Bingara Stockman’s Challenge and Yard Dog Trial

On the weekend of April 1 and 2, Gwydir River Run Inc. held their inaugural event at the Bingara Showground, which included a Stockman’s Challenge and Yard Dog Trials.

First up on the Saturday morning, an announcment was made from the Committee to all competitors to assemble at the canteen at 7.45am for an urgent meeting. With an air of confusion circulating amongst everyone in attendance, competitors were assured that yes, a meeting had to be held.

The Committee advised competitors that due to copyright mandates, all patterns that had been previously circulated were now cancelled. Competitors were then left with the daunting propspect of learning new ones in the space of 30 minutes. With deflated looks on competitor’s faces, the Committee followed up with the most important announcement of the weekend...

“April Fools!”

Crisis averted, and faces restored to normality, the competitions commenced.

The showground arena was perfectly prepared for the weekend, with thanks to Wayne Edwards for his work prior to the even, particaulrly given the 70mL of rainfall in the week leading up to it.

The Stockman’s Challenge was well supported with many entries from all over NSW. The Yard Dog Trials were a hit with all ages. Brent Larkham entertained all who attended the evening’s festivities.

Our event was very successfull, with plans well under way for our Cattle Dog Trial Weekend.

Mice Numbers On The Rise

NSW Farmers are asking rural landholders and farmers to be on the lookout for heightened mouse activity with reports of increasing damage to crops and fodder across NSW.

In 2021, the state was inundated with a mouse plague which saw vehicles, buildings and towns infested while crops were destroyed. Great swathes of rural and regional land, grain and machinery were chewed, with hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of assets written off as a result.

In addition to the economic and disease impacts, the plagues can cause severe psychologocial distress for peoples living through them. Rural and regional residents reported being “sickened” by the sight of carpets of mice on our highways.

Whilst current numbers don’t indicate a plague, farmers are being urged to keep an eye out for the rodents, and in particular to use chew cards, followed by reporting of activity to the CSIRO. Individuals who encounter mice are urged to report activity by visiting feralscan.org.au/ mousealert and download the chew card template at https://grdc. com.au/resources-and-publications/resources/mouse-management/ monitor-manage/know-your-mouse-numbers.

In response to the press release by NSW Farmers, Northern Tablelands MP Adam Marhsall called on the NSW Minister for Agriculture, Tara Moriarty to help farmers and homeowners prepare for a possible influx of mice this winter