regional director’s report - futurebeef · • managing self, developing and retaining others....

Barkly House 1st Flr 99 Paterson St PO Box 159, Tennant Creek NT 0861 Fax: 08 8962 4480 ISSN: 1325-9539

CONTENTS • Equine

Influenza – NT Status Update

• LWG Project Update

• AussieGRASS rainfall predictions

• NAMS

• BLCA Updates

• Parkinsonia project

MARCH 2008
Early Eradication of Horse Flu from Australian horses!
Due to the continued vigilance and hard work of Australian horse owners and industry, private veterinarians, and authorities we ma y see equine influenza (EI) eradicated from the Australian hor se population as earl y as the end of March 2008. No new cases have be en reported since December 22 which indicates there is little or no act ive infection and the disease is dyin g out. Eradication is de pendent on no new cases presentin g, continued biosecurity practices, and adherence to movement restrictions. Surveillance to conf irm Australia’s ‘EI Free’ stat us is still un derway in Queensland, with New South Wale s recently declared EI Free. Move ment restrictions on horses between infected and non-infected states are currently being reviewed and conditions for movement are likely to be reduced in the immediate future. IT IS STILL ESSENTIAL TO REP ORT ANY SUS PECT HORSES TO YOUR L OCAL DPIF M BIOSECURITY OR VET.

Regional Director’s Report

The year has got off to a fly ing start and s eems to h ave shot out to March at a cracking pace! The wet se ason thus far has been extremely disappointing to say t he very lea st. Accor ding to the Bu reau of M eterology most rec ording centres in our ar ea h ave receiv ed le ss tha n half of t heir long term rainfall average. Pre dictions for the re mainder of the wet season are more than varied. Check out the AussieGRASS liftout in this edition of the Barkly Beef for the latest past ure growth maps and predictions for the Barkly region. This week sees the Tennant Creek DPIFM office pre paring for the annuConsulations. Ov er 70 inv itations have been circulated across the Barkattend the meeting on Wednesday the 19th of March at the Barkly Ho usemeetings are inte nded to prov ide a forum where se nior ma nagemeimportant f eedback on ho w DPI FM can a ddress our client serv ice reqissues in the region. This re laxed meeting is very valuable to the departacross a ll areas of our clie nt se rvices. This yea r the meeting will beCarroll, Director of Pastoral Production Alister Trier and Director of MarkeStephen Yates. The biosecurity team has starte d the yearly trav el schedule already withBarkly in these early months of 2008. Ted Martin is currently on leave acontact for biosecurity matters until April. Harmony James retu rned from a successful trip to the Tamworth CounJanuary. Harmony was a nominee for the Best New Talent category of thIn the midst of a hectic mix of performances and media appointments, Hstill managed to have a m arvellous tim e. Harmony is har d at work fiPractice Manual which is due for publication in the near future. Sarah Sthe fort in the Pastoral Production section over the summer months and kLiveweight Gain Pr oject and he r commitments as acting regional managwe will farewell Ruth Allan who has been with the d epartment in Tennanand-a-half years. Ruth has decided to move to Longreach and will be mupdated of her adventures on the Queensland side of the border. Our ever-cheerful and super efficient Administrati on Officer Kate Rush haon. K ate has been with DPIFM for over 2 years and will be ta king up aCreek High School. Kate will be the Information Technology Manager at sure to se e Kate out and a bout in town. Hele n Kem pe continu es to mExecutive Officer basket and has been keeping us all on our toes. Helenproud owner of a thoroughbred colt who she assures us will be blitzing thin years to come. I hav e been busy atte nding me etings fro m Ali Curu ng to Darwin as wRegional Consultations. I am looking forward to catching up with many of All the best for the year to come. Paul Black Regional Director – Tennant Creek

DEPARTMENT OF PRIMARY INDUSTRY, FISHERIES AND MINES www.nt.gov.au/dpifm

al Regional Stakeholder ly region to our c lients to Conference Room. The nt pe rsonnel c an gain uirements a nd pertin ent ment’s strategic planning atten ded b y CEO Joh n ting and Communication

sev eral trips out on the nd so Tom Haines is the

try Music Festival in lat e e Golden Guitar Awards. armony assures us she

nalising the Barkly Best treet er has been holding eeping busy between the er. At the en d of March t Creek for n early three-aking sure she keeps us

s also decided to move position at th e Tennant

the High School. We are ana ge all th ings in th e

has recently become the e field at the ABC Races

ell as prepa ring for the you at the forum.

BARKLY BEEF 2

NT Liveweight Gain Project Get Your Property Involved “Potential for you to gain insight into factors affecting your herd’s growth performance” We are again calling for stations in the Tennant Creek and Barkly Region to be involved in the field s tudy component of the NT Liveweight Gain Project. We require 4 stations for our r egion to be involved in the project. One station has come on board to start this year in the 2008/2009 round, with a further 3 stations needed for the 2009/2010 round. A reminder about the objectives of the NT Liveweight Gain Project: Measurements within ext ensive NT herds show a wide vari ation in live-we ight gain in cattle grown under similar environmental conditions and without obv ious breed differences. This variation repr esents an opportunity for significa nt improvement in productivity of NT herds if changes to m anagement or better selection could lift the tail-end of the annual steer crop. How can being involved be of benefit to your business or company? We will be undergoing in depth investigations of major fa ctors affecting poor growth in cattle post-weaning, on each of the project si tes. These factors will include disease, external and internal paras ites, genetics and recover y fr om husbandry procedures at weaning. By being involved in the project, you will be provided with information on your herd relating to variability in anim al performance and the driving factors affecting poor performance, based on scientific evidence. The key objective of this project is to identify strategies to cost-effectively improving av erage herd performance by lifting the tail-en d of the steer crop. Main requirements of the project:

- 250 first-round cleanskin male weaners from one breeder paddock - Straight breed or stabilised composite breeds only - Trial weaners cannot be progeny of first-calf heifers - Access to sires of the trial weaners to collect DNA samples (tail hair) - Willing to muster trial animals o n 4 occasions (first-round wean ing 2009,

4-6 weeks after weaning, pre-wet season 2009, post-wet season 2010) If y ou are intereste d in partic ipating in the project or w ould l ike t o know m ore information please do not hesitate to contact Sarah Streeter, Beef Cattle Research Officer, DPIFM, Tennant Creek, (08) 8962 4487 or email: [email protected]

DEPARTMENT OF PRIMARY INDUSTRY, FISHERIES AND MINES BARKLY BEEF www.nt.gov.au/dpifm 3

Cattle Pregnancy Diagnosis Course The NT Rural College is seeking expressions of interest for those wanting to do a short course in cattle pregnancy diagnosis. The course is run over 2 and a half days and consideration is being given to holding the course on a property in the Barkly Region. If you would like to attend such a course in the early months of 2008, please contact Harmony James on 8962 4483 or email [email protected]. Other skills workshops available through the Rural College include ChemCert certification, basic welding, quad/motorbike operation, 4WD techniques, basic vehicle maintenance, tractor operation, stock waters maintenance, and more. Contact Brian Heim, NTRC Course Coordinator, on 8973 8311 for additional information on courses the College can offer.

After mo re than 3 years, the w ait is nearly over.

The much anticipat ed Field Guide to the Plants of the Barkly Region will be launche d at the N T Cattlemen's Associatio n Conference in Darwin on 28 March. The field guide, the first of its kind for th is region,

features 3 74 plant species found acro ss the Bar kly and in cludes notes and information on many other related species. Contact: [email protected] or phone 08 8962 4479

Jenny Purdie (pictured), Chris Materne and Andy Bubb have between them spent hun dreds of hours traipsing across paddocks, wading through creeks and water courses, and being blown about as they photographed and gathered together the samples and specimens that make up this book. The field gu ide has bee n funded through the Nationa l Landcare Programme, and will be available thro ugh the Barkly Landcare and Conservation Association at a cost of $35.00.

Barkly Flora Guide on the way!

DEPARTMENT OF PRwww.nt.gov.au/dpifm

IMARY INDUSTRY, FISHERIES AND MINE

Staff at Mittiebah get the feel for cattle pregnancy diagnosis.

S BARKLY BEEF 4


Looking for recognition of your skills or to improve your career prospects? Perhaps you should cons ider studyin g from home via distance learning. Rangelands Australia offers Australia’s on ly post-graduate coursework programs in Rangeland Management. The programs have been designed to fit in with your work and family commitments. Courses on offer include: • Sustainable rangeland production systems and regions. • Global and national trends, local scenarios. • Grazing land management. • Building effective stakeholder engagements. • Animal nutrition and behaviour. • Diversification and new industries. • Property, catchment and regional planning. • Managing self, developing and retaining others. Currently there are about 40 st udents studying thes e courses, with ages rangin g from 25 to 65. Over half are ow ners or m anagers of pastoral properties . Other students include landcare or NRM facilitators, agency staff, consultants, training providers, etc. The c ourses hav e the support of MLA, CS IRO and the National Landcare Program. How can I enrol? What support can I get? There are several pathways for entry to the programs – even if you’ve never been to university. Many producers enter via Recognition of Prior Learning which can be granted for things s uch as y our work history, courses you have done in the past (e.g. Grazing for Profit etc) a nd active involvement in industr y bodies, committees etc. People with an existing bachelor degree can enter directly at the Graduate Certificate level, or at the Graduat e Diploma or Masters level with appropriate RPL. If you’re worried about w hether you are ready for further study, Rangelands Australia has devel oped a “Getting into Further Study” short course to help you get off on the right foot. The programs are Commonwealt h Supported which m eans that eligible students from remote/rural areas pay significantly reduced tuition fees (u sually less than half price). So that you’re not alone during your st udies, Rangelands Australia has engaged a group of “Rangeland Champions” to assist students in each ran gelands State and Territory. Richard and Dionne Walsh (bas ed in Katherine) c an provide phone support for things such as study skills, assignments and general motivation! Enrolments for Semester 2 2008 are due in early J uly. If you are interested in finding out more or need help to prepare a RPL application, please don’t hesitate to call Richar d or Dionne Walsh on 08 8972 3316. Alt ernatively, you can c all John Taylor, the Director of Rangelands Australia on 07 5460 1662 or 0429 725 838.

Barkly Landcare Welcomes New Team Member The Barkl y Landcar e and Co nservation Association recentl y w elcomed Naomi Wilson to the role of Weed Management Project Manager working on the Georgina River Parkinsoni a project. Though originally from s outh-east Queensland, Naomi has spent most of her time in Victoria. Before moving to Tennant Creek where she is now primarily based, Naomi spent 10 years with the Victorian Department of Primary Industries. After moving to regional Victoria in 1997, Naomi began studying for Di ploma of Natural Resource Management. It was through this course that she gained her first role with DPI (then the Department of Natural Resources and En vironment) as a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) officer. Transferring to and completing a Bachelor of Applied Science – Environmental Science, Naomi c ontinued to grow her knowledge in environmental management both through her studies and practical experience in the workplace. Naomi comes to the BLCA with experienc e in a number areas including salinity, erosion and native vegetat ion management with a primar y focus on weed and pest management and underpinned by extens ive ex perience with s patial information systems. She has worked on a range of p rojects in Victor ia from field survey and monitoring and improving t he deliv ery of operational pr ograms to the strategic planning and development of the Victorian gov ernment’s weed a nd pest management policy and programs. While Naomi will be based in Tennant Creek, much of her time will be spent in the Georgina River Catchment working with 12 pastoral properties, NRETA weed staff and counterparts in Queensland on a Parkinsonia management project. The projec t will involve surveying the pr oject area for infestations, developing property weed management plans and implementing control programs. The project will also include a number of workshops aimed at improving the capacity of pastoralists to manage prickle bush weeds such as Parkinsonia into the future. Naomi is looking for ward to getting a tast e of true Territory living while taking advantage of this spectacular landsca pe to work on her s kills as a budding photographer and painter. For more information regarding the Georgina River Parkinsonia project, contact Naomi on: Ph. (08) 8962 4494 Fax. (08) 8962 2280 [email protected] See article about the parkinsonia trial on following page.


mailto:[email protected]

Tackling Parkinsonia on the Eastern Barkly - Protecting the Lake Eyre Basin

Parkinsonia is a real problem for pastoralists on the Barkly Tablelands. A weed of national significance, it currentl y infe sts over 1 million hectares of land across Australia including the Barkl y and has the potential to invade a significantl y greater area and threatens national assets such as Lake Eyre. Parkinsonia degrades t he value of the land it infests both environme ntally and economically, having serious impacts on the productivity of pastoral en terprises. Forming i mpenetrable thickets primarily along (but not limited to ) waterways, parkinsonia reduces stock access to water and hinders a ctivities such as musterin g while reducing native and pasture grass species.

Recognising this significant threat, the Barkly Landcare and Conservation Asso ciation (BLCA) has teamed up with local pastoralists on the NT-Qld border, Desert Ch annels Queensland an d NRETA in a whole-of-catchment, cross borde r approach to strategically manage p arkinsonia in the Georgina River cat chment. T he Georgina Catchment Strategic Parkinsonia Management Project will work over the next 12 months to build partne rships and improve the capacity of landholders to manage parkinsonia in the upper reaches of the Georgina Catchment for the long term through the adoption of sustainab le practices.

While the project will focus on the upper reaches of the Georgina River catchment, its impact will

be felt more broadly. Not only does the project compliment Centralian Land Management

Association (CLMA) work in the eastern Georgina Sandover sub-catchment, but it will also strategically align to the DCQ Reclaim the Bush – a Pest Offensive, Strategic Woody Weed Control – Parkinsonia project currently targeting parkinsonia downstream near Urandanji.

The Georgina catchment is lo cated upstream of Lake Eyre which has been identifie d as an area of significan t conservation value an d an urgent priority for protection against the invasion o f parkinsonia with the n ational strategic pla n fo r parkinsonia. This proje ct will contribute to th e protection of this national asset.

There are three ma in components to this National Landcare Program (NLP) funded project tha t will consolidate an d build on previous smaller-scale parkinsonia management activities. The first addresses th e need for useful info rmation to support managemen t process. Parkinsonia density an d distributio n mapping for the Barkly is patchy at best with outdated information in some areas while others have no inf ormation at all. In add ition, existing data has be en captured and is he ld by a range of different land managers using differen t formats and has not before b een brought together to form one consistent or complete map layer.

The project will bring t ogether existing data for the project area and fill the gaps in information through an aerial survey to be fl own in late February to early March. The aerial survey will apply an NRETA de veloped technique for mapping prickle bush species with the support of NRETA Weed Management staff.

The second component of the proj ect will wor k with pastor alists to a pply this data in th e development and implementation of an in itial control pro gram that will see station staff working alo ngside project and NRETA staff to treat parkinsonia acr oss 35,000 km2 of the catchment.

In the fina l component, pastoralists will be supported in the development of strategic, long-term parkinsonia management plans incorporating best practice managemen t approaches. These pla ns will al ign to Territory and National action plans and will link properties


across the catchment, recognisin g that each property must be managed in the context of the entire landscape and catchment.

A number of workshops will be run throughout the project aimed at in creasing the capacity of pastoral land holders and their staff to effectively manage parkinsonia. Participants will ga in a range of skills from capturing appropriate weed information in the field to developing strategic NRM management plans.

Special focus will be placed on increasing th e knowledge of parkinso nia biology, identificatio n and best practice contr ol techniqu es amongst pastoral property staff. One of the key limiting factors in o ngoing parkinsonia and other prickle bush speci es management is the ability of landholders and their staff to identify and distinguish native and introduced prickle bush species. This proje ct will go some way to addressing this issue on the Barkly.

Many of the skill s gained will be directly transferable to the management of other natural resource issues and assets, the project potentially impacting beyond the management of parkinsonia.

Starting in January 200 8 the project will run for 12 months t o December with regula r updates of activities and achievements throug h the course of the year. A full evaluation will b e conducted to gain a be tter understanding of th e true short-term impacts, values and learnin g’s of t he project. The results of this evaluation and the final achie vements of the proj ect will b e available in a report due to be available in December 2008.

For further information on the Georgina Catchment Strategic Parkinsonia Management Project, please contact the project manager Naomi Wilson on (08) 8962 4494 or at [email protected].

******************************************

ATTENTIONAll Budding Photographers

Call for photos to be included in theBarkly Best Practice Manual

Here’s your chance to have your high quality photos of station life in the Barkly region published in a forthcoming DPIFM publication

Images needed include:

• Aerial photos of stock / yards • Various classes of Cattle • Horses • Working Dogs • Bores • Roads

• Fences • Stock handling procedures • Weeds • Fire • Hay / Hay making • Feral animals

Please send photos and the accurate details of the photographer for photo credits to: [email protected]

or call: 08 8962 4483

DEPARTMENT OF PRIMARY INDUSTRY, FISHERIES AND MINES BARKLY BEEFwww.nt.gov.au/dpifm 8



AussieGRASS – February 2008 Update

AussieGRASS is a valuable tool that can assist land managers to make well informed decisions on their property. It is a spatial modelling framework that estimates pasture growth and total standing dry matter over a give time period, and compares this with historical records. It does this by using rainfall, climate, soil and pasture type information to estimate average pasture growth over 5km x 5km square grids across Australia. For more information about AussieGRASS see http://www.longpaddock.qld.gov.au/ or view these maps along with numerous other valuable model outputs and production statistics on the new interactive National Agricultural Monitoring System (NAMS) website http://www.nams.gov.au/. Past Pasture Growth Relative to Historical Records since 1957

Figure 1: Past 6 Months Figure 2: Past 12 Months (1st September 2007 to 31st February 2008) (1st March 2007 to 31st February 2008)

Legend Figure 1 indicates that over the past six months, below to extremely low pasture growth (yellow & orange) has occurred across the majority of the bottom two thirds of the NT extending into the Barkly Tablelands, with the exception of the far south west and Tanami areas. The past 12 months modelled growth (figure 2) indicates there has been little relief for the Exceptional Circumstances declared area to the south east of Alice Springs. Areas north of Elliott and the Tanami continue to show very good growing conditions are being experienced.


http://www.longpaddock.qld.gov.au/

http://www.nams.gov.au/

Present Total Standing Dry Matter (kg/ha) as of the 31st February 2008

Total Standing Dry Matter (TSDM) is estimated by incorporating pasture carried over from previous seasons (less grazing, fire and detachment) and the current season’s pasture growth. The TSDM map to the left indicates pasture quantity varies considerable across the Mitchell grasslands of the Barkly Tablelands, from 1500kg/ha in the north west to 250kg/ha in the south east. Figure 5 represents the chance of exceeding median pasture growth over the coming three month period based on the SOI index and indicates an extremely good chance of an extended growing season north of Elliott. Figure 6 shows the level of skill or confidence in these growth predictions is exceptionally good apart from the extremely variable south eastern corner of the Alice Springs district.

Legend

Future Growth Predictions

Figure 5: Chances of exceeding Median Growth from March to May 2008

DEPARTMENT OF PRIMARY INDUwww.nt.gov.au/dpifm

Are you intIf so get in touch with Ha

Chris MatGene

http://www longpa

Legend

Legend

Figure 6: LEPS Growth Forecast Skill Based on SOI Phase 2 in February 2008 for growth from March to May 2008

PERSONALISED PROPERTY MAPS erested in detailed AussieGRASS maps for your property? rmony James DPIFM Tennant Creek (89624483) [email protected] or erne DPIFM Alice Springs (89518135) [email protected]. ral NT and Australia scale maps are available on line at:

ddock qld gov au/RainfallAndPastureGrowth/ or http://www nams gov au/
STRY, FISHERIES AND MINES 10
BARKLY BEEF




DPIFM Tennant Creek Staff List Department of Primary, Industry, Fisheries & Mines (DPIFM) Barkly House – 1st Floor 99 Paterson St PO Box 159, Tennant Creek NT 0861

REGIONAL MANAGEMENT & PRIMARY INDUSTRY Fax: 08 8962 4480

Regional Management

Regional Director Paul Black 08 8962 4485

Executive Officer Hele n Kempe 08 8962 4484

Administration Officer vacant 08 8962 4488 Animal Health

Regional Stock Inspector Ted Martin 08 8962 4490

08 89622559 (a/h)

Stock Inspector Thoma s Haines 08 8962 4458 M: 0401 113 445

Pastoral Production Beef Research Officer Sarah Streeter 08 8962 4487 Pastoral Production Technical Officer Harmony James 08 8962 4483 Pastoral Production Officer Vacant 08 8962 4493


If undelivered please return to:

Dept of Primary Industry, Fisheries and MinesPO Box 159

TENNANT CREEK NT 0861

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