Local farmers, vignerons and other primary producers are being encouraged to attend the upcoming Climate Outlook Session, taking place in the next few days.

Agriculture Victoria’s free Climate Outlook Session will take place this Thursday, May 11 at Shamrock Hotel, 5-13 Melville St, Numurkah.

Agriculture Victoria seasonal risk agronomist and climate specialist Dale Grey will present on this year’s climate outlook and delve into climate drivers’ historic effects on the Goulburn and Campaspe catchments.

The session will cover the following topics:

• Climate drivers: historic effects on local and catchment rainfall
• The latest climate outlook, what is the chance of an El Nino?
• The times of the year to pay most notice to climate forecasts.

This is a free event happening from 6.30pm and dinner will be provided with intending attendees encouraged to RSVP for catering and more information available through Tanya Dobrijevic on tanya.dobrijevic@agriculture.vic.gov.au.

Sheep farmers and graziers in the Hepburn Shire are being invited to attend this month’s free Agriculture Victoria seminar on worm management and biosecurity for your sheep flock with sheep vet Dr Monica Dickson.

The seminar happens from 6pm on May 17 in Bendigo and participants are required to have a Property Identification Code (PIC) prior to registering. They can apply, amend, or check their PIC details on the Agriculture Victoria website

Attendees take home a free Worm Egg Count (WEC) test.

Venue location will be provided upon registration. A light meal is included.

More information is available from Jennifer Shaw on jennifer.shaw@agriculture.vic.gov.au or call 0499 938 678.

Birchip Cropping Group’s (BCG’s) main research site this year will be at Kinnabulla, 25km north west of Birchip on Kinnabulla West Road.

On the property of Linc Lehmann and his parents Roger and Dianne, the site will host a total of 39 trials with a number already in the ground. These include canola (application of silicon and canola establishment), Future Drought Fund deep sowing wheat and safflower.

BCG’s Senior Manager of Research Yolanda Plowman said the team had a large program to complete, like farmers, we will be busy over the next five to six weeks sowing.

“With 145 trials over 24 trial sites and several new BCG staff undertaking training, it is an exciting and fast-paced environment which, as researchers, we thrive in,” Dr Plowman said.

“The research space BCG operates in is broad, we have farming systems and agronomic trials; crop varieties, performance and nutrition; as well as weeds, pests and diseases.

“Our trials this year span from Merrinee and Balranald in the north, Mitiamo to the east, Arapiles in the south and Rainbow to the west. We are looking forward to connecting with farmers and their communities at all our sites, extending our research to help improve farm productivity and profitability.”

Over the month BCG will sow trials at Merrinee, Ouyen, Walpeup, Manangatang, Balranald, Rainbow, Hopetoun, Ultima, Quambatook, Mitiamo, Diggora, Eastville, Colbinabbin, Charlton, Kinnabulla, Curyo, Wallup, Arapiles, Warne, Longerenong, Marlbed, Murrayville, Donald and Meatian.

“With warm soil and widespread rain received over Easter, sowing conditions are good. Our machine is gliding through with ease, we’re not getting bogged and the soil is not too hard.

“We are keeping our eye on the forecast for the next rain which will hopefully see crops springing out of the ground,” Dr Plowman concluded.

BCG’s Main Field Day will be held at the Kinnabulla site on Wednesday the 13 September. For more information on BCG’s research or the field day, visit bcg.org.au or call (03) 5492 2787.

Agriculture Victoria and RSPCA Victoria are inviting all Hepburn Shire cattle producers and others state-wide to participate in a free webinar to help keep the cattle they care for healthy, productive, and profitable.

The hour-long free webinar happens from 6pm this Wednesday, May 10, and will teach participants how to manage biosecurity on-farm, better assess and monitor your cattle’s health and feed requirements.

Presenters have many years of experience in animal management and include Rachael Laukart of RSPCA Victoria and Brett Davidson of Agriculture Victoria

It will cover:

• Assessing health in cattle
  • Body condition scoring
  • Manure scoring
• Feeding cattle
  • Grazing management
  • Feed testing, quality of forage
  • Transitioning a diet
• Biosecurity management
• Fit to Load

More information is available from Celeste Tai on celeste.x.tai@agriculture.vic.gov.au or call 0499 938 678.

Daylesford area locals who enjoy an occasional rigorous game of squash or shooting a few hoops are set to benefit from a new agreement smashed out recently.

Members of the Daylesford Neighbourhood Centre (DNC) and the Hepburn Shire Council recently caught up to mark the new Service Agreement to manage the out-of-school-hours community use of the Daylesford Arts, Recreation and Cultural Centre (ARC).

The ARC is part of the Daylesford Secondary College and features three indoor multi-lined indoor courts, squash courts, canteen/kitchen, office, storage spaces and change amenities. 

The service agreement is expected to ensure the centre provides access to a mix of recreation, social and sporting activities for the community. 

Words: Dr Jeff Cave, Senior Veterinary Officer, Agriculture Victoria

A task undertaken by Agriculture Victoria’s animal health and welfare staff is conducting audits of food outlets to determine how they dispose of their food wastes. This can include visits to pubs, restaurants, supermarkets, bakeries and so on.

You may be thinking, why on earth are we spending our time doing that?

It is estimated that around 10 per cent of food premises provide food waste to pig owners or producers. This is not necessarily harmful or unsafe.

However, if the food waste contains meat, meat products or even any food that was served on the same plate or has come into contact with meat, including dairy products from overseas, it is then classified as a prohibited feed, and must never be fed or supplied to pigs.

Providing prohibited feeds to pigs, which is commonly known as swill feeding, has been shown to initiate outbreaks of serious diseases overseas.

The Foot and mouth disease outbreak in the United Kingdom in 2001 was started by swill feeding infected material to pigs, costing the country billions of pounds and the farming community great heartache.

Australia is fortunate to be free of many serious livestock diseases such as Foot and mouth disease and African swine fever, which are known as exotic diseases here.

An exotic disease outbreak would severely affect our livestock industries and the Australian economy.

Pigs can be safely fed fruit and vegetable wastes, grain and only bread which does not contain any meat material, and milk by-products if they originate from Australia.

For further advice please contact your local veterinarian or Agriculture Victoria Veterinary or Animal Health Officer, or in NSW your Local Land Services.

Awards went to: Champion baby and birth-9 months – Lucinda; 18 months-3 years – Taya, 2nd place – Natalie; 3-5 years – Renni; Rosiest cheeks & 3-5 years 2nd place – Jeremy; Happiest baby – Edric; Youngest baby & birth-9 months 2nd place – Elarnie; Curliest hair – Savannah; Princess – Tilly; Master – Blake; and Miss Tiny Tot – Natalie.

Images: Nadine Jade & Melanie Thurstun (Natalie).

Locals and visitors hoping to keep fit and healthy at Clunes just got a little added incentive.

Many local walkers and joggers have watched over recent weeks as the Clunes Creek Walk outdoor fitness pod on Scenic Drive was installed – and now the work is done and the new equipment is able to be used by anyone who feels the need.

The equipment includes an aerobic walker, dexterity bar, hand cycle, and bars for push ups, step ups and chin ups.

The project was funded by the Hepburn Shire Council with a contribution from the Clunes Landcare and Waterways Group.

The EPA is reminding Hepburn Shire residents and others across the state to report illegal dumping.

Whether it’s furniture, rubbish or building rubble, illegal waste dumping damages the environment, it’s a risk to our health and it is expensive to manage, the Environmental Protection Agency says.

In Victoria, it is illegal to dump or bury any kind of waste at a location that isn’t licensed to accept it. This includes private land. Some people damage our environment and risk the health of our community to avoid taking their waste to an appropriate place.

Contaminated soil, asbestos and building rubble are often dumped to avoid paying waste levies. Materials like these can be a severe health risk, even if they appear harmless. Dumped tyres and other materials can also pose a fire risk, which can release harmful chemicals.

Residents of Hepburn Shire are being encouraged by the Hepburn Shire Council to check out the EPA’s website to learn the real cost of illegal dumping. Those who have seen what they suspect is illegally dumped contaminated waste are being urged to report it to EPA Victoria online or call 1300 372 842.

Recent ANZAC Day services were well-attended throughout Hepburn Shire, with a particularly strong turn-out recorded at Creswick.

The Hepburn Shire Council has a Facebook page featuring snapshots from local events that took place shire-wide from Eganstown to Clunes, and from Daylesford to Kingston.

Daylesford Macedon Tourism is asking local business owners, tourism operators and community members to complete a short survey to help identify opportunities for their new Destination Management Plan.

This project is designed to ensure a more unified and resilient visitor economy as the Daylesford Macedon Ranges region settles into a recovery and growth phase over the next five years.

Those who complete the survey go into the draw to win a Cliffy’s Emporium voucher. 

The survey closes tomorrow 6pm on Sunday 7 May. Complete the survey now.

Click on the link below…

https://www.podbean.com/ew/pb-kqaqs-13fe763

The Hepburn Shire Council is running a public survey in an effort to understand how shire residents are using their bins.

The council hopes to find out if locals are recycling carefully, how full their bins are when they put them out for collection, what they’re actually doing with food scraps and whether they’re visiting transfer stations.

These questions and more are hoped to help reveal what information people need, and options to make improvements to resource recovery and waste management in the shire. 

Residents are being encouraged to complete a short survey on waste, shedding some light on their attitudes and habits in relation to recycling, organics and rubbish disposal. 

The council says “it’s important that we hear from a broad range of community members to understand how you are using local services from kerbside collections through to transfer stations”.  

Complete the survey now!

Work has been underway in Creswick in recent days to clear silt and debris from Creswick Creek, with more work along the creek planned in coming weeks.

Some vegetation has been removed to allow easier flow of water and to reduce the build-up of silt in the creek bed, the Hepburn Shire Council has reported.

Over the coming weeks work will focus on the section of creek between the Midland Highway and Water Street, and from the Clunes-Creswick Road downstream towards the Nuggety Gully Creek junction. The council says it will also slightly raise the low section of levy bank in that area and clear out a section of Nuggety Gully Creek near the entry to Creswick Holiday Park.

The council is continuing to work with the Creswick Community Recovery Committee, along with North Central Catchment Management Authority and the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action on emergency preparation and recovery, and clean up of other waterways around Creswick.

Australia is still enduring one of its most acute shortages of skilled tradespeople on record according to a senior economist with the Housing Industry Association.

“The HIA Trades Report for the March Quarter 2023 reveals Australia is still enduring one of its most acute shortages of skilled tradespeople on record,” said HIA Senior Economist Tom Devitt.

The latest Housing Industry Association Trades Report released last Friday April 28, provides a quarterly review of the availability of skilled trades and demand pressures on trades operating in the residential building industry.
 
“The Report’s Trades Availability Index registered -0.75 for the March Quarter 2023, compared to 0.90 a year earlier,” Mr Devitt said.
 
“This still represents one of the most acute shortages of skilled tradespeople since HIA started this Report in 2003.
 
“The shortages are particularly acute in Australia’s regions and in trades like bricklaying, carpentry and roofing.
 
“As more workers arrive from overseas, home building and renovations timelines that have blown out during the pandemic will shrink. The demand for and the supply of skilled tradespeople will approach equilibrium again.

“The rate of increase in the price of trades already appears to be moderating.
 
“The rates paid for skilled trades were increasing at 7.5 per cent per year during the pandemic, compared to just 2 per cent per year before the pandemic. The last three quarters have seen this rate moderate, with the price of trades even declining by 0.03 per cent in the most recent quarter.
 
“As the volume of work currently underway remains large, the effects of consecutive rate hikes by the RBA have yet to reach the Index.
 
“It is anticipated that the RBA’s actions to date will result in a more significant easing of the shortage of trades later this year, as well as some more declines in the prices of trades.
 
“The current pipeline is progressively being completed, with an increasing number of projects being cancelled. The number of new projects commencing construction is also set to fall to its lowest level in over a decade.
 
“This will see the volume of homes under construction shrink and demand for skilled trades fall,” Mr Devitt said.