Upper Hopkins Landcare Newsletter March 2003 Edited by Louise Thomas, Department of Primary Industries Ararat Contacts: This bi-monthly newsletter is mailed to around 350 farmers in the following Landcare Groups: Upper Hopkins, Ararat, Technical advice: Fiery Creek, Buangor, Beaufort and District, Watgania, Willaura-Hopkins, Combined Willaura Groups, Lake Bolac. If you Louise Thomas DPI know of anyone else who would like to receive it, please let us know. If you prefer, the newsletter can be sent by Ararat 5352 2288 e-mail . CMA grants and techni- cal advice: Peter Forster Glenelg-Hopkins CMA 5352 2288 Farm Walk: Landcare Group Grants and technical advice: Managing Tall Una Allender: Upper Hopkins 5350 4244 Wheat Grass John Anderson: Willaura 5354 1238 Effectively for Matt Pywell: Upper Mt Emu Creek 5333 5546 CMA Landcare Productivity Facilitators: Emily Tyson (Upper Hop- kins) 0429 202 585 On Tuesday 25th March 10am – 11.30am we will be holding an informal farm Thea Laidlaw (Beaufort to walk at the property of Peter and Merilyn Price to look at effective management Ballarat) 0417 337818 Rabbits: Doug May DPI techniques for using tall wheat grass productively on salt affected land. We will Ballarat 5333 6913 look at a well managed stand of tall wheat grass belonging to the Prices on the or 0408 169 110 corner of the Maroona-Glenthompson Rd and Edgarley Estate Rd, Wil- Gorse Buangor-Ararat: laura North (just south of the overflow drain from Lake Buninjon). Vic Roads Simon Martin DPI Bal- (Edition 3) map reference P56 E9, fire map reference p435 section A (see map be- larat 5333 6950 or 0408 low). 594 785 Gorse Beaufort-Ballarat: The topics for discussion will include establishing tall wheat grass alone or with a Steve Young DPI Ballarat companion legume such as Balansa or Strawberry clover, grazing management and 5333 6736 or 0439 658 feed value, and ways of renovating rank stands of tall wheat grass to improve pro- 219 Pasture and sheep man- ductive value. Speakers on the day will include Darren Keating DPI Wool Indus- agement: Darren Keating try Development Officer Hamilton who many will know from the recent Prograze DPI Hamilton 5573 0739 courses, Louise Thomas DPI Project Leader for the Ararat Hills, and Dion Borg DPI Project Leader for the Central Hopkins catchment. Dion has been feed- In this issue testing managed tall wheat grass stands across the Bird Watcher’s Southwest of Victoria and Report p2 has some interesting results to share with us. We will Whole farm ← also provide written infor- planning p3 mation on the day for par- Successful ticipants. Buangor Aboriginal Heritage Workshop p4 We will access the site on the day from Edgarley Es- Water testing results p5 tate Rd (see map at right). Gorse Report p6 If you have any queries about the day please con- Southern Farming tact Louise Thomas DPI Systems GMO day p6 Ararat 5352 2288. Foxes and Rabbits p7 Water Matters p8 Historical photos of the month Photo at left kindly loaned to us by Bill Day shows a rabbit drive held at the Willaura North property in 1950-51 with Jim Davis, Jack McKay (2nd from back right) Jim and Bert Gray, and Fred Day on the back hill. Photo at right (1964) shows the difference between paddocks where rabbits have been con- trolled (to the right of the net- ting fence) and where they have not (left). Illustration of Rufous Whis- Bird Watcher’s Report tler at right from “What Bird by Irene Sturt, President of Friends of Lake Buninjon is That?” By Neville W. Cay- ley. (male left, female right) Willaura Wildlife The purple crowned lorikeets are back in town to enjoy the flowering gums. Usually they come for the bottlebrush blossom, but appear to have waited for the gums this year. A Rufous Whistler arrived several months ago and has found a mate, nested and will hopefully raise a family. The male whistler has a grey back and a black band that separates a white bib and rufous chest. The whistler has a variety of calls but at some stage his clear whistle will be heard along with an “eee-chong” call. New Hol- land Honeyeaters with their black/white plumage and bright yellow wings are com- mon, as are the European goldfinches. Long billed corellas annoy some residents with their large noisy flocks. A dark brown swamp wallaby has also been seen around town in several gardens. With the dry weather Kangaroos and Wallabies are on the move looking for food and water, so take care on the roads. If you find an injured bird or animal there is a Wildlife Rescue Service which operates 24 hours a day – call 0417 380 687 for advice. Additional notes by Peter Forster: An enjoyable and easy way to keep an eye on what birds are in your garden is to set up a birdbath outside a window where you can regularly look out (a bird bath placed under a tree is good so that birds have some cover while they bathe). A huge range of birds use the birdbath in the garden at home – we recently had a pair of crested shrike tits and a flock of brown-headed honeyeaters making good use of the birdbath in full view of the loungeroom window. Steep hill grazing management: farm walk coming soon Louise Thomas DPI Ararat In April/May we will be holding a farm walk to look at steep hill country grazing management and pasture establishment trials which are being con- ducted in the Ararat Hills area. The grazing management trials (on Ian and Susan Maconachie’s property in the Challicum Hills, see site in photo at left) are looking at a range of “deferred grazing” options to remove grazing from the hills over summer to retain groundcover and good pasture species com- position. This has both productivity and environmental benefits (reduced soil erosion and reduced recharge to the groundwater system). Researchers are looking at the impacts on pasture productivity and persistence when graz- ing is removed for part or all of the summer months. The pasture establishment trials (on John and Helen Steven’s property in the hills NE of Ararat) are aiming to determine the best range of species (including some native pastures) which give good production and persistence on these difficult sites. Stay tuned for the details of this farm walk – details will be published on the front page of the next edition of this newsletter and in the Ararat Advertiser. A flora and fauna survey was also con- ducted on another part of the Stevens’ property, which will be the focus of a separate farm walk in Spring this year. For fur- ther information about any of these projects, please contact Louise Thomas at DPI Ararat on 5352 2288. Whole Farm Planning for your property Louise Thomas DPI Ararat This year I have begun working with individual landholders on a whole farm planning exercise which includes a subsidised aerial photo and land management information specific to each property. Landholders still have the option of at- tending a course if numbers are high enough, but in the meantime I am offering an individual planning process which incorporates the following : ♦ A subsided aerial photo (50%) ♦ An environmental farm benchmarking exercise ♦ Land capability ♦ Fencing ♦ Pastures ♦ Water supply ♦ The farm environment ♦ Planning for future land management activities ♦ Assistance with grant applications for implementing eligible works on the farm plan For those who wish to take part in the individual farm planning, I will organise for a group to visit a local property where whole farm “Niche” direct seeding trial planning has been successfully in place for many years with highly on steep hills. visible results. To register your interest in either a course or individ- ual plan exercise, please contact me at DPI on 5352 2288. In the last newsletter (Oct 2002) I described this trial project which aims to revegetate steep rocky Useful publications on managing hills with direct seeding of locally indigenous vegetation. I was away over the summer and last land and stock in dry seasons week went out to have a look at several of the sites expecting to find most of them shrivelled The following publications are available free from the Department of Primary Industries office in Ararat ph: 5352 2288 or call in to pick up a from the heat and dry conditions, but was quite copy. heartened to find many had survived. Two ex- amples of good survival can be seen in the pho- Dry Season Water Supply (DPI/CMA – contains lots of contacts) tos below. Next newsletter I’ll provide a full Drought Feeding and Management of Sheep (DPI) Landcare Note: Stock Containment Areas (DPI) roundup of Landcare Note: Water Supply for Stock Containment Areas (DPI) survival rates, Landcare Note: How much Water Do I Need? (DPI) species and Landcare Note: Preparing a Drought Action Plan for Sheep Farmers findings. (DPI) Ararat Landcare Group By Peter Forster John Graham with assistance from Geoff Ryan is con- tinuing to spray gorse on Cemetery Creek and in the Flint Hill area. The work is now highly visible and is being complemented by Ararat Council spraying on roadsides. Thanks to John and Geoff for the massive amount of work they have done. DPI have offered additional assistance ($5,000) to extend the program to other Crown Land areas around Ararat. Ararat Rural City Council convened the first meeting of the Biolink Working Group last week. Working Group members include Glenelg Hopkins CMA, Ararat Landcare Group and Department of Primary Industries. Other organisations will be involved on a needs basis.