• Understand the main work-related risk factors for farmers’ mental health.
• explore how these may be impacting you and your farm business.
• develop your own plan to stay on track.

Applications are open until 31 December 2024.

For the first time, this prestigious $30K national award is now accepting nominations from groups and organisations, in addition to individuals.

Do you know an individual, group, or organisation that is a sustainable farm practice innovator, demonstrated leadership in Landcare and inspired others to take land conservation practices in their community?

Now is their chance to be recognised!

This award honours the significant role of former Prime Minister, the Hon. Bob Hawke AC, in transforming Landcare from a grassroots community initiative into a national movement with enduring bipartisan government support.

It celebrates exceptional dedication to sustainable land management and efforts to share valuable knowledge with others.

To find out more or to nominate a Landcare legend click here.

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