Tour gives insight into systems

After a successful tour last year, Watershed Landcare’s Grazing Group will be heading off on another bus trip to explore various production systems in our region and beyond.

The tour will visit Rob Lennon at Gundooee to see the impacts of the fire earlier in the year and the management strategies put in place for livestock and vegetation recovery.

Next on the agenda is Bob Freebairn’s property where the group will be looking at winter fodder crops, a newly established winter legume in a new tropical grass pasture, and incorporating serradella and sub clover into native and tropical grass pastures.

Discussion will cover gross margins for the enterprise, grazing management, species selection, working out the balance between natives, tropical grass and winter fodder crops. Acid soils, soil fertility and sound soil management will also be discussed.

The group will also be taking a tour through the 23,500 head capacity, 1,390 hectare JBS Caroona feedlot. The feedlot is situated 35 kilometres west of Quirindi, in the centre of the major cattle and crop-producing area of the fertile Liverpool Plains in New South Wales.

This is a great chance for people to see other properties, share stories with like-minded growers and gain inspiration or reinvigoration to bring things back to their place. The Grazing Group would like to invite anyone interested to attend.

The Grazing Group but trip will be held on Tuesday 29 and Wednesday 30 August, with overnight location to be confirmed.

Travel and speaker costs will be covered through Watershed Landcare’s Pimp My Paddock project, through funding from the Central Tablelands Local Land Services. Participants will be required to pay for accommodation and own meals.

For further information or to register your interest contact Claudia Wythes, Watershed Landcare Coordinator, on 0412 011 064 or claudiawythes@watershedlandcare.com.au by Thursday 24 August.

Watershed Landcare’s Women in Agriculture group will be hosting a workshop on mental health on Wednesday 30 August and would like to invite any interested members of the community to attend.

The workshop will be held in the Straw Bale Shed, Australian Rural Education Centre (AREC) from 9:30-11:30 and and will feature Rural Adversity Mental Health Program Coordinator, Di Gill, as guest speaker.

For more information or to register your interest contact Agness Knapik, Watershed Landcare Coordinator, on 0435 055 493 or by email: info@watershedlandcare.com.au.

These events are supported by Watershed Landcare and are a part of the NSW Government’s Local Landcare Coordinators Initiative, supported through the partnership of Local Land Services and Landcare NSW.