Farming with changes

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A one day event, to be held in Bathurst in November, aims to focus on the positive aspects of economic and environmental sustainability of farming in Australia.

Organised by Greening Bathurst, the Our Farming Future conference will center on the themes of farming with nature and climate change.

Regenerative farming, sustainable grazing, Aboriginal farming practices and ecological agriculture will be some of the topics covered.

Dr Charles Massy, Cooma grazier and author, and Bruce Pascoe, Kulin man, farmer, fisher and author of ‘Dark Emu’, will be the keynote speakers. The remaining sessions will be presented by ten farmers from the region, including Colin Seis and David Lowe, sharing their good news stories.

The one day conference will be held from 9am-5pm on Saturday 10 November at the Flannery Centre, 341 Havannah St, Bathurst.

Conference registration is $50 ($25 concession) and includes lunch and web access to outcomes. Attendees are invited to stay for post conference drinks and finger food at an additional $20. To register online visit: www.greeningbathurst.org.au/events.

Watershed Landcare would like to support members of our community to attend the conference and

to help make this happen we are organising a bus to Bathurst to make it easier for you to get there and enjoy the day. You can then stay on the for post conference drinks and network with other attendees before heading back home.

The bus will leave Mudgee at 6:45am from the LLS office (112 Market Street) and depart from Bathurst at approximatley 7:30-8pm. The bus can do a pick up at Aarons Pass and/or Ilford if needed. The bus will be free for Watershed Landcare financial members and $15 for non-members.

For more details or to reserve your seat please contact Watershed Landcare Coordinator, Claudia Wythes: claudia.wythes@watershedlandcare.com.au.

2018 Annual General Meeting & Special Resolution

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Watershed Landcare will hold its Annual General Meeting at 6pm on Friday 23 November 2018 at the Pavilion Lecture Room, AREC.

At this meeting we are seeking interested members to be involved in the Management Committee for the next 12 months. The committee meets the first Wednesday of the month at 5:30pm.

In addition, a special resolution is proposed for the meeting to accept an updated constitution. There have been a number of changes to both the Associations Incorporation Act 2009 and the Associations Incorporation Regulation 2016 that need to be reflected within our document. As such, the Management Committee have reviewed the proposed Constitution and recommend its adoption.

Special Resolution: The Constitution of Watershed Landcare Incorporated dated September 2004 will be replaced by the proposed Constitution dated 23 November that has been circulated to members and placed on our website for review.

The current constitution can be found here.

The proposed constitution can be found here.

Current financial members are able to vote and/or nominate for a position. If you haven’t renewed your membership and would like to click here.

Please contact Claudia Wythes with any enquiries: 0412 011 064 or claudia.wythes@watershedlandcare.com.au.

Have you checked your hive?

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October is American foulbrood (AFB) awareness month. Run by the Department of Primary Industries, the campaign aims to raise awareness of the disease, its impacts and best management practice and to encourage beekeepers to inspect their hives.

AFB is an incurable bacterial disease affecting European honey bee larvae. It is fatal to the brood and heavy infections can wipe out most of the brood, severely weakening, or even killing, the bee colony.

“Beekeepers need to be aware of what’s happening in their hive and this is a great opportunity for them to have a look and ensure they are disease free.” said Sandi Munro, Chairperson and Biosecurity Officer for the Mudgee BeeGroup.

The disease is not highly contagious but can be contracted through poor beekeeping practices. AFB spores can be spread through contaminated honey, apiary products, hive parts and equipment and can remain viable for up to 50 years.

AFB is not stress related and can affect the strongest colonies. As there is no cure, infected colonies and hives must be destroyed or irradiated to prevent potential impacts on a regions apiary industry.

“Pest management and disease control is a must to ensure we protect our industry and the important role bees play in the broader agriculture.” said Ms Munro.

Stay on Top: Beekeepers are encourage to inspect their hives in October to ensure they are disease free.

Want to find out more about beekeeping and having your own hive?

The Mudgee Bee Group provides training, peer support and mentoring to it’s members, both practising and aspiring beekeepers. The group also keeps community bee hives to provide novice beekeepers with an opportunity to gain experience in handling bees and hands-on experience in starting and maintaining a hive.

If you would like more information about the Mudgee Bee Group please contact Claudia Wythes, Watershed Landcare Coordinator, on 0412 011 064 or claudia.wythes@watershedlandcare.com.au. You can also find us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/Mudgeebeegroup.

The Mudgee Bee Group is supported by Watershed Landcare and the Amateur Beekeepers Association and is a part of the NSW Government’s Local Landcare Coordinators Initiative, supported through the partnership of Local Land Services and Landcare NSW. The Mudgee Bee Group and Watershed Landcare would also like to acknowledge support from AREC, for hosting the Mudgee Bee Group hives and providing a venue for meetings.

Locally suited plants project

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Whether you are planting paddock tress, windbreaks or just establishing a few natives in the garden, plants grown from seed of local provenance provide the best chance for success.

The reason for this is that local plants are more suited to the local environment. They would have evolved over time to cope with environmental variables such as rainfall patterns, frosts, winter and summer extremes, soil types and landscape position.

Watershed Landcare’s ‘Local Plants for the Local Environment’ project provided our community with locally grown, native tubestock as well as building their knowledge and skills to grow their own by selecting for viable seed, ensuring successful germination and giving seedlings the best start.

The project, funded by Michael King and Landcare Australia, aimed to highlight the importance of plant selection for re-vegetation projects, focusing on the benefits of utilising locally sourced, endemic seed for propagation. Namely, local native plants:

  • are likely to be better adapted to the local environment, including the soil and climatic conditions,
  • are more likely to readily establish and regenerate than those from alternate sources and require less care,
  • provide habitat for beneficial local native fauna, while keeping the unique character of the local landscape,
  • not only look like they belong, but help to maintain the health of the local environment.

Watershed Landcare volunteers identified suitable seed collection sites, conducted seed collection excursions and processed, propagated and grew 1100 plants. Eucalyptus, casuarina and hardenbergia species were grown from locally collected seed and additional acacia, angophora, brachychiton, callistemon, eucalyptus, grevillea, hakea and lomandra seed was obtained from other sources.

The mature tubestock was made available to Watershed Landcare members conducting on-ground re-vegetation projects as well as the wider community at the Mudgee Small Farm Field Days.

A seed collection and propagation workshop was also run as part of the project, providing participans with hands-on experience of basic identification features of some commonly found local plant species; the tools and techniques required to select viable seed; timing, methods, storing collected material; equipment and processing of collected material; methods and materials for propagation and the best time to sow seed.

Seed Collection: Participants learning how to collect and propagate native seed at the Local Plants for the Local Environment workshop.

The emphasis of the workshop was to introduce people to a few tricks to ensuring a good germination, and doing so at low or no cost in terms of equipment. Participants also gained an insight into local plant ecology and had access to seed and material propagated on the day.

Ever wanted to grow your own native plants? Our volunteers are busy growing the next batch of tubestock, contact us to find out how you can get involved: info@watershedlandcare.com.au.