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Keeping you up to date with the latest local Landcare news, events and grant opportunities. 
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KCLG Landcare eNews - Mar & Apr 2020

KCLG incorporates Landcare sub-Groups Upper Kiewa, Kergunyah-Gundowring, Kiewa-Bonegilla and independent Groups Baranduda and Yackandandah Creek.

 


Hello Landcarers,

How beautiful has that rain been for our water tanks, dams, grasses, crops, regeneration areas, the old eucalypts, gardens, our mental health! Keep an eye out in the newsletter below for Mental Health First Aid, some very timely training being offered by the NECMA. Also, Kiewa Catchment Landcare Groups is on the look out for projects that intend to adapt to the impacts of climate change. See the VLG grant opportunity for this also and click through to the Expression of Interest Form. 

The rail trail section between Osbournes Flat and Yackandandah is nearly finished, just some bridges need to be built by end of Sep 2020.  Many are taking a stroll along there to check it out and reports are good, even a koala sighting. Access it via Britton Lane at the Yackandandah end or near the Osbournes Flat Hall at that end. 


If you have something to promote such as an event, planting day or other Landcare related matter, let me know and i'll include it in the next issue.

Megan Hughes
Facilitator - Kiewa Catchment Landcare Groups
Tues, Wed & Thurs 
kiewalandcare@gmail.com 

Croak croak - what sort of frog is that? 

I have a solution to your froggy information needs. 

The Australian Museum staff have developed a FrogID app that can be used on your phone to record the croaking and/or identify frog species. So your question of, 'what frog is that?' will be answered BUT you can also add the location of your identified frog to the map. If a group of you would like to work together locally to get your frog species identified and on the map, you can create a group as well. 

It's really user-friendly and the information adds to a much better understanding of the diversity and distribution of frogs in our local area. It also helps us realise we need to be sensitive around waterways and bogs (disturbance, chemical use). 

Here is the website to check out that is associated with the FrogID app.

https://www.frogid.net.au/

Happy frogging!
Australian Museum FrogID Project
Community Group Grants to support and increase volunteering

2019/2020 Volunteer Grants

Applications due 6th April 2020
Projects between $1,000 - $5,000.

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2019/2020 Victorian Landcare Grants
This year’s funds from the Victorian Landcare Grants (VLG) are being offered by KCLG in the form of incentive grants to landholders as per previous years, however this year’s round of funds is for projects that help to adapt land management to the impacts of climate change. The project can involve fencing, weed control and/or revegetation with the intention of, for example, providing strategic long-term shade and shelter for livestock, increasing carbon sequestration or another example of adapting to climate change impacts on your land.
The standard criteria also applies to successful grant recipients:
  • I am responsible for site preparation & maintenance (including weed control)
  • I am responsible for erecting fences (if applicable)
  • I am able to plant native tubestock in Winter 2020
  • Plants will be indigenous to the area, with at least 50% understorey species (shrubs and grasses)
  • I will provide before and after photographs from a photopoint
  • The minimum average planting width is 20m (or 10m either side of banks/gullies)
  • The fencing subsidy of $8.00 per metre for standard fences & $5.00 for electric fences and is paid upon inspection of completed fence
  • Landcare will assist with selecting suitable plants and nursery
  • I can complete all project works by Sep 2020.
To be sent an Expression of Interest Form please request on via email to kiewalandcare@gmail.com 

Completed Expression of Interest Forms are DUE by Mon 6th April 2020. 


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Farming Matters - For Our Love of the Land & Savory Global Network Gathering – 23th-28th March in Albury.
This conference will highlight the many recent developments in regenerative agriculture including natural capital, environmental stewardship, and the innovative agriculture sector. The conference is being held in conjunction with the global gathering of the influential Savory Network. Allan Savory, noted developer of the Holistic Management decision making framework will be the keynote speaker.
Cost: Early bird full registration before 31st January $330, day $220, otherwise between $440-$550, day registrations between @275-$330 (conference dinner, and other extras at additional cost). For more information, or to book your tickets, please see here.
NOTE: change of date – this event was advertised in the last edition of Regional Roundup as ‘Free Up Your Natural Capital, Albury 3 & 4 Mar. The event has been renamed and date changed.

 
Healthy Hectares: Homes and Habitat - Attracting wildlife to your property Sunday 29th March - Yackandandah.
A one day workshop from the Healthy Hectares North East program for small rural property owners. What opportunities exist on your property to improve or create habitat for wildlife? What can you do to link your property in with local wildlife corridors? Learn where you can make simple changes to your property to create and maintain areas to support wildlife, and how improving these natural areas can benefit your land. Includes field trip to see these changes in action.
Tickets $25. Limited places. Enquiries and further information about this event or the Healthy Hectares program please contact healthyhectaresne@gmail.com This project is supported by the Department of Agriculture and Water resources, through funding from the Australian Government's National Landcare Program.

Field Day on Regenerative Agriculture and Carbon Farming

Talgarno Hall, 709 Murray River Road
Sunday April 5, 2020

$15 per person for lunch and morning tea.  Booking essential - go to  www.eventbrite.com.au (Regen in Talgarno) or call 0419 609 042


An opportunity to catch up with two ideas that are much talked about in farming today – Regenerative Agriculture and Carbon Farming. 
 
David Marsh from Boorowa operates a family farm holistically putting the health of the farm as the foundation of his farm business.  He believes that if we want a really secure future for our farms we must look after the largely invisible army of creatures in the soil and above which, together with grazing animals, create the biodiversity of the farm.  David will tell us how he incorporates this thinking into the operation of his farm business.  This is a great opportunity to learn firsthand about what regenerative farming means and for you to see if it fits into your thinking.
 
Stephen Whitsed organic dairy farmer from Biggara in the Upper Murray will give us an insight into the brand new world of carbon farming.  Stephen and his son Keenan operate the Soilkee Renovator which sows annual crops into perennial pastures in one pass combining cultivation, aeration and mulching.  This process, developed by Niels Olsen in Gippsland along with Agriprove, has become the first process to earn Australian Carbon Credit Units by virtue of the additional carbon that is built up in the soil.  There will be a demonstration of the Soilkee Renovator on a nearby farm.
 
9.30 AM Morning Tea
10.00 -12.30   David Marsh - what it means to be a regenerative farmer
12.30 - 1.30 Lunch and video on Carbon Farming
1.30 - 2.00  Stephen Whitsed tells us how the Soilkee Renovator works
2.00 - 4.00  Field Demonstration of Soilkee Renovator Q&A on regenerative agriculture and carbon farming.
Mental Health First Aid
Many factors can effect our mental health, but with a prolonged drought and the bushfire season over January in the North East, the cracks have started to appear in many of our friends, colleagues, neighbours or family members. Many people were and still are affected by these issues and next summer will make these issues raw again. Maybe you'd like to learn some tools for helping someone who is showing the tell tale signs of struggling to cope mentally. 
If you would like to attend this training, the dates will be:
 16th April and 23 April
 1 - 4pm
 These sessions are 3 hours including a break.
 The sessions will be aimed at Landcare employees, but also suitable for Landcare   volunteers/members.
 Numbers are best a minimum of 10 and max of 20-25.


Locations are to be advised, but most likely first session in Wangaratta or Myrtleford and the second in Wodonga. 

Please use reply email to express your interest. 
Agriculture Victoria running Climate Change webinars relevant to primary producers and anyone working in agriculture

The range of topics that are discussed include seasonal risk and climate change projections and impacts, adaptation opportunities and innovative farming practices and soil moisture monitoring.

LINK HERE these webinars are free for anybody to view.

National Landcare Conference 2020 - save the dates

11th - 13th Nov 2020

CLICK LINK to register your interest and receive updates from Landcare Australia
Weed to Watch - Madeira Vine
Although this weed is more of a problem in warmer climes, than our Kiewa Catchment area, it is still what could be considered a 'Super Weed' that can become a huge infestation if left to its own devises. 
Thick succulent leaves and aerial tubers are tell tale signs of this weed species, Anredera cordifolia. The spread of this weed is often with soil transportation, so beware the advertisement for 'clean fill', and can propagate from a parent plant's leaves, stems, seeds and tubers! So mulching or composting this plant will not kill it. Dispose of into a black plastic bag tied up tight and cooked in the hot sun then disposed of into rubbish bin. Due to the tubers, this vigorous vine is only set back a little by herbicide and not killed, so hand weeding and thorough removal of tubers in the soil is the best long term way of removing it for good. 


I have sighted a small infestation in the Yackandandah Police Station's garden! Please look out for other infestations in our catchment and on your private property or garden and start the removal process straight away and dispose of all plant material carefully.
Join the group on Facebook - Kiewa Catchment Landcare Groups
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Kiewa Catchment Landcare Groups Inc. · PO Box 50 · Wodonga, Victoria 3691 · Australia

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