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In this edition
Latest news
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'Late break' change to Ballarat sheep and beef event
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Boosting winter growth
Events, programs and workshops
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Mitchell Shire Farmers Day Out free brunch events
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BestWool/BestLamb and BetterBeef conference and dinner: Ballarat
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Agriculture Victoria upcoming events
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Famers Day Out: Not 'Just a Farmer' screenings: Lardner Park
Resources and programs
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Climate webinars
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AgVic Talk Season 9: Planning for the dry
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AgVic Talk Season 7: After the Flood: stories of farmer recovery and resilience
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Farm Fitness Checklist
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Victorian Drought Resilience Adoption and Innovation Hub
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Drought Resilience Self-Assessment Tool
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My Climate View
Agriculture recovery support for farmers
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Technical information and decision-making support
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Emergency Recovery Victoria
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Rural Financial Counselling Service
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National Centre for Farmer Health
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Health and personal wellbeing
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Farm Business Resilience Program
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| 'Late break' change to Ballarat sheep and beef event |
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Agriculture Victoria and its conference partners have adjusted the program for the Ballarat-based BestWool/BestLamb and BetterBeef conferences on 19–20 June in response to seasonal challenges farmers are now facing.
Staff and consultants will be available throughout the conferences to assist farmers with feed budgeting.
Farmers are being encouraged to bring along their livestock information and feed on hand inventory to discuss with experts from 8:30 am on Wednesday before the conference starts, and throughout both days.
Early bird ticket discounts have been extended on TryBooking to Friday 7 June.
See the Agriculture Victoria website events page for details on the conferences and to download the program.
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Most of the state experienced an extremely dry autumn. When rain does fall, soil temperature may become the main factor limiting pasture growth.
Agriculture Victoria Livestock Industry Development Officer, Nick Linden said soil temperature, like moisture and fertility, plays a major role in controlling plant growth.
‘Covers will stop fixing much nitrogen below about 9 degrees which can provide some opportunities for response to urea.
‘Research in Tasmania shows that perennial ryegrass continues to grow down to about 5 degrees, while annual ryegrass as low as 2 degrees.
‘Australian phalaris has been shown to also grow down to about 5 degrees and a ‘guesstimate’ for more winter active cultivars is between 1.5 and 2 degrees lower,’ he said.
READ THE ARTICLE IN FULL HERE
Supporting resources:
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| Events, programs and workshops |
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Mitchell Shire Farmers Day Out free brunch events
Enjoy some sausages, bacon, and eggs, and while you're there, listen to Mark Foletta, the 2023 Award winner in Diversification and Sustainability, who will be a guest speaker along with the Mind Australia team.
Delivered in partnership with Agriculture Victoria and Mind Australia.
No registrations required.
Dates, times and locations:
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Tuesday 11 June, 10:30 to 11:30 am, Nutrien Ag Solutions, Seymour
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Wednesday 12 June, 10:30 to 11:30 am, Tallarook Rural Supplies
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Thursday 13 June, 10:30 to 11:30 am, Seymour Agricultural and Pastoral Society
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Friday 14 June, 10:30 to 11:30 am, Seymour Ag Supplies
More information: Mitchell Shire Council events page
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BestWool/BestLamb and BetterBeef conference and dinner: Ballarat
The Agriculture Victoria BestWool/BestLamb and BetterBeef conference and dinner will be held in Ballarat on 19 and 20 June. More details are available on the Agriculture Victoria events page.
Location: Ballarat
Dates: Wednesday 19 and Thursday 20 June
Bookings: TryBooking
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Agriculture Victoria upcoming events
For full details on the following events, click on the links below:
Young Farmer Business Bootcamp, 12 to 13 June
Farm Business Resilience horticulture short course, part 2, Tatura Smart Farm, 12 to 13 June
Farm Business Resilience short course, Lakes Entrance, 17 June
In good times and in bad – adaptive skills for your farming future:
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Colbinabbin, 15 July
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Bridgewater, 18 July
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Brim, 24 July
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Goroke, 20 August
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Joel Joel, 27 August
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Skipton, 17 September.
Visit the Agriculture Victoria events page for updates on future technical events and webinars.
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Famers Day Out – Just a Farmer screenings: Lardner Park
Baw Baw Shire and Gippsland Jersey are hosting screenings of the film Just a Farmer at Lardner Park for the local farming community.
Agriculture Victoria is supporting this event through its Farmers Day Out program in support of mental health and wellbeing and social connection in rural communities.
Location: Lardner Park
Date: Thursday 27 June, 11 am and 7 pm
More information: email Sallie Jones or call 0409 083 716 for full details and booking information.
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Climate webinars
Agriculture Victoria runs regular webinars on topics relevant to primary producers and others working in agriculture.
The webinars cover a range topics, including:
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seasonal risk
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climate change projections and impacts
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adaptation opportunities
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innovative farming practices
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soil moisture monitoring.
The webinars are free. Links and passwords to previous webinars are available on the Agriculture Victoria website.
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| AgVic Talk Season 9: Planning for the dry |
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'Exploring practices to better equip your business to manage the impacts of drought and a changing climate.'
In AgVic Talk Season 9 we explore the resources, a range of practices and tools available to help improve your farm business, prepare for dry seasonal conditions and our changing climate. Farming is rewarding, but it can also be challenging, and no 2 stories or businesses are the same. We can all learn from each other and set a plan for success.
Episode 1: Planning for the dry by improving our subsoils with Chris Smith is available now and is a sneak peek of what is to come throughout Season 9.
In this episode, Chris Smith, who runs a mixed farming enterprise at Grass Flat around about 30 kilometres west of Horsham, is on a quest to improve the soils on his property. Listen to what he has to say or download the podcast now.
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AgVic Talk Season 7: After the Flood: stories of farmer recovery and resilience
Agriculture Victoria’s podcast season ‘After the flood: stories of farmer recovery and resilience’ explores the recovery required after a natural disaster, the support provided and the resilience of Victorian famers, including how different industries are recovering.
All episodes are now available on the Agriculture Victoria website.
The season has been produced by Agriculture Victoria in partnership with the National Centre for Farmer Health #BuildingFarmSpirit program.
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Farm Fitness Checklist
The Farm Fitness Checklist helps farmers assess where their business is at currently, and to identify areas and opportunities to strengthen their farm business.
It covers subjects including people management, skills and training, business planning and financial performance, emergency management, infrastructure, water supply, natural resource management, risk management, succession planning, off-farm activities and more.
Download the Farm Fitness Checklist from the Agriculture Victoria website.
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Victorian Drought Resilience Adoption and Innovation Hub
The Vic Hub represents a comprehensive approach to enhancing economic, environmental and social resilience to drought in order to create innovative and profitable sectors, sustainable and functioning landscapes, and resourceful and adaptable communities.
The Victorian hub is led by the University of Melbourne’s Dookie Campus in association with Deakin University, La Trobe University, Federation University, and Agriculture Victoria.
The hub is further supported by five regional nodes across Victoria: Birchip Cropping Group, Riverine Plains, Food & Fibre Gippsland, Southern Farming Systems and Mallee Regional Innovation Centre.
Read the latest Vic Hub newsletter.
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Drought Resilience Self-Assessment Tool
Farmers can use the Drought Resilience Self-Assessment Tool (DR.SAT) to further assess their farm business resilience.
The tool includes climate projections and farm business resilience resources to support farmers strengthen their farm business.
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My Climate View
The My Climate View tool helps farmers understand the historical, seasonal and future climate at their location to help them make informed decisions for their farm business.
It provides farmers with historical data (1961-2021), seasonal forecasts (1-3 months) as well as future climate projections based on the 15 years before and after 2030, 2050 and 2070, for a given location.
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| Agriculture recovery support for farmers |
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A range of support measures are available for farmers who have been impacted by natural disasters. Information about these measures can be found at agriculture.vic.gov.au/floods. For any urgent animal welfare needs, please contact 136 186.
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| Technical information and decision-making support |
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Agriculture Victoria is working with Victorian farmers and industry to prepare for, respond to and recover from natural disasters through delivery of technical information and decision-making support services to help farm business recovery including:
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Grazing, cropping and pasture management
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Irrigation and horticulture system rehabilitation
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Soil erosion management
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Land management
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Animal health and nutrition
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Farm mapping and planning
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Water quality
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Weed management.
Farmers are encouraged to contact the Agriculture Recovery team on 136 186 or email recovery@agriculture.vic.gov.au.
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| Emergency Recovery Victoria |
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Recovery support is available for people affected by the:
To find out more, contact the Emergency Recovery Hotline on 1800 560 760 from 9 am to 5 pm, Monday to Friday or visit the Emergency Recovery Victoria website.
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| Rural Financial Counselling Service |
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Have you been impacted by recent floods, fires or dry seasonal conditions?
The Rural Financial Counselling Service (RFCS) 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.
Find your closest service here or call 1300 771 741.
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| National Centre for Farmer Health |
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The National Centre for Farmer Health (NCFH) is committed to supporting primary producers whose properties, livestock or crops were damaged or lost in the floods and storms. There are a number of resources available on the NCFH website to support farmer health, wellbeing and safety.
Managing stress on the farm
Click to read or download this Managing Stress on the Farm book from the National Centre for Farmer Health website. You can also request free hard copies from the website.
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| Health and personal wellbeing |
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It is normal to have strong reactions following a distressing or frightening event and people can experience a range of physical, mental, emotional and behavioural reactions.
There are a number of support services available (listed below) to assist you and your family recover from the strong emotional or physical reactions you may be experiencing.
Are you concerned about your own mental health? Reach out to Lifeline for a safe place to talk on 13 11 14.
Other available support includes:
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| Farm Business Resilience Program |
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The Farm Business Resilience (FBR) Program is supporting farmers to develop knowledge and skills to improve their farm business and manage the impacts of a changing climate.
The program supports farmers to improve skills and management practices around 4 key areas:
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Business planning and risk management
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Farm finances and profitable decision making
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Managing people on farm, farm safety and wellbeing
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Climate adaptation and natural resource management including soil, water, crops and pastures.
The FBR Program has supported farmers in developing 547 farm business plans and engaged 1542 farmers in intensive training activities.
More information about the FBR program is available at agriculture.vic.gov.au/FBRP or the Our Farm, Our Plan web page for information about the dairy program.
Information about upcoming FBR events is regularly posted on the Agriculture Victoria website.
The Farm Business Resilience Program is jointly funded through the Australian Government’s Future Drought Fund and the Victorian Government’s Future Agriculture Skills Capacity Fund.
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Don't forget to check out Agriculture Victoria's social media sites for up-to-date information and news.
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