Join Ehsan Sayad (Limestone Coast Landscape Board) and special guest Dr. Russell Barrow (Dung Beetle Ecosytems Engineers project - Charles Sturt University) at our dung beetle and healthy soil workshops in Mount Gambier, Woolumbool and Wrattonbully.

Russell Barrow will discuss:

• The importance of dung beetles in your primary production system

Ehsan Sayad will discuss:

• The importance of healthy soil in your primary production system

Event details:

Mount Gambier

• Date: Tuesday 15 November
• Time: 10 am to 2:30 pm

Woolumbool

• Date: Wednesday 16 November
• Time: 10 am to 2:30 pm

Wrattonbully

• Date: Thursday 17 November
• Time: 10 am to 2:30 pm

For more information or to register please click on the links above.

This project is jointly funded through the Limestone Coast Landscape Board and the Australian Government' s National Landcare Program

The Sheep Technology Expos aims to highlight the latest livestock technology innovations, demonstrate technology that is readily available to producers, and encourage the adoption and use of technology by wool and sheep producers.

Expo Talks will cover topics on:

• Improving business performance and the role of Agtech - Chris Scheid, ProAdvice Services
• eID adoption and using the data - Nathan Scott, Achieve Ag Solutions
• Farm security - Ben White, Kondinin and SAPOL (TBC)
• Animal health tech - Dr Colin Trengove, Pro Ag Consulting

There will also be approximately 30 trade displays to peruse.

Expo details:

• Date: Friday 11 November 2022,
• Time: 8.30 am - 4.00 pm
• Location: Rymill Hall, Cameron Street, Penola.

For futher information please contact Jodie Reseigh-O'Brien 0428 103 886 or Bart Dessart 0428 102 920 

For more information or to book your spot please visit Eventbrite.

This event is sponsored by Australian Wool Innovation and SheepConnect SA, with support from the Red Meat and Wool Growth Fund.

Are you going to the Bordertown Spring Festival and Show on Saturday November 12?

Would you like to get a sample of your soil tested for pH?

Then head on over to the Limestone Coast Landscape Board site and Regional Agriculture Landcare Facilitator Eykolina Benny, and Sustainable Primary Production Officer Kate Holberton, will test your soil to help determine the acidity of your soil! We also have some free soil pH testing kits to give away – first in, first served!

A Landscape Officer will also be on hand to talk to you about pest plants and animals, identify weeds and give you some tips about how to control pests on your property.

The Limestone Coast Food and Agribusiness Cluster officially turned one recently! Born from an idea to establish an organisation that aims to grow food, beverage and agribusiness in the Limestone Coast by empowering people, inspiring collaboration and encouraging innovation! 

It has been a busy 12 months, with some great success including:  

• Launching their new website
• Launched a brand – Proudly Limestone Coast
• Ran six networking sessions
• Delivered seven webinars aimed at food and agribusiness

The Cluster is currently developing a Limestone Coast Producer Directory to promote the incredible makers, growers, harvesters, catchers and producers.  Historically, there’s been a big gap in being able to find what is produced in the region in one spot. The Directory will fill this gap along with providing contact details so that consumers, retailers and trade can reach out directly to producers. If you would like to know more about this please get in contact with Toni Duka or phone 0417 083 626.

If you’d like to know more head on over to the website, where you can also sign up as a member, or join their mailing list!

“This project is funded through the Limestone Coast Landscape Board and the Australian Government' s National Landcare Program."

Are you a landholder on gum woodland country in the Limestone Coast region of South Australia and interested in planting and/or preserving your existing remnant paddock trees to help provide shade and shelter for your livestock? If so, Trees for Life would love to hear from you!

The Limestone Coast Paddock Tree Project is designed to assist landholders with the often challenging task of establishing new and/or protecting our much loved paddock trees, for the many benefits they provide to agriculture, our landscapes and our well-being.

Please email Samantha to register your interest.

More information will become available on the Trees For Life website in the coming weeks.

Preventing spread, and decreasing weeds on your property can be a great benefit to the long term sustainability of your land.  Weeds to watch out for this spring season include:

• Salvation Jane (Echium plantagineum)
• Cape tulip (Moraea flaccida & miniata)
• False caper (Euphorbia terracina)
• Variegated thistle (Silybum marianum)
• Boneseed (Chrysanthemoides monilifera subsp. monilifera)

Got any of these on your property? Identifying pest plants correctly is key to planning a control program and growing what plants you want on your property.

Contact your local Limestone Coast Landscape Board Landscape Officer for control advice, the Limestone Coast Landscape Board on 8429 7550 or visit the Limestone Coast Landscape Board website.

Spring is breeding season for foxes, with an increased food demand for rearing young. Not only will baiting in spring improve a farms bottom line and reduce the fox population prior to autumn lambing, it will also help protect our native wildlife.

Working together with your neighbours in a coordinated baiting approach and utilising a variety of fox control methods such as ground shooting, baiting and fumigation of dens can be the key to a successful fox control program.

Get in touch with your local Landscape Officer for advice and baiting sales by calling the Limestone Coast Landscape Board on 08 8429 7550.

Feral deer significantly reduce productivity on farms as they compete with livestock for pasture, damage infrastructure such as fences and have the potential to spread disease. Not only do feral deer impact the agricultural bottom line and environment, they also attract illegal hunting and create public safety hazards on our roads.

Eradicating feral deer is best achieved involving all land managers in the local area as feral deer can wander across adjoining properties. Implementing a variety of control tools is needed to improve the intensity and scale of our eradication programs across the Limestone Coast as each operation takes into account local terrain and individual landholder circumstances to ensure high standards of effectiveness are achieved.

The Limestone Coast Landscape Board is seeking expressions of interest from landholders in the region to participate in the feral deer shooting operations offered by the board.

Click here to register your property and be alerted of future feral deer eradication operations in your area.

Did you know, bats eat a large volume of insects, including insects that are pests to primary production?

To learn more about bats and how they can benefit your land management and the environment, visit our new bat learning hub for more information, news and interactive activities.

Sign up and follow this project to be the first to access tickets to our popular bat night which will be returning in mid-November.

Meat & Livestock Australia's (MLA) new sustainability producer and value chain videos capture the innovation, tools and practice change producers and the value chain are applying to their businesses to improve their profitability and sustainability.

They are designed to support others wanting to make progress around sustainability and to highlight to consumers the commitment MLA has to the land, livestock and livelihoods.

The Hughes Family, “Banchory Grazing and Rangeland Quality Meats”, Dulacca & Brisbane, QLD is the latest in the series being compiled by MLA. 

To view the complete series of videos head to the Sustainability Videos on MLA's Sustainability hub. 

There is still time to get your applications in for the 2023 Rural Women's Award and the Rural Women's Acceleration Grant as they have been extended until Wednesday 16 November 2022.

Rural Women's Award

The Rural Women’s Award is Australia’s leading Award empowering and celebrating the inclusive and courageous leadership of women involved in Australia’s rural and emerging industries, businesses, and communities.

Each state and territory winner receives a $15,000 grant provided by Platinum Sponsor Westpac, as well as access to professional development opportunities and national Alumni networks.

Rural Women's Acceleration Grant

The AgriFutures Rural Women’s Acceleration Grant is a program developed in 2021 to foster growth and development in women involved in Australia’s rural and emerging industries, businesses and communities.

Seven Australian women per annum will be granted with a learning and development bursary of $7,000 to enable them to bring their idea, cause or vision to life.

The Limestone Coast Landscape Board's winner of the Growing SA Conference ticket was Lucy Dodd. Lucy resides in the Upper Limestone Coast and is a fourth generation farmer. 

Read on to hear about Lucy's take home messages from the Growing SA Conference.

I attended this year’s Growing SA 2022 conference so that I could better understand the trends facing primary production over the next 10 years and beyond. I hadn’t been before and wanted to better understand how both GPSA and Livestock SA operate as well.

The conference had a key focus on sustainability. This referred to the sustainability of the Agricultural industry in South Australia and the increasing need to demonstrate environmentally sustainable practices in all industries.

The best bits for me were;

• Tony Maher from The National Farmers Federation providing an update on the progress towards the NFF goal for $100 billion by 2030
• Katie McRobert from the Australian Farm Institute on the role of agricultural advocacy and hearing about research conducted by the Institute on agricultural advocacy groups in Australia and their effectiveness, and;
• Hearing about the Australian Beef and Sheep sustainability frameworks and how they capture the changing expectations of customers, and other stakeholders.

There were two key take home messages from the day for me as a farmer. 

1. The work force issues currently facing our industry and others will not get any easier and the need for us to adapt our businesses with increased automation or focusing on becoming an employer of choice.
2. The increasing need as business owners to understand the carbon emissions of our operations.

The Growing SA 2022 conference has podcast recordings from the day which can be listened to here. 

Be sure to understand your bushfire risk so you can prepare your property and know what to do if a bushfire starts. Preparing for a bushfire will not only help to mitigate the impact of fire on people, homes, animals and businesses but also helps to protect our regions natural resources.

We can all be bushfire ready. There are nine simple steps to surviving a bushfire:

1. Do your 5 minute bushfire plan
2. Talk about your plan to family, neighbours & friends
3. Have flexibility in your plan
4. Clear around your property
5. Have an emergency kit ready
6. Know when to leave and where to go
7. Listen to the weather and know your total fire bans
8. Subscribe to the CFS warning email
9. Check radio, website, social media and news updates

For more information about preparing for bushfire season visit the CFS website.

The Limestone Coast Landscape Board website also has a range of bushfire management resources sourced from a variety of organisations including the CFS, Australia Red Cross, Department for Environment and Water and Department of Primary Industries and Regions.

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