Member Groups; The Lismore Land Protection Group, Weering-Eurack Landcare Group, Leslie Manor Landcare Group, Cundare Duverney Landcare Group, Weerite Landcare Group & Mount Elephant Community Management
Mid-Season Nitrogen Applications
Wet Autumn, Dry(ish) Winter; What’s with the Season?
Want to plant a few native trees and shrubs this year?
Revegetation Sites For 2017 – Are You Ready?
Last Call for Revegetation Plantings in 2018 & 2019
Demonstrate your support for the LLPG
Coming up
Lismore Land Protection Group Annual General Meeting
6:30pm Thursday 10th August Lismore Hotel
Mount Elephant Community Annual General Meeting
6:30 pm Tuesday 15th August Mount Elephant Visitor Centre
Mount Elephant open day
Open every Sunday from 1pm to 4pm
Lismore Land Protection Group Annual General Meeting Lismore Hotel Thursday 10th August
6:30pm AGM, election of office bearers
7:15pm Dinner
8:15pm Guest Speaker Chris Pitfield, keen bird watcher who also works on strategy and climate change at Corangamite CMA, will discuss changes in patterns of bird species and numbers across the region and why these have occurred. All Welcome! Please RSVP to Shari or Rod by Tuesday 8th Aug.
Mount Elephant Community ManagementAGM 6:30pm Tue. 15th Aug
Mt Elephant Visitor Centre
Followed by dinner and guest speaker Bill Weatherly on “Bringing back the banksias”
More info Val Lang 55 962014
Demonstrate your support for the LLPG
Like many community groups in rural areas, it is often left to a dedicated few to take up positions as office bearers and committee members. The LLPG, like many other local groups relies on these few, and without their dedication would not exist. While we have great support for our on-ground projects and attendance at community events, these could not occur without the efforts and support of the committee.
Through the LLPG there has been considerable landscape change over the 25 years or so it has been in existence, with extensive planting of native trees and shrubs and fencing of waterways. With the pulling back of services from bodies such as Department of Primary Industries, it is left to groups like the LLPG and other landcare groups to champion issues such as weeds or rabbits locally. The LLPG and its’ partnering landcare groups also represent local interests in matters such as Regional Waterway Strategies, Regional Catchment Management Strategies and on committees related to issues such as weeds.
So please demonstrate your support for the LLPG by coming to our AGM and perhaps consider becoming a member of the committee. Chris Pitfield is sure to be an entertaining guest speaker, discussing how the species and numbers of birds in our area have changed over time, and how our revegetation plantings and a changing climate have contributed to this.
Mid-Season Nitrogen Applications
With soils throughout the district at or near saturation, it may be challenging to apply mid-season nitrogen to crops without losing it either through runoff or via denitrification (which occurs when nitrogen is applied to a saturated soil low in oxygen, then converts to a gas and lost to the atmosphere). Currently almost any reasonable rain event is likely to generate runoff. If nitrogen is applied just prior to that rain, it is likely the nitrogen will dissolve and runoff into waterways and lakes where it will contribute to algal blooms come summer.
Monitoring of waterways over the last couple of years found significant amounts of mid-season nitrogen applications leaving paddocks, even though we had fairly dry springs with very little runoff. Much of that “lost” nitrogen was dissolved in the “first flush event”, or the initial runoff from the paddock.
There is no easy answer to preventing nitrogen losses, but there are some actions you can take to minimise the risk of losing it (and your money).
Be patient. If paddocks are wet, you have until booting / flag leaf stage to apply nitrogen. Wait until the paddocks have dried out somewhat. This will create some storage space in the soil for the rainfall to infiltrate into, and take the dissolved nitrogen into the soil where it will be available to the crop. If the soil profile is already saturated, either denitrification will occur, or any rain that falls will runoff, taking any applied nitrogen with it. If your crop is showing early nitrogen deficiency consider applying nitrogen in split applications to minimise risk of losses.
Although it may be difficult, try not to apply nitrogen if heavy rain is forecast to reduce the risk of it running off. You want some rain, but not too much.
Denitrification losses can be reduced by using certain forms of nitrogen fertiliser or inhibitors. Although more costly, they may actually save you money.
Want to plant a few native trees & shrubs this year? Thanks to a $1000 grant from the Corangamite Shire Environmental Fund we are having our community tree giveaway again to encourage the planting of tree and shrub species native to the Victorian Volcanic Plains. The grant enables us to provide small numbers of tubestock, (about 10 to 100) to plant in and around gardens and properties to attract birds, bees and insects, and help preserve and increase biodiversity. To participate, you must be within the Corangamite Shire. Tubestock will be here in late August – September, so if you are interested please let us know.
Revegetation Sites For 2017 – Are You Ready?
For participants in this year’s revegetation plantings, the tubestock will be here around end of August. Are you ready with your sites sprayed, disced, mounded and fenced? Guards and stakes are in and can be picked up.
Please let us know when you will want your tubestock for planting so we can arrange deliveries from OZ trees.
Last Call for Revegetation Plantings in 2018 & 2019
If you are interested in tubestock for establishing shade and shelterbelts in 2018 or 2019 please contact Rod ASAP. To participate, you will need to register an expression of interest by 10th Aug! Thanks to the many that have already registered.
Wet Autumn, Dry(ish) Winter; What’s with the Season?
While here in the south we are battling the challenges of what seems to be a wet Winter, you don’t have to go too far north and the circumstances are markedly different. Locally, our circumstances are moreso the result of the wettest April on record and a fairly wet May. However these were followed by a very dry June.
The heavy Autumn rainfall filled soil profiles, which have more or less remained full since. Winter water use by crops and pastures is very low, and evaporation almost neglible, so any rainfall received since May has been enough to keep the soils fairly wet.
But, just north of the Dividing Range and across much of South Australia, NSW, Queensland and Western Australia it is a very different story. For the 3 month period 1st May to 31st July, large areas received decile 2 or 3 rainfall (including here), and significant areas received either decile 1 or their lowest rainfall on record.
What’s driving these dry conditions?
The subtropical ridge (STR) is the latitude line where the tropical high pressure systems normally sit across central and northern Australia.
During summer the STR and the high pressure systems are usually centred to the south, across the Great Australian Bight where they bring warmer, more stable conditions across southern Australia and block the northward movement of low pressure systems. This also suppresses the northward penetration of cold fronts onto the mainland, resulting in higher temperatures and reduced rainfall in the south of the continent.
In Winter the STR and high pressure systems are generally centred further north, about or above the latitude of the South Australian and Northern territory border. This allows low pressure systems and associated cold fronts to penetrate further north, into southern Australia, bringing cooler conditions, more south westerly winds, and rainfall across southern Australia.
If you watch weather charts, you may have noticed that this year, the high pressure systems (and STR) have not moved north and have mostly remained centred over southern Australia for much of winter and blocking the northward penetration of cold fronts. This has resulted in low winter rainfall and contributed to occurrence of frosts (as the calm “centre” of the high pressure system passes over with little to no cloud cover at night). Whats to come this year? Currently the indicators (southern oscillation index, sea surface temperatures, trade winds and cloudiness), models and predictions for Spring are pointing to neutral conditions in regard to the occurrence of an El Nino. Similarly conditions in the Indian Ocean are “neutral.” (meaning a drought is unlikely). However, the models do predict that is fairly likely that rainfall for the next 3 months is expected to be below long term average. Meanwhile temperatures are expected to very likely be above the long term average, which will increase water demand by crops and pastures.
But, a word of caution. The modelling and predictions may not take into account what happens if in Spring, the STR stays positioned in the south as it has been over recent months and continues to block the cold fronts. And in the longer term……
In the longer term, there are some warning signals here for the future. As the climate continues to warm, the (colder) south pole will warm much faster than at the equator, which will reduce the temperature differential or gradient between the south pole and the equator. This will allow the tropical high pressure system to expand and cause the STR to be centred further south for more of the year (similar to present conditions), resulting in reduced winter rainfall.
While this year, locally many are glad to see a drier winter this may not always be the case, as in future years we are unlikely to have such an exceptionally wet April to set the winter up. Also we don’t really know what the Spring holds for us for this year, particularly if the STR stays positioned in the south, and doesn’t move northwards soon.
Lismore Land Protection Group
19 High Street (PO Box 28) Lismore, Victoria 3324 Ph: 03 5596 2384 Landcare Facilitators:
Rod Eldridge: 0458 390146 email: llpgrod@westnet.com.au Shari McConachy 0409 070089 email: llpgsharim@westnet.com.au Find us on the Landcare Gateway here
