• Coronavirus update
• Farmers needed for new horticulture business study
• If it has been out and about, then check it out
• Horse traceability – have your say
• Monitoring continues for Japanese encephalitis – update no. 11
• On-farm Action Plan Pilot
• Register now for the MLA Business Edge course next week
• Upgraded roads: Paving the way for Victorian farmers
• Have your say on Southern Rural Water pricing submission options
• The Very Fast Break
• VGT community grant applications closing soon
• My Rain Gauge is Busted latest podcast
• Fox and wild dog bounty collections for South East Victoria
• CLOSING SOON! June 2021 storms and floods grants
• In case you missed it
• What's on

Keep up to date with all the latest restrictions and requirements at coronavirus.vic.gov.au.

A new farm monitor program will provide horticulture producers with critical business insights to help them understand their profitability, improve recovery and drive future growth.

Agriculture Victoria’s Horticulture Farm Monitor Pilot is collecting valuable information from farm businesses across a range of crops including apple and pears, cherries, strawberries and summer fruit.

Victorian Strawberry Growers Association Chairperson and AusBerry CEO Miffy Gilbert said it’s an extremely valuable tool for growers and is encouraging more growers to be involved.

“The strawberry industry was really keen to participate in the Horticulture Farm Monitor Pilot,” Ms Gilbert said.

“We are full of anecdotal evidence on our industry and our businesses, but we don’t have the data to back up our claims.

“When the pandemic hit and we were asked how many workers we needed as an industry, we didn’t really know. We had anecdotal evidence, but nothing based on defendable facts.”

Several farm businesses are already involved in the data collection phase of the pilot program, and Ms Gilbert is calling for more farmers to be involved.

“This program will provide us with clarity around our industry and the true cost of production,” she said.

“It will help individual business set their base costs and base sale prices, understand where they can make savings and where they are competitive compared to the industry average. It will even be useful when individuals are applying for banks loans.”

Ms Gilbert said some individual industry groups had collected data in the past, but this industry-wide program would provide deeper insights into business profitability, while protecting the farmers who provide their business data.

“It’s all beautifully done with total anonymity,” Ms Gilbert said.

“All the data is de-identified so no one knows where it’s from, but they do know it is accurate, representative data of their industry and their production type.

Agriculture Victoria’s Sze Flett said industry groups have renewed their call for real data to help them navigate recent challenges.

The pilot is similar to Agriculture Victoria’s long-running and highly successful Farm Monitor programs in dairy, beef and sheep industries.

“Collecting data on horticulture businesses has always been a challenge due to the complex and fragmented nature of the sector, with so many different industry types with varying capacity to collect data,” Dr Flett said.

“But we know this is the best way to provide businesses with a clear, accurate picture of the state of their industry.”

Farmers who would like to be involved in the program can contact Horticulture Farm Monitor Pilot program manager Andy Clark on 0436 804 656, or email seasonalworkforce@agriculture.vic.gov.au

If a vehicle has travelled off your property there is now a useful vehicle biosecurity risk assessment checklist available to help you decide if it requires a clean down before re-entering to prevent the introduction of pests and diseases on farm.

Agriculture Victoria Grains Biosecurity Officer Jim Moran said the checklist was produced for grain growers by the Grains Farm Biosecurity Program.

“The Vehicle Biosecurity Risk Assessment Tool is a quick reference guide for assessing a vehicle that has travelled off a property or is not stationed on a property,” Mr Moran said.

He said the checklist gave grain growers a quick assessment strategy to help them determine if a vehicle requires a clean down before re-entering their property.

“For example, the checklist suggests key questions to consider when a vehicle either arrives or re-enters, such as: Where has the vehicle been and what is the likelihood it has come into contact with weeds or other pests?

“What were the road conditions it came on? Dry, damp, muddy or flooding? – these will all have an impact on the level of risk the vehicle represents to your farm.”

Mr Moran said the checklist was comprehensive but still simple and easy to use and included prompts about road surfaces travelled (including paddocks) and their corresponding biosecurity risk level ratings.

He said depending on the level of risk assessed the checklist then provided practical solutions for treating the vehicle.

“But remember if it’s wet conditions forget it. Vehicles shouldn’t be entering the productive areas of your property when it is wet or flooded unless there is an urgent need,” Mr Moran said.

“Mud sticks to tyres and is flicked up into the hard to see and clean components, giving weeds, pests and diseases, a ride to the next paddock or property."

How would an Australian horse traceability system work for you as a horse owner or carer, business or organisation?

The National Horse Traceability Working Group invites you to have a say on proposed business rules for a National Horse Traceability System.

Business rules outline how horse traceability will be achieved across the industry, the roles and obligations industry will have as part of the system and what movement records will be required.

Learn more at the Agriculture Victoria website and have your say here.  

Consultation is now open until Wednesday 25 May.

Agriculture Victoria is working closely with both the pig and horse industries in response to Japanese encephalitis.

There are now a total of 23 properties with pigs confirmed with Japanese encephalitis in Victoria. These are located across the Wangaratta, Moira, Greater Shepparton, Campaspe, Gannawarra, Loddon, Greater Bendigo and Northern Grampians local government areas. A number of suspected cases are under investigation.

The detections are the result of national surveillance efforts to identify new cases and determine the extent and spread of the disease and the source of its introduction.

Japanese encephalitis has also been confirmed in piggeries in New South Wales, Queensland and South Australia and in a small number of feral pigs in the Northern Territory.

Agriculture Victoria is working closely with industry, conducting surveillance activities and providing advice and information to farmers, livestock and horse owners.

Infection is not spread directly from pigs to people, and there is no risk to humans from eating pig meat. Only infected mosquitoes can spread infection. Pork is safe to eat.

In general, spread is through the movement of some species of migratory water birds and through the movement of infected mosquitoes, often over long distances. It does not usually spread directly from animal to animal (i.e. it is not considered contagious).

Victorians are being reminded to protect themselves from mosquito bites particularly when spending time outdoors.

Japanese encephalitis vaccines are recommended for people at a higher risk of exposure to the virus, such as those working with pigs. All people should undertake measures to reduce exposure to mosquitoes.

For more information about Japanese encephalitis virus and animals visit Agriculture Victoria’s website: agriculture.vic.gov.au/je

For more information about Japanese encephalitis virus and human health contact your GP or phone NURSE-ON-CALL on 1300 606 024, or go to www.health.vic.gov.au/jev

pictured: Agriculture Victoria Grains Seasonal Risk Project Manager Graeme Anderson, Mt Lavinia farm owners Joan Liley and Rob Liley (far right), and Agriculture Victoria Farm Emissions Specialist Alison Kelly

The Victorian Government has commenced the On-Farm Action Plan Pilot as part of its commitment under the Agriculture Sector Emissions Reduction Pledge to provide practical information, tools and services to support farmers to understand and reduce emissions.

The pilot will work with up to 250 farm businesses across the state to measure their on-farm emissions profile and identify potential actions to manage and reduce emissions while maintaining productivity and profitability.

Participants will then be eligible for grant funding from the Victorian Government to fund recommended actions from a total pool of up to $5 million.

The three-year pilot will be delivered over nine rounds covering Victoria’s key agricultural industries – beginning with the beef industry in May 2022.

Agriculture Victoria will be working with a select number of producers over the coming months who are interested in understanding and reducing their emissions, and are willing to help other farmers by sharing their learnings from the pilot.

On-farm emissions assessments and action plans will be delivered in collaboration with industry partners. Agriculture Victoria will convene a new ‘Community of Practitioners’ for farm advisors to build capability across the sector and improve the emissions reduction advice being provided to Victorian farmers. While a new network of champions will be established to support farm managers share information and insights from the pilot.

Farmers, farm advisors and others interested in the pilot can email the team at: actionplanpilot@agriculture.vic.gov.au.

Links to early learnings from the pilot, including case studies, will be published on the Agriculture Victoria website as they become available.

Have you registered for Meat & Livestock Australia's Business Edge course yet?

Gippsland primary producers are eligible for subsidised places in the two-day course in Bairnsdale next week on 17–18 May.

Business Edge is one of MLA’s Edge Network courses. Developed originally for northern grazing businesses, it has been adapted for delivery in southern Australia.

The program aims to improve financial and business management skills, focussing on:

• Understanding the language of money
• How to interpret management accounts and tying together the balance sheet, income statement and cash flow statement.
• Assessing whole farm business performance using the right performance indicators that are meaningful to you and your farm
• Managing risk
• Rationally allocating working capital.

The Bairnsdale course will be delivered by MLA-accredited presenter Paul Blackshaw of Meridian Agriculture.

Agriculture Victoria is providing a significant subsidy of course fees for Gippsland producers.

For more information about the course and fees, please call Gippsland Agriculture Recovery Manager on 0457 609 140 or email recovery@agriculture.vic.gov.au.

For more information or to register, go to agriculture.vic.gov.au/events

The Victorian Government is ensuring Victorian farmers have a smoother journey from their farm gate to market with investments to improve local roads.

Minister for Agriculture Mary-Anne Thomas and Member for Bass Jordan Crugnale this week announced the completion of the Grantville Glen Alvie Road Heavy Vehicle Access Improvement Project in the Bass Coast, which received a $350,000 grant through the Victorian Government’s $20 million AgriLinks Upgrade Program.

This project has widened and reconstructed the road so it can better cater for heavy vehicles that regularly use it to transport beef, wool and other farm produce. New barriers have also been installed on the road to boost safety.

The project is one of 51 local road, intersection and bridge infrastructure works supported through the AgriLinks Upgrades Program, which provided funding to 39 rural, regional and peri-urban councils across the state.

These important local road infrastructure upgrades are increasing productivity and reducing travel times, which is better connecting country roads to major transport routes. It will provide direct benefits to producers, processors and other agri-food supply chain businesses.

The program complements funding provided through the previous Local Roads to Market Program, which supported 63 local projects along Victoria’s rural and regional agricultural freight routes, delivering productivity and safety improvements for farmers and businesses.

The AgriLinks Upgrade Program is part of the government’s $2.7 billion Building Works package that has helped getting thousands of Victorians back to work on crucial infrastructure projects around Victoria.

Over the coming year, the Victoria Government's road maintenance blitz will also step up with $780 million invested across Victoria, including record asset expenditure of $187 million on road rehabilitation, drainage renewal and bridge works.

A full list of councils awarded funding through the AgriLinks Upgrade Program can be found at agriculture.vic.gov.au

Southern Rural Water's (SRW) Pricing Submission for 2023 to 2028 (PS2023) needs to balance the price and services they provide, so the involvement of their customers in this planning is important.

They have listened to customer views via their Customer Consultative Committees, Customer Reference Group, surveys and meetings. From what they have heard so far, they know water security, reliability, service, and paying a reasonable price for water are key issues for our customers.

SRW has used these key issues to develop proposed customer outcomes to inform a range of pricing options.

SRW is holding holding both face to face and online events from 16-24 May, to discuss the possible pricing options for 2023-2028.  For more information or to register for an event visit the engagement hub.

Welcome to the 'Very Fast Break' seasonal climate update video clips.

We are partnering with the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) to bring you these short summaries for Victoria, South Australia and Southern New South Wales.

WATCH THE VICTORIAN VIDEO HERE

Do you have gorse?

Through the Community Grants Program the Victorian Gorse Taskforce (VGT) works to support communities in reducing gorse in their local area.

The VGT are interested in helping landholders looking to control their gorse long-term.

The program looks to educate and build community capacity around gorse and gorse control so that communities can take real ownership and overcome the problem.

Now is the time to plan ahead and start a conversation with your community about gorse in your area.

Eligible Small Grant projects can attract up to $5,000 in funding.

The 2022 – 2023 Small Community Grants are will close on 28 May.

If gorse is a problem on your land or across your local area, the VGT encourages you to connect with your local community and apply now.

For more information email: info@vicgorsetaskforce.com.au

Find out more from the Victorian Gorse Taskforce.

The latest episode of My Rain Gauge is Busted is now out.

In the podcast, the team talk to Monash University’s Emeritus Professor in the School of Earth and Atmosphere and Environment, Neville Nicholls about past El Niño events, how an El Niño forms and how that affects seasonal conditions.

Interested in hearing more?

Search for My Rain Gauge is Busted wherever you get your podcasts or listen online via the Agriculture Victoria website

Grants of up to $25,000 are available to help reimburse primary producers for clean-up and recovery activities as a direct result of the Severe Weather event of 9 –11 June 2021.

The Exceptional Circumstances Recovery grants can be used to cover activities including removing fallen trees, removing silt and debris, specialist support for landslip and erosion remediation.

The support can also contribute to the cost of repairs or replacement of damaged farm infrastructure such as fencing and equipment.

Applications for grant assistance close on 31 May 2022.

To apply for a grant or to see if you are eligible, visit Rural Finance.

Supporting farmers to reduce carbon emissions

The Victorian Government is backing Victorian farmers to reduce their on-farm emissions and adapt to a changing climate with an innovative pilot program.

Minister for Agriculture Mary-Anne Thomas visited Mt Lavinia Farm in Gippsland to launch a three-year pilot program that will work with up to 250 farm businesses across the state to measure, manage and reduce their on-farm emissions.

READ THE FULL MEDIA RELEASE HERE

Energy efficient: businesses becoming more sustainable

The Victorian Government is supporting Victorian agribusinesses with investments to improve their sustainability and productivity by exploring new ways to be more energy efficient.

Minister for Agriculture Mary-Anne Thomas recently visited Austong International – a poultry farm in Lang Lang which has received a $29,250 grant through the government’s Agriculture Energy Investment Plan (AEIP).

READ THE FULL MEDIA RELEASE HERE

Details about Agriculture Victoria events can be found in one spot on our website. Log on to the Events page to keep in touch with upcoming events.

Caption: Presenter Galia Bastoni from Australian Red Cross

Do you employ people from a culturally or linguistically diverse background in your workplace?

If you want to find out ways to make your business more attractive to people from different background and take advantage of the benefits they bring, then sign up to the Welcoming Workplaces webinar on 27 May from 12 pm.

In the webinar you will learn to how to develop and encourage positive attitudes in workplaces and address barriers preventing people from migrant backgrounds participating in the agricultural workforce.

The webinar will also look at the strengths and skills they bring to the business and how to make your business more attractive.

Welcoming Workplaces is a Red Cross initiative that encourages and builds capacity in welcoming new arrivals into your workplace.

It aims to help build capacity in fostering appreciation of diversity in the workplace, increase understanding of the impact of forced migration and build skills/ values such as equality, solidarity, cooperation, empathy, responsibility and resilience.

Register HERE to attend.

For more information contact Del Delpitiya from Agriculture Victoria on 0436 649 860 or del.delpitiya@agriculture.vic.gov.au

The Victorian Government is committed to improving safety and skills on farms, visit Smarter Safer Farms page on the Agriculture Victoria website.

Succession planning can be a challenging and sometimes uncomfortable task for some families. But it doesn’t have to be this way.

An awareness of what’s required and what’s possible in a succession plan, to meet the needs of everyone involved, can make the task easier.

Agriculture Victoria is presenting a series of three one-hour webinars to step you through the process of putting together a successful succession plan.

TOPICS AND DATES

Session 3 (Tuesday 17 May) – Matching business capacity with family requirements. Is the best option to sell all or some of the farm? How can a plan be developed?

PRESENTERS

Mike Stephens and Paul Blackshaw, farm business consultants with Meridian Agriculture.

Mike specialises in succession planning and Paul provides farm financial analysis, benchmarking, business performance and succession planning.

A free one-on-one follow-up session with Meridian will be available to 20 people who attend at least two webinars.

TIME: 7 – 8 pm

COST: Free

REGISTRATION: Numbers are limited to 20 participants so register here

For more information or assistance contact Paul Simpson, Agriculture Recovery Extension Officer on 0455 750 605 or at paul.simpson@agriculture.vic.gov.au

The Local Economic Recovery “On Farm Recovery Support Services” project is jointly funded by the Victorian Government and Commonwealth Government under the Commonwealth-State Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements (DRFA).

Young farmers across Victoria are being invited to come together for farm finance workshops at a number of locations, as well as to network and ask questions.

Agriculture Victoria is offering the Farm Finance – Getting Prepared sessions as in-person events after having to shift to an online format for the past two years.

The workshops will be an opportunity to have open and transparent conversations about farm finance and get some tips on how to communicate in ‘bank speak’.

By the end of the session participants will have a new clarity on finance and how the whole system works.

All sessions will be held between 6 – 8.30 pm and are scheduled for:

Wangaratta – Wednesday 18 May
Ouyen – Wednesday 25 May
Horsham – Wednesday 1 June.

To register or to find out more visit https://bit.ly/3O3eht0

The Farm Finance – Getting Prepared series is supported by Agriculture Victoria’s Smarter, Safer Farms program.

Immerse yourself in an exclusive three-part educational series to learn about global market opportunities, focusing on the China market, and how Agriculture Victoria’s new Pathways to Export program can assist your international trade journey.

Hear from the Victorian Government’s Deputy Trade Commissioner in China and key in-market experts who will help you gain a deeper understanding of international market opportunities.
Register for your exclusive ticket to export:

Part 3: Business Matching Essentials

Tuesday, 24 May from 2 – 3 pm

Register HERE

When: 25 May, 9 – 10.30 am

This is a two-part online training to assist Victorian livestock producers to use the National Livestock Identification System (NLIS) database to complete livestock transfers. This training is relevant to cattle, sheep, and goat owners and managers. Part 1 is an online video you watch before attending Part 2, the scheduled interactive webinar.

You will learn about livestock traceability, take a tour of the NLIS database, watch a live demonstration of how to transfer livestock and practice completing a transfer. There will be time at the end of the webinar for participants to ask the presenter questions.

Numbers are limited to allow for an interactive session.

More information and registration links for each event on the Agriculture Victoria events page.

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All contact points can be found at: agriculture.vic.gov.au/about/contact-us

Don't forget to check out Agriculture Victoria's social media sites for up-to-date information and news.