Agriculture

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Wednesday, 30 April 2025

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Agriculture

Local breeders added to Jersey honour board

A Shady Creek farmer is one of two Jersey farmers to be added to the Jersey Australia Master Breeder honour board. And, Jersey Australia also announced a Poowong North breeder as it “emerging breeder.“Trevor Saunders and Anthea Day’s Araluen Park...

Exhibitiors continue Jersey fair tradition

The Central Gippsland Jersey Breeders Club held its 63rd Jersey Fair at the Warragul Showgrounds last Tuesday. More than 100 immaculately presented Jersey cows were exhibited from across Victoria and southern New South Wales. The fair was attended by...

The buck stops here

Owners or persons in charge of livestock have a responsibility for ensuring the health and welfare needs of their livestock and animals are met. Agriculture Victoria program manager of livestock and welfare compliance Veronica Campbell said this...

Angus breed dominates steer trial

Angus steers dominated the 2024 Lardner Park steer trial, taking out the awards in all classes. Thirty beef producers were represented in the 49th steer trial with 89 steers being assessed for their live weight gain and carcass performance. At the...

Get set for tussock treatment

Serrated tussock has infested more than 250,000 hectares of land in Victoria, and has caused great damage to agriculture and native grasslands. Now is a good time to inspect your property for serrated tussock, with increased plant visibility due to...

Thinking of keeping backyard chooks?

Chickens can be a great addition to your home, filling various roles such as producing eggs, fertilising gardens, eating your food scraps, plus being a pet and providing companionship for the family. The most trouble-free chickens to purchase are...

Top performing ryegrass varieties identified

Australia’s top performing ryegrass varieties of 2025 have been identified with the newly updated release of Dairy Australia’s Forage Value Index (FVI), just in time to help Australian dairy farmers make more informed decisions when choosing...

Inaugural award presented at annual ASH branch show

West Gippsland Australian Stock Horse branch held its annual show on March 8 and 9 at Garfield North equestrian grounds. Three rings ran continuously during the weekend giving competitors plenty of opportunity to display the ability of their...

How to attract and retain farm staff

Attracting suitable staff members – and keeping them – can be a difficult problem for many farm businesses. Over three free workshops in the latest Business of Farming series, the tables are turned slightly and it’s the employers who are invited...

Preparing to dry off your cows

Drying cows off can be done in different ways, with the aims being to give the udder tissue time to repair and rejuvenate before calving, treat any underlying infections in the udder and reduce the risk of new udder infections during the dry period...

Netting fence to protectfrom dam pollution

Constructing a netting fence above your dam can reduce the amount of organic material entering during and after a storm. Agriculture Victoria land management extension officer Clem Sturmfels said while thunderstorms could produce needed runoff, they...

Worm burdens - is the time right to strike?

Cast your mind back to recent years, the relatively wet summers of 2021-23 led to high worm burdens in your livestock. This summer we experienced a burst of early rain in December that may have reduced the effectiveness of an early summer...

Bragging rights for proud per owners

Success of the inaugural pet show at last year’s Warragul Show will see the event return to Saturday’s program of events this year. The initiative aims to encourage young people to get involved in the show. For those who may not have farm animals to...

Ask questions before upgrading equipment

Seasonal conditions have led to a shortage of stock water across most of Victoria which has renewed interest in constructing farm dams, and the addition of pumps, bores, tanks, troughs and piping. Farmers are advised to ask some important questions...

Maintain cover to protect soils

Isolated dust storms recently are a reminder of how fragile some of our soils are. They are also a good reminder there is still time to prevent this damage by de-stocking more vulnerable areas of the farm. While dust storms contain mostly mineral...

Get it right - is it fit to load?

It’s important to remember, if you are the person in charge of an animal it is your responsibility for its welfare. Community values and expectations will not accept anything less. It always pleases me when someone reaches out to ask, ‘is this...

Meat and greet at annual conference

The Gippsland Red Meat Conference is back for 2025 with the theme of: Now. Next. Later. Agriculture Victoria agriculture services director Kate Linden said the theme encouraged farmers to ask themselves when it comes to making improvements on their...

Dry days

by Keith Anderson Well, it is summer! But the West Gippsland area’s brown and yellow countryside tells a story of an unusual dry stretch across the region. January was the sixth successive month that rainfall was well down on the 115-year average...

Feed test for quality

Farmers looking to buy in feed due to poor pasture growth are encouraged to do a feed test to ensure fodder meets their livestock’s needs. Agriculture Victoria livestock industry development officer Hannah Manning said comparing the quality and price...