• Avian influenza Control Area Orders updated
• Have you reviewed your farm fire plan?
• Wimmera Pulse Field Day highlights
• Edging towards drenching?
• The latest The Fast Break newsletter is now available
• Italian researcher landing at Tatura SmartFarm to study
• Fruit Growers Victoria horticulture safety videos now available
• Victoria’s duck abundance survey about to begin
• Webinar recording - Does it make cents to finish lambs?
• Free financial counselling available now
• Apply for new Future Drought Fund grants to support Aussie farmers
• Funding for AgTech startups
• Landmark tax ruling - a win for native timber workers
• Bee business training video
• Dry seasons support
• In case you missed it
• What's on

Agriculture Victoria has lifted the Control Area Order for Terang that was put in place for the current H7 avian influenza outbreak.

From Thursday 7 November 2024:

• The Control Area Order for avian influenza in the Terang area has been removed.
• The Control Area Order for avian influenza around Meredith remains in place.
• Properties within the Meredith control area still require permits for moving birds, poultry products, and equipment.

No new avian influenza cases have been detected since 24 June 2024.

The removal of the Control Area Order for the Terang area means that permits are no longer required for moving birds, poultry products and equipment.

Permits are not required for vehicles transporting poultry feed in the Meredith control area as long as they meet biosecurity requirements.

Victoria’s Chief Veterinary Officer Dr Graeme Cooke emphasised that Victoria’s longest-running biosecurity response is nearing its conclusion, but work remains to be done.

'As we move toward proof of freedom from avian influenza, Agriculture Victoria continues to work with the owners and managers of impacted farms to support them return to business,' Dr Cooke said.

'We continue to monitor for disease with staff visiting properties and testing birds in the remaining control area.

'It has been a long campaign to get to this point, and we thank everyone who has played a part.'

If you are a poultry farmer, backyard flock owner or bird owner, report any unexplained bird deaths to the Emergency Animal Disease (EAD) Hotline on 1800 675 888. Your cooperation is crucial in protecting the health of all birds in the area.

Resources and contact details for industry and individual support are available in our resource directory.

More information, including movement permits, maps, and compensation details is available online at agriculture.vic.gov.au/avianinfluenza.

A fire plan can help protect your home, livestock and vital farm infrastructure.

It will also help identify what you need to do and when you need to do it in preparation for the upcoming fire season.

Start today by downloading a copy of the Farm Fire Preparedness Toolkit. 

And that’s a wrap for our annual Wimmera Pulse Field Day.

Here's some highlights of the day on our Facebook page.

Thank you to everyone who attended, to our presenters and to our host farm this year.

Dr Jeff Cave, Agriculture Victoria Senior Veterinary Officer

Is it time to drench? If so, step back and consider a few things.

Worm burdens will vary between different classes of livestock. Therefore, it’s important to first establish what really needs drenching.

In doing so, you may save yourself time and money and reduce the chance of drench-resistance establishing in your herd.

Worm testing by using worm faecal egg counts (FEC) is a way to monitor for the presence of worms and thus the requirement for treatment. It is a useful diagnostic aid in all types of livestock. 

FEC is the process of determining the number of eggs in faeces and is a fast, effective and relatively inexpensive test.   

The test involves the collection of faeces either directly from the rectum of the animal, or by mustering a number of animals into a clean corner of a paddock for approximately ten minutes and then collecting fresh faecal samples from the ground.

Different mobs may have different FECs so it’s worth having a number of mobs tested.

This particularly applies to your weaners and maiden animals, which have a naturally lower worm resistance and will probably need drenching where the rest of your herd may not.

If and when you do drench, be sure to give the correct dose and use an effective drench.

FECs can also provide information of how effective treatment has been thus providing information about possible drench resistance. 

For further information visit wormboss.com.au or contact your local veterinarian or Agriculture Victoria veterinary or animal health officer, or in NSW your Local Land Services.

This newsletter details oceanic and atmospheric climate driver activity over the last month and summarises three-month model predictions for the Pacific and Indian oceans, rainfall and temperature for Victoria.

To subscribe or to view the latest issue click here.

L-R: Mirko Piani, PhD Student and Alessio Scalisi, Researcher, Tatura SmartFarm.

Italian agronomist and PhD student, Mirko Piani, recently started a 6-month PhD project at the Agriculture Victoria Tatura SmartFarm.

Mirko Piani, from University of Bologna, said he is glad to have started this exciting 6-month journey as he will have the opportunity to both learn and contribute his expertise in precision orchard management.

‘My work will focus on LiDAR-based orchard mapping and data management, collaborating closely with my Australian mentor and AgVic Research Scientist, Alessio Scalisi,’ Mirko said.

‘LiDAR-based orchard mapping and data management involves monitoring tree growth over time to identify areas of the orchard that require variable management.

‘The innovation lies in merging the growth rates computed from the laser scanner with weather data from IoT weather stations.

‘This research aims to fully automate the profiling and mapping of tree growth and understand how the technology can benefit Victorian fruit growers.’

Mirko has a passion for hiking, nature and travel, and hopes to experience all 3 while in Australia.

AgVic Senior Research Scientist Dr Mark O’Connell said AgVic SmartFarms support the agricultural community by undertaking science in dairy, horticulture, grains and livestock farming systems to help support productivity and strengthen Victoria's major agriculture industries.

‘Tatura SmartFarm is all about enabling innovation for the horticulture industry,’ Dr O’Connell said.

‘Our research improves orchard to fruit quality sensing and increases precision and mechanisation and robotics through AgTech that increases the yield and value of pears, apples and stonefruits – helping grow Victoria’s export markets.’

Looking for Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) safety resources for your horticulture farm?

This Farming Safe and Well tip of the week is to share the Fruit Growers Victoria safety videos with your workers, available in 9 languages. Keep an eye out for more safety videos coming soon.

Keep yourself, your family, and your workers safe and well – know how to manage the risks.

Visit the Fruit Growers Victoria training resources page on their website here. 

The Game Management Authority (GMA) will begin its annual survey of Victoria’s game duck population on Tuesday 12 November 2024.

The survey will be conducted by wildlife biologists, who will record the presence, species and number of game ducks at more than 850 waterbodies across Victoria, including wetlands, farm dams, sewerage treatment plants, streams and rivers. The survey will also include ground counts where the helicopter is unable to operate.

Satellite imaging will then be used to determine the amount of wetland habitat available and, together with survey abundance estimates, used to estimate the total abundance of Victoria’s game duck species.

The GMA is continuing this research in 2024 as part of the Victorian Government’s Sustainable Hunting Action Plan 2021-24 and commitment to introducing adaptive harvest management.

GMA Research Principal, Dr Jason Flesch said regularly collecting data is critical to understanding what drives the abundance and productivity of game duck populations.

'Results from this survey will help to accurately estimate total game duck abundance, based on environmental conditions at the time, Dr Flesch said.

'This research benefits wildlife conservation by increasing our understanding of the ecology of Victoria’s game duck populations and the health of their habitats.'

The 2024 survey is scheduled to take place from Tuesday, 12 November until Friday, 29 November, inclusive. The flight schedule may change from day to day, depending on weather conditions or other factors.

Residents in surveyed areas may see a helicopter flying at low levels for a short time and for no longer than is necessary. The safety of people and livestock is a priority and disturbance to livestock will be minimised or avoided.

The results of the survey will be published on the GMA website in 2025.

For more information, including a map of the proposed flight path, visit the website.

Did you miss our recent webinar ‘Does it make cents to finish lambs?’

Catch up on the recording here. 

Presenter Geoff Duddy talks through decision-making around finishing lambs on grain versus selling as stores.

Geoff is recognised nationally as a lamb feedlotting specialist and co-developed the Sheep CRC Lamb Feedlot Calculator.

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 the website or call 1300 771 741.

The Australian Government’s Future Drought Fund is looking for eligible Australian organisations to apply for 2 new grant programs.

These programs will trial innovative solutions with the potential to build the agriculture sector, landscapes and communities’ long-term resilience to drought and climate risks, through transformational change.

The $40 million Resilient Landscapes Program focuses on demonstrating how implementing and scaling of practices, technologies or approaches to manage natural resources on farm, builds drought and climate resilience.

The $40.3 million Long-term Trials of Drought Resilient Farming Practices Program Round 2 looks at investigating new practices and technologies that will improve productivity in variable weather through evidence-based trials, co-designed with farmers.

Both grant rounds are open to agricultural industries in Australia and will be delivered over 6 years. Applicants must form consortia, that is 2 or more organisations working together to develop and deliver an eligible project.

Applications close on 19 November 2024.

To learn more about the grants and apply, visit:

Resilient Landscapes Grants Program

Long-term Trials of Drought Resilient Farming Practices Grants.

The Hugh Victor McKay Fund is a $2 million co-investment fund for Victorian AgTech startups run by LaunchVic with funding from Agriculture Victoria.

The fund invests up to $200,000 alongside individual investors, angel groups and early-stage VC’s.

Up to $30,000 of the investment is provided as a grant to the startup, the remainder is taken as equity.

This means founders hold more stake in their company at the early stages.

For more information or to apply click here​.

Native timber workers will get more money in their pockets when they receive support from the Victorian Government, following a landmark class ruling by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO).

Minister for Agriculture Ros Spence welcomed the ATO’s decision which sets a national precedent in tax treatment for workers receiving redundancy payments.

The ruling means the government’s Top-Up Payment provided as part of the Victorian Forestry Worker Support Program can be classed as a genuine redundancy – meaning they now benefit from tax-free and concessional rates.

The government’s Top-Up Payments have helped 187 workers following the end of native timber harvesting in Victoria.

The ruling also extends tax-free and concessional treatment to casual, piece rate, and seasonal employees who have received government redundancy payments.

This ensures that all years of service in the native timber industry contribute to an employee’s genuine redundancy payment - recognising the unique employment types in the forestry industry.

The ruling is available on the Australian Tax Office website and provides further details as to how tax will be applied to other Victorian Forestry Worker Support Program payments including Relocation Reimbursement Payments and Hardship Payments.

Employees can take the ruling to their accountant where it can be applied for the current or previous financial years.

This government continues to support forestry workers through the transition away from native timber harvesting with a $1.5 billion investment including worker support services and investments to support the transition to plantation timber.

Over 1,400 workers and family members registered for the Worker Support Program which has provided over 3,192 training and education activities approved for workers and family members.

The Victorian Forestry Worker Support Program offer support to eligible native timber employees, supply chain employees, and their families as they navigate the end of native timber harvesting in state forests.

For more information visit, vic.gov.au/forestry or call ForestWorks on 1800 177 001.

‘We love beekeeping. We always think about bees... But we sometimes don’t think about business.’

Beekeeper Matt Lorenz signed up to our Farm Business Resilience Program to learn more about being a resilient business in a changing environment.

In this video, Matt talks about how the program showed him what he does really well as a beekeeper but importantly, what he can improve on to be prepared for potential business shocks.

Find out more about our Farm Business Resilience Program here.

Watch the video here

Have you updated your plan for the current seasonal conditions?

Having a solid drought plan can help you with decision making in adverse conditions. 

Check out the dry seasons and drought support on the Agriculture Victoria website today.

Farmers get ahead of the carbon curve

With global and national regulations focusing more on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, Professor Richard Eckard emphasised that carbon is no longer just an environmental concern – it’s becoming a critical business consideration for Australian farmers.

Read the media release in full here.

DAMDEEP tool impresses farmers in south west

A simple device for measuring the depth of a farm dam was introduced to landholders at a series of workshops in south west Victoria recently.

Read the media release in full here.

On-Farm Drought Infrastructure Grants Program open

South west Victorian farmers impacted by the current drought conditions can now apply for on-farm grants to help manage and withstand current seasonal conditions and prepare their businesses for the future.

Read the media release in full here.

Calling on startups to solve farm safety challenges

The Victorian Government is calling on startups to help solve farm safety and productivity challenges as part of a new program that aims to harness innovation and the technological knowledge of Victoria’s startup sector.

Read the media release in full here.

Details about Agriculture Victoria events can now be found in one spot on our website.

Visit agriculture.vic.gov.au/events to find out what's on.

Enjoying the Grampians Mallee Ag News? Then why not forward to a friend or subscribe yourself.

It's easy – simply click this link.