• Coronavirus update
• Monitoring continues for Japanese encephalitis
• Beat the Bite
• Milking Victoria’s dairy export potential for all it’s worth
• Strong collaboration results in downward trend in stock losses
• Victorian Fox and Wild Dog Bounty is now digital
• VGT community grants now open
• VFF Stock Sense Cattle Roadshow
• Latest AgVic podcast information – Caylem Roberts and Russell Adcock
• Victorian April climate outlook
• Look up and live
• Fox and wild dog bounty collections for South East Victoria
• On-farm Emergency Water Infrastructure Rebate Scheme – applications close 6 May
• June 2021 storms and floods grants – applications close 31 May
• What's on

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

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

There are now a total of 22 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

Protect yourself from mozzie bites and the diseases they may carry.

Apply mosquito repellent containing picaridin or DEET to all exposed skin before you leave home, and wear long, loose-fitting clothing to avoid being bitten.

More on how to mozzie-proof your home and holiday HERE

The Victorian Government is supporting another local food producer to make new products, boost sales in international markets and respond to supply chain risks.

Minister for Agriculture Mary-Anne Thomas and Member for Tarneit Sarah Connolly recently visited Purearth Foods in Truganina, which has been awarded $485,000 from the $15 million Food to Market program.

The funding will help the company purchase and install new processing equipment to increase efficiency and reduce allergen risk between dairy and plant-based products.

The specialised equipment will also enable the development of new products while also increasing production volume of existing lines.

By increasing production capability, Purearth Foods will take its milk and plant-based products to new domestic and international markets.

The facility expansion will also allow for additional manufacturing capacity to support local independent brand owners.

Once complete, the $4 million upgrade will create an additional 15 full-time manufacturing jobs as well as support local supply chain partners and farmers in the long term.

The $15 million Food to Market program is funded through the government’s Agriculture Strategy.

Fifteen Victorian agri-food businesses have been awarded funding under the second tranche of the program for projects delivering on the strategy’s vision for a Victorian agriculture sector that is strong, innovative, and sustainable.

To learn more about the 10-year Agriculture Strategy, visit our website

Coordinated community control programs, producer input into local planning and public land controls have contributed to a downward trend in wild dog predation in Victoria.

Operations Manager for Hume and Mallee regions Craig Hamilton outlined the trend on a webinar hosted by Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) Wild Dog program.

Mr Hamilton said the wild dog program performs control work in response to incident reports for livestock killed, maimed or harassed by wild dogs across 16 wild dog management zones in eastern and western Victoria.

The trend in incident reports since 2014 has been downwards, reducing by more than half.

“This year so far in response to 303 farmer related incident reports, the wild dog program established 2,323 bait stations and replaced 4,648 baits over 1,450km, with a further 700km to be completed by the end of the financial year,” he said.

“Wild dog controllers have established 1,919 trap sets, and checked those trap sets 12,659 times, and have helped facilitate the protection of farmland through community wild dog control.”

Mr Hamilton said the downward trend in incident reports had been achieved through strong collaboration with landholders and community groups, successful community baiting programs, aerial baiting program, improved technology in pest exclusion fencing and expansion of exclusion fencing networks.

“The aerial baiting program is conducted only in areas where ground access is difficult and where there is a high number of livestock losses and farm related incident reports.

“This year there were 3,731 baits laid over a series of transects totalling 425km. The aerial baiting program is conducted in autumn and spring.”

Australian Wool Innovation Community Wild Dog Control Coordinator for East Gippsland Mick Freeman, said 102 landholders were supported by community wild dog coordinators across 72,600ha of private land with 13,252 baits in 2021.

Mr Freeman said a suite of community fact sheets had been developed on foxes and wild dogs providing land managers with contact points for assistance, available support, ground baiting tips, managing predators post-bushfires and guardian animals.

He said vertebrate pest management workshops on wild dogs, foxes and feral pigs are planned for Tubbut, Buchan, Mansfield and Cudgewa.

According to Anthony Websdale, senior wild dog controller, Bairnsdale, baiting programs should be pencilled in on the calendar just like shearing or summer drenching programs.

Mr Websdale said a financial gain of $14,000 was achievable in a scenario based on 1000 first cross ewes to achieve a seven per cent increase in lambing (70 lambs) valued at $200 per head through best practice ground baiting.

“The cost of a 10-week baiting program with 70 meat baits per run (every two weeks) is an estimated $1575 and your time,” he said.

“With baiting, it’s not just lambing percentages but wild dogs and foxes can carry some diseases causing foetal abortions in livestock.”

For more information contact Kim Woods, National Wild Dog Action Plan Communications Coordinator on 0499 772 860.

To streamline payment processes for fox and wild dog bounty participants, we have introduced a digital bounty application system.

Registering is easy.  Access the form at the top of our bounty homepage and simply input your email and banking details.

The new system will ensure payment is quick and easy, and also allow participants to keep track of bounty applications.

Over the coming months as we transition to a digital system, hunters will still have access to the paper-based system.

Please pre-register online, chat to our bounty collection staff on collection days or call our Customer Service Centre on 136 186.

Do you have gorse?

The Victorian Gorse Taskforce (VGT) is calling for grant applications for their 2022/2023 Small Community Grants Program.

$5,000 IN GRANTS AVAILABLE

The VGT are interested in supporting groups, starting from just two landholders, who are genuinely willing to control gorse and stay on top of it.

• Grants are now open - and will close 28 May 2022.

For more information contact the VGT Executive Officer on 0417 593 250 or at info@vicgorsetaskforce.com.au or visit our website.

Stock Sense is teaming up with several expert speakers to present at a FREE workshop on a range of cattle health, welfare, and biosecurity topics.

Topics include:

• Pain relief in cattle
• Trucksafe and fit-to-load standards
• Lumpy Skin Disease
• Importance of on-farm biosecurity.

When and where:

Pakenham – 2 May (6 – 9 pm) at Pakenham Bowls Club
Leongatha – 3 May (9 am – 1 pm) at Leongatha Football Netball Club
Bairnsdale – 3 May (6 – 9 pm) at Bairnsdale Sporting and Convention Centre
Corryong – 10 May (9 am – 1 pm) at Corryong Hotel Motel
Benalla – 10 May (6 – 9 pm) at Benalla Bowls Club.

Registrations are essential, click here to register.

Each event will provide attendees with a lunch/dinner and time to ask questions of the invited speakers.

We hope you can join us for this event! For more information please do not hesitate to contact Tegan on 0417 316 791 or at stocksense@vff.org.au

Listen to this podcast to hear how Caylem Roberts is creating a pathway into agriculture.

While Russell Adcock – our Senior Aboriginal Employment and Engagement Advisor – talks about achieving self-determination and how his role helps make this happen.

You can hear more from Caylem and Russell by searching for AgVic Talk wherever you get your podcasts or listen online via the Agriculture Victoria website agriculture.vic.gov.au/AgVicTalk

These webinars with Agriculture Victoria seasonal risk agronomist Dale Grey, focus on the current seasonal climate outlook for Southern NSW, Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania.

The outlook is based on model projections for rainfall using current oceanic, atmospheric and soil moisture conditions.

RECORDING AVAILABLE HERE: Recording registration – Zoom.

The passcode is: April2022!

Stay safe from overhead powerlines. When you enter a job site, STOP.

Get out of the vehicle. Look up and around to understand the entire area of work.

FIND OUT MORE HERE

#powerlines #energysafevictoria #LUAL

The Commonwealth Government in partnership with the Victorian Government is offering rebates to eligible drought-affected farm businesses in the East Gippsland and Wellington Local Government Areas.

Farm businesses that graze livestock and/or have permanent horticulture planting can receive a one-off 25 per cent rebate of up to $25,000 (ex GST).

Recipients who received a rebate in round one are also eligible to apply again in round two and can receive the maximum rebate amount.

Rebates can be used towards the cost of purchase, delivery and/or professional installation of on-farm water infrastructure.

So if you are making your farm more drought resilient, don’t delay and apply today via Rural Finance.

Grants of up to $25,000 are now 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.

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

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.

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 1 (Tuesday 3 May) – Reality check, is there enough farm to share between everyone? This session considers the viability of the farm to potentially support more than one family. Is a succession plan feasible?

Session 2 (Tuesday 10 May) – How do we know what each individual wants and how is this achieved?

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:

Bairnsdale – Wednesday 4 May
Maryborough – Wednesday 11 May
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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Call 136 186 from anywhere in Australia for the cost of a local call (except for mobiles and public telephones).

If you are deaf or have a hearing or speech impairment contact the National Relay Service on 133 677 or www.relayservice.gov.au.

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.