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Archives for May 2018

Innovative Grazing Network – Neighbours Unite

Jaime · May 14, 2018 · Leave a Comment

The Innovative Grazing Network allows local graziers to collaborate, learn and share ideas. Contact juliane.kasiske@reefcatchments.com if you are interested.

Neighbours Unite

Reef Catchments Regional Landcare Facilitator, Juliane Kasiske, and NQ Dry Tropics’ Lisa Hutchinson, collaborated to bring a local ‘Beef Day’ to those that could not make it to ‘Beef Week’.

Presentations on biosecurity, drones, soil health, and strengthening the local grazing community attracted 24 farmers, community group members, and industry representatives.

They day was held at the Nyoola grazing property near Bowen.

What would life be like as a bacteria?

The event started with informative shed talks and, just for something different a role play facilitated by agricultural ecologist, David Hardwick. This activity asked the interested participants to imagine what life would be like if you were a plant, or maybe a bacteria. Imagine soil, its inhabitants and what their relationships would be like and have been for millions of years. For a plant to live it needs water, sunlight, C02 and nutrients and through natural processes it has been able to harness the essential elements to life. David’s role play highlighted that a plant can not just be fed (i.e. application of nutrients) but rather its environment and relationships with soil organisms is crucial to allow the plant to take up nutrients that have undergone natural processes to become available (i.e. soluble).

Drone excitement

Whitsunday Regional Council excited attendees with a drone demonstration, and Whitsunday Landcare contributed their vast plant knowledge during the paddock walk. The functions of UAV/drones were explored, including how drones can assist in mapping and treating weeds and how this technology can add value to your farming business.

Reef Catchments’ Juliane Kasiske said allowing graziers the time to network, collaborate and view new ideas was essential.

“This fosters connections, and helps drive innovation. It’s a chance to come together and connect around information that can be used in property management and change.”

She said the event was also beneficial to community groups.

“The get-together enabled members of community networks to raise awareness about their activities, and potentially expand their membership – for example Simon Mattsson, cane farmer and Chairman of the farmer-driven soil health group, Central Queensland Soil Health Systems.”

If you are a landholder or member of a community group and would like to receive invitation to future Reef Catchments events, please contact media@reefcatchments.com

Here is a drone demonstration of the upcoming Freckle Farm Tour. Click here for details and to RSVP.

This event was proudly supported by Reef Catchments through funding from the Australian Government National Landcare Programme, and with support from event partners NQ Dry Tropics.

Grazing Forum 2018 – Prize Winners announced!

Jaime · May 9, 2018 · Leave a Comment

WINNERS! Thanks to support from local businesses, participants in the Mackay Innovative Grazing Forum 2018 who provided valuable feedback and insight were in the running to win some great prizes.

Reef Catchments is delighted to announce the lucky 2018 winners are:

Taskforce Weed Management pack – Travis Parry
Valued at $820, with thanks to Farm HQ and Reef Catchments

Ruminant Nutrition Information Pack – Sharna Paton
Valued at $550, with thanks to Resource Consulting Services (RCS)

Granular Products – Tanya Baillie
Valued at $400, with thanks to Granular Products

Akubra – Robyn Brown
Valued at $180, with thanks to McKays Solicitors

PCL Nursery (20 trees) – Rodney Wright
Valued at $60, with thanks to Pioneer Catchment Landcare

Weed Books – Trevor Post
Valued at $35, with thanks to Mackay Regional Pest Management Group/ Pioneer Catchment Landcare

Freckle Farm shop voucher – Rod Steindl
Valued at $20, with thanks to Freckle Farm shop

Winners will be contacted directly.

From forum to farm – our graziers put learning into practice

Jaime · May 9, 2018 · Leave a Comment

Two men, Mark Oswald and Ian Brazier.
Mark Oswald and Ian Brazier enjoy this year’s grazing forum.

120 graziers, mixed operators and beef industry representatives headed to Mackay for the annual Mackay Innovative Grazing Forum in March.

Reef Catchments has hosted the grazing event for the past six years.

This year, simple science to make grazing enterprises more resilient, sustainable and efficient was the focus.

Graziers responded well, with many already actioning what they’ve learnt.

“More than 80% of our graziers said they felt inspired by what they have learned, and will be adopting the newly learned principles and practices on their own farm,” said Juliane Kasiske, event coordinator and Reef Catchments Regional Landcare Facilitator.

Terry McCosker.
Speaker, Terry McCosker, inspired many graziers to take action.

“This is fantastic news for us. A key purpose of this event is to provide information that is relevant to graziers looking to improve their practices, and think a bit more about the sustainability and resilience of their land and water systems.

“The forum is also a chance for graziers to let us know what they are interested in learning more about.

“This year we discovered they are keen to know more about the nutritional value of pastures, livestock diseases and how to manage them, online management tools and weed management.

“Reef Catchments will incorporate this feedback and cover these topics moving forward, so watch out for our future events!”

Juliane said she was also encouraged by the diversity of this year’s crowd.

“We had a good proportion of female graziers and younger graziers attending, which is fantastic to see,” she said.

Getting the word out.

The day was followed by a grazing field day with Dr Terry McCosker at a Mount Ossa property with high soil carbon. Terry led the group through a soil health assessment, helping them to figure out which weeds indicate acidity and or high nitrates and to understand what your weeds can tell you.

Grazier’s responses and learnings from the day included:

“I’ll be moving my herd around more frequently now I chose my purely on data genetics.” – Chris Smythe

“I will be paying more attention to growing phases of grass and grazing accordingly. Also looking at weeds differently eg. weeds are plants and may have a viable function so look at how and where they grow to gain a better understanding of soil health.” – Elizabeth West

(Practices / principles I’d consider) “Monitoring grasses more closely when deciding when to rotate paddocks. Looking into having cattle in larger mobs to allow better rotation/use of country.” – Shanara Paton

(Planning to) “Apply some of Terry McCosker’s grazing principles, and tighten up calving spread and think more about bull selection after John Bertram’s presentation. Will look at gully erosion. The forum is informative, always good events.” – Jane Lindner

(Enjoyed) “Terry McCosker’s presentation especially explaining grazing pastures and controlled mating cattle, he explained it all very well. I will be trying to graze my paddocks better for the desirables and not worry so much about the undesirables, and also I can see the advantages of a 60 day mating period.” – Bruce Oxenbridge

“We have already since the forum implemented a change to our grazing rotation guided by the information about adapting to what the pasture is doing. We have also put together a plan for managing our creek banks in some high steam flow flooding areas to better prepare for high rainfall events.” – Travis Parry

The forum and field day are Reef Catchments events, funded through the Australian Government National Landcare Program (forum) and the Queensland Government Natural Resource Management Investment Program (field day).

If you’d like to receive future invitations to landholder events, please email media@reefcatchments.com

Project Catalyst Video 2018 Forum

diana · May 9, 2018 · Leave a Comment

Reef Catchments and growers in the Mackay Whitsunday region are part of Project Catalyst – a leading sugar innovation program. Watch this video to find out more. This video features numerous interviews with growers who discuss questions such as new innovation including drones, succession plans, and the importance of technology. This Project Catalyst 2018 Forum was held in Townsville and was attended by growers from all over Queensland. The forum provided growers with the chance to mix with others and to discuss common problems and innovations.

Tour of eco-friendly farm

diana · May 8, 2018 · Leave a Comment

Freckle Farm tour.
Join us for the Freckle Farm tour from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on May 25 where you can see, first hand, how local farmers produce eco-friendly, chemical free, and hormone free produce. The tour will include a drone demonstration and lunch is free, but bring your own chair.

Landholders, Rob Bauman and Deb McLucas began Freckle Farm with a few hens and pigs and over the years the set-up grew. Today they have a sustainable farming system where they have a mission to educate, connect, and inspire everyone in the farming, food, and local community space.

The tour will provide an opportunity to ask Deb and Rob all about soil health, biosecurity, branding and marketing. Please RSVP to Deb Wilkinson.

Please read the flyer for additional information.

Community responds in a big way! Operation Target Tilapia

diana · May 1, 2018 · Leave a Comment

Man, little boy, and fish.
Eager anglers – Tim and Bowen Ey pulled up a catfish at Operation Target Tilapia.

Native vs. pest fish – Operation Target Tilapia at Mackay Gooseponds

The ‘cane toad’ of Queensland’s waters was the target for eager young anglers at a recent family fishing event designed to raise awareness of what’s happening in our waterways.

Community response to Operation Target Tilapia was overwhelming with 300 people of all ages flocking to the Mackay Gooseponds to take part.

The Reef Catchments event was funded through the Australian Government’s National Landcare Program.

Eight Tilapia were caught and recorded, with prizes awarded as part of the day’s fishing competition. Congratulations go to Jack Bennett for first Tilapia caught and for the most Tilapia caught. Ashley Carter scooped the pool by catching the biggest Tilapia.

Tilapia are known as the ‘cane toad’ of the water due to their capacity to dominate the aquatic ecosystem, knocking out our natives.

Reef Catchments event coordinator, Cass Hayward, said it was time to set the score straight.

“We want our native fish to thrive and flourish in healthy local waterways. This event is designed to help people better understand how to identify pest fish and the impact they have on our aquatic ecosystems,” she said.

“As part of the day’s activities, we tagged and released 250 baby barramundi, which are a natural predator able to withstand the Tilapia species.

“As well as being a fun day out, this event helps our local community learn more about what they can do to protect our waterways from invasive species and stop the spread of pest fish.

“It’s the first time the event has been held since 2015 – it got a great response then, and we are very excited to see it back this year!”

This event was run in conjunction with a wide range of community groups, business and sponsors who provided their time and energy – a truly collaborative event. A big thanks to:

BCF Mackay
Blue River Mackay Lions
Catchment Solutions
Compleat Angler
Cruise Whitsunday
Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority
Mackay Area Fish Stocking Association
Mackay Christian College
Mackay Local Marine Advisory Committee (LMAC)
Mackay Recreational Fishing Alliance
Mackay Regional Council
Mackay Regional Pest Management Group
North Mackay Bowls Club
Pioneer Catchment Landcare
Queensland Government (Be Crocwise, Department of Environment and Science)
Southern Cross Austereo
Tackleworld Mackay

Pest fish caught on the day were counted and reported to Fisheries Queensland.

This Reef Catchments event was supported through funding from the Australian Government National Landcare Program.

Click here to view the photo gallery. 

31,000 fish all in a day’s work

diana · May 1, 2018 · Leave a Comment

Two men with a net box next to a river.Tens of thousands of fish have been recorded flowing through constructed fishways in Mackay.

Fisheries ecologists say the soaring numbers are proof the fishways are playing a vital role in providing clear passage through a formerly disconnected aquatic ecosystem.

Recent monitoring (funded by local NRM Group Reef Catchments and the Australian Government) show fish streaming through the underwater environment in droves.

The fish count is above published figures for previous fishway monitoring in the Murray and Burnett rivers, prompting researchers to ask if it could be among the highest recorded in Australia.

“The results have shown unbelievable numbers of fish migrating through the system,” said fisheries ecologist Matt Moore, from Catchment Solutions (fisheries research consultancy contracted to deliver the monitoring).

“We thought our initial catch was pretty good, with 3,653 fish recorded successfully ascending the fishway at the Mackay Gooseponds wetlands.

Evening scene of a river and embankments.“However, this was trumped the following day at the same site with over 18,000 fish captured in four hours in the morning, and over 13,000 fish in the afternoon – bringing the total to over 31,000 in 8 hours.

“This is by far the most fish we have ever recorded in any local fishway, and would be up there with the highest ever recorded in Australia that we know of – fishways in the Murray River have recorded up to 4,415 fish per day and in the Burnett River 4,500 fish per day.

“These are exciting results that demonstrate the importance of facilitating connectivity past fish barriers, particularly the first barrier located upstream from the estuary, even on small ordered streams.”

Thanks to the fishway, the Mackay Gooseponds constructed wetlands (located in the Mackay urban area) is now better connected to Janes Creek and the wider Pioneer River Basin.

Some of the species recorded included juvenile barramundi, red scat, crescent perch, sea mullet and empire gudgeon – all valuable environmental and socio-economic species.

Significantly, further monitoring at Boundary Creek wetlands captured 43 barramundi fingerlings, including the smallest barramundi ever monitored locally at 30 mm.

“These little guys must have moved out of their coastline habitats behind the mangroves and then migrated upstream to the wetland via the fishway,” Mr Moore said.

A disembodied hand next to water and plants.“This is extremely significant because small fish possess weaker swimming abilities than larger fish… at 30mm they have only just started swimming, as opposed to hitching a ride with the currents and tides prior to this”.

“This demonstrates that the fishways provide suitable conditions for weaker swimming juvenile fish species. This is great news for Queensland’s most important commercial inshore net fish species.”

Reef Catchments general manager Katrina Dent said it was essential organisations like Reef Catchments could continue to fund environmental monitoring.

“These are fantastic results that really contribute to our knowledge of the aquatic ecosystem, both in Mackay and nationally.

“Reef Catchments is pleased to have helped drive this research. These are the kind of figures we need to continue to secure funding to construct more fishways in priority areas.”

This project was supported by Reef Catchments and delivered by Catchment Solutions, through funding from the Australian Government’s National Landcare Programme.

Conservation dog sniffs out a pest!

diana · May 1, 2018 · Leave a Comment

English Springer Spaniel wearing a jacket.It’s not everyday you employ an English Springer Spaniel to tackle the big jobs.

But that’s just what Reef Catchments has done, in a win-win for the environment and local landholders.

Rocky, a specially trained conservation detector dog, has assisted Reef Catchments, Queensland National Parks, and local property owners (Mackay region) to locate fox dens throughout the Slade Point and Cape Palmerston areas.

Reef Catchments Officer, Cass Hayward said while they kept a low profile, foxes were a significant threat to the many species in our region.

“Foxes are smart, and they’re difficult to manage. They are known to prey on native birds and mammals, turtle eggs, human rubbish… anything they can get their paws on! Knowing where they den gives us the best possible chance to trap and remove the animals,” Ms Hayward said.

In just one day throughout Slade Point headland Rocky found 13 fox dens, all with multiple entrances. He also visited Cape Palmerston National Park, where rangers had noticed fox prints along the beaches.

“At the moment, we don’t think there is high density of foxes in the region. However, armed with detailed information about den locations, land managers can now carry out more effective trapping programs to protect local wildlife,” Ms Hayward said.

It’s not just foxes this clever canine can find – Rocky can locate a wide range of animals in a landscape, including dingoes and wild dogs, rabbits and even cats.

Rocky the detection dog.Rocky’s handler Tom Garrett (Queensland Murray-Darling Committee) said Rocky had assisted farmers, landholders and conservationists throughout his career, with an impressive list of achievements to his name.

“Farmers have enlisted Rocky’s help if livestock is predated, and conservation groups if native animals are declining. If a landholder has already taken control action (e.g. baited or trapped), Rocky will be able to check the impact by detecting if lairs, warrens and dens remain active,” Mr Garrett said.

“This provides a measure of success. During the 90’s in Mon Repos, Bundaberg, up to 70% of turtle populations were being lost to fox predation. Since bringing Rocky on board to help find dens, they now report no predation in that area at all.”

Rocky has also recently detected at the Mt Etna bat caves near Rockhampton, home to the endangered ghost bat (Macroderma gigas).

“There are plenty of signs of foxes in the area, but not in the bat cave itself. What you often see is foxes eat all the other food and small mammals that would generally support our natives, which can also knock populations down,” Mr Garrett said.

He said foxes could often be present in areas people didn’t suspect, including urban and peri-urban environments, as they only require a den in the breeding season and otherwise freely move about.

Ms Hayward said the success of the project in the Mackay region had been thanks to the willingness of local landholders, QLD National Parks, QLD Bulk Ports and the Mackay Regional Council.

“Without their assistance and permission for Rocky to detect on their land, we wouldn’t have been able to gain this level of insight into local fox activity,” she said.

For more information, please contact Cass Hayward at Reef Catchments on cass.hayward@reefcatchments.com or (07) 4968 4206.

If you are interested in engaging Rocky, please contact Tom Garrett from the Queensland Murray-Darling Committee or 0427 291 155.

This project was supported by Reef Catchments, through funding from the Australian Government’s National Landcare Program.

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