winter 2010 mallee update newsletter, murray mallee local action planning

8/9/2019 Winter 2010 Mallee Update Newsletter, Murray Mallee Local Action Planning

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MALLEE

Volume 12, Issue 1

update

www.malleefutures.org.au

What's inside

Meet George KingFunding Still AvailableBFA Roadshows in 2010Mallee Mentors ProgramPasture Cropping Course for MalleeFarmersWeed of National Significance - BridalCreeper Whole Farm Business ProgramClean Up for Karoonda Nature ParkNaturelinks Plans ReleasedWorkshops and Field Days

Autumn 2010

A new land management group has been formed to oversee activities in the area to the south and west of Billiatt Conservation Park.The South West Billiatt Land Management Group was formed following a meeting at the Smithville Hall on January 27, 2010. A second meeting was held in February to plan for baiting programs and for landholders to pick up fox baits.

The 18 landholders who attended the meetings have acknowledged the benefit of working together as a group to achieve greater outcomes for their effort. Project Officer for the Murray Mallee Local Action Planning Association, Rowena Danks, welcomed theformation of the new group.

It is fantastic to see this group of landholders showing a commitment to reduce pest numbers in the area, she said.

These landholders will guide the group's activities and focus. It is a landholder group focusing on land management issues thatare a priority to them which is vital to the success of such a group.

Already the group has identified foxes, rabbits and goats as priority issues in thearea.

Staff from the Department for Environment and Heritage, the South AustralianMurray-Darling Basin Natural Resources Management Board and the Murray MalleeLocal Action Planning Association will provide administration support and technicaladvice to the group.

Those interested in becoming involved with the group are invited to contactRowena Danks by phoning 8531 2066 or 0428 312 055 or by [email protected]

New Land Management Group

John Price, from the South Australian Murray-Darling Basin Natural ResourcesManagement Board, speaking to South West Billiatt Land Management Groupmembers Kim McMahon, Raylene Galbraith and Neville McMahon about their fox baiting programs.


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The Mallee Futures Program still has some funding available for works undertaken in the 2009/2010 financial year:

Perennial Pasture (Lucerne or Native Grass only) @ $25/ha

Shelterbelts and Revegetation @ up to $800/ha

Fencing remnant vegetation @ up to $2500/km

Pest Control in remnant vegetation or revegetation @ $80/hr

For further information contact:George King, MMLAP Implementation Officer ph: 8531 3075 or 8531 2066mob: 0407 189 907email: [email protected]

Funding Still Available....$$$$

G'day! I'm looking forward to meeting people as soon as possible.Until then, I'll introduce myself with a few words.

On Monday, 1st of February I began a seventeen-month contract asImplementation Officer for the Murray Mallee LAP. Under the directionof the Murray Mallee LAP Committee through Rowena Danks, I amresponsible for the Mallee Futures Program which is funded by the

Australian Government's Caring for our Country and the SouthAustralian Murray-Darling Basin Natural Resources ManagementBoard. Also, I will assist Rowena in the provision of ongoing communitysupport and other programs such as Conserving and ConnectingFragmented Ecosystems of the Murray Mallee with the WoorinenRecovery Group.

So, who am I?

I'm 33, live with my partner Faye and our four-year old (Jack Russellcross Fox Terrier) on 16 acres, and have been working in Natural Resource Management for ten years. My family's backgroundincludes beef and wool production in Victoria, teaching and mining. From my dad and his parents I gained an appreciation of farm

life and my mum and her parents taught me to enjoy and respect wild places.After leaving school, I completed a PIRSA traineeship working for the Upper Torrens Land Management Project, Upper River TorrensLandcare Group Inc. and the Mount Pleasant Natural Resource Centre. I worked with these groups from 1999 to 2004, but alsoundertook private revegetation and weed control contracts with local landholders, animal husbandry survey work with the EPA anddeveloped a field guide for the WaterCare Initiative. From 2004 to 2008 I worked with a landscape construction companysupervising revegetation and restoration contracts throughout the state with some work in the Murray Mallee, Riverland and SunsetCountry over the border.

In 2007 Faye and I bought some land on the Murray Plains and started to build our home, moving to Keyneton where we havefamily and were closer to our block. In 2008 I left my position with the landscaping company to work more locally, completing smalllandscaping and revegetation jobs and working with my father-in-law improving my carpentry and general building skills. I workedthe 2009 vintage for Henschke Vineyards in Keyneton and Eden Valley, which was fun, and continued with them until accepting thisposition.

I'm enjoying working with Rowena and Gayle and LAP stakeholders and our partners and look forward to working with you all tomake our communities more viable and to improve the health of our natural heritage.

I can be contacted by phoning 8531 3075 or 0407 189 907 or by emailing [email protected]

New Staff Member - George King


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On the 18th and 19th of February a group of farmers and NRM workers attended an introductory course on Pasture Cropping andNo-Kill Cropping, presented by their respective founders, Colin Seis and Bruce Maynard. Their compelling stories of successfulfarming system change offer plenty of food for thought.

Colin and Bruce will be running another two-day introductory course on Pasture Cropping and No-Kill Cropping at the MurrayBridge Natural Resources Centre on the 19th and 20th of July 2010 and at the Mount Pleasant Natural Resource Centre on the22nd and 23rd of July 2010. For more information contact, Danielle Bonnington, Course Coordinator, Advanced Pasture Cropping

Company on 0402 211 657 or [email protected] Colin and Bruce operate family farms in moderate rainfall areas of NSW, but the principles that they applied to rescue their land and family enterprises from collapse have been applied in high and low-rainfall areas with similar success.

After a fire devastated his merino/cropping property in the early nineties, Colin Seis was faced with a serious rebuilding effort. Colinreflected on the conventional farming practices with which his family had been managing the property for generations. He changedhis management based on the fact that high inputs were sending them broke. Modern agriculture was decimating his grasslandsand soils, creating conditions for weeds, was not profitable, had no summer pasture and required increasing fertiliser rates.

So he changed his management practices. He began by carefully managing grazing on the native pastures that regenerated after the fire. After three or four years natural succession led to a productive perennial pasture. After a couple more years the pasture

productivity had increased over the conventional farming systems levels over the fence (on his elder brother's block) and he hadreduced his DAP application by 70%. Colin is rebuilding his soils, increasing the soil organic carbon and water holding capacity. Byscrapping the plow he has allowed the good soil biota to recover and make more nutrients available to plants.

What really flies in the face of conventional farming is that Colin has built these pastures in his cropping paddocks as well. Yes therewas a production dip, but it was just a dip. The benefits of maintaining a healthy grassland ecosystem include greater productivity.The summer-active grasses are shaded and out-competed by the winter crop and six weeks after harvest Colin's stock have richpasture to graze. He also points out that pasture cropping into winter-active pastures doesn't produce as much of a competitionissue as you might think. The more diverse and dense our grassland is, the more productive our crop is. To the consternation of local agronomists, Colin stopped using insecticides and fungicides over ten years ago. He hasn't had a crop pathogen problem or any disease damage in over ten years.

Financially, Colin's vastly decreased input costs and increased pasture area and productivity balanced against the initial decrease inyield. Now, Colin has less costs and more productivity (including crop yield) than comparable farms. He is also building hisfundamental capital asset healthy soil and ecology. Colin spent $5/hd to feed his sheep in 2009. His elder brother over the fence(a traditional best practice cropping/grazing property) spent $40/hd.

How does this system work in the Mallee? With half the rainfall that Colin receives, what impact would this have on competition andproductivity? EverCrop has begun trials in WA with the early focus being in the 350-500mm rainfall areas on deep pale sands andthe results have certainly been encouraging. Trial sites in lower rainfall districts are being developed. Speaking at the course in Berri,EverCrop WA Project leader David Ferris explained that their focus was to test the viability, quantify performance and developinformed decision-making tools for land managers. David said that growers were attracted to the Pasture Cropping examplesbecause they wanted to improve soil health, grow more summer feed and increase the potential for income through livestock.

An interesting result from the initial trial data was that more soil moisture was recorded where a seeder had inadvertently sown thecrop into the pasture furrow. In these instances, ridge moisture was 9% whilst furrow moisture was 14%. Overall quality penalty wasvery low and yield penalty was very low (14%). Yield penalty was higher at 80 N over 50 N. Add to that the productivity from2.6t/ha feed six weeks after cropping. David explained that the most interest is coming from managers with mixed farming systems,meat-dominant systems and/or with large areas of poor sand.

Bruce Maynard started thinking along the same lines as Colin for similar reasons. His crisis wasn't the result of a devastating fire.Financial and family issues demanded that Bruce change his management practices or go broke. He was busy spending his timespending money on farm inputs that weren't producing. Bruce tells us that he decided to manage his family business for profit notproductivity. It's worth noting that Bruce's farm is more productive now than it was when he was using best practice conventionalfarming and he has time for his family and other interests. Under a conventional farming system his farm required four to five full-time labour units. Bruce has tripled production and his farm requires a half a labour unit.

As a lad Colin remembers his dad looking at a successfully established paddock of sown pasture and commenting that it was ashame that they had to remove it to grow their crop. After educating himself about ecology and soil health Bruce was thinking alongsimilar lines. Bruce decided to manage healthy grassland for livestock and crop production. Conventional farming systems do theopposite. He developed principles that enabled him to grow a productive crop into pasture, eliminate annual weeds, reducefertiliser input and stop spraying herbicides and pesticides altogether. Like Colin and many others, Bruce hasn't had a diseaseproblem since establishing ecologically sound grasslands.

Pasture Cropping Course for Mallee Farmers


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Bruce's input costs are $5-$7/acre and he obtains a high return. He reasons that traditional wisdom dictates that more yieldtranslates to more profit, e.g. 12 bags to the acre with 8 bags input leaves 4 bags profit, which is better than 10 bags from 8 leaving2 profit. Yet what if you put in a bit less to get a bit less, but receive more profit and have good pasture underneath? Bruce, Colinand many others have proved that they can spend less to achieve better profits on their farms.

What about yields? I had to ask: With food security a vital concern, given the rising global population and depleting soil resource,can the market afford even a temporary dip in production that may result from a move away from conventional farming? Colinmade the point that pasture cropping represents a greatly reduced erosion risk, enabling growers to reap crops from land classesthat shouldn't be cropped with conventional techniques. Furthermore, pasture cropping and no-kill cropping can help renovatedegraded pasture far quicker than good grazing alone as long as erosion risk is managed effectively.

Trials run by research agronomists for the NSW DPI in 2005 and 2006 concluded that: Production of crop and pasture individuallycan be lower when grown together in a pasture cropping system compared with when either is grown alone, although this dependson pasture composition, season and paddock history. There was a synergistic affect of pasture cropping on Lucerne production andthe overall annual production can be higher. (Badgery, 2006)

NSW DPI Trials at Trangie and Condobolin during 2005-2007 showed that Pasture Cropping and No Kill Cropping can besuccessful in the western areas of the Central West and Lachlan CMAs. Unless appropriate herbicides are used, paddocks with highannual grass content are not suitable for Pasture Cropping or No Kill Cropping as these systems rely on the cereal having a greater growth rate than germinating annual weeds. (Miller & Badgery, 2008)

Bruce Maynard observed the trials at Trangie and Condobolin and questions the conclusions that Miller and Badgery reached. Theclaims from the department about Pasture Cropping or No Kill Cropping not being suitable for paddocks with annual grasses wasvery contradictory to their plot results and the results in the paddock (see photo). As you can see it is very heavily dominated byBarley grass and other annuals and the treatments yielded more biomass - their figures showed that. The flawed reasoning at theend of that paragraph regarding the sown crop 'having greater growth rates than germinating annual weeds' shows amisunderstanding of the processes involved. The statement is incorrect for both Pasture Cropping and No Kill Cropping. Neither system relies on the crop being able to do the impossible! Pasture Cropping uses weed control and fertiliser management toadvantage the crop over its competitors (not forgetting that most of the plants in the grassland are complementary). No KillCropping places the seed in the ground prior to annual weed germination so that the crop has the head start on competitor plants -not because we have a 'miracle' plant that can grow faster than usual!

A CSIRO/ANU experiment (Pasture-cropping: effect on biomass, total cover, soil water and nitrogen.)(S.E. Bruce1, S.M Howden1, S.

Graham1, C. Seis2, J. Ash3 and A.O. Nicholls1) found that Biomass in the pasture-crop treatment was, on average, similar tobiomass in the crop treatment during the oats growing season; and no different to biomass in the pasture treatment during thepasture growing season. The combination of retained stubble with crowns and shoots of perennial grasses resulted in greater groundcover in the pasture-crop treatment compared with the crop treatment. Soil water content for the 0-60 cm profile was reduced in thepasture-crop treatment compared to the crop or pasture treatment. Nitrogen availability was reduced and less variable in thepasture-crop treatment compared to the crop or the pasture treatment. Essentially, the oats added substantial biomass and litter tothe pasture-crop system in spring without greatly altering biomass of the following pasture phase. The increased total biomass in thepasture-crop system caused a reduction in both soil water and nitrogen availability, and may reduce the risk of waterlogging, andloss of nitrogen through denitrification or nitrate leaching. Higher ground cover in the pasture-crop system may also reduce the riskof soil erosion.

EverCrop, Murray Mallee Local Action Planning Association, PIRSA, South Australian Murray-Darling Basin Natural Resources

Management Board and members of the farming community have just accessed a small grant to trial Pasture Cropping and No-KillCropping in the Murray Mallee.

Here's a thought - try it on a hectare or an acre or aquarter acre at your place and see what happens. Andthen tell us about it. You can contact me by phoning8531 3075 or 0407 189 907 or by [email protected]

Trial plots at Trangie Research Station showing Pasture Croppingto the left, No Kill Cropping to the right and the weedy annualpasture that they were sown into in the centre.


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What is it?Bridal creeper ( Asparagus asparagoides ) is one of Southern Australia's worst weeds, recognised as such with its declaration as aWeed of National Significance (WoNS), because of its invasiveness, potential for spread, and economic and environmental impacts.It has small glossy green leaves and grows as a twining ground cover or climber over vegetation. It grows from tubers under theground and shoots from these tuber in autumn and dies off again over summer.

Why is it a problem?It is very aggressive and highly invasive in bushland, capable of smothering native ground plants and small shrubs. It forms a thicktuberous root mass, which inhibits growth of other plants and prevents new plants establishing. Berries are readily consumed bybirds and foxes enabling rapid dispersal of seeds. Bridal creeper invades a wide variety of environments including coastal areas,heath land, woodland, Mallee shrub land, orchards and pine plantations. It can tolerate a wide range of soil and climatic conditionsand unlike many other weeds it can readily establish in undisturbed areas. Its foliage dies off in summer due to lack of water, buttuber reserves enable it to survive drought conditions.

Where is it found?Bridal Creeper is wide spread throughout southern Australia's temperate regions.It can be found in a range of environments within the Murray Mallee, most commonly within roadside vegetation and other vegetated areas. It initially occurs under trees where birds have spread it through seeds in their droppings.

What can be done about it?There are a range of options to control bridal creeper. Small infestations can be dug up by hand ensuring all the tubers areremoved. For larger infestations herbicides may be used but their effectiveness is varied. Refer to your local NRM officer for further information about the use of herbicides for bridal creeper control.There are two main bio-controls for Bridal Creeper, a leaf hopper and a rust fungus. These have proved very successful over time atcontrolling bridal creeper. They do this through reducing how vigorously the plant grows and can also reduce seed set.

How?The Application of Bridal Creeper Spore Water Complicated equipment is not needed - to spread rust fungus ( Puccinia myrsiphylli) spore water on bridal creeper, some simpleeveryday articles from around the shed can be utilised.Ensure that this equipment has not been used for other chemicals, especially fungicides as the bridal creeper rust is a fungus

and will be destroyed.

To make spore water:Collect mature bridal creeper rust fungus from infected bridal creeper in to plastic bags. It can be identified on bridal creeper asrusty brown spots. Usually evident from mid winter.Use a clean container to wash the bridal creeper to remove the spores. Gentle agitation by hand is sufficient for the spores to beremoved from the plant.The water will turn the colour of weak tea; this brown stain is the rust fungus spores.Strain into a clean container using a coarse sieve to remove the leaves, etc...If a spray unit is used it must have the sieves removed and have large aperture nozzles.

A watering can is ideal as products with fine holes will become blocked.Agitate the spore water occasionally as the spores tend to settle.

Importantly choose a damp day to spread the spore water.Spray or pour the spore water onto bridal creeper targeting the thickest parts first.continued on back page

Weed Of National Significance - Bridal Creeper

Karoonda Road Trial Site before Bridal creeper rust fungusapplication 27.06.01, photo SA MDB NRM Board.

Karoonda Road Trial Site 04.06.08. Only Bridal creeper rustfungus used to control this site, photo SA MDB NRM Board.


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The Department for Environment and Heritage recently released five Naturelinks Plans including the R iver Murray-South EastNatureLink Plan.

NatureLinks is an ambitious, landscape-scale approach to conserve the unique plants and animals of South Australia. Landscape-scale conservation is rapidly becoming the dominant approach for responding to the challenges of biodiversity conservation,sustainable livelihoods and climate change throughout the world.

NatureLinks aims to manage and restore large areas of habitat within five broad biodiversity corridors: River Murray-South East, AridLands, Cape Borda to Barossa and Flinders-Olary. This approach builds on existing conservation programs and protected areas bycoordinating conservation efforts across private and public land.

The NatureLinks Plans provide a long term vision for a landscape that will sustain people, industry, culture, plants and animalsthrough healthy ecosystems. The plans provide a starting point for government organisations, non-government organisations andthe community to work together to secure a sustainable future for South Australia.

Approaching conservation on such a large scale will take time, but will provide the best opportunity for our native species to surviveand adapt to environmental change. The Department for Environment and Heritage would like to invite all South Australians toshare in this ambitious vision.

For more information visit www.naturelinks.sa.gov.au Copies of the River Murray-South East NatureLink Plan are available from theDepartment for Environment and Heritage Murraylands Office in Berri or by phoning 8595 2111.

Naturelinks Plans Released

The South Australian Murray-Darling Basin Natural Resource Management Board (SA MDB NRM Board) will once again be runningthe Whole Farm Business (WFB) program in the Murray Mallee in partnership with the Murray Mallee Local Action PlanningAssociation (LAP).

The aim of the WFB program is to assist farmers to assess their farm business and develop plans for the future. The WFB programprovides the farmer with an opportunity to develop a farm management plan with a qualified consultant on an individual basis,

focusing on the people, the enterprises and the natural resources, with a focus on managing sand hills to reduce the erosion risk.The program concludes with a workshop addressing the priority issues identified during the farm visits.

Farmers who participate will be eligible for funding through the Murray Mallee LAP for on-ground works on problem sand hills.Please note, funding is only available within the boundary of the Murray Mallee LAP region.

For more information, contact Bernadette Lawson of the SA MDB NRM Board on 8532 1432.

Whole Farm Business Program

Clean-up for Karoonda Nature ParkThe Friends of Karoonda Nature Park Group braved the heat and got their hands dirty at a working bee in the Karoonda Nature Park on the 8th of February.

Eleven group members cleaned up large amounts of scrap metal and rubbishfrom the northern end of the park over the morning session.

Anyone interested in becoming involved with the group please contact RowenaDanks by phoning 8531 2066 or emailing [email protected]

Friends of Karoonda Nature Park members Leila Scott and Joan Hoff working hard to clean up the Park.


8/8This newsletter is printed on 100% Recycled paper - Protecting our Trees and Environment

Murray Mallee Local Action Planning Association Inc.Murray Bridge Natural Resources CentreMannum RoadPO Box 2056, Murray Bridge SA 5253ph: (08) 8531 2066 fax: (08) 8532 5300email: [email protected]

MMLAP Committee Membership

hetta designs0437 914 066

Rod Brown (Chairperson/ Public Officer)Lameroo ph: 8577 4033

(Vice Chairperson)Karoonda ph: 8578 6066

Chris Grant, (Secretary)Berri ph: 8595 2174

Rex Spinley (Treasurer)Para Hills ph: 8265 0522

Neville Pfeiffer Parrakie ph: 8576 2051

Andrew HallWunkar ph: 8589 7029

Trevor Schiller Waikerie ph: 8541 9096

Malcolm JohnsKaroonda ph: 8589 7053

Adrian GrowdenKaroonda ph: 8578 1057

Lew WestbrookLoxton ph: 8584 7811

Leighton Pearce, SA MDB NRM Boardph: 8582 4477

Damien Berger

Workshops and Field Days

Pasture Cropping and No-Kill Cropping CourseMurray Bridge Natural Resources Centre19th/20th July 2010Danielle Bonnington0402 211 657

Pasture Cropping and No-Kill Cropping CourseMt Pleasant Natural Resource Centre22nd/23rd July 2010Danielle Bonnington0402 211 657

Mallee Sustainable Farmers Field DayWaikerie7th September 2010Victoria Adams03 5021 9104 [email protected]

Bridal Creeper continuedFor further information contact the South Australian Murray-Darling BasinNatural Resources Management Board's NRM Officers.

Murray Bridge Natural Resources Centre, Mannum RoadPO Box 2343, MURRAY BRIDGE SA 5253ph: 8532 1432 fax: 8531 1843

Berri Office, Wade StreetPO Box 1374, BERRI SA 5343ph: 8582 4477 fax: 8582 4488

Cambrai Office, Deane Street, CAMBRAI SA 5353ph: 8564 5154 fax: 8564 5254

Karoonda Office, 3 Peake TerracePO Box 443, KAROONDA SA 5307ph: 8578 1493 fax: 8578 1492

Lameroo Office, 74 Railway TerracePO Box 21, LAMEROO SA 5302ph: 8576 3400 fax: 8576 3685

winter 2010 mallee update newsletter, murray mallee local action planning

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