Gippsland Farmer January 2023

Madam president

MIRBOO North farmer Emma Germano has been re-elected president of the Victorian Farmers Federation.

VFF acting returning officer, Brendan Tatham, said VFF members had re-elected Ms Germano as presidentand Danyel Cucinotta, an egg producer from Werribee, as vice-president.

Successful applicantsfor anumberof VFF commodity group positions werealso announced, including Trent Anderson as East Gippsland regional councillor Mr Tatham congratulated all successful incumbent office bearers as the futureleaders of Victoria’speak agricultural advocacy body.

“The VFF also thanks all outgoing office bearers for their contributions over the years and helping to facilitate succession

in the VFF to the next generation of VFF leaders,” he said.

The 2022 VFF electionvote counting process wasconductedonThursday, December 22 at Farrer House in Melbourne under supervised conditions.

Ms Germano was re-elected president for her second term, which began in late 2020.

As athird-generation farmer from Mirboo North, Ms Germano is focussed on ensuring avibrant futurefor agriculture in Australia.

Her family farm, ‘I Love Farms’ is mixed across livestock and horticulture.

Ms Germano is passionate about leading the conversationonkey issues for Australianagricultureincluding food security, sustainability and climate resilience.

She has previously held the role of VFF vice president, VFF HorticultureGroup

president, and was acknowledgedas a Nuffield Scholar in 2014 for her research examining global export opportunities for Australian primary producers.

Ms Cucinotta,also re-electedVFF vice president for her second termwhich began in late 2020, is athird-generationVictorian caged-egg farmer helping to operate her family’s egg farm, onsite café and deli in WerribeeonMelbourne’s westernoutskirts.

She is amember of the VFF boardand alsocommits her time to chairboththe farmingsystems policy committee and making farming families safer committee. as well as beingacommittee member of both farmbusiness and policy council.

Ms Cucinotta understandsthe dedication, hard work andsacrifice neededto run asuccessful farm, and is committed to

ensuringfarmers receive strong government policyneeded to ensureVictorianfarms and agriculturethrives into the future.

Also elected in contested positions were Mark Billingaspresidentofthe VFF United Dairy Farmers of Victoriaand Bradley Venningascouncillor on the VFF Livestock Community Council -an additional position.

Uncontestedrepresentative positionswere also announced: VFF Livestock president, Scott Young; VFF Livestockvice president, Peter Star,who was also appointed to be the VFF BoardLivestock representative; Natasha Lobban, North East Region councillor; and Lachlan Barclay, Corangamite Region councillor

Photo: Supplied

By PHILIP HOPKINS

THE state government has taken first steps to revive the State Electricity Commission (SEC),transferringthe SEC to anew Ministry, naming an interim chief executive and creating an SEC expert advisory panel.

Lily D’Ambrosio isthe Minister forthe StateElectricityCommission,whichwill be part of Ms D’Ambrosio’s portfolios of Energy, Environment and Climate Action and Solar Homes. The SEC will have an office in the GovHub in Morwell.

The Governor in Council last month declared the SEC areorganisingbody under the State Owned Enterprises Act.

Ms D’Ambrosio said the Labor government was delivering public ownership of energy resources by reviving the SEC as an active energymarketparticipant to build new renewable energy projects.

The government named ChrisMiller as interim chief executive of the SEC, who will work with the special SEC expert advisory panel to revive the commission under the responsibility of the Minister John Bradley,secretary of the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action (DEECA) and an energyspecialistinhis own right, will chair the panel, which will include other specialists in energy, investment and commercial risk management, industry development, engineering and consumer advocacy.

Two shares in the SEC will be held by the Treasurer and Premier as a fully stateowned energy company.

Mr Miller was previously deputy secretary, tourismand events at the Department of Jobs,Precincts and Regions; asenior executive at the Department of Premier and Cabinet, advising the Premieronenergy, infrastructure, transportand planning; and held various positions at Energy Australia and King &Wood Mallesons.

The SEC will become an energy market proponent under the state government’s 10-year plan that aims to deliver cleaner, cheaperenergy,withall profits invested back into the energy system.

The governmentwillinitiallyinvest $1 billion towards delivering 4.5 gigawatts of power -the equivalent replacement capacity of Loy Yang A- through renewable energy projects.

Renewables will replace coal, and these new ‘power stations’ will be owned by the state, with the government holding a controlling interest in the projects.

An investment of $20 million will prepare the SEC for its new role in our energy market, including setting up an office at the GovHub in Morwell andanoffice in Melbourne.

The government maintains the SEC will help deliver its renewable energy and emissions targets -95per cent renewable energy by 2035 and net zeroby 2045. It says modelling shows the policy will create 59,000jobs by 2035 and increase gross state product by about $9.5 billion.

The policyalsoincludes a$424 million energy and training packagetohelp workers

upskill, with 6000 positions forapprentices and trainees to help fill achronic shortage of workers in trades.

“Our SEC will help find and train the next generation of tradespeople: maintenance workers, electricians -but also welders, painters and mechanics. Highly-qualified, highly-paid workers,” Ms D’Ámbrosio said.

To train these new workers, the state government will establishanSEC centre of training excellence tocoordinate and accreditcoursesinclean energy, connecting with TAFEs, registered training organisations (RTOs), unions and the industry, as well as adding clean energy to the VCE vocational major

“Across government schools,the SECwill be at career nights recruiting the workers of the future-and an investment of $116 million will open six new cutting-edge tech schools, giving students ahead-start in a hands-on profession,”MsD’Ambrosio said.

“Tomake surethe workers we’retraining areguaranteed along-term pipelineofwork, we’llinstitute local content requirements on state-owned and supported renewable energy projects -worth at least $5 billion by 2035.”

Ms D’Ambrosio said the state government would also enshrine the SEC in the state’s Constitution in 2023 to prevent afuture Liberal government.

Ragwort worries

WITH above average rainfall expected to continue into the New Year, Gippsland landholders arebeing urged to take advantage of every opportunity they have to undertake control works ondeclared invasive weeds.

Agriculture Victoria’s established invasive engagementofficer,Jenny Bell,isencouraging landowners to undertake control works on declared invasive weeds such as ragwort, blackberry and thistle species.

“High rainfall years can see alarge growth of noxious weeds and with continuing wet conditions, weeds are expected to flourish,” said Ms Bell.

“Undertaking early control measures whenthereisabreak inwet conditions will make a difference to the growth and spread of invasive weeds.

“In the long-term, early spraying withfollow-upaction isa more efficient and cost-effective approach to meetinglandholder responsibilities under the Catchment and Land Protection Act 1994.”

All landholders have aresponsibility to takereasonablesteps to prevent the growth and spread of regionally controlledweeds ontheir property, to safeguardagricultural productionand the environmentacross Gippsland.

AgricultureVictoria’s leading biosecurity officer,Alex Pattinson, said local biosecurity officers were getting the jump on noxious weeds.

“The team has been working with over 40 landownersacross Bass Coast,Baw Baw andSouth Gippsland shires to assess noxious weed infestations,particularly ragwort,” she said.

“These visits provide an opportunity for biosecurity officers to assess infestation levelsonproperties and discuss control measures with landholdersfor the duration of the spring and summer season.

“Despite seasonal difficulties, landholders still need to actively carry out control work this season, with several prescribed measures available for these species over arange of terrain and weather conditions.”

Further information about weed identification and control measures can be found on theAgriculture Victoriawebsitewww.agriculture.vic. gov.au or by callingthe Customer Service Centreon136 186.

Premier Daniel Andrews and Minister for the StateElectricity Commission Lily D’Ambrosio in Morwell last year at theannouncement the SEC would be enshrined into the state’s constitution.

Photo: File

Michelle bids adieu

BY MICHELLE SLATER

GIPPSLANDFARMERsenior journo

Michelle Slater saidadios afterfive years with the paper to seek new opportunities further afield last month

Ihave been privileged to live in acommunity in transition and recordhistory-making eventswhilelearning aboutthe complex issues that it faces.

Ifell in love with the Latrobe Valley and its honest, no-pretence people. Ilove how in the Valley, Ican go shopping, or out for dinner in my daggy tracky dax and moccies and no one bats an eye.

There is adiversityof ideasherethat I haverelished delvinginto. Ihave made some great mates who have really looked after me.

Istarted herenot longafter Hazelwood closed, and it was areal eye-opener coming from asmall paper in northernVictoria.

One of the most important things Ihave learnt is that you can’t just suddenly switch offapower station without proper planning.

Ireally hope the suits-and-ties get these decisions right and that the Valley is at the centreofthe transition to clean energy from brown coal mining to blue sky mining!

Ihave especially enjoyed covering Latrobe City Council, badgering councillorsand MPs and working with my media colleagues.

Some of the most important stories I covered were Aand Wstation closures, the saga around the Hazelwood pondage and mine rehab, developing the HESCplant, and controversy around the ULAB.

It was also amazing hearing evidence into the Gippy Goat thefts, and highlighting the demolitionofthe old Taralgon Methodist Church. Ihope that one gets saved.

But the real reason why Ibecame ajourno was to tell local stories, and Ihave loved

the grassroots yarns and meetinglocal characters.

In my time hereI have been evacuated from two natural disasters, including the 2018 Yinnar South bushfires and thenlast year’s June storms.

Iwill miss the magnificentlandscapes

in the Strzelecki Ranges withthat smell of fresh, wet rainforest, rolling green paddocks,and exploring the bushwith my beautiful horse and trail buddies.

Gippsland reallyis God’s country and I will ache for it when Igo.

New statewide conservation plan

TRUST for Naturehas released its new Statewide ConservationPlan, which provides goals and targets for strategic conservationonprivate land across Victoria over the next decade.

In the face of biodiversity and climate crises, the group says it’s moreimportant than ever that scarce resources areplaced in the areas wherethey can have the most impact.

An indicative 100,000 ha of Victoria’s natureonprivately-owned land will be targeted for protection by 2030.

Currently, about 110,000 ha of freehold land across Victoria has been protected.

Trust for Naturesays Victoria can’t rely on national or state parks to prevent species extinction; support from landholders is needed to protect nature.

One way landholders can offer support is to protect the land permanently with conservation covenants.

Putting aconservation covenant on a property is voluntary.

The plan identifies 18 landscapes (13.5 per cent of all private land in Victoria) across the state that will make the greatest contribution towards conservation on private land, helping to save vulnerable plants and animals.

Michelle Slater ended her tenurewith Gippsland Farmer last month, after five years with the paper Photo: File

Ahelping handand 80 yearsof solidarity

By LIAM DURKIN

THERE aren’t many of these left anymore.

Maryvale Friendly Society, which operates out of the Opal Australia mill at Maryvale, celebrates its 80th anniversary last year

The society was founded in 1942 by employeesof the then Australian Paper Maryvale mill.

Ameeting on Friday, September 18 laid the foundations for the society, which is still going to this day.

It is believed to be one of the few friendly societies left in existence in Victoria, if not Australia.

Friendlysocieties act as aconduit between employees and giveaccesstoarange of support service. For instance, members of the Maryvale Friendly Societywho fall ill are provided support to help find appropriate medical care.

The society’s mission is: to support out members and their families, to provide them with financial assistance in times of need,tohelp them balancetheir work life with the needs of their family, during sickness and injury, and especially during traumatic and unfortunate events.

Membership to Maryvale Friendly Society is predicated on employment at the mill.

The majority, if not all employees at the Maryvale mill areinthe Maryvale Friendly Society.

At last count, thereweremorethan 700 member families.

Membership benefits include coverage for arange of lifeevents,including birth of children, wherethe society will help by alleviating travel and furniturecosts.

Reflecting on the milestone,Maryvale Friendly Society life member,Tony Bailey, said the society had been one of the cornerstones of the mill.

“Eighty yearsisincredible,for an

organisation to hold together for that long and still be relevant today,” he said.

“Wehelp out members who aresick and inured, not just physically but mentally. We’reable to do simple things like ababy bonus, a$500 voucher to go and buy acot or apram, that sort of thing.”

Mr Bailey,who still has an original minute book from the 1940, said the bond created by people not only working together,but being in the society, created a great spirit

among the workforce.

“You couldn’t work with your crew without somebody on that crew havingbeena beneficiary of the society,” he said.

“Thereisalot of goodwill out there;if somebody has circumstances,one of their mates will say ‘Why don’t you give the friendly society acall?’

“Thereis alot of camaraderie among the members, they push it as much as the boardmembers.”

Maryvale FriendlySocietyhas been there for countless members in the past 80 years, and with generations of families working atthe mill in that time, one can only imaginehow many have benefited from their membership.

For those who have workedatthe mill most of their life, thereisa good chance the society has been the one constant in their life.

Maryvale Friendly Society hasbeen running for 80 years. Pictured is company secretary Stuart Passalaqua, life member Tony Bailey (holding an original minute book) and chairman Paul Grieve.

Photo: Liam Durkin

Australian-first electroweeding trial under way

ANON-CHEMICAL weeding device that useselectricitytokillplantswillbeput through its pacesinWestern Australia to determineits suitability for primary production.

The recent Grains Research Updates 2022virtual forumrevealed the high-tech device, the Zasso Electroherb, was due to arrive in WA in late-December

The DepartmentofPrimary Industries andRegionalDevelopment (DPIRD)will join with Case New Holland Industrial to test the technology’s suitability to control weeds in Australian dryland and irrigated agriculture.

It will also examine which weeds areeasiest to control withelectricity, the effects on soil,and the technology’s potential uses in Australian agriculture.

The project has support from the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC), Wine Australia, WA consultants AHA Viticultureand the Cotton Research and Development Corporation.

The Swiss-madeZasso Electroherb machine uses mechanical power to produce ahigh voltage current, which is applied directly to plants via aseries of electrodes mounted behind or in front of the tractor

The electro-weeding process worksby passing electricity through aplant by touching it with an electrical applicator, which causes the plant cell walls to be destroyed -killing the plant or supressing growth.

The technology has not been tested under Australian field conditions before, although it is used in Europe on asmall scale for horticultureand viticultureand for roadsides.

DPIRD research scientist, Miranda Slaven, told the forum that electric weed controlcould bepart of an integrated

solution to reduce dependence on chemical inputs and create moresustainable farming systems.

“Findingalternative weed control strategies to chemical measures is important in Australia, due to increasing rates of herbicide resistanceand increasingly discerning market demands,” she said.

Apreliminary plot trial indicated volunteer crops and grass weeds could be the hardest to control, due to the plants’ high surface area and extensive branching of roots and shoots.

The device willinitially be tested on its ability to control weeds on viticulture and horticultureproperties and later along roadsides and fencelines, as well as its use for fallow weedcontrol at the department’s research facilities in the Western Australian Grainbelt.

The research will target herbicide resistant weeds, like annual ryegrass and wild radish, and problematic agricultural weeds, such as feathertop rhodes grass and fleabane, as well as perennial weeds, including kikuyu and wireweed.

Project lead, research scientist, Catherine Borger,said aliteraturereview and reports from Europe suggested soil health and soil biota werenot compromised by the technology.

“Our research will include an analysis of thetechnology’seffectonsoilhealth, including soilmicrobialdensity and diversity, as well as soil root pathogens, such as rhizoctonia,” Dr Borger said.

“Weare also particularly interestedto ascertain whether thereisa potential fire riskduring summer so the trialswill be undertaken following safety training using the utmost safety procedures.”

The two-year electro-weeding project findings will be shared with industry.

Abroadacre electric weed control trial is starting soon using technology similar to this unit which hasbeen used in vineyards.

Photo: DPIRD

Floods and severeweather impacting parks across Victoria

PARKSVictoria,Forest Fire Management Victoria and the Conservation Regulator areurging Victorians to be prepared before visiting parks and forests this summer

The executive director of visitor experience at ParksVictoria,Lisa Patroni, said that the2022/23 summer would be different for Victorians.

“Our state is experiencingsevereweather events, which means that yourfavourite spots may not be accessible or safe to visit,” Ms Patroni said.

“Safety is our top priority and we’reasking people to planahead,bemindful of the situation and prepared for changing conditions.”

Floodingis ongoinginsomeareas of Victoria, and above-average rainfall is expected to continue into summer

Parks Victoria is reminding people that wherethe rain has stopped, the impacts of storms will continue for months ahead.

Many campsites and access roads -particularly near rivers in northernVictoria, such as along the Murray River -are closed or partially closed and will remain so until they aresafe to access.

“It will take time forflood waters to recede and to reopen our campsites, visitor areas and access roads,” Ms Patroni said.

“Wewill work with traditionalowners, communitiesand the widerVictorian Government to ensurethis happens.”

Beforepeople leave home:

 Check if the park or forest is open and its conditions at parks.vic.gov.au or ffm.vic.gov.au/forest-and-road-closures

 Check if roads areopen and their condition

 Pay attention to all signage and barriers: they areinplace for people’s safety  Avoid camping, picnicking and parking under trees as wet, loose ground is causing them to fall without warning  Take carewhen using roads and tracks, they arelikely to be slippery, have surface damage and soft edges  Reconsider the type of activities to be undertaken in flood-affected areas

For up-to-dateinformation on park closures and impacts on Parks Victoria estate, visit Flood and StormAffected Parks.

For informationonroad and forest closures on DELWP-managed land, visit ffm. vic.gov.au/forest-and-road-closures

For public safety, authorised officers from DELWP,Parks Victoria and the Conservation Regulator willalso be patrolling forests, parks and reserves targeting illegal off-road activity, littering and unsafe campfires.

It is an offence to useclosedroads and areas.

Support farmers in need with BuyaBale

THE direfloodcrisis continuingto grip huge areas of land and communities within New South Wales, Victoriaand South Australia has prompted the urgent relaunchof Rural Aid’s ‘Buy aBale’ rescue campaign in the lead-up to Christmas.

Thousands of rural families face ableak festive season,with recovery from Australia’s most expensive flood event, hampered by ongoing rain across more than 130 local government areas alreadydeclared disaster zones.

The ‘Buy aBale’ program first came to prominence when it raised$100 million for drought-affected farmers between 2015 and 2020.

Rural Aid chief executive, JohnWarlters, saidthe disaster made it necessary to bring Buy aBale back.

“Thesefloodshavehad unprecedented impact on rural Australians -families arelosingtheir homes and livelihoods and entire

towns arebeing wiped out,” Mr Warlters said.

“Hay supplies arerunning out and stranded animals aredrowning and starving. Crops arerotting in the ground.”

Rural Aid predicts at least atwo-to-three-year recoveryfor communities, with the funds required to adequately support farmers and families estimated to be over $50 million.

Mr Warlters urged governmentsand private donors to prioritise the wellbeing of communities.

“We’reready to execute an extensive recovery support program based on a tried and tested approach, but we need as much help as we can get,” he said.

“These families need help, and they need it now.Withoutit, they face afrightening and uncertain timeasthe rest ofthe country gears up to celebrate Christmas.”

Deniliquinfarmer and Rural Aid board member, AirlieLandale,

said thefloods had been catastrophic.

“It isnow summer, yet it still feels like winter is rolling on andhaunting us. It feels wrong to be speaking about too much rain, but these floods have taken atoll on so many,” Ms Landale said.

“Farmers have lost thousands upon thousands of hectares of crop, producers have lost livestock, fences and their homes and rural communities and businesses have been isolatedand inundated with water

“Itwilltake months –if not years– for people to recover,but Iknow the strength and resilience of our rural people will once again shine though.”

All donations received by RuralAid ensure the assistance to farmers, including theexpansion of their nationalmental healthand wellbeing program.

To support Rural Aid go to: www.buyabale.com.au

Flood damage is still prevalent throughout the region.

Photo: Parks Victoria

MyTown Microgrid workshop in Heyfield

NOW approaching its final phase, the Heyfield MyTown Microgridproject team ran acommunity workshop on December 3and 4atHeyfield Memorial Hall.

The aim of the MyTown Microgrid project is to help Heyfield understand the feasibility of amicrogrid and other local energy solutions in the town,whilemaking it easier and faster for other communities to follow in its footsteps.

Hosted bythe HCRC and withproject teammembers in attendancefrom Wattwatchers and the UTS Institute for SustainableFutures, the open invitation event featured anumberofinformation and workshop sessions.

It also heardamoving talk from Voices of the Valley founder Wendy Farmer on why Heyfield can be an inspiration to many other communities wanting to make energy work better for them.

Since its inception, MyTown has conducteddetailedtechnical analysis of multiple localenergyoptions, identified the business models and partnerships that would be needed to enable them, supported the formation of aproject community reference group, hostedwebinars and other eventstohelp increase energyliteracy and engagement, and installed almost 100 Wattwatchers monitors for free in homes, businesses, and schools.

This has allowed for abetter understanding of the way energy is used and generated in the town, with community screens and outreach to local schools helping to educate and informusing the data that has been gathered.

On Saturday, December 3, research lead, Dr Scott Dwyer of ISF,took the audience through the iterative co-design process that the CRGhas participated in and presented the technical analysis results.

The technical analysis explored anumber

of different scenarios, but found that only one of them was able to help reduce energybills for both solar and non-solar households.

All the options werealso expensive with additional risks due to the complex legal and regulatory frameworks that arerelevant for microgrids.

The project team also presented on several other localenergysolution options that emerged as promising during the technical analysis and community engagement, including neighbourhood batteries, community energyretailers, and town-scale approaches to homeelectrification and energy efficiency.

Sustainable Smart Town initiator and MyTown project lead, Julie Bryer of the HCRC said it was apromising two days.

“My vision has always been for businesses and homes to sharetheir excess solar and potentially generate income, that could then be reinvested in the community,” he said.

“I think we arecloser to making this happen.”

With the project funding ending in June 2023,the MyTown project team is workingonthe final projectmilestones, while also looking beyond the funding period to opportunities for moving from feasibility to implementation.

The project team will continue discussions with possible partners while seeking funding opportunities for the preferred local energy solutions for Heyfield.

The MyTown project team will host another webinar in February 2023, to present the technicaldetailsofthe feasibilityresults for those interested.

Alsobeingfinalised is aweb-based tool that will help other communityenergy groups in determining whether amicrogrid or other local energy solution is right for them.

MyTown has empowered and developed the knowledge of its locally recruited communityreference group membersto support the community’s vision.

It will seek to continue their support activities through 2023 and beyond.

Research Lead,Dr. ScottDwyer of the Institute for Sustainable Futures, updating attendees at the workshop on project progress.

Photo: Supplied

Wetlands recognised

TomPARRY

VOLUNTEERS and committee members of the Heyfield Wetlands have been recognised with anational award.

The prize was bestowed by the River Basin Management Society at their awards gala dinner,held lastmonthinthe Leopard Lodge function room at Melbourne Zoo.

“Think of it asthe Logies for Water Management people,” Wetlands committee member,Mike Kube,told Gippsland Farmer

The Heyfield Wetlandswon for “Involving community in waterway management”. Organisers praised the initiative as “the success story of apassionate community with infectious enthusiasm”.

“The Heyfield Wetlands Committee harnessed enormous community support to create atreasured local space and ecological asset,” organisers said.

“After decadesofworktorestoreand now water the wetlands, the wetlands are flourishing.”

Mr Kube received the award on the committee’s behalf,alongsidethe West Gippsland CatchmentManagement Authority’s(WGCMA), CaitlinPilkington and Stephanie Suter,who secured the nomination.

“They’d doneanamazing amountof work –I mean, Idon’t think anyone else stoodachance withthe way theywrote it,” Mr Kube said.

“They’ve done an amazing job on it –like, eight pages of stuffthat they had to put together for the nomination.”

Heyfield’s Wetlands, in their present form, werebrought to life over two decades ago on the site of the former Heyfield Racecourse.

Improvements to the Wetlands areongoing, with committeemembers preparing to unveil anew viewing platformonthe site in the coming days.

The committee has also received agrant from theGippsland Lakes Coordinating Committeethat will introduce “thousands” moreplants to the site.

Mr Kube describedthe funds as “probably the biggest grant we’ve ever had”.

“We’retalking (to) someone who’s managingthe wholeproject,and hopefully engaging school groups and community groupstohelp us put it all together,” he said.

“We’ve got two years to it, so hopefully it’llbe quite adramatic change over the next two years.”

Volunteer at Tarra-Bulga

THE Friends of Tarra-Bulga National

in the park visitor centre. Experienced volunteers will show you the ropes.

If you can spareaday or two or more, they would love to hear from you.

For moreinformation on how to obtain copies of either brochureorvolunteering, email friendsoftarrabulga@gmail.com or call 0488 035 314. Alternatively, you can visit The Friends of Tarra-Bulga National Park website, https://friendsoftarrabulga. org.au/park-information/visitors-centre/

Caitlin Pilkington, Mike Kube and Stephanie Suter accepting the Heyfield Wetlands Committee’s accolade.

Photo: Supplied

Contractor fined

By MICHELLE SLATER

FRIENDS of the Earth has strongly criticised acourt decision in which an HVP contractor wasfound guilty of chemical spraydrift whereherbicides werefound 150 metres into the Holey Plains State Forest.

FOE had obtained freedom of information documents that showed that the contractor was found guiltyinthe Sale Magistrates Court in August for 13 charges in breach of chemicals regulations.

Agriculture Victoria pressed charges after investigating several incidents in 2020 on receiving reports by FOE land-use researcher Anthony Amis, who discovered the damage while surveying for koalas.

The contractor was given a12-month good behaviour bond and was ordered to obtain anew aerial management system accreditation and to pay $1000 to Landcare.

ButMrAmis said he did not understand why aheftier penalty was nothanded-down withapplicablemaximumfinesup to $66,000.

“This is aslap on the wrist. This was not an appropriate punishment at all. Where else has thiscompany been operating?” Mr Amis said.

It was found that the contractor was spraying aneighbouring pine plantation and allowedchemicals to driftabout two kilometres alongthe native forest boundary.

Investigators discovered four types of chemicals, including glyphosate in 17 locations and in tree canopies up to 20-metres in the air

Some of the charges included injuriously impacting native plants,breaching label instructions,using herbicides in excess

of label ratesand alackofappropriate recordkeeping.

Mr Amis said the Victorian Biodiversity Atlas showed the affected area contained the critically endangered Martins toadlet, koalas, vulnerablepowerfulowlsand endangered lace monitors.

The forest is also asite for honey producing hives and is apopular bush recreation area.

“If this area had afarmhouse or acommunity nearby, what would be the impact onresidents?” Mr Amis said.

“This is areal worryfor me, particularly as thestate government is planting thousands of hectares of pine plantations in Gippsland and Ifear therewill be moreinappropriate chemical use.”

An HVP Plantations spokesperson said it was an isolatedincidentand the company amended its protocols to maintain best practices after an investigation.

“Whilethiswas an extremelyisolated incident, we areconfident these improved methods and procedures make it extremely unlikely suchanincidentcould occur again,” the spokesperson said.

AgricultureVictoria has stressed that it is an offence to carry out any spraying that contaminates land, plants or stock outside the target area under the Agricultural and Veterinary Chemicals Act.

An Agriculture Victoria spokesperson said all agrichemical users wererequired to use chemicals responsibly to prevent sprayfromdrifting fromthe target crop or activity.

“Agriculture Victoria accepts theoutcome of thecourtcaseand encourages all agrichemical users to understand and comply with the relevant requirements of use,” the spokesperson said.

BeFireReady BeFireR

Prepareand plan to stay safe

With the extreme rainfall and floods throughout Victoria in recent weeks, it would be easy to assume that the usual fireseason may not come.

However the rain has caused another problem with the CFAworried about the increase in the undergrowth fuel load as it would only take afew days of summer heat to dryitout!

Farms areparticularly prone to ember attack, in these conditions, resulting in grass fires which can be extremely dangerous. People can die in grassfires.

What can youexpect?

•Dry andbrown grass that easily catches fire.

Grass morethan 10cm tall will have ahigher flame height and intensity

It will be faster burning than through forests as grass is afiner fuel

•Radiant heat (the heat created by afire)

•Fires that can startearly in the day

•Faster moving fires that travel up to 25 km per hour

What to do

•Prepareyour property for firebefore summer starts.

Create fuel breaks around your property and the assets that you want to protect.

•Don’tget caught out in the open during a grassfire.

•Ifyou’recaught in acar,don’t get out and run.

•Turnyourhazardlights on and park off the roadwayawayfromdense bush and long grass facing towards the oncoming fire.

•Beforethe fireapproaches tightly close windows and doors, shut all vents and turnoff the engine and make sureyou get down below window level and cover up with woollen blankets.

Thesafest place to be is away from the threat

Sheltering in acar is extremely dangerous and can result in serious injuryor death.

Always plan to leave early to avoid this situation.

Stay informed on hot, dry, windy days by monitoring conditions outside and tuning into alocal emergency broadcaster checking emergency.vic.gov.au regularly and by downloading the VicEmergency app.

It can get veryhot andradiant heat can kill.

•Ifyou’recaught in agrassfiremoveto somewherewith minimal vegetation, such as aploughed or well-grazed paddock.

LateFireSeason

GetReady

Climate change is bringing challenges to us that we never expected to face.

It isn’tjustabout droughts and floods, it’salsoabout the horrific destructive power of terrifying bushfires that don’tjustaffect regional areas.

They can devastate the outskirts of major cities.

One company,Australian Pump Industries, has developed what they claim is the world’sbest lightweight portable firepump, the Aussie FireChief.

Here, Aussie Pumps Managing Director,Warwick Lorenz, points out why the product is so popular and why dealers around the countryare now stocking Aussie Pump kits to replace pump ends on competitor’sproducts, i.e. famous brands like Davey and Onga.

AUSSIE PUMP ADVANTAGE

When we developed the Aussie FireChief,wewereseeking to supply something that had advantages over and above products that werealready on the market.

We took the design for our 3” transfer pump, with its big belly body,and designed aclosed impeller and volute that took advantage of the size of the pump to produce moreflowand pressure than competitor products.

That was almost 28 years ago. Today the FireChief is available throughout the world, with export sales climbing everyseason.

In Australia, the Aussie brand of firepumps has gained huge acceptance with major contracts from government departments as well as accolades from farmers and even DIY homeowners.

WHAT’S SO GOOD ABOUT THE CHIEF?

The excellent hydraulic design has enabled us to maximise the size of the impeller without overloading the engine.

Compared to aDavey or Onga firepump, both brands of which we have ahuge respect for,our impeller is an extra ½” in diameter

Our Chief Engineer,JohnHales, achieved this with aperfectly balanced design for both impeller and volute, matched to the Honda GX160 engine.

That extra-large impeller means the pump delivers 25 percent more pressure.

Compared to cheap third world products, the superior performance is even more pronounced.

THE COMPONENT ADVANTAGE

It’snot just the size of the impeller, it’sahigh grade aluminium solid discus style that weighs much morethancompetitors.

Our friends from Onga use a plastic impeller (nylon) and Davey use atwo piece impeller that is held together with atek screw.

They call it the ‘floating impeller’ and their engineers believe atwo piece impeller is an advantage.

We disagree with that for obvious reasons.

We think that is not great engineering, particularly if the tek screwwears out, rusts out or disappears during the life of the pump.

It seems obvious to us that pumps being used for firefighting or any farmduty, need to be on asteady, stable base when operated.

That’swhy our firepumps come either with afull frame option or mounted on two steel skids with anti-vibration mounts as standard. Take alookatthe equivalent, you decide which is best.

INLETSIZE AFFECTS PERFORMANCE

TheAussie Fire Chief comes standardwith a2”suction plate with abig heavy duty check valve behind it.

The 2” suction inlet provides the pump with extra volume at the velocity that gets thejob done.

Standardfirepumps from competitors like Davey and Onga Blazemaster 5155H have 1½” inlets.

That’sa disadvantage that affects the performance.

With Aussie getting 33.3 percent morewater into thepump, means morewater out at pressure. That can be vital during critical firefighting or any other application because the inlet is flanged itcan beincreased to 2½”oreven 3” for morevolume but less pressure performance.

OUTLETS THAT DELIVER

TheAussie FireChief has one 1½” outlet and two 1” outlets. All partofwhatwecalladischarge tree which is flanged mounted to the top of the pump body

We putmetal caps and chains on those outlets to provide security for the user.

Ongause athree way head as well but Davey have developed afour way head with two 1½” outlets and two 1” outlets.

That’sa total of 5” of outlet mounted with either a2”inlet or smaller models a1½” inlet. Our engineers can’twork out how you can operate four hoses that amount to 5” of discharge when you only have a1½” inlet to let the water into the pump.

COSTIS IMPORTANT

We believe the FireChief costs moretomakethanour competitor’s products.

In spite of that, we put it on the market for $800 plus GST,ex our works Sydney Compared to the retail prices of the other brands mentioned, the

Aussie FireChief isthe bargain of the century!

WHATABOUT WARRANTY?

TheFireChief comes with aunique five year pump end warranty

The pump’ssuitability for application on the Honda GX160 and GX200 6.5hpengine is fully approved by Honda after stringent match testing.

Although we get great performance, we do not overload the engine!

AUSSIEFIRE PUMP RESCUE

We’reveryproud of the FireChief and its big brother,MrTtwin impeller range.

The pumps arefullysupported by Honda and Australian Pump Industries.

Aussie offers FireChief wetend kits that can replace Davey and Onga firepumps,either with 5/8” engine shaft or ¾” engine shaft.

That means you don’thave to throw the engine away but can rather replace the pump end simply by carrying out akind of ‘hearttransplant’.

No, you can’tmix and match Davey or Onga parts with the Aussie Pump parts.

What will work is making surethe engine is still in good condition with plenty of compression, fitting up an Aussie FireChief or Mr T twin impeller with the right engine, is apiece of cake.

We can‘rescue’ old pumps provided the engine is up to it!

FIRESARE COMING

We take the firesituation very seriously

We know thereishuge amounts of growth outthereand that thevolunteer fireservices are extremely concerned about the possibilities of catastrophic fires this summer

It may be latein the season, but they believe they arecoming.

Aussie Pumps is all about better performance, better value and longer warranty

For moreinformation including details of the Aussie firepump rescue package, please contact Australian Pump Industries. aussiepumps.com.au for more information.

Essential steps before the fireseason

Vehicles,equipment and hay

•Double check that spark arrestors on machineryare working and efficient.

•Have water fireextinguishers or knapsack spray pumps (minimum 9 litres) available that can be carried by any person using farmequipment or machinery.

•Have asafety strategy in place for storing and monitoring hay -purchase amoisturemetre if necessary.

•Make surehay is fully cured before baling.

•Make surethat thereare no gaps between the cladding and the ground or slab of your sheds to prevent embers getting inside.

Fuel loads and stock

•Reduce fuel loads around assets (house blocks, sheds and fences) and create strategic fuel breaks.

•Createa heavily grazed area where stock can be moved during abushfire situation.

Access forfirefighters

•Make sureyour property name or number is clearly visible so emergency services can identify it easily when approaching the entrance.

•Consider if access for firetruckscan be improved by clearing vegetation, signposting dead ends or creating turning circles.

•Make surewater supplies around your property areclearly marked in case emergency services need to access them.

Planning

•Have aplan for horses and livestock.

Alarge well-grazed area wherethey can move freely, with asupplyofwater,isthe safest.

•Makesureyou arewith atrusted phone network for mobile coverage.

•Charge all mobile phones and portable chargers and make surethey areclose by

Portable chargers arenot expensive and can be alife saver in an emergency

Call to actively manage ‘sick’ forests

By PHIL HOPKINS

FOREST and forest firemanagement must be done on alandscape scale, with active management over long timeframes, using expert knowledge of forests, amajor state and federal government review has found.

The expertpanel that assessed the impact of the 2019-20 bushfires on Victoria’sforests on Victoria’s Regional Forest Agreements (RFAs) made 37 recommendations that highlighted the need for amajor overhaul of current forest management strategies.

“These forestsare sick because weare not managing themproperly,” amemberof the expert panel, Dr Tony Bartlett, AFSM (Australian FireServices Medal) told a ForestryAustralia conference in Albury in areport on the RFAreview, which took 13 months to complete.

The other members of the panel were the Commissionerfor Environmental Sustainability in Victoria, Dr Gillian Sparkes (AM) and Katherine Mullett, a traditional owner from East Gippsland.

Dr Bartlett said if the community did not learnthe lessons from the massive bushfires, “we areall culpable of not treating the disease”.

“Thefires affected all valuesreserves Logging is not the enemy of these forests; uncontrolled wildfires is what is having the biggest impactonthe multiplevaluesso important under the RFAs,” he said.

“Whether rainforest conservation reserves or state forests, they aresick. The issue is inadequate firemanagement, the threats aremultiple –not just loss of timber resources or old growth forest. All the values areimportant, evenrecreation values; all arebeing affected in major way. If fires aremorefrequent and worse, they (the values) will get worse.”

Dr Bartlett said forest management plans andnationalpark management plans were both hugely out of date. “Firedoes not care whether it’s national park, state forest or private land; the firewill go over the top. If we don’t not integrate them, we have no hope in making progress,” he said.

Among the recommendations were:  Moreactive and adaptive management includes the scaling up of ecological burning in the forests.

 Empowering an active role by traditional owner groups in the management of forests on public

land or Country, including adequate resourcing of the groups and their greater participation in bushfire management.

 The panel noted that Victoria’s harvest level review’s finding that the 2019-20 bushfires would not affect Victoria’s ability to supply the levels of ash and mixed species sawlogs committed under the Victorian Forestry Plan.

 Validate the effectiveness of the current CAR reserve system for listed species and communities in the next scheduled five yearly review including

five-yearly afull analysis of the current status of old growth forest post-fires.

Dr Bartlett said all parties neededtosupport the expansion of forest industries to drive jobs and economic benefits to the regions.

“Thisserves the added benefit of havingknowledgeableand trained crews on the ground when fires do occur,” he said.

The Black Summer bushfires burnt 1.5 million hectares, including nearly1.3m ha of native forest; 70pc of the forests in the East Gippsland RFA wereburnt and

morethan 270,000ha in the North East.

About 760,000haofthe conservation reserve system was affected, with more than halfburnt at high intensity. About 270,000 ha had been burnt multiple times, particularly in easternVictoria.

Dr Bartlett, who had previously worked in East Gippsland and knew the region’s firehistory,said he was “shocked” when he saw the state of some of the forest.

was visibly moved by some comments from traditionalowners, who wereseverely affected by the fires and their impact on Country. “The take home message is they arecryingout for awhole of forest management. They need genuine engagement before, during and after the fires,” he said, although this varied across the state.

“A couple of traditional groups told us, ‘You have stuffed these forests, you now want give back to us to fix the problems. We want to be involved; it’s not up to us to fix your problems’.”

There are forest values,” he said.

An additional 62,000 ha of old growth forest was lost andlots of listed fauna species wereaffected.

Tenper cent of Aboriginal sites wereaffected, but most Aboriginal sites had not been surveyed.

“Apiary sites suffered significant impact, with along tail end for when the siteswill produce honey.The biggest ever impact was on recreation areas, with abig impact on tourism, whichhave not all been fixed,” he said.

Dr Bartlett said h

The premises of the RFAs was to protect themost significant environmental values in the CAR reserves system. “The CAR reserve system–the dataisshowing it’s not working Thereare multiple threats to f t a f t l n t g e e t n h t t e

Dr Bartlett praised Victoria’s major program to try and restoresome Ash forests.

“If we do nothing more, nothing will be left of Ash forests in our lifetime,” he said.

Between the RFAs in early 2002 and now,Victoriahad lost 60 percentofits old growth forest -equivalent of four times the size of the Wilson’s Promintory National Park.

Thedamagewas due to wildfires. “Less than 1pc relates to timber harvesting, those with an agenda don’t talk about it,” he said.

Dr Bartlett said firelosses of plantations assets werecontinuing. “It’s difficult in big fires to do somethingaboutit, but ifwe keep going like this, no private investor will invest in large-scaleplantations because the numberswillneverstack, they will never get to rotationsstage,”hesaid. These weremainly private assets, not government assets.

“They must be integrated into the whole process. The panels weretold of plantations in East Gippsland wherethey could not even get approval to do abackburninthe middle of the night around their plantations because decisions weremade along way away and not locally,” he said.

DrBartlett said in the modernised RFAs, therewerelots of good things that the two levels of government had committed to in 2020, “but action has not match words in the revised RFAs”.

When the RFAs werefirst developed, there werevery comprehensiveregional-based teams,flora and fauna and forestry people teams, and divisional committee with relevant stakeholders, he said. Each had an advisory committeeof stakeholder groups, compromises weremade at regional level.

“I don’t see any of that. We need to update forest managementbynext year.I’m not surewhether the process has started. There arebig issues,” he said.

Preparing a farm biosecurity plan

A

By RICHARD SMITH

FARM biosecurity planning is not a one-size-fits-all process

Every farm is different, with each facing a unique set of challenges and risks Business owners have different levels of tolerance of those risks

After conducting a risk assessment and action plan, the next step is to create a farm biosecurity plan

farm biosecurity plan should:

o

General recommendations: (acrossall species)

• Colostrumintakeinthe first 24 hoursoflifeisvital to survival

• If colostrumisnot availablefromthe mother or anotherdam (sameordifferent species),add acolostrum supplement

• Keepinfants warm anddry andout of drafts forfirstdaysand weekoflife.

• Quantities of milkreplaceroffered should be adjusted to bodyweight.

• Weighinfantanimalsregularly to ensure that milkintakeisadequatefor bodyweight.

• Frequentfeedingofsmall amountswilldecrease chancesofdigestiveupsets.

• Wherepracticable milkfeeds should be madefresh. Reconstituted ProfeLACSHEPHERD may be refrigerated up to 24 hours. Discardany unused portion after24hours

• CleanALL feedingutensilsand equipment aftereach feeding: rinse in lukewarmwater,washwithadetergentinhot (80oC) water, rinse with clean water(ideally a10% bleach solution)and drythoroughlywitha‘clean’ towel.

• Consult your veterinarian forany signsofdisease,fever,parasites, poor performance etc.

• Fresh, clean watershouldbeavailable free choice at alltimes

• Herbivores:ifa starterrationisavailable, offersmall quantitiesdaily from 2weeks of age. Offergoodquality roughage (leafy material)and/orpasture on afreechoice basis

Extreme weather challenges farmers

Zoe ASKEW

WEATHER extremes such as heavy rainfall and extreme heat are a challenge for any farmer, but with such events tipped to become increasingly frequent and their duration prolonged under official climate change scenarios, Gippsland farmers bear the brunt of these extreme weather effects

Angus Zilm is an owner-operator of a grass-fed beef farming business in Gippsland with a long family farming connection in the region

Having managed his business across multiple properties around Stratford and Sale for the past 10 years the local beef producer strongly attests to the increasing climate extremes

“We own a property on the Latrobe River near Sale and for the last so many years we have had no problem using the river flat country, but just recently, in the last two years, we have just been hounded with floods,” Mr Zilm said

“In my experience, these events have become more extreme I think, the droughts in America and China that we ’ re seeing and at the same time in Australia we are being hounded by floods; it’s got to be a trend

“There has got to be a correlation between the two as we come out of drought; they’re going into drought

So as farmers, we are trying to prepare for more extremes, more drought, more flood, more heavy rain, stronger winds, all those sorts of different things ”

Like many other local farmers, Mr Zilm has had to adapt to the persistent weather extremes in order to survive

“We were predominately farming dry land for the first few years, and we couldn’t do it,” Mr Zilm said

We needed irrigation to support our business to give us that reliability of being able to grow grass, so we sought out irrigation land as a primary backbone of our business

Since that, we have strategically sought to acquire land with undulation and different topography as well as environmental benefits - so shade, a shelter for cattle, hills to prevent flooding, open country as well as low country ”

Mr Zilm said that way, “ we do get the benefit in a dry season that we get some river country, but also that it has the high country to get the cattle and livestock away from those river flats when it does flood”

“It definitely wasn’t something that was a priority; it wasn’t something that was at the forefront of our minds that we were incrementally going to have to look for different properties, or property, with all these attributes; it was like people have been farming this way forever, why can’t we continue to farm this way ” he said

“Now it’s more like survival, adapt and survive or don t survive The adapting part is simply us saying ‘We are going to look to have all these bolt-ons and diversity within the business’; that way, we can survive when we go into drought or floods or whatever conditions arise ”

Local beekeepers, Amrita and Andrew Bradley, are also among Gippsland farmers affected by the increasingly frequent weather extremes

“The seasons have changed there is no doubt,” Ms Bradley said

“Summer seems to be shorter and wetter and there is a lot of extra rain around and humidity

How that affects honey production is, when we collect honey, we encourage the bees to build up what they need, but then we also manipulate them, in a nice way, to make extra honey, and we take the extra We always have to leave enough honey for the bees, or else they will die basically ”

With the current weather, Ms Bradley said there was not a lot of extra honey “They are only just making enough for themselves to survive, she said

To give you an example, last year, last honey season, we calculated we would get about 500 kilos of honey from our hives; we got about 152 at a stretch ”

Large percentages of pollen are washed away, with increased rainfall leaving minuscule amounts remaining on flowers for the bees to forage, resulting in decreased honey production

“When we go to the hives, we know the honey is ready because the bees have capped it; when the bees have the got the water and the sugar content of the honey right, they put a wax layer over it, that’s called a cap, ” Ms Bradley said With the humidity, they aren t capping it because they can’t get the sugar and water right, they aren t capping it They aren t capping it; we can t take it So that is what is happening with us from an environmental point of view “There is no doubt that things are changing; just by looking around and seeing either the trees blossoming early, the plants and the weeds that come up at certain times of the year, that is all changing ” Victoria’s year-to-date rainfall total for January to November was around 829 millimetres, 35 per cent above average and the highest since 1974, with the state documenting the highest spring rainfall on record and maximum temperatures the sixth-lowest on record and lowest since 1992

During La Niña events in 2021-22, eastern Australia experienced one of its most significant flood periods ever observed

For the Windsong Farm Providore beekeepers, the increased weather extremes, warranting unprecedented rainfall, and slowing down honey production have undoubtedly affected their business “There are a lot of local businesses wanting to support, stock and supply local honey, and we can’t meet demand,” Ms Bradley said

We have had to diversify into other products and modify our business to survive

The CSIRO and Bureau of Meteorology recent biannual State of the Climate report drew on the latest climate monitoring science and projection information to detail Australia’s current and future changing climate

The report showed that heavy rainfall events are becoming more intense, with the number of short-duration heavy rainfall events expected to increase

The director of CSIRO’s Climate Science Centre, Dr Jaci Brown, said the report documented the continuing acidification of the oceans around Australia, which have also warmed by more than one degree since 1900

The concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere are continuing to rise, and this is causing Australia s climate to warm, ” Dr Brown said

“The warming of our oceans is contributing to longer and more frequent marine heatwaves, and this trend is expected to continue into the future

“The rate of sea level rise varies around Australia’s coastlines but the north and south-east have experienced the most significant increases ”

The Bureau of Meteorology’s manager of climate environmental prediction services Dr Karl Braganza said the report projected increases in air temperatures, more heat extremes and fewer cold extremes in coming decades

“Australia’s climate has warmed on average by 1 47 degrees since 1910,” he said

Dr Braganza said the length of fire seasons had increased across the country in recent decades, with longer fire seasons in the south and east expected in the future and an increase in the number of dangerous fire weather days

The CSIRO and Bureau of Meteorology recently released the latest biannual State of the Climate report with findings rendering concern as concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere continue to rise Photo:Zoe Askew

Call for careonrecalled items

IN light of recent food recalls from Food Standards Australia New Zealand relating to asmall selectionofspinach products, vegetable peak industry body AUSVEG is callingonconsumers tofollowthe recall directions and dispose the recalled products, and for those with concerns for their health to follow the advice of health departments and seek medical attention.

“The health and safety of our consumers is the top priority for our industry, so we urge consumerstofollow the advice of the recall noticesand to seek medical attention if you have concerns for your health,” AUSVEG chief executive Michael Coote said.

“However, it is important to remember that thereare only asmall number of products with recall notices, and our food safety and retail sector is removing affected products as soon as thereisaconcernfor people’s health.

“This means that Australian consumers can have confidence in all other spinach and leafy salad products that arecurrently available for sale on retail shelves, which areunaffected by the recall.

“AUSVEGhas hadreportsofgrowers who arenot included in the recall, but have experienced reduced orders and drops in sales, addingtothe pressures that they face during this time of year

“Given the proximitytoChristmasand the festive season -our industry’s busiest time of the year -this is both worrying and avoidable.

“The past 12-monthshave been the most difficult in recent times for our industry. Whileall growers have facedsignificant increases to costs of production, floods and consistent rain and critical labour shortages this year,leafy salad and spinach growers have had it particularly tough during this period.

“Wecall on all Aussie consumers to continuetobuy plenty of fresh vegetables and leafy saladstosupport their hard-working, dedicated growers who areworking day and night to ensurefamilies have freshproduce for Christmasand the festive season.”The recalled products were:

 Rivera Farms baby spinach at Costco Wholesale in VIC, NSW, ACT with use by dates from December 16 2022 up to December 28 2022;

 Woolworths Chicken Cobb salad 270g with use by dateDecember 20;

 Woolworths ChickpeaFalafel Salad 290g use bydate December 20 and December 22, and;



Fresh Salad Co Fresh andFast Stir Fry, at ALDI stores in VICwith useby date of December 24 2022;

 Woolworths Chicken Cobb Salad and Woolworths Chickpea Falafel Salad, at Woolworths stores in VIC, NSW,QLD, ACT;

 Eleven Coles Own Brandproducts containing spinach solid in Coles Supermarkets, Coles Local, Coles Express andthrough Coles Online in VIC, NSW,QLD, SA, NT,ACT withuse by dates between December 17 2022 and December 23 2022.

AUSVEG continues to liaise with all relevant authorities and key stakeholders as the issues unfold.

New technology identifies exotic plant viruses

THE Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry is rolling out sophisticated new technologyto detect and identify exotic plantviruses and viroids,atits Post Entry Quarantine Facility (PEQ) at Mickleham, Victoria.

Australia’s chief plant protection officer, Dr Gabrielle Vivian-Smith, saidthe department was using High Throughput Sequencing (HTS) to improve the efficiency of PEQ testing in imported plants.

“HTS is anovel molecular sequencing tool that can detect and identify all plant viruses and viroids from asingle sample with unprecedented efficiency,” Dr VivianSmith said.

“As of December 2022, HTSreplaces conventionaltesting methods like polymerase chain reaction and biological indexing as the primary screening tools to detect these plant pests in strawberries,stone fruit,

almonds, raspberriesand blackberries imported into Australia. Just in time for Christmas puddings and cakes!

“The department has worked closely with government, universities, and industry stakeholders since 2013 to develop, optimise,validateand implementthis technology in aPEQ setting.

“Over 200 high-risk plants across more than 46 species wereused to validate HTS against existing diagnostic tools.”

The rollout of HTS is just one of many diagnosticinnovations beingchampioned by the department.

“This is agreat example of our ongoing commitment to embed cutting-edge technology into Australia’s plant diagnostics toolkit,” Dr Vivian-Smith said.

“Instead of requiring alot of costly plant virus tests to screen for biosecurity threats during quarantine, we can now use a

single,highly sensitive test to quickly identifyvirusesand viroids that could threaten our valuable fruit production industries.

“Weare always lookingfor ways to strengthen and future-proof our biosecurity capability. As part of our 2030 vision, the $22.27 million ModernTechnologies and DiagnosticTools (MTDT) program will further revolutionise our diagnostic system to be future-ready in response to new biosecurity threats.”

DAFF is now considering ways to expand applications of HTS to otherimported plantmaterial inPEQ,and to support critical national planthealth surveillance activities.

If plant importers and stakeholders would like moreinformation,contact the department at plantstakeholders@ agriculture.gov.au

Tyre.ly,atrusted tyrerecycling business in Australia has been operating forseveral years and is taking action to restorethe health of ourplanet by repurposing and recycling 100% of used tyres into valuable, in-demand new materials.

Billions of tyres arediscarded year after year,perpetually overflowing our landfills and polluting our environment. To beat back these detrimental consequences and significantly reduce our impactonthe planet, the company has developed aproven sustainable solution that recycles discarded tyres whereall materials areutilised and transformed to ensurethatthey have anew life outside of the landfill.

To support the silage dairy farms with a quick and simple solution, Tyre.lyuses the latest technology to create sidewall tyre carpets which aredesigned so one person can cover asilage stack in approximately two hours! That is two times faster than regular labour because it abolishes the need to move extremely heavy,whole tyres around asilage stack to access the silage.

The company’s initiative is simple, straightforward, and cost effective. The tyresare quality assessed and processed and then made into mats that silage dairy farmers can purchase for as little as $1 per passenger tyreorfor wider coverage $3 per tractor tyre.

The damaging effects of using whole tyresas weights to hold the plastic silage tarp down to cover silage stacks aremany. Forone,the excess weight of tyres holding down silage plastic creates ahigher risk of raceways,

increasing the risk of oxygen entering the pile during feed out. Whole tyres also don’t allow water to drain easily,making them the ideal environment for mosquitos to breed. Not to mention, putting farmers in danger of serious health risks associated with stored unhygienic water collection.

Today,through their tyrerecycling efforts, Tyre.ly continues to worktogether with farmers and empowercommunities in creating agreener futurefor us all.

Get involved in the causeand make a real difference!

If you areinterested in knowing more information, please call 0447320 585 or visit www.tyrely.com.au

Australia’s Most Trusted Partner for Tyre Recycling Solutions

Anumber of spinach products wererecalled late last year Photo: File

Rubbish company convicted over Gippyworkplace death

AWASTE disposalcompany has been convictedand fined atotalof$300,000 after aworkerwas fatally crushed bya garbage truck in 2019.

Country Cart Pty Ltd was sentenced in the Melbourne County Court on December 5 after earlier pleading guilty to two charges under the Occupational Healthand Safety Act.

The company was convicted and fined $250,000 for failing to provide or maintain safe plant and $50,000 for failing to provide or maintain safe systems of work.

The courtheard that in April 2019, garbagetruck driver BrianRintoule,55, wascollectingbins whenhearrived at a property in Leongatha South and got out of the cabin to open afront gate.

Despite engaging the parking brake, the garbage truck rolled forwardand crushed Mr Rintoule against the gate.

Following the incident, aVicRoads inspection found the garbage truck to be unroadworthy due to several major defects, includingafaultyparking brake, and being overdue for all required services.

Thecourt found CountryCartfailedto maintain the parking brake in acondition that would hold the truck stationary in all circumstances.

It was also reasonably practicablefor the company to have provided and maintained asystem of work to ensurethe truck was kept in aroadworthy condition without defects.

WorkSafeactingexecutivedirector of healthand safety,Kelly Harris,saidthe

death highlighted the terrible human cost of failing to follow the most basic of workplace safety procedures.

“Athorough maintenance program and rigorous inspection of heavy vehicles is absolutely critical to protecting the health and safety of notonly your workers but other road usersand members of the public,” Ms Harris said.

“Weare still seeing too many preventable workrelatedfatalities on our roads and WorkSafe will continue to take strong action againstemployersnot doing everything they can to control the known risks.”

WorkSafe saidtomanage work-related vehicle risks employers should:  Ensureappropriate safe systems of work areinplace and that these are regularly monitored, reviewed and, if necessary, revised; 

Ensureregular vehicle inspections, servicing and maintenance are undertaken by suitably competent persons in accordance with the manufacturer’s recommendations; 

Ensurepre-operations checks areconducted daily on essential components such as brakes, steering, tyres (including pressure), indicators, suspension and to detect issues such as oil leaks; and that any defects are rectified by competent persons, and;  Communicate all safety information to drivers and others to enable them to performtheir work in away that is safe and without risks to health.

Brian Rintoule with Jed the dog. Mr Rontoule died after being crushed by atruck at work.

Photo: Supplied

Christine Lawton

Aswild weather whipped the state in early November 2021, aSimmental cow called Mt Ararat Hazel went into labour

John Leek, principal of Mt Ararat Simmentals, was not long home from hospital and so it was his wife Andrea who had battled the wind and rain to check the cows.

It was acouple of weeks offcalving, but the cow was heavy with what the Leeks predicted would be twins.

Bailed up recovering, John’smobile rang.

His wife was abit flustered.

“Thereare calves everywhere,” she said.

Despite his recent operation, John headed down, arriving just in time to see the final calf, aheifer,bornwith two little bull calves already on the ground in a tangle of limbs.

It is incredibly rarefor acow to give birth to triplets, and when they do many of the babies may end up dying.

For the ones that survive, the mother may not accept and take careofall three as her own.

So with this in mind, the Leeks piled

“The calves wereupand about moving and had all come out naturally,but they wereshivering and cold.”

Now John’sSimmental calves are always bornatalow birth weight –around the 35 to 40 kilogram mark.

Having popped out three calves weighing in at ahealthy 30 kilograms each, the mother seemed in abit of shock.

Yetshe seemed to understand that the Leeks weretheretohelp, and calmly allowed them to milk her,and watched on as the calves weregiven alitreof colostrum each.

The mother,MtArarat Hazel, was a five year old polled Simmental with a temperament second to none, and John was elated that all the calves werealso polled and the most glorious identical shades of tan.

My dad was adairy farmer and I’ve been breeding Simmentals for years, and I’ve never experienced triplets in my entirelife,” said John.

Twoofthe bull calves will be on display at Mt Ararat Simmentals Beef Week Open Day on Saturday the 28th of January

the three calves into awheelbarrow and headed up to the yards around the house.

“It was absolutely pelting down, and the paddocks werecovered in mud,” said John.

2023 is shaping up to be another milestone year for Mawarra Genetics with the Sykes family celebrating their 50th Anniversary Sale on Monday 20th March.

Mawarra achieved record-breaking results in 2022 at the Herefords Australia National Show and Sale.

Grand Champion, Mawarra Ultra Star R182, topped the Sale at $130,000.

In November a2020-drop joined heifer sold for $30,000 at their Ladies Day Sale.

On the back of what has been agreat year for the beef industry Peter says, “We arepleased to have provided value for money to our clients.

While we achieved record-breaking prices at the top end therewas genuine value, sires and females that sold at affordable prices, at each of our sales.

Providing the opportunity for all producers to consider the value of investing in Mawarra Genetics.”

Mawarra invested heavily themselves purchasing the $40,000 top-price at Devon Court, Revolver R081 and the $42,000 top-price at Ironbark, 7131E Domino S659.

For their Angus program they teamed up with Peake’sAngus to securetwo Milwillah sires; $170,000 PowerPoint R318 and $52,000 Moonshine R337.

Mawarra focus heavily on providing industry leading genetics to their clients, backed by the consistency and depth of their renowned breeding herd.

Their 50th Anniversary Sale draft includes the first sons of international sires Showtime P277, Hugo P190, Influential Q162, Terminator Q274 and New Zealand sirePute Nascar N13.

The Angus catalogue will featuresome of the first sons of $140,000 Dunoon Prime Minister P758 to be offered in Australia.

Deanne concluded, “While the international interest in our program is rewarding, our focus remains steadfast …toprovide profitable, performance driven seedstock to the commercial cattleman.

The stud success we achieve occurs as aresult of this philosophy

Our greatest rewardissharing in the success of our clients when they achieve moreprofitable outcomes.”

Team Mawarra at the 2022 Herefords AustraliaNational Show& Sale (Wodonga).

L-R: Brandon Sykesleading Mawarra UnionPacific, Connor Evans leading Mawarra Justify,Logan Sykes leading Mawarra Ultra Star,Peter &Deanne Sykes, Taylah &Hayden Brunt, Brittany Sykes, Katie Kerby holding Carter Sykes &Lisa Bonenkamp.

After the success of their first bull sale in March, John and Fiona

Glover of Wattlewood Angus are deep into the preparations for their next sale on Thursday March the 16th.

Once again, the bulls have gone through all the processes which enables the Wattlewood guarantee to provide sound and functional bulls that breeders love to own.

Fiona, who is an A.I. technician, enjoys the ability to select and use sire’sfrom across the world and appreciates the advantages of using superior genetics.

This is obvious when viewing the progeny from some great sires such as Baldridge Beast Mode, Coonamble Hector and seeing sires that have passed like Te Mania Ada, still making a positive impact in the herd.

The Wattlewood herdare vaccinated with 7in1 and Pestigardannually and the bulls also arevaccinated with Vibrovax to safe guardthem in any herdthey are working for

All Wattlewood calves areHD50K Genotyped, P.I. tested negative for BVDV

and the bulls aresemen tested prior to their sale.

The Glover’shave aphilosophy that they can never know who might purchase the bulls and what their new homes facilities arelike, so to help the farmers out, every bull is halter broken and can be delivered in ahorse float straight into the paddock with the cows or without the need for aloading ramp.

Fiona says, “Having halter broken animals makes handling them alot easier when they areseeing avet for asemen test or treatment of things like pinkeyethey just don’tfight you in the crush”.

The Wattlewood team look forwardto welcoming you to the property for Beef Week on Saturday 28th January where the Wattlewood Sale catalogues will be available and the sale bulls can be previewed.

Aselection aPTIC females will be available for private treaty on the day

Raedean Red Angus Raeeddeeaan d A Annguus s

Raedean Red Angus was established in 1988 at Lillico just out of Warragul and is now located at Buln Buln.

Annette and Noel started breeding Red Angus 17 years ago and loved them so much that the whole herdisnow Red Angus.

The focus is on economic traits and producing sound, functional high performing cattle.

Culling heavily for undesirable traits and adocile temperament is extremely

important and as they have their granddaughter,Georgia (Pictured) with them alot they don’ttolerate cattle that are difficult to deal with.

Their trip to Canada in 2019 saw them purchase semen from U2 and they got to see aRed Northline bull at the collection centre.

They look forwardtowelcoming you to their property on Saturday 28 January wherethey will have both Bulls and Females for sale.

Alpine Angus hitting A Allpine A Annguus s hiit t tt t ttiing the mark t thhe k

The past 18 months has been an incredible time for cattle producers throughout much of Australia, with favourable seasons, massive demand and mind blowing prices.

Alpine Angus is lucky to be aparticipant in the beef industry during this time.

Alpine bred weaners have met strong demand throughout this period.

They arefortunate that many quality commercial herds source bulls from Alpine, producing calves that regularly receive increased repeat buyer demand for backgrounding, fattening and breeding.

The goal is to produce sound, functional, true to type Angus with added performance and an emphasis on moderate birth and high growth.

They aim to breed cattle that last, with strong confirmation and the ability to contribute to profitable farming operations.

Their 2021 and 2022 bull sales have seen some amazing results highlighted by four bulls sold becoming AI sires.

As well Alpine has sold multiple stud sires and commercial bulls to all states of Australia bar the NorthernTerritory

In saying that, their corebusiness is producing bulls for producers in the high country,its valleys and the surrounding slopes and plains of Victoria and SouthernNSW

Alpine Angus is thankful for the amazing support they receive from cattle breeders in these local areas.

From their 2021 sales, two Karoo Main Event sons featured in the Genetics Australia semen catalogue with Alpine Main Event Q192 becoming one of their leading volume semen sellers and Alpine Rip Wheeler R144 meeting strong demand for his combination of outstanding phenotype and big birth to growth spread.

The 2022 Autumn sale saw two quality Rennylea N542 sons enter AI catalogues, with the sale topper,Alpine Real Deal R163 being purchased by aWestern Australia and New Zealand syndicate and semen marketed by ABS Australia.

Real Deal semen has seen considerable use thanks to his combination of structure, body depth, performance and high IMF

Alpine Ronaldo R232 was purchased by Hardhat Angus and semen marketed by ST Genetics Australia.

Twofull brothers to Ronaldo also ended up as herdsires with one purchased by JB Angus, S.A. and the other going to a partnership of Dulverton Angus and Five Star Cattle company

Finally the 2022 spring top seller and highest priced Alpine bull sold to date, Alpine 38 Special S021 purchased by Arkle Angus, W.A. for $120,000, is in quarantine preparing for the collection of EU qualified semen.

At Alpine they have been fortunate to be expanding their operations during a time of such buoyancy and arelooking to consolidate on the strong foundations they have built.

Joining close to 1,000 females in 2022, they arefocused on maintaining the quality and trueness of type in the herd, while increasing performance.

Targeting sound, high performance sires produced from strong maternal lines that will have apositive influence on the physical strengths of their herd, while continually improving EBVs and the overall performance potential of their cattle.

Alpine Angus areparticularly excited by the genetics coming through their embryo transfer program.

Dams of the above mentioned AI sires arecurrently producing embryos.

As well they have imported embryos out of acow they purchased from the highly respected Sitz Angus herdin Montana, USA.

Sitz Manor 3195 is afemale they hope will add to the quality of cattle they produce.

Ahighly maternal 7year old cow,she is the dam of ABS sireSitz Response 8659 and has excellent EPDs for the functional and growth traits that they endeavour to replicate throughout their herd.

Challambi Charolais Charroolais

Challambi Charolais is showcasing its selection of young bulls at this year’s Beef Week, with animals to be sold at its Inaugural Online Production Plus Bull Sale, 20/04/2022.

The stud formed in 2011 and runs about 100 stud females and 110 commercial females on its 385 hectareproperty,selling about 50 to 60 bulls ayear

It uses mainly AI from multiple sires and ET programs, and splits calving between autumn and spring to produce bull’s all-year-round.

Maternal bloodlines originating from Palgrove, Valley View and Glenlea, with sires Valley View Leader,SCR Triumph, Silverstream Frampton and Charnelle Panama arecurrently in use.

Stud principal Nigel Spink said they

produce bulls that grow quickly and whose progeny finish on grass.

The stud distributes semen by Challambi Qantas, Australia-wide through Semex.

The stud grass-finishes all its commercial cattle, to produce animals suitable for markets like Greenham’spremium Never Ever and Teys Grasslands programs.

“Charolais grow quickly and finish quickly, producing ahigher returnfor our clients.

We started breeding them because of the extra yield in them and the ability to turnthem over quickly,” Mr Spink said.

“Weaim to breed all our cattle polled for ease of management and we have red factor and white Charolais available.”

For moreinformation, visit www.challambicharolais.com.au, or check out the stud’sFacebook page.

Riga Angus A Annguus s

Riga Angus isaffamiilyowned d busiiness with the focus to produce top quality yearling bulls, to allow for the introduction of superior genetic material into herds ayear earlier than normal, resulting in arapid genetic improvement for breeders.

2023 will see their eighth on property Sale in mid-April.

Whilst late in the ‘Stud Sale Calendar’ this best suits the preparation of the ‘yearlings’ who areborninatight calving over March and early April the year before.

The preparation is intricate from the point of weaning in spring to meeting the nutrition requirements of the bulls over the feed deficit in summer and autumn.

Meeting their critical growth and development over this period is essential to ensurethey areready for work on client properties from mid-autumn.

Riga Angus makes their breeding objective about producing sound, functional cattle in athick but moderate frame with excellent fertility and temperament, adequate milk, calving ease (with an emphasis on gestation length and structure), plenty of growth in combination with good carcase and IMF

The bulls undergo significant screening to ensureclients areable to purchase bulls with confidence.

This includes i50K Genomic testing,

All bulls areGenetic Disorder Free, come with acomprehensive vaccination program, arestructureand temperament assessed and arevet checked which includes abull breeding soundness examination.

Yearling bulls aretypically purchased for use over heifers but increasingly producers arebecoming moreopen to also using them over first and second calvers as well as maturefemales where applicable.

This year featuresires include Landfall Newground N90, Sydgen Bonus, Sydgen Enhance, Musgrave 316 Exclusive, ChilternPark Moe M6 and Rennylea Prospect P550, collectively

These will offer some excellent maternal and carcase genetics in combination with, the Riga Angus trade mark, aquiet temperament.

In spring 2022 Riga Angus held their inaugural spring sale and will be excited to offer morebulls in the spring of 2023.

Parent Verification or SireVerification.

Blackjack Angus –Quality in Spades Blackkjjack A Annguus s

Qualiit t ty y S Sp p paadees s

Parent verification and genomics reduce the gamble in buying aBull.”

Astute phenotypical selection of both walking and AI sires over the past four years has seen Blackjack Angus grow a herdworthy of holding their first bull Sale in autumn 2023.

Their current crop of young bulls are displaying great shape, docility and have production traits many Gippsland beef producers arelooking for

lackjack

is

The vision of Blackjack Angus is to produce reliable, fertile, moderncattle for Gippsland’sdiscerning beef producers.

DNA Parent Verification is acornerstone of Blackjack’soperation to ensurebuyers arereceiving the pedigrees and genomics they arepaying for

At Blackjack Angus, all of their cows and all of their progeny areDNA parent verified and genomically tested.

Stud Principal, Stewart Cluning puts it simply,“Buying apurebred Bull of any breed should not be agamble!

Youpay good money for abull and it should perform its function, whether it’s to produce calves with high growth, an easy calving heifer bull or improve your herd’sfeet.

Blackjack Angus also use embryo transfer technology to capitalise on their elite females and sharetheir genetics to produce higher and higher quality bulls with great maternal and structural traits.

At their Beef Week’sOpen Day you can view all 25 of the bulls for their upcoming sale on Friday March 24th and anumber of their mothers who arethe pick of the Blackjack Herd.

Youhave haven’tmuch time on Beef Week Open Day,Saturday 28th January, so make sureyou at least check out the following 18 -24month old bulls named:

Sex Panther (BJA21S17)

Stormtrooper (BJA21S25)

Stiffler (BJA21S16)

Steinway (BJA21S70)

Stallone (BJA21S13)

Follow the QR code for full details of the 2023 Blackjack Angus bull sale (advertisement on page 26).

Angus

Basmall Angus stud operation returning for Beef Week in 2023.

Charellen Poll Hereford Stud Charreellen P Pooll Herre e ref f foorrd d S St t tuud

Charellen Poll Herefords arelocated at Pearsondale, approx. 5km west of Sale.

On the westernapproach to Sale, turnoff the Princes Hwy at Wurruk into Settlement Rd at the roundabout (Endeavour Service Station).

Travel 3km along Settlement Road and turnright into McOwens Road.

Travel 400m to their property on the left.

At Charellen they aim to breed functional cattle with emphasis on performance, milking ability, structural soundness, fertility and quiet temperament.

Joining sires areselected based on above average Breedplan figures in many traits including EMA and IMF traits.

All bulls areDNA tested free of genetic defects, fertility tested, areverified pesti-virus free and predominately homozygous.

Bulls arescanned for eye muscle and Intra Muscular Fat, with data input into their Breedplan figures.

Pinora Angus a A Annguus s

OnWWeddnesdday March h the222nd d Pinora Angus will be holding their 54th Annual Bull sale.

Therewill be approximately 50 bulls for sale.

Many of the Sires that wererepresented at last year’ssuccessful sale will once again have progeny for sale.

Among these will again be sons of the outstanding Milwillah Fevola M16, whose sons have topped the last two bull sales.

The calving ease specialist, Alpine Investment P46, whose sons attracted

wiidespread d admiration last sale, will again be represented.

Anoted addition to the sireroster will be Millah Murrah Quixote the high selling bull at the 2020 Millah Murrah sale.

His sons arelow birth and good growth, with excellent temperament; they seem to cover all the bases.

John and Kelvin would welcome the opportunity to show you this great line up of sale bulls.

Just give them acall and they will arrange atime to suit you.

Rising 2year old bulls sired by Ravensdale Spark M016 and Yavenvale Powerhouse P499 will be available for inspection and sale.

Younger bulls aged 10 months sired by Elite M202 Q008, Churchill Broadway 858F and Ravensdale Spark M016 will be on show

Anumber of these will be included in the Gippsland Performance Herefords AuctionsPlus Sale on the 6th of September 2023.

A.I. Sires added this year include Churchill Red Thunder 133J, Koanui Layer P028 and Elite S069.

Charellen Poll HerefordStud will also have their group of joined heifers on display

For the past 2years Charellen Poll HerefordStud have entered apair of steers in the Lardner Park Grass Finished Trial.

This year’ssteers wereinthe top 20 percent for weight gain.

Charellen looks forwardtowelcoming visitors to inspect their cattle.

Bowman Bowwmman Performance Perrf f rfoorrmmannc c ce e

Genetics G Geenneettiiccs s

Anexciting 2023 awaits Gippsland’s premiereAngus Stud -Bowman Performance Genetics, with their upcoming sale on Thursday,March 16.

The stellar results of previous sales, arebringing many repeat buyers, with one local Angus cattle breeder eager to returnafter his outstanding 2021 purchase.

“The progeny of [Bowman Renown] Q19 arethe best calves we have bred in 40 years,” said Barry Svenson, from Berry’sCreek, South Gippsland.

After adecade in operation, the stud has rapidly expanded to over 500 Herd Book Registered (HBR) females, offering what is believed to be Gippsland’slargest group of HBR bulls, with morethan 80 head going to auction.

But it is not necessarily the scale that is important to Stud Principal, Mr.Glenn Bowman, as maintaining aconsistent grass-fed only quality product, that will drive profitability for commercial producers.

This is achieved in multiple ways such as:

•Aminimum of 80 percent of male progeny areretained for breeding purposes.

•Sourcing the highest quality sires globally,that arehigh in performance and deriving from elite female lines.

•Utilising and maximising afoundation herdbuilt from Australia’srecordbreaking Millah Murrah stud, through extensive embryo transfer work.

•Genotype mapping the entireherd, enabling parent verification and strengthening EBV’s, enhancing consistency to data.

•Liaising with finishers and processors using Bowman Genetics to ensure progeny aremeeting grid requirements and achieving elite results to maximise profitability

•Offering agrass-fed only product which minimises the breakdown of bulls and increases longevity

Mr Bowman aims to provide thickness through genetics, with increased performance data.

“For our own sireselection, it’simperative to have strength in genetics, and not just rely on feed to attain mass.

To source bulls, we use generations of cattlemanship to select the looks and structure, and then make surethey have performance on paper,” he said.

Bowman Performance Genetics will be offering the first sons to sell in Gippsland of the record-breaking Milla Murrah

‘Paratrooper P15’, Baldridge ’38 Special’ and Musgrave ‘316 Exclusive’.

This powerful group, along with 14 different breed-leading sires, will offer an outstanding and diverse selection to breeders.

In addition to the Angus display during Beef Week, will be ahigh-class set of 2-year-old Herefordbulls for sale from Hunter Lakes Lion Heart L110 and Injemira Gallipoli N217.

bred

Barry Svenson, an Angus breeder in South Gippsland, about the progeny of Bowman Renown Q19 (pictured), purchased from Bowman Performance Genetics, in 2021.

Doben Park Shorthorns Dobbe e en n P Paark S Shhorrt t rth h thorrn n rns s

Doben Park Shorthorns arelocated in Buln Buln East, West Gippsland

on 195 acres across three properties.

This is their thirdyear participating in Beef Week.

They have been breeding Shorthorn cattle for over 40 years and in the last 6years increased their female herdto approximately 100 head. The majority of these arepurebred.

Thereare still afew of the original cross bred cows and these cows produce excellent vealer calves.

Doben Park arefirm believers in first cross calves to produce excellent vealer calves.

This is wherethe Shorthornbull excels in cross breeding programs.

The Shorthornbull is ideal to cross over British or Eurofemales wherethe steer and cull heifers can be sold as milk vealers with the better heifers retained to be joined back to the terminal sireora Shorthornbull.

Doben Park has aselection of bulls and females on show

Bulls 17-23 months old Roan and White in colour.These bulls areby Yamburgan Monkira and Glengyron Master

Thereare also some ShorthornSpeckle Park cross heifers. These heifers arebya Fish Creek Farm Speckle Park bull.

While inspecting their cattle check out the Numat anti slip matting installed in their cattle handling area.

GlenellerslieHereford Stud Gleen n neellerrs s rsllie H He e er r reeffo o for r rd d Sttuud

NSW Herefordstud, Glenellerslie have aquality line up for their 30th Sale at their property,908 -1064 Yaven Creek Road, Adelong, NSW

27 Herefordand 17 Poll Herefordbulls will be offered on Tuesday 14th February from 1pm by Helmsman Auction.

Once again, the sale will be interfaced with AuctionsPlus so the bulls can be inspected on Day 1ofthe Stock & Land Beef Week Field Day on Tuesday 29th January and buyers can bid with confidence from home on Tuesday 14th, or attend the sale.

This year’sexcellent draft includes 6 bulls by Kaludah Haymaker M593 (H), 7byWRL Makka (H), 12 by Kymarney Blackhawk K7 (H), 2byGlenellerslie Selby (H), 3byWirruna Neutron N449 (P), 2byEnnerdale Accomplice (PP), 2byQuamby Plains Jaguar (PP), 7by Doodle Cooma Paymaster 011 (PP), 2byGlenellerslie Smiffy (P) and 1by Glenellerslie Patriot (H).

Last year Glenellerslie Underestimated (H) made top money in the Herefords selling to Greg O’Brien, Merrijig for our new recordprice of $22,000 and Glenellerslie Up and Comer (PP) making $9,000 purchased by Graeme Pendergast, Benambra.

Glenellerslie bulls arefamous for their

Topseller Lot 23 Glenellerslie Underestimated (H) which sold for $22,000.

docility and doing ability

All the bulls carry the Glenellerslie Guarantee, they aresemen tested, inoculated with Vibriovax, Multimin and 7in1

The stud was established by Gordon and June Smith in 1974, now run by Ross and Mandy Smith, son Blake and with further help from daughters Alicia and Rebecca, operate aCertified Grass Fed, EU accredited fattening enterprise alongside their stud operation.

For catalogues phone Ross and Mandy on 02 6946 4233, Blake and Carly on 02 6946 4239 or head to www.herefordsaustralia.com.au or www.glenellerslieherefords.com to view the online catalogue.

Banquet Angus B Baanquue e et t A Annguus s

veryone

H Hehhas breed leading growth EBV’s.

February

Meet the Branson Family and casually inspect the 100 bulls catalogued for their Bull Sale.

The progeny of the super star sire Banquet Nuttella N462 will again feature.

His sons topped the autumn and spring Banquet Bull Sales and areaveraging $41,000.

The first progeny of Trio Qantas Q78 are suretoimpress visitors.

Qantas has morelength of body,neck extension, and mobility than most Beast Mode sons.

Thereare several new Banquet bred sires with their first sons presented in this Sale offering.

Twoofthe most notable areQuiver Q211 and Qanga Q238.

These areboth sons of the very successful Wattletop Moonshine M42.

They aretremendous calving ease bulls.

They combine the excellent calving ease shape of long necks and fine shoulders with moderate birth weights.

Moonshine’sgreatest legacy will be the many exceptional young cows we have in production.

Banquet will have aselection of the 120

Tarwin Poll Herefords Tarrw w rwiin Heer r re e ref f foorrd d rds s

Tarwin

Commenced in 1950 the stud has maintained its objective of producing sound commercial cattle.

This is aperformance recorded herd with the calves being regularly weighed up to 600 days and the weights submitted to the Breedplan program.

Sale bulls arescanned for eye muscle area and fat cover

These results will be available on the Beef Week open day

Replacement heifers and sale bulls are DNA tested to confirm parentage and polledness.

2022 was also Tarwin’ssecond effort at

online

Tarwin Santa S081 and Wirruna Nolan N146 top priced this sale at $12,000.

The stud’sobjective is to produce attractive, sound, commercial poll Herefordcattle, able to perform on grass.

To achieve this they use amix of AI breeding and judicious selection of sires for natural mating.

Sires chosen will generally have a modest birth weight coupled with above average growth weights and carcass traits, traits such as eye pigmentation and hooding arealso considered in their sire selection.

To further test the performance of their genetics, Tarwin Poll Herefords regularly compete in the Lardner Park Grass Finished Steer trials.

This year they have one team which came second for weight gain at 1.50

kg/day demonstrating how well Tarwin steers perform on grass.

At this year’sBeef Week open day, Tarwin Poll Herefords will have on display their sale bulls, predominately sired by Wirruna Nolan and Tarcombe Homeland.

Eiswellcome to thheBBanquet Angus Field Day at Mortlake on Thursday 2nd

PTIC Banquet blood commercial heifers on display

These will be offered as part of the

Banquet Autumn Sale on February 23rd. They have been joined to Banquet sires selected for their calving ease.

Poll Herefords have been based at the Meeniyan property for over 70 years.

selling, with 5young bulls offered on AuctionsPlus as members of the Gippsland Performance Herefords group in September

Banquet Sensation S005 top priced bull Spring 2022

From Sale to Love Island

By ZOE ASKEW

FROM regional Victoria to Mallorca, Spain, former Sale local Jordan Dowsett has stolen the hearts of thousands of men and women across the country, becoming an instant fan favourite on one of Australia’s most popular reality televisionshows, Love IslandAustralia.

Sadly, the meticulous mulleted, muscly tradiedid notfindlove duringhis time on Love Island, makinga teary-eyed departurefromthe Villa during Episode 25.

Still,the self-proclaimed ‘half-glass-full kind of guy’ says his time on Love Island was the best experience he ever had.

“It was honestly the best experienceof my life; Iloved it so much,” Jordan said. It has been several weeks since Jordan made his poignant exit from the Love Island villa,duringwhichtimehost Sophie Monk officially crowned contenders Claudia Bonifazio and Austen Bugeja winners of the show.

After time to reflect on recent events, Jordan is finally ready to reveal it all, and what better place to start than the very beginning.After asplit from alongtermrelationship, Jordan decided it was time for achange,packing his bags and heading north to the sunshine of the Gold Coast.

“I was happy living my life in the Gold Coast, it has been so good up there, and my sister really started to push for me to do it [Love Island Australia],” Jordan said.

“She said Iwould be really good on it and all that sort of stuff.

“I went down to Melbourne and seen her one weekend, and she basically

helped me fill it all out [the application] and went from there.”

After numerous interviews and pages upon pages of forms, an unsuspecting Jordan received the news that would change his life forever; ‘you have been selected as aLove IslandAustralia Season 4contestant’.

“I definitely did not expect someone like me to get on there,” Jordan said.

“A country boy from Victoriagetting put on areality TV show.”

The Gold Coast sparkie packed his bagsand boardedadirect flight to Spain.

follows agroup of menand women who partake in aseries of tasks with apartner that they continue swapping until they meet the love of their life.

Relatively simple in theory, not quite so simple in practice.

Jordan, who has not yet had arelationship since his split with his former long-termpartner afew yearsback, was an instantfavouritewithfans and among Love Islandcontestants (Islanders).

The 25-year-old was front and centre in the season’s first scandal, which rocked the show, as he was initially

“I have probably been herefour times now to see everyone.

“Obviously, the show only just finished, so we’ve sort of had to do it all like discreetly, not really be seen in public, but it has been absolutely amazing.

“The friendship connections; like Isaid, everythingissoheightened, so crazy in there, and all of us experienced that together. It’slikenoone understands except for us.”

Returning to his life on the Gold Coast, Jordan faced a world vastly different to the one he had left behind.

“Literally, your worldgetsturned upside down,” the former Sale footballer said.

“It was the first time Iwent to Spain; it was nuts,” Jordan said.

“The flight literally took like awhole day to get over there; it was ridiculous.”

WhileJordan’s time on Love Island was the “greatest experience” of his life, it wasn’t without its challenges.

“Iloved it so much, but at the same time,itwas the biggest rollercoasterI have ever been on in my life, emotionally,” Jordan said.

“Everything in thereis so heightened, it’s crazy, you can’t actually explain it. Youhave to have had the experience to understand what I’m saying.”

For those not privy to the innards of soapy reality television, Love Island

JORDAN DOWSETT

pairedwithClaudiaBonifazio, 23, until 25-year-old HollyOakes-Ferguson decided to steal him.

Unfortunate in his search for love, Jordan bid farewell to Love Island, returning home from Spain single.

“Unfortunatelyfor me, Ididn’t find love with agirl in there, but Idefinitely fellinlovewith every singleIslander that Ispent quality time with in there,” Jordan said.

“I am down in Sydney at the moment, spending time witha lotofthem; Ihave been back and forth from the Gold Coast to Sydney, we areall from different states, so Sydney is kind of the meeting point.

“It’s acompletely different world now, wherethereare some pros and cons, but at the same time, Iwouldn’t change it for the world after the experience Igot to have in there.”

Love Island Australiafans may be happy to knowthat Jordan is still on the search for love; thereisnoring on that finger yet.

For Sale fans ofJordan’s, who may be hoping the hunky tradie will return home after his recent rise to fame, will sadly be disappointed.

The realityTV star is lapping up life on the Gold Coast and has no plans to returntoregional Victoria.

In other news, Jordan recently pleaded guilty to mid-range drink driving in Southport Magistrate’s Court after he was busted drunk behindthe wheel of agolf buggy at amajor Gold Coast intersection on his way back from afood run to aservo.

Dowsett on Love Island Australia.

Photos: Supplied

Formmer Sale resident Jordaan

Iloved it so much, but at the same time, it was the biggest rollercoaster Ihave ever been on in my life, emotionally

Gippsland greats make top 200 list

By LIAM DURKIN

‘BEST OF’ lists arealways guaranteed to get some discussion going.

Anumber of local cricketers wererecently featured in atop 200 list in the Herald Sun.

The list sought tonamethe top 200 country players in Victoria since the turn of the millennium.

Gippsland has aproud history of producing elite cricketers, and among those at the top of the list wereMorwell’s Peter Siddle, Bairnsdale’s Cameron White, Wonthaggi’s

Ian Harvey and Sale’s Travis Birt.

All four played for Australia in either Test, One Day or Twenty20 format.

Siddle came in at number two on the list, behind current Australia Twenty20captain Aaron Finch (from Colac).

Siddle, who grew up playing for Latrobe Cricket Club, took morethan 200 wickets at Test level in acareerspanning 67 matches from 2008 to 2019.

He famously took ahat-trick on his birthday during the 2010/11 Ashes -still the last taken by an Australian at Test level. Wherewereyou when that happened?

Siddleis still playing domestic cricket, currently with Tasmania and the Adelaide Strikers.

White made ahandful of appearances at Test level in the late 2000s, but made his mark in the one-day format, playing 91 games.

Aleg-spinner,hewas (perhaps unfairly) seen as asuccessor to ShaneWarne when he first came on the scene, beforedevelopingintoanenterprising one-day batsman.

Harvey was borninWonthaggi and played 73 one dayers for Australia in the late 90s to early 2000s.

Although he never quitefulfilledhis potentialwith bat or ball, (no half-centuries or ‘five-fas’ in his one day career), he was dubbed ‘TheFreak’ for his brilliance in the field

Birt appeared in afew Twenty20 Internationalsfrom2010to2012for Australia.

The hard-hittinglefthander earned a reputation for brutal strokeplay during his career with Tasmania and the Hobart Hurricanes, maintaining an incredible strike rate of 129 in first-class Twenty20s.

He suited up for Bundalaguah in season 2017/18, playing aone-offgame in the Sale-Maffra Cricket Association.

Birt was part of arguably the strongest Country Week side the SMCA ever fielded.

Ayoung Birt made the trip to Melbourne for the 1999/2000instalment alongside Anthony Hurley (captain), Andrew Tatterson, Upal Fernando, Stuart Anderson,

NathanKing, Brett Millington,Dean Thatcher,Trevor Wrigglesworth,

Of those 13, four played went on to play first classcricket, while another six played grade district cricket of for Victoria Country.

Anderson made the Herald Sun top 200 list, as did King, along with Sale-bornIan Wrigglesworth, who played Shield cricket for Victoria and won the RyderMedal in 1996/97 for best player in Victorian Premier Cricket.

Back in the Latrobe Valley, Yinnar allrounder Brad Knowlesplayed first class cricket for Victoria and WesternAustralia, beforetearing up the club scene at Raiders for the best part of the last decade.

Thereisagreat photo of Knowles with a look of bemusement on his face after bowling to ayoung Steve Smith in adomestic one dayer

Who was to think someone with such a quirky technique would go on to average 60 with the bat at Test level?

TRARALGON

VALLEY

Sale’s Ian Wrigglesworth won aRyder Medal and played for Victoria.

Photo: File

Leongatha cricket legend PeterDell.

Photo: Supplied

Warragul cricketer Sam Batson hasbeen aprolific run-scorer and wicket-taker in a relatively short time frame. Photo: Supplied

Bairnsdale’s Cameron White played 91 one dayers forAustralia, and captained the national twenty20 side.

Photo: Supplied

Anthony Robbins, Layton Armstrong, Simon Waixel and Kirk Stewart.

Gippsland’s ownBradKnowles came in at 13 on the list of top 200 country cricketers to come outofVictoria in arecent list compiled by the Herald Sun. Photo: File

TomShippen hasbeen one of Toongabbie’s main players in the Traralgon DistrictCricket Association for thebestpart of 20 years. Photo: File

Pendlebury passing on the Magpies’ baton

By ZOE ASKEW

SALE’S most coveted footballer,or arguably sportsperson for that matter Scott Pendlebury, stepped down as Collingwood captain after anine-year stint at the post last month.

Collingwood’s longest-serving skipper told teammates on Monday, December 12 of his decision.

Pendlebury led the Magpies 206 times.

“Tocaptain an AFL club is one of the greatesthonours, and it is not something Ihave ever taken for granted”, Pendlebury said, “it has been an absolute privilege to lead this side for as long as Ihave”.

“At 34 years of age and in the twilight of my career,Ifelt that this is the optimal time to hand over the position and support the next captain of our club.

“I have experienced all the great football highs and lows throughout my nine-year tenureascaptain, and Ilook forwardtoseeing the next person take the opportunity and make it their own.”

Taylor Adams, Darcy Mooreand Jeremy Howe areamong the candidates to take over

Aloyal Magpie, Pendlebury has played aclub record358 games and sits in the top 10 list of all-time games as captain in VFL/AFL history, among the likes of Joel Selwood (227 games), Stephen Kernahan (226), Nick Riewoldt (221), TedWhitten (212) and Michael Voss (210).

Pendlebury is afive-time Copeland Trophy winner,three-time AFL Anzac Medal winner,two-time AFL Players Association (AFLPA) Best Captain, AFL Coaches Association (AFLCA) best

young player,AFLCA Champion Player of the Year,Lou Richards Medal winner and NormSmith medalist.

In 2014, at 25, Pendlebury was appointed to top role, becoming Collingwood’s 47th skipper,replacing premiership captain Nick Maxwell.

Pendlebury broke the Collingwood recordfor most VFL/AFL games played and most games as captain in Round 18 of the 2020 season. In the same year,hewas named the AFLPA’s Best Captain, taking home the accolade again this year

Pendlebury reached his 350th AFL match milestone in the Magpies’ Round 18 game of the 2022 season against Adelaide at Adelaide Oval -the 20th player in history to reach 350 VFL/AFL games.

In the announcement, Pendlebury told teammates he had discussed captaincy with Collingwood interim chief executive Graham Wright and coach Craig McRae 12 months prior

In light of the Magpies’ off-field upheaval heading into the 2022 season, including the appointment of McRae to replace Nathan Buckley, parties agreed to maintain continuity was important.

“At the end of the season, Ispoke to them as well, and Ithink it’s areally good time for me and the club to hand over and let someone else come through while Iamstill heretokeep supporting that,” Pendlebury said.

“This year,Ihave shared in what feels like anew era of Collingwood -with new coaches, staffand ayoung playing group -and we have all witnessed what we have been able to create.

“It seems timely that we welcome a new captain for season 2023.”

Sale footballer ScottPendlebury,picturedwith parents Bruceand Liza before his350th match, stepped down from the Collingwood captaincy last month.

Photo:File

There’s anew Sherriffintown

By TOMHAYES

IT’S not often an AFL premiership cup makesitway to the Latrobe Valley, but very few got aglimpseofitlast month when Casey Sherriffarrived back in town.

Fresh from her premiership celebrations on the back of Melbourne Demons’ AFLW success, Sherriffwas spotted at The Morwell Club on Wednesday, December 21.

Donningthe Demon’s redand blue, Sherriffwas gracious enough to bring the cup into the club to show her grandparents.

While in Morwell, Sherriffhad also shown the cup to her mother while at work and planned to continue to show friends and family as the day went on.

Melbourne Demons won its firstAFLW premiership at theconclusion of Season7

The Demons edgedinfront andheldonto win by fourpoints, handing Brisbane Lions its thirdAFLW Grand Final loss.

During the big dance, Sherriffhad eight touches and boasted five tackles, she also kicked two behinds, which weren’t costly in the end.

Following the final siren, it was ecstasy.

“It was pretty surreal. It was probably something I’ve never experienced in my life.The feelingwhen the siren went was unreal,” Sherriffsaid.

“It was aclose game so (we) didn’t really know how it was going to go until the very end.”

Sherriffand the Demons had drowned the sorrows of the Season 6GrandFinal defeat to Adelaide Crows.

“Lookingbackon(Season6)now,we probably weren’t ready to win aGrand Final,” she admitted.

“Looking at that game and comparing it

to this season… all of the staffand players werereally well prepared… so it was a different feeling.

“Weprobably almost needed to lose that (Grand Final) to understand what we needed to win aGrand Final.”

Since theirtriumph in late-November, Sherriffand the Demons have celebrated accordingly, and rightfully so.

“We’ve had four weeks offnow, we’ve been celebrating pretty hard,” Sherriffsaid.

“We’ve had alot of club functions, just celebrating with family and friends… it’s

been pretty wild, but it’s been alot of fun.

“We’reslowly getting back into running and gym.”

Speaking of getting back into the things, Sherriffspoke about the season ahead and how the Demons might plan its premiership defence.

“Weshould have asimilarteam to (Season 7), so we should do pretty well next year,” she said.

“Most ofthe teamsinthe (competition) aregetting stronger,soit’ll be pretty tight.”

Seeking information on old rugby clubs

GIPPSLAND sports historian Laurie Williams is on the trail of GippslandRugby clubs,especially teams fromthe RAAF and theSale Razorbacks, Maffra Bulldogs and Wurruk Warriors for anew book on the history of rugby played in Gippsland.

The RAAF entered teams in the metro competitions in league and union around the 1960s, and any information regarding them would be helpful.

In 1957, Sale entered ateam in the Metro Union, playing through to 1971 when they werebeatenbyLavertoninthe Grand Final 17-2.

From there, we jump to 1982 when Sale was admitted to State League 2(Union) along with the Morwell Tigers.

Mentioned players included Wridgeway, Campbell, Sheppard, Mark Wilson, Vogan and Hughson.

Morwell took Sale apart in the opening match of 1983, winning 69-3.

It seems that Sale folded after this

but Williams has picked up threads in 1991 when the SaleRazorbacks fielded ateaminthe newlyformedGippsland Rugby League Association, along withthe Traralgon Panthers, Hazelwood Eels and the East Gippsland Brumbies.

In 1992, the Maffra Bulldogs entered the fray and information regarding them would helpinthe compilation of the history.

Sale hadatremendous season, making it to the Grand Final, but weretaken down by the Traralgon Panthers 26-22.

Best for the Razorbackswas Don Wales (who ended up winning the association’s best and fairest award), PGray, SSauer, AMcMullens and AMcLure.

Maffra pulled out in 1994, but many of their players joined with RAAF players to formthe Wurruk Warriors in 1994.

Sale improved on their previous season, winning the premiership with a28-22 victory over the Morwell Tigers.

Wurruk only lasted one season, pulling out in 1995.

Sale continuedtheirgood form, winning in 1995witha 44-18victory overthe Churchill Gladiators.

By 1997 the competitionhad reduced to five clubs.

Sale was the dominant one, winning the flag over Traralgon 29-24.

In 1998, the Morwell Magpies foldedbut joinedwiththe HazelwoodEelstoform the Morwell Miners.

Salecontinued in 1999and 2000but due to shortage of players had to merged with East Gippsland midway through the season to be known as SEG.

Any further information regarding players, photos, newspaper articles and scores of the Saleteams,Maffra and Wurruk teams would be appreciated. Williams has put together an extensive history of local sport, penning several volumes.

Williams can be reached at lauriefooty@

Preston Rd, Ripplebrook

Phone (03) 5627 6317

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Fresh off playing in Melbourne’s premiership triumph, Morwell’s CaseySherriff brought the AFLWpremiership cuphome for aspecial visit

Photo: TomHayes