In this edition:

• Facing tough conditions? Don’t go through it alone
• Livestock predation survey preliminary results
• Will my dam fill this year? Soil moisture keeps score
• AgVic contacting land owners near Meredith and Terang
• Avian influenza community information sessions
• More support for communities to fight pests and weeds
• Dry seasons support
• Avoid exposure losses following shearing
• Free financial counselling
• Barwon farmer fined $10,000 with conviction for animal cruelty
• The Fast Break - out now!
• Recording: Victoria's spring seasonal outlook
• Popular harvester set-up workshops coming to Victoria
• 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

Preliminary results from Agriculture Victoria’s recent livestock predation survey will be discussed at targeted dingo conservation and management consultation activities being held across the state this week.

More than 500 Victorian livestock producers responded to the survey issued in July, providing valuable information about the levels and frequency of livestock attacks on their properties, the effectiveness of control methods and the impact of livestock predation on farmers and their local communities.

The insights collected through the survey will be considered alongside scientific research; conversations and perspectives from Traditional Owners, environmental and agricultural groups; and feedback collected through stakeholder engagement activities as part of Victoria’s review of its approach to dingo conservation and management.

Of the 500 survey respondents, approximately 72% were located in eastern Victoria, 3% in the north west.

The survey showed that livestock predation is an ongoing concern to sheep farmers whose properties border public land.

Just over half of the survey respondents reported incidents of livestock being maimed or killed by a wild dog or dingo in the past 5 years. 

Valuable insights into the methods of control being used to manage predation were revealed through the survey.

Most producers (84%) said they were using a mix of lethal and non-lethal control methods to manage predation with the most common forms of control methods being shooting, 1080 ground baiting, trapping, farm hygiene, exclusion fencing and guardian animals.

Agriculture Victoria is grateful to the hundreds of producers who took the time to take part in the survey.

Having up-to-date insights and perspectives from producers in relation to livestock predation on private properties across the state is an important input to Victoria’s dingo conservation and management review.

The survey results will continue to be analysed to help build Agriculture Victoria’s understanding of producer' perspectives on this complex issue.

For more information about consultation sessions being held across Victoria this week visit: agriculture.vic.gov.au/dingoreview

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.

Clem Sturmfels is hosting a webinar on farm dam management on Wednesday 11 September from 12:30 to 1:30 pm.

Clem will talk about dam water storage, best management techniques and discuss tools for calculating how much water is in a dam.

Register here: Dry season spring webinar series – water and dam management.

Agriculture Victoria will be contacting property owners located near the avian influenza affected farms in the Meredith and Terang areas to check in.

Residents in the area may be contacted via phone or text.

We will be asking if you have chickens or other livestock on the property, and about the health of the animals.

Gathering this data helps us to plan our avian influenza response and lift the quarantine measures that are in place as soon as possible.

Be aware of scams. Agriculture Victoria will not ask for financial information or credit card details.

If you have any questions or want to report sick or dead birds, please contact the VicEmergency hotline on 1800 226 226.

For more information visit agriculture.vic.gov.au/avianflu

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

This Saturday 7 September you will find us at:

Golden Plains Farmers Market 

22 Byron Street, Bannockburn

⌚ From 8:30 am to 12:30 pm

Terang Farmers Market 

 All Saints Church, Corner Thompson Street and Bourkes Road, Terang.  

⌚ From 9 am to 1 pm

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

The Victorian Government is investing an additional $780,500 in support for community groups to protect their local environment, industries and cultural heritage from biosecurity threats.

Minister for Agriculture Ros Spence recently opened the third round of the Partnerships Against Pests grants program which provides community groups funding to deliver projects that educate, strengthen relationships and promote collaboration to manage established weeds and pest animals at a local level over a 2 year period.

Grants of between $10,000 and $50,000 are available to a wide range of agricultural and environmental not-for-profit organisations, including Landcare groups and networks.

This is on top of $250,000 made available to Victoria’s 4 Community Pest Management Groups – the Victorian Blackberry Taskforce, the Victorian Gorse Taskforce, the Victorian Rabbit Action Network and the Victorian Serrated Tussock Working Party – to expand their reach and strengthen partnerships with local communities.

The Partnerships Against Pests grants program has been embraced by Victorian community groups which have used the funding to help strengthen efforts to reduce the impact of invasive weeds and pests on Victorian landscapes.

An example of this from Round 2 of the program is a $30,000 grant for Bush Heritage Australia, in partnership with DJANDAK share the story about how they successfully removed wheel cactus at Buckrabanyule - a sacred site for the Dja Dja Wurrung people and wider Kulin Nation.

The Partnerships Against Pests funding is being used to promote this story of ‘Country, cactus and combating invasives’, so that a much wider audience can learn from their collaboration.

To help more community groups to access grants, Agriculture Victoria will host a webinar at 11am on Monday, 9 September to brief interested organisations on the application and submission process.

For details about the Partnerships Against Pests grants program and webinar visit, agriculture.vic.gov.au.

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.

Dr Jeff Cave, Agriculture Victoria Senior Veterinary Officer

A sheep’s fleece is a great insulator against the cold, so imagine the effect when it’s suddenly gone. 

A freshly shorn sheep may experience a three-fold increase in heat loss, therefore highly prone to hypothermia.

Freshly shorn sheep are at greatest risk of cold stress in the first three days (or nights) after shearing, and remain at risk for up to 2 weeks, with mortalities seen in some mobs up to 4 weeks after shearing. 

Although there is little wool growth, acclimatisation and considerable skin thickening occurs after shearing. 

It is therefore important to monitor predicted weather conditions before putting shorn sheep into a paddock after shearing.

The impact of cold weather, particularly when combined with wet and windy conditions, can have severe impacts on sheep.

The effect of cold weather will depend on its duration, rainfall, wind speed and temperature.

The type of weather most likely to cause catastrophic sheep losses due to hypothermia is usually associated with the passage of a strong cold front or a rain-bearing depression.

Sheep grazier alerts are issued when a combination of rain, wind and low temperatures reaches a critical level.

If a sheep grazier alert has been received at the end of shearing, shed as many sheep as possible and provide hay for the duration. Once the bad weather has passed, move the sheep to a paddock with adequate shelter and continue to provide supplementary feed.

In areas prone to winter storms a 'cover comb' or 'snow comb' can be used when shearing.

Once cold, freshly shorn sheep may become extremely difficult to move so always put shorn sheep into a protected paddock with plenty of shelter from the cold.  Off-shears paddocks should be small and well protected from cold winds by relatively impermeable shelter belts.

Extra feed should be provided to sheep for up to four weeks following shearing to meet their increased energy requirements.

Shearing a month before lambing encourages ewes to seek shelter and hence protection for their lambs. However, pre-lambing shearing must only be considered if ewes are in good condition and have free access to good feed and shelter. Heavily pregnant ewes should not be subject to the handling and feed deprivation that shearing involves. 

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

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.

A Barwon farmer recently pleaded guilty in the Geelong Magistrates Court and was fined $10,000 with conviction. A disqualification order to own or person in charge of livestock was also imposed for 7 years.

The farmer, Mr Torrick Ouaida, was the person in charge of approximately 200 sheep in Lara between July 2022 and August 2022.

The 200 sheep were contained to an area of approximately 2 hectares with no pasture and only poor-quality straw available to eat.

While attending the property officers observed a number of recently deceased sheep that had died within the past 48 hours, were in emaciated body condition and had various levels of predatory markings.

Three of the sheep had died during or very shortly after lambing.

Mr Ouaida failed to provide proper and sufficient feed, and failed to provide veterinary treatment to the sheep, most of which were pregnant or lactating ewes.

Following a sentencing indication, Mr Ouaida pleaded guilty to 2 counts of animal cruelty and 2 of aggravated cruelty resulting in the death of 20 sheep and the serious disablement of a further 14 sheep.

His Honour took into account Mr Ouaida’s lack of priors, plea of guilty and his personal circumstances at the time of offending and remarked this is a matter that often carries very large fines.

Agriculture Victoria Compliance Manager Daniel Bode said the weight of the 7 year disqualification order is substantial and will ensure that animals are protected from further pain and suffering.

‘It sends a very clear message that those who continually commit offences against animals should not have the privilege and opportunity to care for them in the future,’ Mr Bode said.

‘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.

‘This is a reminder to all livestock producers that animal cruelty will not be tolerated by the Victorian Government or our community.’

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 latest The Fast Break newsletter is now available. 

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.

In this webinar recording, Seasonal Risk Agronomist Dale Grey discussed the recent seasonal conditions including rainfall, temperature and deep soil moisture levels across the state.

We looked at what the latest global models are forecasting for spring and shared information on the dry seasons support available to farmers.

Climate Specialist Graeme Anderson, and Dale, took a deeper look into the current seasonal risks and helped bust some common myths around making sense of forecasts.

VIEW THE RECORDING HERE

Duration: 67 minutes (including questions)

Password: Climate

This webinar was originally presented on Wednesday 14 August at 12 pm.

All climate webinar recordings can be found on our website.

For more information

For more information about these webinars, including assistance joining the webinar, email climate.webinars@agriculture.vic.gov.au

A series of harvester workshops will roll-out across the South Australian and Victorian grainbelts this month to bring together harvester specialists, industry experts and researchers to give grain growers the latest advice ahead of this season’s harvest.

The Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) Harvester Set-up Victorian workshops will be hosted by the Birchip Cropping Group in collaboration with local growers:

• 24 September, Catumnal
• 26 September, Stewarton.

GRDC Southern Panel chair and Rutherglen grain grower Andrew Russell has attended past harvester set-up workshops. He said they are an awesome resource and one of the best parts of attending is listening to the conversations between growers, skilled header operators and other machinery experts.

Register for the free harvester set-up workshops via the GRDC website or contact BCG at kelly@bcg.org.au.

Upcoming workshops to improve farm office tasks

Agriculture Victoria invites Mallee and North Central farmers to attend workshops running from 10 to 13 September on efficient farm office management with Carmen Quade from AgriFocused.

Read the media release in full here.

Verdict upheld for Gippsland farmer guilty of animal cruelty

Gippsland farmer Jeremy Rich has failed recently in his attempt to have his conviction and sentence overturned in the County Court of Victoria.

Read the media release in full here.

Celebrating the best of Victoria this Melbourne Show

Hundreds of thousands of visitors from across the world are expected to visit the Melbourne Royal Show this September and experience the best agriculture, food, and entertainment Victoria has to offer.

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.

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 9 September, 11 am to 2 pm - Climate risk and natural resource management
• Thursday 19 September, 11 am to 2 pm - Business success
• Monday 30 September, 11 am to 2 pm - People success 
• Monday 14 October, 12 to 2 pm - Plan review. 

Location:  Register online today.

Visit the Agriculture Victoria website  for all the program details.

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

It's easy – simply click this link.