How Useful Is the Pastoral Memo to You? Do You Want It – How and How Often?

PastoralPastoral MEMOMEMO Copyright © Western Australian Agriculture Authority, 2009 MEMOMEMO Northern Pastoral Region September 2009 ISSN 1033-5757 Vol. 30, No. 3 EDITOR: Matthew Fletcher Phone: (08) 9166 4019 PO Box 19, Kununurra WA 6743 Email: [email protected] CONTENTS Know your pasture plants ...................................................................................................................... 2 Hello Northern Rangelanders ................................................................................................................ 4 Fitzroy Crossing bull sale summary ...................................................................................................... 5 Livestock handling course for exporters ................................................................................................ 6 NLIS exemption for home-bred live export cattle – Get it right or lose it! .............................................. 8 New industry placement student in Kununurra...................................................................................... 8 Livestock Compliance Unit at work ....................................................................................................... 9 Livestock Compliance Unit inspector –Maree Glasby, Broome ............................................................. 9 A new method of pastoral lease reporting ........................................................................................... 10 Landholder guidelines for the purchase of 1080 and strychnine – 28 July 2009 ................................ 11 Fire management – making a crust without costing the earth ............................................................. 13 How do you capture carbon in the Rangelands? ................................................................................ 14 Prevention is better than a cure .......................................................................................................... 17 Cattle Market Update – 28 August 2009 ............................................................................................. 18 How useful is the Pastoral Memo to you? Do you want it – how and how often? ............................... 19 Visit http://www.agric.wa.gov.au PASTORAL MEMO – NORTHERN PASTORAL REGION SEPTEMBER 2009 KNOW YOUR PASTURE PLANTS Self-assessment reporting is coming in soon, so now is a great time to brush up on pasture plants knowledge and identification skills. Thanks to Rebecca in Karratha for getting the jump on it with the buffel grass feature back in March; this issue’s featured grass is native millet. Native millet Native millet is an important, though minor, native pasture grass in the Kimberley. Significant attributes include that it is moderately productive, it can help to indicate changes in pasture condition, it is a good coloniser of degraded black soils and it may be a preferred forage species on lighter soils. The spread out, spindly seed- heads that break off and tumble about with the wind will be familiar to most, but the plant that these come from is not so widely recognised. Scientific name: Panicum decompositum Other names: Stargrass Other plants it may be confused with: Other large or perennial panics (e.g. pepper grass, hairy panic, boat panic), or other grasses that can form big tussocks (e.g. hoop Mitchell grass). Description: Native millet is a coarse, tussock-forming native grass that can form quite large clumps. It usually stands between 50 cm to 1 m high. The stems are thick and hollow. The broad, flat leaf blades have sharp edges and taper off to a pointed end. The leaves stick straight up at first, but may twist and curl as they hay off. The seed-head is very spread out with very small paired spikelets at the end of most branchlets. The seed-head is pyramid-shaped and about as wide as it is long (up to 40 cm) at its widest point; the entire structure falls off the plant when it is mature and it rolls along with the wind. Occurrence: Native millet will grow on a variety of soils, and is mostly found at low densities on heavy soils and floodplains as a fairly minor component of the pasture. It is common at low density throughout the Kimberley and northern Australia and is found at least as far south as the Goldfields in WA. It is found in all mainland states and its distribution includes environmental conditions ranging from wet to arid. Desirability: Native millet produces abundant foliage and is usually a perennial in the Kimberley, but it is not as long-lived or drought resistant as ribbon grass, bundle-bundle or Mitchell grass. Individual plants may survive several years under optimal conditions, but a fairly short lifespan (e.g. 2–3 years) is more usual. Native millet is a relatively desirable grass in ribbon grass pastures, 2 http://www.agric.wa.gov.au PASTORAL MEMO – NORTHERN PASTORAL REGION SEPTEMBER 2009 though less so than ribbon grass, bundle-bundle or plume sorghum. It is considered to be of intermediate value in Mitchell grass pastures relative to the highly productive and long-lived grasses that could potentially grow in these pastures. It is a good coloniser of degraded black soil country. Native millet dominating a previously degraded Mitchell grass pasture can indicate that condition is improving, but the trend may be vulnerable to reversal and the pasture is still well below its productive potential at this stage of recovery. Forage value: Acceptability to cattle and nutritional value are quite variable, though it is readily grazed when green and may be a preferred species on lighter soils. It is generally of lower forage value than other desirable perennial grasses on the heavier soils. Grazed plants can provide good feed well into the dry season, when cattle will return to previously grazed plants for the relatively nutritious new shoots. Detailed nutritional information for animal production is not currently available for native millet in the Kimberley. The nutritional information available from the Victoria River District, NT (Vallance et al. 1993) shows that the percentage values for digestibility, phosphorus and crude protein are generally lower for native millet than for ribbon grass, bundle- bundle and Mitchell grass. References Vallance, HJ, Cobiac, MD, Andison, RT & Stockwell, TGH 1993, Important pasture species of the Victoria River District, Northern Territory Government, Department of Primary Industry and Fisheries. Petheram, RJ & Kok, B 2003, Plants of the Kimberley Region of Western Australia, revised edition, University of Western Australia Press, Perth. Want to get to know more plants? Let us know what plants you would like to know more about in your pasture. Kath Ryan Email: [email protected] Phone: 9166 4009 Please check the address label on your publication. If it is incorrect or if you would like to be included on our mailing list, let us know! Disclaimer This material has been written for Western Australian conditions. Its availability does not imply suitability to other areas, and any interpretation or use is the responsibility of the user. Mention of product or trade names does not imply recommendation, and any omissions are unintentional. Recommendations were current at the time of preparation of the original publication. Front page photo courtesy of Michael Jeffery, Derby http://www.agric.wa.gov.au 3 PASTORAL MEMO – NORTHERN PASTORAL REGION SEPTEMBER 2009 HELLO NORTHERN RANGELANDERS Thanks to all authors for contributing articles to the Pastoral Memo during one of the busy periods of the year—it is greatly appreciated. Office hallways are very quiet at the moment with staff out 1080 baiting, monitoring stock movements, mustering and hurrying to complete field work before the wet season starts. In the September edition of the Pastoral Memo there is some interesting reading about native millet (is this plant present on your lease?), the carbon capture project which covers the Pilbara and Kimberley and a summary including top prices paid at the Fitzroy Crossing bull sale. There is always room for improvement—even a biased Memo editor accepts there can be some improvements to the local rag. Discussion about reducing Memo publications to twice yearly (currently quarterly), combining the southern and northern Memos and emailing copies to stations rather than posting out hard copies, has been bandied around the offices once again. To help answer these questions we have included a short ‘tick the box’ questionnaire at the back of the Memo for all readers to fill out. Other feedback on Memo content and its usefulness to your business will also be appreciated. Following on from the successful Broome livestock handling course for exporters, Charlotte McIntyre from the Department of Agriculture and Food is looking for interested participants to attend possible courses in Port Hedland and Wyndham. Please call on 9892 8511 for more details. Happy reading Matthew Fletcher Some of the quality bulls offered at the Fitzroy Crossing bull sale 4 http://www.agric.wa.gov.au PASTORAL MEMO – NORTHERN PASTORAL REGION SEPTEMBER 2009 FITZROY CROSSING BULL SALE SUMMARY The Third Annual PGA Kimberley Division/Farmworks Bos indicus Bull and Heifer sale, held at the Fitzroy Crossing Rodeo Grounds on Friday 21 August, could best be described as outstanding, both in the quality of the bulls and heifers offered for sale and the prices received by the 19 vendors (three of whom were participating at this fixture for the first time). With a large attendance of pastoralists

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