Southern farmer

Page 1

South Central and West Gippsland

0HONE &AX %MAIL SFARMER

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AUGUST, 2013

PAGES 4 & 5

RE T U U

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AT O FE TF LI

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486 Whitehorse Road, Surrey Hills, 3127

FARM FENCING PAGE 20

PAGES 9-11 & 14-16

Lock out exploration Gippsland farms still under threat amid coal seam gas controversy By DAVID PALMER BASS Coast Council, based in Wonthaggi, believes coal seam gas exploration in Gippsland has the potential to threaten the region’s aim of doubling its food production by 2030. That aim is the vision of the draft Gippsland regional growth plan. Last month the council wrote to Victorian Premier Dennis Napthine to express community and council concerns that prime farm land in Gippsland was still not permanently protected from coal seam and unconventional gas extraction and mining. A temporary moratorium on further exploration is in place. Bass Coast chief executive ofďŹ cer, Allan Bawden, said in his letter the council was opposed to those operations and considered “the current legislative framework does not provide enough rigour to protect our environmentâ€?. “Council is particularly concerned about the impact this type of exploration and mining could have on our valuable agricultural industry and environmental biodiversity,â€? he said. Last month marked the ďŹ rst anniversary of the establishment of the rapidly expanding Lock The Gate Gippsland campaign in Victoria. Queensland based Lock The Gate Alliance president, Drew Hutton, spawned its establishment, at a well-attended landholder meeting in Leongatha in July 2012. “Only when every gate is locked will we have a chance to successfully

GOLDEN CHALLENGES SHAUN Witchell is enjoying some challenges more than others while running the Golden Apple orchard at Labertouche. The Witchells have big plans for their operations, despite some setbacks. Shaun is pictured at part of the 2.5ha planting of Jazz apples. The espalier layout is called a 2D trellis.

pursue legal and political goals,â€? he told the meeting. He said in NSW, some 10,000 landholders had agreed to lock the gate “and in some areas, regardless of legal issues or government policy, the CSG companies have been locked outâ€?. NSW FarmersAssociation members, at their annual conference in Sydney last month, called on the association “to lobby for the government’s granting of mining and CSG licenses, to be subject to achieving a triple bottom line beneďŹ tâ€?. Matthew Wright, director of climate solutions think tank Zero Emissions, said last month that Queensland and NSW “are each seeing the prospect of 40,000 CSG wells, across mining leases so big and vast, they’re bigger than the entire state of Victoriaâ€?. Mr Wright welcomed Bass Coast Shire’s response to the Premier, but said both federal and state governments need to announce an indeďŹ nite moratorium or permanent ban on all CSG mining on land. He said the oil industry peak body, the Australian Petroleum Production ExplorationAssociation, had been going around easternVictoria “spending up big on advertising and lobbyists running a charm offensive using propaganda such as ‘natural’ to describe coal seam gasâ€?. “But there’s nothing natural about letting the genie out of the bottle by taking a gas that has been safely stored for millions of years,â€? he said. “Letting it out in such an uncontrolled fashion is dangerous to human health, the landscape and the environment.â€?

„ See full feature story on pages 6-7.

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NEWS

Page 2, Southern Farmer ______________www.nenews.com.au weareonline

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Level 1, Suite 103, 486 Whitehorse Road, Surrey Hills, North VIC 3127 Phone (03) 9888 4822 Fax (03) 9888 4840 Email: sfarmer@nenews.com.au

Managing Editor

Hartley Higgins

Journalist

David Palmer

Advertising Manager

Rod Berryman

Livestock Co-ordinator

David Rizzoli

Accounts/Distribution

Cathy Johnson

The Southern Farmer is published by Hartley Higgins for Reliance Press, a division of North East Newspapers Pty Ltd ACN 006 238 277 and is printed at 37 Rowan Street, Wangaratta, 3677.

Š 2012

Print Post PP 3259990028

The Southern Farmer takes all care in compiling specification, prices and details but cannot accept responsibility for any errors. All prices are correct at time of printing and are subject to change without notice. No material, artwork or photos may be reproduced without the written permission of the publishers. Letters to the editor may be shortened because of space considerations. Every effort is made to preserve the context of letters.

A RELIANCE PRESS PUBLICATION

Covering Central South Victoria and West Gippsland

August, 2013

Dairy farmers look north for scarce fodder HIGH demand and successive years of low production have created a fodder supply shortage across Australia’s dairying regions, creating headaches for farmers sourcing feed. Dairy Australia’s Feedbase program manager, John Evans, said while stocks of high quality cereal hay are being held by exporters in WA and SA, it will command a signiďŹ cant price premium if sold on the domestic market. Alternative sources of fodder are available, in particular alternative ďŹ bre sources, but some coordination will be needed to secure these. Farmers also needed to be wary of the potential for chemical residue contamination of these alternatives, Dr Evans said. “Cotton trash, rice straw and maize stubble from the Murrumbidgee Irrigation area and sorghum stubble from further north, are potential fodder sources, but are often seen as waste products and not usually baled or traded, so a clear message indicating demand for these fodders will be needed to ensure supply,â€? he said. “The best approach to accessing these fodders is likely to be through contact with milk companies and traditional fodder suppliers, who can source product in a coordinated way.â€? Dr Evans said that as these crops were grown for grain and not fodder, farmers needed to ensure they were free from chemical residues including insecticides, herbicides and fungicides.

POOR SUPPLY: Because of the wet winter, and short spring, silage production was down about 40 per cent in Gippsland last spring. SHORT TRIP: This hay was heading from the North East to the Western District. But some grain is being transported 1500km or more from the New South Wales north coast onto Gippsland dairy farms.

Farmers should check with their suppliers about crop history and potential residues, he said. While these potential fodder sources are low quality, they are good sources of effective ďŹ bre, which can be used to help balance diets based on lush pasture and grains/concentrates. “When considering alterna-

tive feed sources, it is also important to ensure there is adequate effective or long ďŹ bre in the diet. “This ďŹ bre promotes chewing and saliva production reducing the risk of a drop in rumen pH and acidosis,â€? Dr Evans said. Other alternative feeds such as palm kernel extract (PKE),

grape marc or almond hulls, are also useful for making a ration, but they have low effective ďŹ bre levels. More information: www. dairyaustralia.com.au. The latest hay and grain report is also available on the DA website and is regularly updated.

Increased prize money for Melbourne show sheep

AUGUST SPECIAL

By DAVID RIZZOLI

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set breed will be the feature breed and will incorporate the Poll Dorset feature show carrying $1500 each for the champion ram and champion ewe and $5000 in cash and prizes for the supreme exhibit. An innovation for the 2013 show will be the sheep

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and wool function on Sunday, September 22, to provide exhibitors, producers and members of the sheep industry an opportunity to celebrate the wool industry. RASV CEO Mark O’Sullivan said, “The RASV is dedicated to attracting and showcasing the ďŹ nest stud sheep and goat breedsâ€?. He added that the RASV encourages members of sheep and wool industries to come along to the breed judging and to attend the Sheep and Wool Celebration Function. The ram trifecta returns in 2013 with prize money of $1500 awarded to the winning breed society and the owner of the three rams selected by the breed society to participate. The RASV will offer a complimentary shuttle service for exhibitors during the show, and on-site facilities for breed society meetings will be available free of charge. More information: Fiona Looker, (03) 9281 7412 or ďŹ onalooker@rasv.com.au or visitwww.rasv.com.au/sheep or www.rasv.com.au/goats

NEWS

Southern Farmer, Page 3

Sustainable practices in Murrindindi “Noticeably, we have seen a reduction in animal health problems and increases in nutrient density and growth in our pastures,” Mrs Lawson said. “We also try to rotationally graze and prefer longer term productive perennials, rather than short term grasses, whilst maximising ground cover at all times. “Consequently, our organic carbon content has increased by 2 per cent across the farm.” Avenel Primary School won another of the five awards, the community education award. The school designed and installed two large double-sided information boards, situated under canopies, on the walking trail at Stewart Park near the school. These tell the indigenous history of the Hughes Creek area, the arrival of Europeans and land-settlers, the clearing of the forests and the introduction of sheep and cattle and foreign pests such as rabbits, foxes and weeds like blackberries. Parent Anna Clabburn, with support, drove the project from staff and students, the Darley Horse Stud, Seymour, the Goulburn Broken CMA and Be Natural Foods. The boards were designed by Richard Telford and built by parent Dylan Thornton. Winners will be put forward for inclusion in the Victorian Landcare awards to be determined later this year.

VEWH plan release provides watering blueprint for state THE Victorian Environmental Water Holder (VEWH) released its third Seasonal Watering Plan recently, providing the blueprint for Victoria’s environmental watering program in 2013-14. The plan sets the scope for where, when, how and why environmental water will be used across Victoria’s rivers, wetlands and floodplains. The plan considers how to coordinate delivery from Water Holdings with environmental water managed by others, including partners in the Living Murray program and Commonwealth Environmental Water.

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Clean up those Autumn leaves ready for Winter JOINT EFFORT: Paringa Livestock managers Therese and Geoff Joyce, accepted the sustainability award on behalf of the property’s owners, Tom and Olivia Lawson.

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The plan includes the Victorian annual environmental watering priorities under the Murray-Darling Basin Plan and has been used to inform the Commonwealth Environmental Water Office’s annual water use options within Victoria. Geoff Hocking, VEWH acting chairperson, said the plan includes environmental watering programs for 17 systems across Victoria. The plan is available at www.vewh. vic.gov.au or by contacting the VEWH on (03) 9637 8951.

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THE Goulburn Broken Catchment Management Authority has named Tom and Olivia Lawson, Murrindindi, as the recipients of its 2013 sustainable farming award. They, with farm managers Geoff and Therese Joyce, have undertaken significant greening of Paringa, on Creeds Road, Murrindindi. The Lawsons run 1000 head of stud Charolais, Angus, Red Angus and Stabalizer cattle, 1000 commercial females and 500 Primera and Highlander ewes and 1200 lambs on 200ha of freehold and 1800ha of leased land. Over numerous years, the four have fenced and revegetated all watercourses, fenced large areas of remnant native vegetation and planted under story species of shrubs. As well, they have installed troughs as alternative water sources to theYea River, embraced biological farming practices, and organised large scale community revegetation projects. Mr and Mrs Lawson said their aim is “to build a sustainable, productive and profitable farming system, while protecting our natural resources and leaving the land in a better condition than when we first had the opportunity to farm it almost 15 years ago”. They have consciously reduced their chemical inputs, while using natural based fertilisers, instead of the more traditional chemically enhanced N:P:K products.

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NEWS

Page 4, Southern Farmer

In brief Six-day irrigation course IRRIGATION Australia will run a six-day irrigation essentials school at the Rydges Hotel, Cronulla, NSW, from August 5 to 10. It aims to give participants improved skills and knowledge of irrigation designs, installations and troubleshooting techniques. To register, contact debbie.atkins@irrigation.org.au.

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Tractor rally goes full STEAM and petroleum-fuelled tractors and engines from around Melbourne were well-represented at the annual Echuca steam rally over the Queen’s Birthday long weekend. Many significant restorations and original builds were evident, and the considerable resources of Scienceworks at Spotswood and the Australian Navy were evident in three magnificent rebuilds. As well, working horses were well catered for with their own arena beside the Campaspe River exhibition site.

ROAD LOCO: Russ and Jo Lloyd, Elwood, own this 8hp Blackbutt Marshall road locomotive, built in 1911 by Marshall and Sons, Gainsborough, England. It worked initially in blackbutt and Benarkin forests in Queensland.

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August, 2013

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MUSEUM QUALITY: Built by the Eureka works in 1939 for the Rockhampton Council, this Cowley road roller was restored by the current owners, Scienceworks, Spotswood.

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previous DPI, DSE and water.vic.gov.au sites into one place – www.depi. vic.gov.au. “The information will include where planned burns are underway, ďŹ shing licences and rebates for water saving products,â€? DEPI’s deputy sec-

retary corporate services, Bruce Thompson said. Not all the information on the old websites will be available straight away so it will be staged. During this time, users will still be able to access information from the former websites.

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Southern Farmer, Page 5

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TOWABLE TRACTOR: This Wallis and Stevens threetonne traction engine was one of the smallest on display and one of the newest. A fullscale replica owned by David Atkinson, Heidelberg, he and several others completed the engine in March last year after three-and-a-half years work. He said its weight meant it could be towed on a trailer behind a four-wheel-drive vehicle. The traction engine has all the typical features, such as an externally riveted boiler, two speeds, a differential, winding drum and brakes. The boiler was made in Goulburn, NSW, but Mr Atkinson and his team made the rest.

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NEWS

Page 6, Southern Farmer

She’s all apples,

GRANNY GLORY: Looking across a stand of Granny Smiths to the coolstore and packing shed. The family are fourth-generation orchardists and hope to continue the tradition.

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SIZED AND GRADED: Pink Ladys in the farm coolroom ready for market.

attempted to put it out, but were prevented from doing so by Parks Victoria, according to Brian. Again on the Friday, the CFA brought in dozers to get it under control, but Parks Victoria prevented them from even unloading them and sent them home. Brian said, “What saved us a bit was that I got in touch with a local contractor on the Friday morning and he disced ďŹ re breaks round Shaun’s house, mum’s house, our house and the coolstoreâ€?. “Then we started the irrigation pump and that helped save the housesâ€?. The Witchells are fourth generation orchardists and Shaun has children who

will hopefully take over the mantle. Brian said Shaun’s twoand-a-half-year-old son, Cooper, is “pretty keen about hanging around the packing shed� so a seamless generational transition some time in the 2030s looks likely. Brian said his grandfather started growing fruit trees in Glen Waverley in 1903, but were eventually pushed out by urban expansion and moved to Wantirna South. “Then Dad bought a neglected dairy farm here 37 years ago, although he kept the Wantirna South orchard working for two years, as he established this one,� he said. Brian said that unlike Wantirna South, the former Labertouche dairy farm

was virgin ground as far as apple diseases were concerned and made the establishment of the 32ha orchard much easier. Rainfall at close to 1000mm (38in) is much better, too, than in Melbourne. The Witchells said there were probably about half a dozen other orchards in the immediate vicinity but none were close enough to warrant concerns about diseases and pests being transmitted. Shaun said yields had gone up dramatically in the past ďŹ ve years to average 40 to 45t/ha across the orchard versus 25 to 30t/ha in the late 1990s. „ Continued page 7

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Shaun and part of the 2.5ha planting of Jazz apples. The espalier layout is called a 2D trellis.

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NONSENSICAL water restrictions are holding back horticultural development in high-rainfall regions of Gippsland. Brian Witchell, who, with his son, Shaun, runs the Golden Apple orchard at Labertouche, about 100km south east of Melbourne, said they could not build new irrigation dams without buying an existing water right from someone in the district. He said hobby farmers could build small dams to water their gardens, without any intervention, in this case from Southern Rural Water. “At the same time, the government keeps saying we will soon be feeding Asia,â€? Brian said. But despite the long, hot and dry summer, the Witchells still had one quarter to one third of their irrigation water left at the end of last summer in their main 80ML dam. However, they are about to plant several hectares of new trees and will need more water. Brian said the biggest kick in the guts was on Black Saturday in February 2009, when nine tractors, a coolstore and packing shed and about three hectares of trees were so badly burned they had to be grubbed out. They were planning to start replanting that area with Pink Lady trees about now. Despite insurance, all up it cost them between $2.5 and $3 million. Brian said they were due to start picking on the Monday after the ďŹ re and ultimately their apple income was reduced by 85 per cent because of the ďŹ re. It started from a controlled burn in nearby state forest. On the Tuesday before Black Saturday, the Country Fire Authority sent crews to the burn and

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NEWS

August, 2013

Southern Farmer, Page 7

despite the setbacks From page 6

The Witchells put the increase down largely to them adopting APAL’s Future Orchards 2012 program. It aimed at making Australian apple and pear orchards world competitive “and it has certainly achieved that”, Shaun said. Part of that has been achieved by increasing the density of trees by four times from about 800 to 3000 to 3500 a hectare. Shaun said a move to dwarf and more procatious rootstocks had helped not only bump up yields, but produce them earlier in a season. In order, their varieties ripen as follows: Jonathons, Gala, Golden Delicious, Jazz, Fuji, Granny Smith, and Pink Lady. Pink Lady and Fuji apples are the most popular with consumers. Jazz, a new Zealand bred variety, is their newest and they had their first big crop this year, picking 98 bins

weighing 400kg a bin, which was probably slightly less than expected because of the unusually hot summer. “We had quite a lot of sunburn on some of the fruit,” Shaun said. About 20 per cent of their production will be from Jazz once trees mature. Four Victorian growers have Jazz apples and there are only 15 in the whole country. But there is a tree cap imposed by the New Zealand breeders so very few more will be planted here, Shaun said. The Witchells grow their 2.5ha of Jazz apples in an espalier type layout called 2D which is the only one of its type in the country. Set up three years ago, it cost them more than $100,000 a hectare to put in trees ($41,600), wires, trellis, irrigation and shade. In the next year or so, Shaun and other farm staff will place caps on the tops of the poles and install $20,000

worth of polyethylene hail mesh on top. But he said it wasn’t a big investment “when you have $30,000 or $40,000 of growing costs to protect”. He said pruning the Jazz, was easier than free growing trees, because there was a 2D structure the trees had to conform to. Trees have been pruned so the laterals can be taped to a number of horizontal wires; none protrude at an angle from the wires to achieve the more usual 3D look of existing orchards. This year the Jazz yielded about 10kg a tree and next year Shaun expects 13kg to 14kg from each one. At maturity, in another two or three years, he said they should be producing 110 to 120 apples, or 20kg to 25kg a tree. Another 2D advantage was that apples were much easier to harvest “and that is what it is about when it’s costing $26 an hour to employ each picker”.

Shaun said pickers were really easy to get this last season because there were a great many European backpackers needing money. Brian said they had more enquiries than previously because of the economy. “We need between 16 and 18 pickers at the peak of the season and they get paid just under $20 an hour, so it costs us about $26 an hour when super and other expenses are added,” he said. Four Victorian growers have Jazz apples and there are only 15 in the whole country. But there is a tree cap imposed by the New Zealand breeders so very few more will be planted here, Shaun said. Fertiliser is fine tuned to single elements applied through the irrigation water as needed, although there might be “a couple of shots of blends towards the end of the season”. As well, they apply a considerable amount of calcium

as foliar sprays, as well as micronutrients and some phosphorous and nitrogen. They analyse leaves for nutrient deficiencies in December or January and do fruitlet tests to determine optimum calcium uptake to avoid bitter pit. Shaun said that was particularly important for Jazz because it was prone to developing bitter pit. Brian does the marketing through a stand at the Melbourne Wholesale Fruit and Vegetable market. He said that route was much more profitable than supplying supermarkets, although packers supplying supermarkets, bought some of their output. However, the Market is soon to move to a new location at Epping. It is not a popular move with the Witchells, because the market authority will not allow their truck inside the building and every pallet of fruit will have to be forklifted some distance to their stand.

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HAY, SILAGE AND PASTURE

Our innovative designs have stood the test of time: Burder BURDER AgAttachments designs and material selections have, with more than 1500 units in the field and 22 years in the industry, stood the test of time. The Wangaratta-based manufacturer of front end loaders, forklifts and materials handling attachments, has been delivering Australian made front and rear sub frame mounted forklifts and three point linkage forklifts in two and three stages, for more than 15 years. “With so many forklifts in the field, we now have a huge data base of ready to go forklift designs,” general manager Adam Fendyk said. “This means that we can turn around your customised order quickly, but we can also design forklifts for new tractor models in a flash.” Burder was the first Australian manufacturer to deliver a quick detach mast system, so the operator can sim-

ply remove the mast from the tractor in a matter of minutes, to convert from a materials handling tractor to a field tractor. Burder makes forklifts from industrial section I and C steel with extra heavy parallel flanges for the carriage and mast bearings to run on. Furthermore, all bearings are fully greaseable and contain needle roller thrust and radial rollers, to keep clearances just right, so there are no binds. Burder also caters for many wheel and tyre configurations, which means the lowest point of the mast maintains maximum clearance, regardless of tyre size. This is particularly important for market garden applications. Finally it paints masts in the host tractor’s color Mr Fendyk said, “Because of our innovative and tried and tested product, we are now seeing repeat customers

who, many years ago purchased their first forklift from Burder and are now updating their tractors and choosing Burder again”. The Burder forklift range starts at 600kg two stage units for compact tractors and includes 1000kg two and three stage as well as 1500kg two and three stage up to a massive 2000kg 5.2m lift model. Options for forklifts include: hydraulic soft ride, side shift, 3rd and 4th function for bale handlers, hydraulic buckets, round and square bale forks, round and square bale grabs, forward and side bin tippers and bulk bag lifters which can all be fitted to the Burder quick change fork attachment system. This makes Burder forklifts the most versatile and customisable in the market, Mr Fendyk said. Burder Forklifts are available from all good Australian tractor and machinery dealers.

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HAY, SILAGE AND PASTURE

August, 2013

Improved grasses developed to help combat frequency of low rainfalls By DR ZHONGNAN NIE LOW rainfall has occurred more frequently in many regions of southern Australia over the past decade and has put many farmers under pressure, to feed livestock with less pasture. Improved Perennial Grasses is a Future Farming Industries CRC project led by DEPI, to develop new temperate perennial grasses for medium to low rainfall environments of southern Australia. The new lines developed will provide producers with more choices, when their farms are located in environments often subject to belowaverage annual rainfall, that is less than 600mm. Over the past nine years, the project has developed a series of elite cocksfoot and tall fescue lines, which, together with new phalaris lines developed by CSIRO, are being evaluated across ďŹ ve sites of diverse climates and soil conditions in Victoria and NSW. There are currently few cultivars of perennial temperate grasses available for areas with less than 600 mm of average annual rainfall. In these areas and higher rainfall areas with a substantially belowaverage rainfall year, the current cultivars of perennial grasses face signiďŹ cant threats to their survival and persistence. Climate change scenarios for the target area predict decreasing annual rainfall with greater variability, higher temperatures and an increase

in unseasonal rainfall events. All these factors are detrimental to the persistence of current cultivars and make it necessary to develop new ones adapted to future conditions. Four cocksfoot and three tall fescue lines were bred from parent lines, selected from a large gene pool of targeted environments, to improve persistence and productivity. These parents survived the 2006 drought at Bealiba in central Victoria. Five phalaris lines were also bred by scientists from CSIRO. The new lines have been under evaluation in comparison with their relevant controls (commercial cultivars) in the G x E experiments for over three years. Many of the lines have shown superior performance. Using the cocksfoot and the two Victoria sites as an example, the total herbage yield of the new temperate cocksfoot lines (AVH48 and Currie Replacement) was on average 34 to 50 per cent higher than Currie at Bealiba and Eversley. The total herbage yield of the new Hispanic cocksfoot lines (Cocksfoot Fine and Cocksfoot Very Fine) was generally lower than Currie and Uplands. However, these lines were bred for superior persistence under low rainfall conditions. The project is funded by the Future Farm Industries CRC, MLA, state governments of Victoria and NSW and the CSIRO.

Southern Farmer, Page 11

Knock out infestations RESEARCH over the years has documented that a single mediumsized serrated tussock can produce up to 80,000 seeds, while large plants can exceed 140,000 seeds which remain viable for up to 20 years. Seeds can also be blown up to 60km and a 50 per cent infestation is equivalent to a 50 per cent reduction in carrying capacity (NSW DPI). The Tasmanian DPI has also suggested that, “If left unchecked, it only takes 12 years for tussocks to completely overrun a paddock�; one of serrated tussock’s weakest links is that seedlings are very weak, so that they really require bare ground with little competition to survive their first few years. Thus, the control of every single plant counts. Traditional methods of treatment have been with heavy spray packs or a ute or truck borne tank and long hoses. However, new GP flupropanate granular herbicide is a lightweight, easy to use and ever ready control option. A 750g Shaker can be

located in the ute toolbox or saddlebag, or on the quad bike. Designed to control every tussock that you see, there is no mixing of chemicals; granules are spread dry, preventing drift. The Shaker will treat similar plant numbers as a 20L knapsack (20kg plus). The 15kg/ha label rate is equivalent to 1.5g/m2 or a flat teaspoon, evenly spread across the square metre. Rob Richardson, Seymour Ag Supplies, said product fitted well within a target serrated tussock control program. “It is easy to use and is always handy for those odd plants that you never seem to be able to get back to,� he said. By spreading the granules dry, you don’t need to mix any chemicals or clean any equipment. And a little goes a long way. “Granules only require cheap application gear; a hand powered lawn fertliser spreader is a very accurate and easy way to treat stock camps or small to medium infestations.�

GRANULE POWER: Calibrating a hand spreader in a medium to severe infestation.

Specifically developed for aerial application granules always fit well in hard to access and drift sensitive areas.

The ability to always have the granules close by, too, certainly increases control options; landholders do not have

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WATER MANAGEMENT AND IRRIGATION

Page 12, Southern Farmer

August, 2013

Waste water is cleaned up AQUA-NOVA is a division of Everhard Industries, an Australian owned company that has been operating for more than 84 years. Everhard industries prides itself on manufacturing innovative products with more than 15,000 Aqua-nova wastewater treatment systems being installed throughout Australia and the South Pacific. This demonstrates the commitment that both Everhard Industries and Aqua-no-

Commitment to quality, customers key to company va have to providing quality wastewater products. The popularity of the Aqua-nova system is based on the ability to provide customers a quality product in polymer tanks. Also, this popularity stems from the knowledge that the product is supported at a national level with offices in

Brisbane, Cairns, Melbourne, Peth and Sydney. Aqua-nova offers a product range that can provide customers with a clear solution for all applications and environments. Aqua-nova also manufactures commercial systems for industrial sites, school, universities and caravan parks.

These systems are customdesigned to suit each applications specifications. The Aqua-nova is a home sewage treatment plant and is the most popular and sought after two tank system in the industry. The system provides aerated wastewater treatment through a multi-stage diges-

Soil salinity issues explained

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By SHALOM RUZE

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irrigation

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tion process using naturally occurring bacteria and enzymes. The system requires only m i n i m u m p ow e r w h i c h means low operational costs and maximum savings. This system produces secondary quality effluent which represents over 80 per cent of installations across Australia

and is widely acceptable in all regions. Aqua-nova system uses tanks that have been manufactures to AS1546.1 with all designs tested to AS1546.3. All testing is performed independently by JAS/ANZ Accredited Companies. For more information regarding Aqua-nova and their systems, please visit their website: www.aquanova. com.au or telephone 1800 002 365.

FEED IN TIME: Installing submersible pumps is just one of the water services Aqaurius Drilling offers.

AUSTRALIAN MADE & OWNED

WHEN you irrigate with calcium laden water, with a hardness level of 100ppm and above, you can be at risk of salinising soil. Salinity is directly linked to calcium by the crystalisation of that ion. In warm conditions that ion increases its rate of precipitation. Then, the more you irrigate, the more calcium will drop out as crystals. The higher the levels of all ions, the greater the damage. This behavior will create an impervious blanket of calcium and salts, and will become a salinity issue in that body of soil over time. That is salinity. The further downside is that not only is water at this level and above damaging, but the major base ions of calcium and magnesium are often unavalaible to plants and stock generally, as they have formed compound’s called sulphates, carbonates or similar and have become quite locked up. They will cause damage and be of little or no value to the plant or the soil. Flushing rains Realistically, high rainfall is not the answer to ush out salts in the soil.

This is because it does not rain consistently enough to be effective in many dry areas. Calcium as a carbonate, becomes the bond in a water supply. It will precipitate quite readily and lock other base ions together and trace minerals, such as iron and manganese and the problems start. When iron and or manganese are present, scale in pipes and on surfaces can be from red-iron to dark brown-black, with the heavy presence of manganese. Salinity is a loose term that indicates an unacceptable build up of damaging salts in soil. It is also a term for water supplies considered to have a salinity problem, again with too many damaging salts. There are four major salts (or ions) that make up most water supplies. These are sodium, calcium, magnesium and chlorides. There are two others, potassium and silica, but these are generally not a salinity concern. Each of the above has a charge factor that makes it either a cat-(ion), positive ion, or an-(ion) negative ion. The balance of these can

inuence the pH of water. Sodium and chlorides are damaging salts and calcium and magnesium are hardness minerals. Sodium and chlorides are commonly found together as a compound in NaCl. Calcium will bond very readily with available oxygen molecules and forms a carbonate or a white crystal and is most noticeable on the ground, on leaves, where it dries out on many surfaces when water has a dominance of calcium. This will also clog plumbing as a white crystal. Calcium, when forming this compound or crystal, effectively acts like a glue and can be regarded as the molecular glue of water. Magnesium is also a hardness mineral but reamains highly soluble even when formed as a carbonate. More at www.aquariusdrilling.com.au, aquariusdrilling@hotkey.com.au, 9555 2524, 0411 335 351. *Mr Ruze is a principal of Aquarius Drilling Services Pty Ltd. The company’s expertise encompasses advising on water supply solutions, drilling water bores, installing submersible pumps and making and installing various types of water treatment systems.

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WATER MANAGEMENT AND IRRIGATION

Southern Farmer, Page 13

Blast away pesky clean jobs HIGH pressure steam cleaners have become an essential piece of equipment for Australian farmers. Aussie Pumps’ versatile range provides not just the ability to clean tractors, sheds and equipment, but with its steamer capability, provide practical sanitisation as well. With the latter in mind, Australian Pump Industries, Australia’s biggest producer of high pressure water blasters, has come up with a range of innovative heavy duty steam cleaners, designed particularly with primary producers in mind. Called the Aussie Super Indy range, the product line-up includes single and three-phase steamers, with pressures available as high as 3000psi. In line with food production industry requirements, the new machines feature a heavy duty stainless steel cover that is impact resistant. It is mounted on a robust steel chassis with an integrated front mounted bumper. “We decided to move away from European style machines with their traditional poly or plastic covers,” said Adrian Fiatarone, Aussie Pumps’ product manager. “The machines are loaded with features to make them easy

and safe to use, but provide plenty of capability for fast effective cleaning and sanitising,” he said. The pumps are a heavy duty Italian triplex design, running at 1450rpm for long continuous trouble free lives. The range starts with a 240V single phase machine delivering 1500psi (100Bar) and 12L/m flow. The machine reaches 120 degrees, providing loads of steam power when needed, Mr Fiatarone said. Three phase machines are also available when more performance is required with flows of up to 21L/m. Stainless steel burner coils are available for rural areas with “hard” water too. The new Aussie Super Indy range offers a timed total stop feature, designed to shut the machine off completely after the operator releases the trigger of the gun. This not only reduces wear on the machine but saves power. Other intelligent features include a Micro Leak control. It shuts the machine down if a leak is detected in the high pressure system. This is an essential for maintaining optimum performance and eliminates breakdowns and subsequent downtime.

Low water and low fuel cut outs have also been incorporated in this state-of-the-art steam cleaner. Ergonomic dials give the operator infinitely variable temperature control. That means the machine can vary from cold water to full 120 degree steam, by simply turning a dial. This steam function is ideal for shifting dried mud and biological material from farm machinery. It is also indispensible for washing down stainless steel equipment and particularly for wash down and sterilising of livestock sheds. Australian Pump has also developed a great range of stainless steel, high pressure hose reels. These can be either machine or wall mounted. They have the ability to hold up to 75m of high pressure hose, with the reel rated for hot water to 200 degrees and pressures as high as 5000psi. “The new hot water reels, go hand in hand with the Super Indy range,” Mr Fiatarone said. “They are a real safety asset and substantially aid productivity and reduce wash down times”. More information: (02) 8865 3500.

GLEAMING PAINTWORK: George Commins, Commins Enterprises, Whitton, near Griffith, NSW, demonstrates the Super Indy on his John Deere spray rig.

T/04D04474/30-13

HAY, SILAGE AND PASTURE

Page 14, Southern Farmer

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IN his latest book, Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder, Nassim Nicholas Taleb goes to great lengths to enlighten readers on the deďŹ nition of ‘fragile’, ‘robust’ and ‘antifragile’, as these classiďŹ cations apply to every facet of life, not just our dairy businesses, although I’ll conďŹ ne this article to just that. Taleb presents a heap of evidence, from ancient philosophy to economic collapses of today, to support his thesis. His previous book, The Black Swan, forecast the collapse of America’s banking system, not from statistics, as they forecast the exact opposite, but from the fact banks were fragile and nothing fragile can endure. Eventually, a ‘Black Swan’ event will collapse them. Taleb describes fragility in many forms, but perhaps the most relevant to us is debt.

I doubt there are too many who would argue that point. Robustness is the ability to take shocks – stressors, like low milk prices and poor seasons - without changing, by being able to absorb them without damage. For example, a concrete wall can endure impact, to a point, without damage; it is comparatively robust. Being antifragile, as the book’s title suggests, is to not just survive negative impacts, but to gain from them. We have some restrictions as dairy farmers, in gaining from adverse conditions, which are options in other businesses; we cannot just ‘wind down’ to reduce costs, although that too frequently happens by default. Taleb’s concept of building antifragility into things is soundly grounded in “rules of thumb�. What has, or what principles, have endured the test of time. He advocates nothing that has not survived as wisdom for less than 1000 years. To the modern mind and its ‘professionals’ - economists, forecasters etc - this is simply uninformed. The modern mind assumes, erroneously, that all things are linear.

BIG INCREASE: John Lyne said to have well fed cows like these, dairy farmers must boost silage reserves.

This ignores randomness, the Black Swans of poor seasons and milk price crashes, that no one told us were coming. Taleb repeats frequently, these ‘blind guides’ have nothing to lose if their forecast is wrong and have innate ability to justify or deny their previous predictions. We can view ourselves as victims or take the view that with stress comes strength. As above, futures trading by nature involves losses – somebody must lose for you to win, or worse. Again, it also violates Taleb’s principle of randomness – unforeseen random events that can kill us. Taleb himself was a suc-

cessful trader, but with the qualiďŹ er; his trading was based on nonlinear thinking and in many cases, was totally at odds with economic projections. Dairy farming is a risky business. If we take out all the risk, say with nationalised, government run farming, we would lose all opportunity as well. From a personal perspective, I’d rule out all futures trading and the like. A friend, too, who owns a large grain mill, strongly discourages his clients from trading grain futures; he does not do it himself, and claims experience shows a long-term steady price.

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DAIRY farmers must increase silage reserves by 50 per cent. Milk prices are out of our control, so, too, Mother Nature and rainfall, so what is left that we can use to improve our antifragility? It’s feed. We have been farming for many years at too high a stocking rate. It works when bought-in forage is abundant and pricing, both forage and milk, cooperate. Outside these criteria, its fragility too exposed to random events - that all would agree are not that random of late. The past six months have left few in doubt regarding the need for silage reserves, the only quality,

high conversion forage we can store. Many dairy businesses would have fared far better over the last six months if they had unlimited silage. It may not have made a big profit, but it certainly would have prevented the big losses. But no loss is a profit, because it allows us to prosper when the milk price/season is favorable. Many farms will barely exit their current trading debts before the next industry collapse, let alone fortify, or antifragilise their businesses. I have noticed among my clients, a renewed interest in my annual Feed Budgets, formulated in July each year.

They are in for a shock, although I have forewarned them that we will be increasing our silage reserve figure by 50 per cent. No excuses: find more land to lease or reduce cow numbers. If you wonder how underfed your cows are, or how overstocked you are over a year, simply work backwards from a 10,000L herd average, allowing 1t DM feed per 2000L of milk. Genetically, the average Holstein herd is well capable of this production and before you say it, yes it is profitable and highly so, under a normal grass-silagegrain-turnip (summer crop) feeding regime.

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“The wrapper has given us no problems at all; maintenance is zero, changing wrap rolls is easy and we’ve had no breakdowns.” The 991BE wrapper has fully automated operation but the operator can also select options to suit varying ground conditions. Four heavy duty belts ensure even bale rotation and the operator lifts the arm, loads the bale and sets the arm clear at the touch of a button. With the rotating table in the tip position, the bale damper system holds the bale while the second arm is lowered to the ground, allowing heavy bales to be

lowered without damage. Two stepped 750mm aluminium dispensers keep the wrap at a constant stretch and provide an overlap where the two sheets come together. The hydraulically operated cut and tie system, cuts and holds the wrap ready for the next bale, so there is no need to manually reattach it. In addition to paddock work, the Galls use the wrapper as a stationary unit; they bring bales to it. “With lucerne, you can’t dump the bales on the ground because the stalks can go through the plastic,” Mr Gall said.

“Bringing bales to the wrapper also means there’s no dirt contamination which is important when we’re wrapping haylage for the racehorse market. “We use four layers for silage and up to eight layers for haylage and the McHale 991 wraps bales faster than I can stack them. “We definitely wouldn’t swap it for another brand. “It does exactly what we want it to do, when we want it done, every time.” More details at Gendore Leongatha: (03) 5662 4044, Gendore Tooradin: (03) 5998 3216, or www.gendore. com.au.

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DWIGHT Gall grows lucerne with his father, Geoff, on 128 acres of river flats at Manilla in northern NSW. The family began contracting and selling silage five years ago when the drought eased and they bought a McHale 991BE bale wrapper. Dwight said he looked at other models but the Irish-built McHale was just too good to go past. “McHale machines are built that much heavier than anything else on the market and they are just so reliable,” he said. “We had a McHale wrapper years ago and we were happy with it and we also use a McHale V660 variable chamber round baler that’s an excellent machine.” Their McHale 991BE bale wrapper has wrapped 14,000 bales and Mr Gall said the machine is still as good as new. “It’s a high-output, low-stress machine. “Our neighbor saw it in action and doesn’t bother wrapping his own bales anymore. “He gets us to come and do them for him.

Southern Farmer, Page 15

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NEWS

August, 2013

Southern Farmer, Page 17

7RP¶V 3DGGRFN HJJV SXW SUR¿W right back in Glenburn farm TOM Abbotsmith Youl is the third generation famer to be involved with the family’s Graceburn property at Glenburn. Like most farmers, he became concerned at the inability of traditional family farms to yield a return to their owners. A year ago, he attended a lecture by Joel Salatin, a down-to-earth Virginia US organic small farmer, lecturer and author, who practises environmentally responsible, ecologically beneficial and regenerative agriculture. So Mr Abbotsmith Youl thought about what new and innovative enterprises he could introduce to the family farm. He settled on establishing a unique method of free range/ nomadic egg production that he markets under his Tom’s Paddock brand name and delivers regularly to a growing network of clients in the local Yea and Yarra Valley areas. Mr Salatin is also a key proponent of direct-to-thecustomer marketing and this was another route, which appealed to Mr Abbotsmith Youl. Therefore, he has established a paddock-reared range of eggs production system, which although

YOLKED UP: Tom Abbotsmith Youl with some of his Glenburn produced paddock eggs.

only currently building up to a reasonable scale, has also opened ideas for other potential directto-customer niche opportunities.

Although free range in the paddock egg production has some established practices, Mr Abbotsmith Youl has ad-

opted one of these, as well as implementing his own production. Currently, he has about 450

nomadic hens, but aims to have 900 hens. He buys day-old chicks and rears them to the laying stage (at five months old). He has settled on a mix of Isa Brown and Australorp breeds, as they are noted egg producers, averaging at full production up to five eggs each a week. An added bonus is that his hens provide manure which enhances pasture growth. The partly unique idea is a mobile chicken caravan including water, roosts and laying boxes, that is moved every second day along with a portable electric predator proof fence, enclosing fresh forage. As he moves the chicken caravan, it leaves behind naturally fertilised soil, so that within a few days new pasture growth appears, which is integrated into the farm’s cattle grazing program. At present, Mr Abbotsmith Youl is concentrating on commercial clients who can take a box of 150 fresh eggs on a weekly basis. Therefore, the growth of the local cafe culture is an important market. He also likes the idea of local people forming their own

egg-buying group to take a regular delivery of a box of nutritious eggs. While it all sounds easy, free range or paddock egg production is not all that problem-free. Obviously, the local fox population put Graceburn on its regular calling card, so he has had to learn how to securely house his hens at night. This has involved using solar powered automatic gates, which use a timer to shut down the mobile pen, at the time of the day when his chooks have roosted. Another challenge is wedge tail eagles. However, he has reduced their attacks by stringing colorful bunting over the hens’ grazing area. Mr Abbotsmith Youl is not anticipating getting rich from paddock eggs. But he derives a certain satisfaction from producing eggs which are wholesome, home grown and in the best Joel Salatin experience, produced holistically, sustainably and chemically free. By extending those principles, he aims to soon market his own cattle direct to consumers in 15kg boxes on a whole, side or part beast basis.

t/05d06204-v2/32-13

NEWS

Page 18, Southern Farmer

Wurrook Merino crowned champs

Online tool for beekeepers A NEW online tool that uses images from NASA satellites is set to revolutionise the way Australia’s beekeepers find sources of nectar and pollen. Called BeeBox, the tool is the first of its kind and uses historial and current satellite imagery to help predict where and when Eucalypt trees will flower. Most Australian beekeepers rely on

August, 2013

flowering Eucalypts to provide nectar and pollen for their bees, with most locating their hives within state-owned Eucalypt forests. BeeBox can be accessed at www. sideroxylon.com.au. A user manual is available and can be accessed either via an Apple iBooks app or the Rural Industries R&D Corporation.

Australian Sheep Show draws quality turn-out By DAVID RIZZOLI

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A 17.3 MICRON eece from the Walton family’s Wurrook Merino Stud at Rokewood was crowned Grand Champion Fleece at the 2013 Australian Fleece Competition held in conjunction with the Australian Sheep Breeders Association’s 2013 Australian Sheep Show held at Bendigo in midJuly. The winning fleece carded 92.95 points, only 0.25 points ahead of a 17.2 micron eece (92.70 points) from Peter and Jayne Lette’s Conrayn Merino Stud from NSW. This eece came from

the 16.6 to 17.5 micron Extra SuperďŹ ne Merino Stud Ewe or Wether Class. Wurrook also won the 17.6 to 18.5 micron SuperďŹ ne Merino Stud Ram Class with a 17.9 micron eece which scored 92.45 points. The Grand Champion Fleece had a Greasy Fleece Weight of 7.5kgs, with a yield of 70.2 per cent, a Comfort Factor of 99.9, was valued at $70.97 and won for the Walton family a travel voucher from Landmark and WFI valued at $1500. Other studs from the Southern Farmer region which were successful in the Fleece Competition were: Mount Challicum, P.G

and J.D.Hartwich, Ballyrogan, Reserve Champion, UltraďŹ ne Merino 15.6 to 16.5 micron Merino Stud Ewe or Wether, 16.5 micron, 90.00 points; Malcolm and Greg Mortlock, Belview Merino Stud, Dunluce, Champion and Reserve Champion Strong Merino Commercial Ewe or Wether, 22.1 micron and Stronger, 22.1 micron and 23.4 micron, 87.30 points and 84.65 points. Tintern Schools, Tinternwood Romney Stud at Ringwood East won Champion British Longwool Ram with a 37.5 micron eece and 79.9 points and Champion British Longwool Ewe with a 41.5 micron eece and 80.1 points. The Liberton Cor-

riedale Stud of Jim and Brenda Venters at Stonehaven exhibited a 29.2 micron eece which won Champion Corriedale Stud Ram Fleece with 80.1 points and a 31.0 micron eece which took out Reserve Champion Stud Ram Fleece with 75.8 points. Judges for the 2013 competition were Tianyu Wool buyer, Rod McLeish and Landmark/Jacksons ďŹ ne wool specialist, Ted Wilson. Almost two thirds of the eeces were donated and will be auctioned. This year the proceeds will be given to the Blaze Aid organisation and is expected to exceed $10,000.

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THE Canberra-based Invasive Animals CRC is again running its annual photographic competition and hopes this year’s entries will shed new light on Australia’s pest animal issues. Run for the past two years, interest in the Feral Photos competition has been increasing exponentially, according to national NRM facilitator for the Invasive Animals CRC Jessica Marsh. She hopes the competition will remind landholders, environmental staff, volunteers and members of the public, about the widespread presence of pest animals and the damage they cause. “Our competition has been quite successful at raising community awareness about pest animals,� Ms Marsh said.

“Images from past competitions have been highly sought after for major publications and promotional material, as they help illustrate the environmental, agricultural and social damage pest animals cause across the country. “The Invasive Animals CRC also gives hope to communities which are dealing with these issues, as we are researching new and innovative ways to manage and control pest animals. “They generally make the battle of landholders trying to make a living much tougher than it needs to be. “For instance, just imagine the trauma people experience when wild dogs destroy years of breeding when sheep and lambs are killed, or when valuable crops and native

vegetation are destroyed by mice, feral pigs or rabbits.â€? Ms Marsh hopes that the photo competition will encourage people to get out there and see what is happening in their environment and to get creative about how they can capture photographic evidence of pest animals and the damage they cause. Entries can be submitted online via the Invasive Animals CRC website. There is a limit of ďŹ ve photo entries per person and a range of great prizes will be on offer. The competition closes on Monday, September 30. More information: jessica. marsh@dpi.nsw.gov.au, 0400 586 060, www.invasiveanimals.com/ feral-photos.

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Page 20, Southern Farmer

FARM FENCING – POST & RAIL

August, 2013

FINISHIN G cypress g TOUCH: A Lone Pine ate.

FENCED IN: This treated pine fence effortlessly traverses a front boundary line at this rural property.

TOP FINISH: The fences are available in a range of materials.

Cypress beauties FOR Lone Pine Fencing’s principal Jim Thomson, cypress makes the best gates and treated pine the best post and rail fences. Both timbers are in abundance around Maryvale near Morwell in Gippsland, where he lives and works. Jim said treated pine would last at least half a century in the ground and is reknowned for its durability. “On the other hand, cypress is a beautiful timber

that we use extensively for our hand crafted gates,” he said. Posts are morticed to accommodate rails and mortices can be angled up to 30 degrees to suit terrain. Jim talks through projects with customers on the phone and sometimes visits them if they are not too far away, to customise fences for their circumstances. He said one customer, a builder, forwarded his order with a GPS survey

of the fence site, which included the various heights of the fence above sea level. A standard Lone Pine fence is made from 200 by 200mm end posts, and 200 by 100mm intermediate posts, to provide a top rail height of 1150mm above the ground. Rails are generally 200 by 50mm and 2.4m long. Jim has a sawmill at his factory site and so can mill to customer requipements, but said his preference is for big and bold fences

which might even be classified as chunky. Pine posts are morticed too and are then taken to Jelfor Timbers in Traralgon where they are steamed to open the pores and then treated chemically. Much of Lone Pine’s fencing is done in Gippsland but the Mornington Peninsula is a good market and Jim has even sent fences to Queensland and NSW. More details on 0432 529 356, lonepinefencing@gmail.com, www. lonepinefencing.com.au.

Product choice, knowledge LV NH\ WR VDWLV¿ HG FXVWRPHUV GIPPSLAND Treated Pine, a family-owned business operated by locals since 1992, three years ago started to make morticed post and rail fences it now sells through branches at Morwell, Bairnsdale and Rosedale. O w n e r o p e r a t o r, Valerie Heywood, said she started in post and rail,because she felt customers lacked a choice of styles. “We can produce

these fences in treated pine, CCA or ACQ, hardwood or cypress,” she said. “Also, we have a large selection of post and rail sizes”. Mrs Heywood said their GTP post and rail fence was not made from sleeper grade material so could spruce up a driveway entrance or provide a great looking boundary. “The main focus is on providing a quality

product that can be customised,” she said. She attributes success to dedicated staff, with a good knowledge of the building industry. Most have been with her for more than 10 years. Gippsland Treated Pine delivers to all areas of Victoria as well as further afield. It offers personalised service from qualified tradesman to answer all questions.

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ACCORDING to Farmsafe Australia, drowning is the leading cause of death of children on farms, especially for children under five, followed by quad bike accidents. The recent Farm Safety Week aimed to increase public awareness of the importance of making and keeping children safe and healthy.

Farmsafe said other common risks of coming to harm on farms are toddlers wandering off, children playing unsupervised near work going on and children being near livestock, machinery or vehicles. In the past two years, quad bikes have overtaken tractors as the leading cause of fatal injuries on farms.

Over half of these deaths are because the quad bike rolled over. They are unstable, even on flat ground, and rollovers often result in severe injury or death from crushing and asphyxiation. More details: Australian Centre for Agricultural Health and Safety (02) 6752 8210, www.aghealth.org. au, www.farmsafe.org.au.

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TREES AND VINES

August, 2013

Southern Farmer, Page 21

Robotics may help industry ROBOTICS offers the Australian horticulture industry the chance to regain its competitive edge in the global market place, according to University of Sydney Professor Salah Sukkarieh. Delegates at this year’s VFF Horticulture conference, heard how the use of robots can dramatically lift Australia’s $1.7bn horticultural industry. “The efficiency gains that autonomous vehicles offer are incredible,” he said.

Prof Sukkarieh informed delegates on autonomous perception, a University of Sydney, and Horticulture Australia Limited, initiative. “The intelligence is so effective, it can even estimate yield and identify pests, weeds and diseases. “What’s impressive about this, is that we can control robots remotely, with an iPad or phone and they collect vital information,” Prof Sukkarieh said. The VFF Horticulture Group also formally elected a new president, Yarra Valley cut flower grower Owen Brinson.

SURE-FOOTED: This wombat is able to tackle the narrow rows and steep hills at Gladysdale Vineyards.

No row too tough

44

contracted to Treasury Wine Estates for release under their Coldsream Hills label, with a smaller quantity, particularly the pinot griz, going to Giant Steps. As assistant vineyard manager, Paul Fisher, explains, “all our grapes are destined for premium wine releases and often single vineyard sourced and branded wines”. “So we have a strong focus on quality in everything that we do in the vineyard,” he said. The two blocks also vary in elevation from between 50 and 100m to the highest rows. Recently, Gladysdale decided its original vineyard sprayer had worn out, so an evaluation started to determine the best replacement.

The aforementioned key factors needed to be taken into account and particularly, unlike the narrow rows and the steep slopes, the surprise element of running into totally random and deep wombat burrows. Mr Fisher said wombats persist in digging their burrows in the lighter soils between the rows. While they are regulalry filled in, staff do mark rows with a reflector on the end post stay, so that tractor operators are aware that there may be an obstacle or hole, that needs to be overcome in a particular pass. “So one of our considerations was that our new vineyard sprayer needed to have the flexibility and stability to overcome the

wombat’s handiwork,” he said. “Our major spray challenges are for downy and powdery mildew and botrytis. “We looked at all the usual sprayer coptions before we decided on a new Silvan 2000L capacity TGS vineyard sprayer which we purchased through the local Silvan dealer Agpower & Transport, Lilydale. “Now with a full season of operation behind us, we are delighted with it.”

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WOMBATS, steep hills and narrow rows are a mechanical challenge for Gladysdale Vineyards employees. A grower of premium wine grapes on a unique site in the higher elevation and cooler climate of the Upper Yarra Valley, it has two adjacent vineyard blocks totalling 54.6ha or 135 acres. The well-established rows are on 2.4m centres growing in part on steep country; on the less demanding slopes wombats establish cavernous burrows which also provde hazardous to machine operators. Most of the grapes principally chardonnay and pinot noir with smaller blocks of pinot gris, merlot and sauvignon blanc - are

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PEST CONTROL

Page 22, Southern Farmer

August, 2013

Hunted down as imports run wild By ROBYN WAWN IMPORTED into Australia for recreational hunting in the early 1870s, the red fox now number in the millions and is beyond eradication. They contribute to extinction of Australian native animals and kill tens of thousands of lambs, sheep, calves, chickens, ducks, geese, kids, ostrich and emu chicks, peacocks, piglets and cows having difďŹ cult births. In some areas, foxes kill between 10 and 50 per cent of lambs. These losses can make farming ďŹ nancially unviable. It is also distressing to see farm animals that have been carefully bred and fed and then be ripped apart and disembowelled or have their tails, tongues and lips eaten off. Some stock are found still alive and have to be shot to put out of their suffering. This is a daily reality for many farmers. The national cost of fox

predation of lambs is estimated at more than $100m annually. But foxes are not just in the bush. They number about 10 to 20 per square kilometre in some suburbs compared to four per square kilometre in country areas. They thrive around people and hide in plain sight. In short they are intelligent – cunning, brazen and single-minded killers. Wild dogs Wild dogs instinctively hunt in packs and they are formidable killers of wildlife and livestock, including sheep and calves. They can be pet Jack Russells to large escaped pig dogs. Their large numbers and aggressive pack behavior, now makes them a threat to humans in some areas. There are wild dog hotspots, notably around Omeo, and one farmer in that district had 4000 sheep killed by them in two years. Farmers have the right to shoot stray dogs on their farms on sight.

Feral cats Cats hunt very efficiently. According to Professor Tim Flannery, there are around 20 million feral cats in Australia, killing about 70 million native animals a day. Each generation of feral cat born in the bush is bigger than the generation before; hunters report shooting feral cats weighing around 20kg and these are dangerous animals when cornered. Environmental impacts Australian native animals did not evolve with predator responses to imported foxes, wild dogs and feral cats. Koalas, bilbies, quolls, possums, rock wallabies, birds and reptiles are just a meal for these feral carnivores. Australia has the worst species extinction rate on the planet and the feral issue is out of control. Choices To help reduce the feral animal disaster yourself,

‘It’s A Trap’ in Kyneton has quality traps and deterrents for feral, pest and invasive animals. These include large, galvanised, Australianmade metal cages built to trap foxes, dogs and feral cats. Fox Lights deter night predators to protect lambs, poultry, kids and other vulnerable animals. Lane’s soft jaw leg hold traps are approved by the Victorian Government. The Wounded Rabbit fox whistle and Wagglers call up predators who run towards the sound, making them a clearer target for shooters. It’s A Trap also carries ammunition for centreďŹ re, rimďŹ re, shotgun and air ries. It’s A Trap is open six days a week at 176 Mollison Street, Kyneton. Visit www.ItsaTrap. com.au or phone (03) 5422 1130 for further information. *Robin Wawn is the principal of It’s A Trap.

APPETITE TO DIE FOR: Feral cats kill and eat three or four native animals a day.

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PEST CONTROL

Southern Farmer, Page 23

Wild dog data indicates more bite for major issue

Adams appointed to manage rabbit worry ant who assists industry, government, research and international development organisations with their biosecurity strategies and policy development. She is a member of the national Biosecurity Advisory Council and was the foundation executive director of the former Australian Biosecurity Cooperative Research Centre in Emerging Infectious Disease. Foundation for Rabbit Free Australia president Nicholas Newland, said that a national rabbit management facilitator, together with rabbit projects focusing on biological control, are a priority investment for RFA funds which is Australia’s only not-for-profit entity raising funds for research into the country’s worst vertebrate pest. Mr Glanznig said that rabbit impacts caused production losses of more than $200 million and threatened MORE THAN NATIONALLY threatened plant species and five threatened ecological communities. To assist landholders to better control wild rabbits, the Invasive Animals CRC has published the PestSmart: Glovebox Guide for Managing Rabbits available free at www.feral.org.au.

THE Black and Coloured Sheep Breeders Association of Australia will hold its annual black and coloured sheep and woolcraft day at the Cranbourne Hall on Sunday, September 29, from 9.30am. Entry is $5 for adults, while under 16 are free. Refreshments will be available. For more informaiton, contact Sheila Kempson on (03) 5977 4977.

IT’S A® TRAP! CRITTER CONTROL

SAVE LAMBS, POULTRY, PIGLETS AND GOAT KIDS.

FOX LIGHTS. FOX FOOD: This grown sheep would normally be too big for a single fox to tackle. But a lambing ewe is totally vulnerable to their predations.

1.3 million square kilometres of country, in every mainland state of Australia, through almost 50 wild dog control groups. The survey results of 259 participants revealed how:

s PER CENT INTEND TO reintroduce sheep; s PER CENT NOTICED an increase in native animals; s PER CENT INTEND to increase sheep numbers; and s PER CENT REPORTED

better wellbeing as a result of participating. To apply, groups should download and complete the application form from www.wool.com/pestanimals and submit with a project budget and map to wilddogs@wool.com.

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WITH the worrying trend that rabbit numbers are again on the rise, the Victorian Department of Environment and Primary Industries, the Invasive Animals CRC and the Foundation for Rabbit Free Australia, has appointed Lisa Adams as the first national rabbit management facilitator. The position is also supported by the Australian Government through the Cooperative Research Program. Dr Andrew Woolnough, principal invasive animals policy officer at Biosecurity Victoria, said Dr Adam’s work will initially be focused in regional Victoria and the ACT. Andreas Glanznig, CEO of Invasive Animals CRC, said biological control of rabbits, along with coordinated community action, will be increasingly important to keep on top of the worsening rabbit problems. Dr Adams said that she was excited at the extensive work program ahead and would be working to promote effective rabbit and integrated pest management, involving groups of land managers. She has worked as a veterinarian and is also a management consult-

“The pastoral zone has been home to some of Australia’s largest sheep flocks, but is in serious danger from wild dog attacks. “Almost every alpine region also faces a similar problem and this is why AWI has committed significant resources, to help communities protect their flocks.” According to Peter Fleming from the Vertebrate Pest Research Unit of Biosecurity NSW, there are examples of successful cooperative wild dog management programs, such as in eastern NSW and northern SA. In the Queensland rangelands, the Paroo Shire’s wild dog management plan is a model that is being applied across shire boundaries and into the Western Division of NSW. Applications are still being sought for the next wild dog control project from Australian Wool Innovation (AWI). Stage one achieved control methods across

re th Men c di iev is a tion sc e d ou a s to nt pe pr ci ic al e.

sponds with the decline in sheep numbers. “While wild dogs are not the sole cause for the contraction of the sheep industry, they are one of the major causes,” Dr Allen said. “Consequently, without substantial effort put into integrated wild dog control programs, then, at the rate the industry is presently contracting, the rangeland sheep grazing industry will likely disappear within 30 to 40 years. “Fortunately, the national wild dog facilitator initiative is a step forward in assisting land managers to develop and maintain cooperative programs, to manage wild dogs across Australia,” Dr Allen said. Head of on-farm research and development at AWI, Jane Littlejohn said wild dogs are the single biggest factor holding back wool production in Australia. “The latest research has shown how large and widespread the wild dog problem is,” she said.

Woolcraft, sheep day

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WITHOUT a substantial and co-ordinated effort, wild dogs may eliminate the sheep industry from the entire pastoral zone within 30 to 40 years. The extent of the wild dog expansion across Australia is outlined in a new scientific review by Ben Allen and Peter West from the Invasive Animals CRC, published in June’s Australian Veterinary Journal. The report concludes that without co-ordinated control, wild dogs will eliminate sheep across the vast pastoral areas of Australia. From various sources of data, it is clear wild dogs are increasingly becoming distributed across almost all rangeland sheep production areas in Australia. Although small numbers of wild dogs have probably been there all the time, records show that their distribution, number of sightings and damage to livestock enterprises are increasing. That change corre-

In brief

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August, 2013

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