AgLife – December 18, 2019 edition

December 18, 2019

Helping hay Dimboola Community Cropping Group members Seus Wolthuis, Ken Ough and Tim Fechner, with the help of farmers and community volunteers, are sending hay bales to drought-stricken New South Wales.

Story, page 35.

Picture: PAUL CARRACHER

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HELPING HAY: From left, Dimboola Community Cropping Group members Seus Wolthuis, Ken Ough and Tim Fechner. The group, with the help of farmers and community volunteers, is sending hay bales to drought-stricken areas of New South Wales.

Picture: PAUL CARRACHER

Cropping for the community A

BY LOTTE REITER

n unused plot of land, a group of volunteers and a lucky run of good weather might just be the perfect elements for creating thousands of dollars’ worth of community change.

And one only needs to look to Dimboola Community Cropping Group to see the potential.

With an eight-person committee comprised of farmers, farmers’ wives and an ex-policeman, the group has raised about $300,000 in the past seven years for everything from community projects and sporting clubs to medical research.

They do so, with the help of other farmers and residents in the area, by cropping land around the Dimboola GrainFlow site and roadsides, and donating all the profits to ‘anything good and worthwhile’.

Group committee member Ken

Ough said while this had predominantly meant donations to the immediate area, the group was now on a mission to send two B-Double or two road-train trucks filled with hay to New South Wales.

He said the group had decided to help fire-affected areas in the north of the neighbour state because ‘they have nothing at the moment’.

“We try to keep it local; this is probably the first time we’re going out of the area to donate,” he said.

“Each road train can take about 80odd bails of hay, so we’re looking at about 160 bails. But if we can’t get road trains, we’ll send it up in B-doubles.”

Mr Ough said the community cropping program was first created under the banner of GrainFlow, a grain and oilseeds storage and handling business owned by Cargill Australia.

While the Dimboola group is now separate from GrainFlow’s program,

“Anything that comes our way we consider, and we make sure the money we give goes towards what it is supposed to.

We’ve given money to cancer research and men’s health” – Ken Ough

they still put crops in at the site each year, and have farmers who generously take the crop off when needed without payment.

“All the locals know what we do and they’re willing to help out,” Mr Ough said.

“It’s all done voluntarily. Farmers can take the costs out, some do, and some don’t.”

Mr Ough said the work generated about $300 a tonne, depending on what crop was sown and how it went in that year.

He said this money then went into a

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fund to be distributed to groups after a screening process of each application.

“Anything that comes our way we consider, and we make sure the money we give goes towards what it is supposed to,” he said.

“We’ve given money to cancer research and men’s health.

“We’ve donated to the junior netball club at Pimpinio – that helped pay for their first proper uniforms.

“And we’ve contributed to the Wirraway plane at Nhill Aviation Heritage Centre.

“We’ll just keep going as it is needed. We are grateful to GrainFlow, Cargill and Hindmarsh Shire Council for their support.”

Mr Ough said anyone wishing to apply could address an application to Dimboola Community Cropping Group at 60 Wimmera Street, Dimboola.

He said the group did not donate to senior sporting clubs.

Victorian Farmers Federation has welcomed a $66.6-million Federal Government boost to help protect Australia’s pork industry from African Swine Fever.

VFF Pig Group president Tim Kingma said it was vital to protect the country’s pork industry.

“Consumers need to have confidence they are purchasing safe Australian products for their meals this festive season,” he said.

Mr Kingma said African Swine Fever would decimate the $5.2-billion pork industry if it entered Australia.

“All efforts must be made to keep African Swine Fever out of Australia as there is no vaccine or cure for the disease,” he said.

“Biosecurity is critical to the success of all industries within Australian agriculture.

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Drought policy and ambiguity 95 Nelson Street, Nhill CALL 03 5391 2106

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s there anyone out there who really understands drought policy and what is available for farmers?

Where do you start? Who is eligible and for what?

The very day Scott Morrison became Prime Minister, he made the drought a priority.

Frankly, if I hear one more Coalition MP say they can’t make it rain, I’ll scream. Duh! We know that. Farmers need to know there is a future for them and that they have the broader Australian community support.

And while I’m being frank, appointing former Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce as drought envoy was about as useful as teats on a bull.

Can anyone tell me what outcomes

we got from that? When I asked Mr Joyce why he hadn’t visited drought-stricken East Gippsland, he replied, ‘Well I haven’t been invited. I can’t just lob up there!’ Well, yes you could have. That was your job. Anyway, he’s no longer the drought envoy and reportedly didn’t even provide the Prime Minister with documentation of his work.

The Morrison government has created a $3.9-billion future fund. It’s all about ‘building resilience’. Yes, like you, I’m not sure what that means and who can access that money.

Google ‘Future Drought Fund’ and have a look at the website. Good luck with that.

The one major thing farmers at last year’s National Drought Forum

Country Today with Libby Price

called for, and are still calling for, is some form of insurance to cover for drought. It can, and has been done, in North America.

But Federal Drought Minister David Littleproud has ruled out government interfering in the private sector. You can hardly blame potential insurers.

With the sudden financial sector shift to mitigating against climate change, affordable insurance policies are not going to be coming out of the wood-

work. Minister Littleproud this week took it to the states demanding they, ‘stop kicking the can down the road’.

The states are now reportedly standing ‘shoulder to shoulder’ with the Feds. But they all have different approaches. For instance, NSW pays farmers fodder subsidies. That’s greatly appreciated there, but farmers in East Gippsland say it just artificially increases the price of hay.

I can remember studying the ‘salient points of drought policy’ at agricultural college in the early 1980s. And here we are, still floundering around trying to work out how to ‘drought proof’ our farms.

Linda Botterill, political scientist at the University of Canberra, says Australia hasn’t had a national drought

Research unlocking Russian aphid risks Australian researchers are growing in confidence that an understanding of managing Russian wheat aphid, RWA, will eliminate the pest’s threats to winter cereal crops.

Scientists have been studying RWA under southern Australian conditions and within farming systems since it was first detected in 2016.

Grains Research and Development Corporation research investments are building a biological and ecological profile of the pest to provide Australian grain growers with scientifically robust management tactics.

RWA is now present in many grain cropping areas of Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania and New South Wales. Despite the ongoing dry conditions in northern NSW, surveys as recent as last month have detected RWA as far east as Tamworth.

The aphid has remained undetected in Western Australia, the Northern Territory and Queensland.

GRDC investment, ‘Russian wheat aphid risk assessment and regional thresholds’, investigate regional risk and management options for RWA. South Australian Research and Development Institute, SARDI, the research division of Primary Industries and Regions SA, is leading the project with research organisation cesar.

Regional thresholds of the research

has involved capture of data from a series of trials across south-eastern Australia, operated by a number of farming systems groups.

SARDI entomologist Maarten van Helden said data on infestation levels, symptoms and associated yield would help determine the regional production risk posed by RWA and the economic thresholds that will guide growers in effective management, taking into account infestation date, crop type and regional climatic conditions.

“Australian intervention threshold recommendations are based on overseas research which recommends a spray application when more than 20 percent of all seedlings are infested up to growth stage 30 and more than 10 percent of tillers are infested from growth stage 30,” Dr van Helden said.

The Australian trials have so far shown that a considerable amount of RWA population pressure is required before yield loss is incurred.

In an untreated trial plot at Loxton in SA, almost 30 percent of tillers were infested with aphids, enabling recording of yield-loss data.

Dr van Helden said the impact of that infestation was surprising.

“Despite this heavy aphid attack, the plants were still able to grow and

TESTING: SARDI researchers Thomas Heddle, left, and Maarten van Helden use Berlese funnels to extract Russian wheat aphids from grass samples.

Picture: GRDC produce normally,” he said. “Overall, yield loss in our trials has not been as high as expected when aphid numbers have largely been above the overseas threshold. It seems the overseas thresholds are, at this stage, acceptable for affected Australian grain-growing regions.

“Plants under drought stress are more vulnerable to aphid infestation and we have recorded yield loss in such situations.

“However, with the results we are getting from these trials, we can now be quite confident in saying that in

many situations there is minimal risk of Russian wheat aphid building up to damaging populations under Australian climatic conditions.”

The GRDC investment is also investigating how RWA survives during summer.

This research is considered pivotal in determining the risk of infestation for winter-sown cereals and potential damage ahead of each new cropping season, as well as aiding RWA management planning and development of cultural controls.

policy since 2008 with the rather clumsy exceptional circumstances provisions.

Surely we can come up with something better than that? Frankly, as the cultural divide between city and country expands, I fear the political will diminishes.

Farmers need to come up with solutions, rather than just pointing out the obvious problems.

And, as we saw when the millennial drought broke, when we are delivered the inevitable flooding rains, it will all be yesterday’s headlines and tomorrow’s fish a chip wrapping if our political leaders aren’t given something more fundamental to work with.

Farmer wins scholarship A Buloke Shire farmer has received a scholarship of up to $10,000 from the State Government as part of a $125,000 Upskill and Invest Young Farmers Scholarships program.

Member for Western Victoria Jaala Pulford congratulated Joseph Watts of Slaty Creek, included in the fifth round of scholarships at an awards ceremony at Parliament House.

Upskill and Invest Young Farmer Scholarships are valued up to $10,000 a farmer – with $5000 to develop skills through training and study in areas such as farm management, financial literacy, product development or innovative farming techniques and making sure the next generation of leaders are developing world-class skills.

After completing studies, recipients are eligible for an additional funding boost of up to $5000 to invest on-farm or in professional development – putting their new skills into practice and boosting their businesses.

Mr Watts is set to take on the cropping side of the family business in the future. He will study a Diploma of Agronomy to develop technical and applied skills to enhance cropping production and performance.

Applications for 2020 scholarships will open in mid-2020, with more information available online at agriculture.vic.gov.au/youngfarmers.

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Year to celebrate

A

rarat’s Perennial Pasture Systems has celebrated a successful year that included one of its members winning a prestigious AW Howard Medal for contributions to the advancement of pastures in Australia.

The organisation wound up the year by saluting the achievements of member Charlie de Fegely, who was presented the medal earlier this year.

The medal is awarded on a biennial basis by the AW Howard Memorial Trust, which commemorates the contribution of Amos William Howard to the adoption and use of subterranean clover as a pasture plant in Australia.

Mr de Fegely, from Dobie near Ararat, was nominated for his contributions to pasture-based agriculture in the Wimmera-Grampians region and, more broadly, Australia and New Zealand.

His nomination by PPS was supported by commendations from people in the agriculture industry as well as local government and university officials.

Mr de Fegely is the first farmer to be awarded the medal.

In an oration at an Australian Agronomy Conference in August, Mr de Fegely said he was honoured to be nominated for the medal, let alone receive it.

“Awarding me this medal appears to be a break with tradition of previous winners, as I am the ‘end user’ of much of the work undertaken by AW Howard,” he said.

“For that we are extremely grateful, as our system is dependent on the performance of sub clover.

“By winning the award it allows me an opportunity to share my experiences in developing a persistent and productive perennial pasture system based on perennial grasses and sub clovers.”

Mr de Fegely’s speech detailed his family’s history at a property 12 kilometres east of Ararat and his pasture improvement and management practices.

“I was extremely fortunate to have started my farming career when there was a large amount of supportive research and development in pastures,” he said.

“This provided me with a resource that gave me the confidence to renovate new pastures and lift out livestock productivity.

“Sadly, the young farmers today do not have this wonderful resource.”

Mr de Fegely said he wanted to see more pasture research involving animals and not motor mowers, citing a long-term phosphate trial at Hamilton as an example.

He said a majority of his sub clover pastures were at least 30 years old and their performance and returns remained equal to the best cropping farms in the district year on year.

“They are sustainable and can be a great example to the wider community as a way to manage climate change in the future,” he said.

Other news from PPS included the appointment of two new committee members – Horsham’s Craig Altmann and Joel South’s Mathew Hall.

The pair was appointed at an annual meeting in September and replaced outgoing committee members Paul Harrington and Tony Roberts, both of whom were founding committee members when PPS formed in 2007.

95 Nelson Street, Nhill CALL 03 5391 2106

Smeaton field day

Seeds group marks 10 years

BY CRAIG ALTMANN AGF Seeds celebrated 10 years of operation at a Smeaton field day.

It was a great day, with in the order of 70 agronomists and some farmers local to the area attending.

While the trial site was the main attraction, it was a great opportunity for those in attendance to meet new members of the AGF team and put a face to names and voices of key staff clients are in contact with.

The timing really demonstrated the value in selecting the right annual and Italian ryegrasses, with Pinnacle and Apex in particular demonstrating late season quality.

Measurements taken throughout the year were a

great insight into the best performing varieties, such as Pinnacle and Apex, both giving the best early growth, winter production and late season production and quality.

Redgum2 proved again this year why it is a popular variety within the distribution area of The Weekly Advertiser, representing great value for those looking for a high-producing, locally produced, quality assured, reliable product.

The agronomy around pasture blends and sowing rate created a lot of interest.

Again, grazing management and the need to use early feed in order to capitalise on high sowing rates was seen.

Multi species blends with cereals, ryegrass and brassicas proving what they can deliver

at different times in the season was a point of discussion.

There’s a lot happening in the wheat and canola space in 2020, with new varieties being released and many people waiting on National Variety Trial data to make a decision.

The trials at AGF Seeds was another opportunity for agronomists and farmers to compare varieties prior to harvest.

New milling wheat was on display from BASF, Intergrain, Edstar and Advanta.

The day was a success with a lot to take away from what was on show and discussion had.

• Mr Altmann is a seed sales and marketing agronomist with Australian Grain and Forage Seeds.

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Wednesday, December 18, 2019

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Mixed sentiment confirmed in survey 95 Nelson Street, Nhill CALL 03 5391 2106

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new Rabobank Rural Confidence Survey has shown sentiment in Victoria’s agriculture sector at a 12-month low.

The survey showed a ‘state of two halves’ as confidence nosedived in northern Victoria and parts of Gippsland while south-western Victoria, buoyed by good rain, was comparatively strong.

Despite a drop-off in overall rural confidence, the strength of Victoria’s farming sector remained stable, with 92 percent of people surveyed rating their farms as viable.

This flowed into ongoing investment in the sector, with 85 percent

intending to maintain or increase their investment.

A fifth of farmers expect agricultural economic conditions to improve in the year ahead, down from 37 percent with that view in the September quarter.

Those expecting little change to current conditions stood at 36 percent, similar to last quarter’s reading of 39 percent.

However, the proportion expecting conditions to worsen more than doubled to 35 percent, up from 16 percent previously.

Drought was a key driver of negative sentiment, with 91 percent of those farmers expecting business conditions

to worsen blaming the season. Rabobank regional manager for southern Victoria and Tasmania Hamish McAlpin said dry conditions had intensified ‘north of the divide’, with some parts of the northern Mallee facing a second failed crop in a row while crops in other northern regions had been cut for hay.

“Heading into spring the state was on track for an above-average harvest volume, but the poor finish has greatly diminished prospects in the Mallee, north central and Goulburn regions,” he said.

Mr McAlpin said rainfall during the growing season had been relatively low in the Wimmera, but many had

been able to preserve moisture and this year’s crop was shaping up to deliver one of the best financial results for growers in the region.

“Those in the western district cropping regions benefited greatly from late-spring rain of between 15 to 35 millimetres,” he said.

“Prior to that critical spring rainfall event, growers had received enough to keep crops going, but there were fears yield potential might suffer.

“The early November rain alleviated a lot of those concerns however, and, with the frost window now behind us, yields in the southern regions are expected to come in above average.”

While the survey revealed height-

Remote, proximal sensing tools potential Research as part of a Victorian Grains Innovation partnership has shown remote and proximal sensing tools could help growers rapidly respond to frost damage in crops.

The partnership between Agriculture Victoria and Grains Research and Development Corporation, GRDC, focused on a use of the tools to identify frost damage and investigate whether the findings held at paddock and commercial scale.

Agriculture Victoria chief research scientist James Nuttall said an estimated cost of frost damage to Australian dryland growers each year was $360-million.

“Currently, growers use variety choice, crop choice and time of sowing as part of their management strategy to limit the impact of frost,” he said.

“Rapid estimation of frost damage on a spatial basis could translate to timely management decisions, such as zoning for crops to be cut for hay, prioritising further crop inputs, altered grain marketing strategies and improved planning of harvest logistics.”

Agriculture Victoria remote sensing scientist Eileen Perry said using natural field variation in frost at Kewell in 2015 found fluorescence indices such as the FLAV index – which is proportional to the flavanol content of leaf and fruit and essential for pigments – correlated well with frost damage in

Wednesday, December 18, 2019

CHILLY: Mobile chilling chambers are used in a trial to investigate frost damage in wheat crops.

Picture: AGRICULTURE VICTORIA wheat. In subsequent years, artificial frost damage was imposed on wheat in trial plots using mobile chilling chambers to provide a backdrop of field wheat differentially affected by cold load.

“That enabled us to identify potential remote sensing indices targeting frost damage using hand-held sensors,” Dr Perry said.

“For artificial frosts, the wheat response was a two-percent reduction in grain number and yield per hour below 0°C. “From that work, we found the reflectance indices photochemical reflectance index, PRI, and normalised difference vegetation index, NDVI, correlated with cold load, while fluorescence indices FRF_G and SFR_G

correlated with cold load.” Researchers surveyed six commercial wheat paddocks near Jung in 2018 using an Airphen multi-spectral camera at 2750 metres above the ground in an effort to validate their findings.

“This work found significant rolling frosts with intra-paddock variation of time spent below 0°C, where time spent below 0°C correlated well with variation in grain yield across the majority of paddocks surveyed,” Dr Nuttall said.

“We also found PRI correlated well with grain yield.”

Dr Nuttall said the results indicated proximal and remote sensing tools had practical applications, such as rapid detection of frost damage.

“These tools might support targeted

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management, thus limiting financial losses due to frost,” he said.

“Scanning for frost damage across paddocks might be practical if several growers contract an aircraft equipped with a multi-spectral camera to scan multiple farms, making the process fast and affordable.

“Another idea is to determine whether active fluorescence has a role in practical proximal sensing applications such as rapid paddock scouting for frost damage.

“There could be potential to develop proximal sensing technologies for on-farm quality segregation of grain to enhance the grain’s export or market value.”

ened seasonal concerns, Mr McAlpin said the story for Victorian farmers was still a positive one.

He said data showed income projections remained strong – particularly in dairy and grains.

“The survey found 41 percent of the state’s dairy farmers expect an improvement in gross farm incomes in 2020, while 37 percent of grain growers also hold that view compared with this year,” he said.

“We are seeing some investment going into new dairies in Gippsland as well as infrastructure development in the grazing regions of western Victoria.”

New drought working group Federal Drought Minister David Littleproud has won support through the Ministerial Council for a new working group to try to integrate Commonwealth, state and territory drought-relief programs.

Mr Littleproud said the working group, a partnership between a new National Drought Agency and National Farmers’ Federation, would remove inefficiencies and doubling up to improve access for affected farms and communities to recovery programs.

He said the group would improve program effectiveness and ensure the right assistance was delivered at the right time, to farmers and communities.

He said ministers also agreed the group would be a standing item on the Ministerial Council agenda.

“States last year signed up to the National Drought Agreement and as the next step at the Ministerial Council, they have agreed to report on their current assistance measures,” he said.

“This brings more transparency for farmers who want to access help, and less red tape. It also means there will be greater confidence in what help is available.

“Each government currently offers a variety of different drought measures.

“We have a responsibility to ensure that drought assistance is complementary at the different levels of government, and not working against other assistance measures.”

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