For many, 2023 has been another interesting season, with some areas in our south and east experiencing good autumn breaks and timely, follow up winter rainfall. While in the north and west of our region, conditions remain disappointingly dry.
For the past three years, I have addressed the issue of management options for unsown paddocks. However, each year there has been a differing reason for unsown paddocks across our region, including both too wet and too dry! The good news is there are still options out there for managing paddocks that have yet to be sown to crop.
You are invited to join the new research project led by Dr Gordon Refshauge, a research scientist with NSW DPI, Cowra. The project aims to examine how forage crops can be used for lambing paddocks and their contribution to lamb survival.
The research only needs a minimum of 50 twin-bearing ewes per paddock, more if that suits you.
By participating in this study, you can play a critical role in improving lamb survival rates and contributing to the development of innovative and practical solutions to the challenges faced by sheep producers in the Central Tablelands.
The EOI for this research project will close on the 31 July 2023.
Soil carbon sequestration, the process of capturing and storing carbon in the soil, has gained attention as a potential solution to mitigate climate change. However, achieving significant and consistent increases in soil carbon levels is not without its challenges.
There are a number of strategies farmers can use to build soil organic carbon within their farming systems.
Pasture management. Optimise pasture growth through species selection and input management.
Grazing management. Optimise the intensity and timing of grazing and rest.
Cover crops. Grow crops (incl. green manure and inter-row crops) to keep the soil covered in between main crops.
Pasture cropping. Sowing winter cereals into perennial pastures.
Changing crop-pasture sequence. Increase the frequency or duration of pastures in a cropping rotation.
Adding lime, gypsum, nutrients. Optimise plant growth by managing chemical and physical soil constraints.
Adding carbon-rich materials. Compost, manure, or biosolids.
Minimising or strategic tillage. Eliminate or reduce mechanical cultivation of the soil.
Stubble retention. Retain crop residues on the soil surface.
Restoring degraded sites. Changing land use to repair land degradation from erosion and other damage.
The complexities of soil systems and the need for site-specific approaches can make it difficult to achieve consistent increases in soil carbon levels. For advice, talk to your local sustainable ag officer.
Rangers Jamie & Jayon at the site where they learned erosion control methods as part of their certification
Aboriginal Ranger Program transforms local reserve
The Local Land Services Aboriginal Ranger Program was launched in July 2022 and is being delivered across the Central West, Murray, Riverina and North West Local Land Services (LLS) regions.
The program is designed to enhance Aboriginal people’s connection to Country and provide meaningful career pathways through formal training and implementing learnings across the LLS region.
Central West LLS Aboriginal Ranger Trainees have been putting their knowledge into practice on a reserve close to Coonabarabran with high biodiversity and Aboriginal cultural values. The reserve is being transformed into a meeting place for the community and outdoor space for practicing traditional Aboriginal customs.
Through the Local Land Services Aboriginal Ranger Program, the site is being fenced off to protect the high value conservation area and cultural heritage sites present through restricting unauthorised vehicle access which will reduce illegal dumping and the general degradation of the site.
The project area will be revegetated, maintained and preserved as a significant cultural space for the whole community.
Since the Lumpy Skin Disease (LSD) incursion into Indonesia in March 2022, the estimated risk of introduction to Australia has increased nearly fourfold. This is partly due to the virus being spread by biting insects such as mosquitoes which are the same transmission vectors of Japanese Encephalitis virus that breached Australian borders and was detected in May 2022. Lumpy skin Disease is a large threat to production and trade of the Australian Cattle industry.
Continued trade with our overseas trading partners requires us, as a nation, to prove we are surveying and testing for LSD (and other notifiable diseases) and obtaining negative results to maintain our LSD free status. This requires landholder and district vets on the ground level to be conversing and testing animals with lesions that could possibly be consistent with LSD.
An example of this process occurred recently with a Lumpy Skin Disease investigation was performed on a 3 year old Angus cow at Coonabarabran in June that was displaying extensive skin lesions.
Skin lesions were located on the face, neck, rump, hind limbs and tail head. Lesions ranged from hairloss and dandruff, to both irregular and circular ulcerations of varying sizes. There were smaller raised circular nodules, 1cm in diameter, present on the skin of the udder.
The cow was part of a mob of 30, grazing native pasture mixed with digit grass and had no access to known photosensitising plants. She had displayed the skin lesions for several months but had never been unwell and no other cattle in the mob were affected.
Skin biopsies were sampled from affected areas and blood was also collected and sent for testing. The samples were negative for LSD but diagnosed a condition called eosinophilic dermatitis as the cause of the skin lesions. The cause of the eosinophilic dermatitis may have been related to external parasites or an allergy (possibility to insect bites) and treatment in accordance with these conditions was advised.
By Alicia Moses, District Veterinarian Central West Local Land Services
For the next few months, many sheep producers in the area will be starting their ‘spring lambing’ period. However, with the cold, frosty start to this winter, producers need to be aware of the risks to newborn lambs. Approximately 70% of lamb mortalities between birth and weaning are within the first 48 hours of life. Exposure from extreme weather is a significant cause of death in newborn lambs, as well as starvation, predation and mismothering.
Lambs are born with ‘brown fat’ which they use as a heat source for the first couple weeks of life. However, in extremely cold, wet or windy conditions, this brown fat will be consumed more rapidly and leave lambs vulnerable to death from exposure.
Choosing an appropriate lambing paddock can help reduce the risk from weather events such as strong winds. Wind breaks can be formed by rows of trees and shrubs in a north-south and east-west direction to reduce exposure to strong northerly and westerly winds. These shelter belts can be formed by native trees and shrubs which have the additional benefit of providing a source of natural habitat for native animals.
Ideally, lambing paddocks should be east or north facing to improve sunlight and warmth in the mornings and reduce frost. Having a slope to your lambing paddock will allow ewes and lambs to camp on higher ground and escape from low lying wet areas.
Monitoring weather forecasts and warnings can allow producers to move vulnerable stock to more sheltered areas if necessary. Remember, moving heavily pregnant ewes or young lambs is a last resort and should be done in a very slow, relaxed manner to avoid stress and mismothering (ie. do not use dogs!).
If you require further assistance or more information, contact us at Local Land Services on 1300 795 299.
Pests & weeds
Help keep out one of the world’s worst weeds
Alligator weed (Alternanthera philoxeroides) is considered one of the world's worst weeds because it spreads on water and land. In parts of NSW, Alligator weed has decimated some crops and threatened turf farming, veggie production and irrigation.
Alligator weed can:
block and damage pumps and water infrastructure
grow from stem or root fragments spread through water or soil
compete with and displace native flora along river and creek banks and in wetlands
contaminate grazing pastures and compete successfully for light and space.
With repairs and de-silting taking place after last year’s flooding it is important to keep an eye out particularly around creeks and riverbanks as Alligator weed can be spread by:
excavation machinery used to clean channels
movement of fill or landscape supplies from infested areas
movement of sand dredged from infested catchments
boats and trailers transported between water bodies
movement of turf or hay from infested farms
deliberate planting for ornamental use.
Three key identifiers of Alligator weed:
small, white, papery flowers on short stalks
leaves growing in opposite directions
hollow stems.
If you see it, report it to your local council weeds officer immediately. Do not try to control it, incomplete control can spread it further.
Feral pig numbers are at an all-time high and have spread to new areas. Many farmers in the local area are reporting significant damage, for example numerous landholders have reported feral pigs predating on lambs and having marking percentages of scanned in-lamb mobs in the low 20-30% range. Their suspicions of feral pigs being the cause of lamb losses were confirmed after finding young lambs in the stomach contents of culled pigs. Feral pigs have also been impacting significantly on crops this year, with one landholder losing 60 acres of lupins to pigs.
We need to reduce feral pig numbers in a local area by at least 70% per year to have a meaningful reduction in the population. Anything less will see pig numbers bounce back very quickly and continue to increase in numbers. To get on top of feral pig numbers we need to maximise the effectiveness of control programs with these 5 key actions:
Participate in your local groups coordinated pig control programs
Only use effective control methods. 1080 baiting should be used first wherever possible or trapping where baiting is not an option
Free feeding pigs should be done at least for a 10–14-day period and is an important part of effective control
Group control programs completed regularly
Complete control programs when pigs are stressed and doing it toughest.
If we wish to avoid a repetition of the current situation, prioritising strategic feral pig control during the next drought is a crucial step forward. This period presents an opportunity when pig numbers naturally decrease, and control efforts become most effective.
For more Pest Animal information, contact your local Biosecurity Officer on 1300 795 299
Grants and funding
Small grants help teach kids birds, bugs and bats
Weddin Landcare was a successful recipient of one of our 2022-23 Resilient Communities Small Grants, using the funding to continue their Birds, Bats and Bugs program. The program engages with local school students through hands-on, interactive, fun, environmental education.
Primary and secondary students from schools in Quandialla, Grenfell and Caragabal and participated in the program through:
Microbat presentations and building microbat roosting boxes
Native pollinator presentations and building bee hotels
Native bird presentations from Jayden Gunn of Birdlife Australia
Presentations on ecosystems and threatened specie
An overnight excursion to the Weddin Mountain National Park for students of Caragabal and Quandialla Public Schools. Students were able to tie in all their learnings on Birds, Bats and Bugs in an outdoor setting and learnt about the ecosystem of the Weddin Mountain through bushwalks and spotlighting activities to learn about native flora and fauna.
Weddin Local Landcare Coordinator Melanie Cooper said the small grants program allowed the group to maintain momentum for the Birds, Bats and Bugs program. “Weddin Landcare are very appreciative of the assistance of this Small Grants program as it allows us to achieve small but mighty natural resource management projects and maintain enthusiasm for Landcare and the environment,” Ms Cooper said.
“All schools reported a positive experience and have already sought to work with Weddin Landcare again on further environmental education topics as the respect for Weddin Landcare’s presenters has built. “The children who have participated in numerous Birds, Bats and Bugs sessions over the past few years have developed a good understanding of ecosystems and there has been much praise for the program from the wider school community and parents, indicating that some of the messages delivered during the lessons are being transferred to the home.”
Well done, Weddin Landcare! Keep an eye out for upcoming funding opportunities in this newsletter or on our grants and funding page.
Annual Land and Stock Return
It’s easy to complete your return via our improved and secure online portal. If online doesn’t work for you, you can manually submit your form using the reply paid envelope provided.
If you fail to complete your return penalties will be applied to your next Local Land Services rates notice, even if you don’t have any livestock.
Understanding livestock numbers across the state is important and we rely on this information during emergencies.
Even if you report nil livestock, your return helps us build a picture of land use in NSW.
Haven’t received your form in the mail yet? Head to www.lls.nsw.gov.au/alsr to find out what to do.
Local Land Services acknowledges that it stands on Country
which always was and always will be Aboriginal land.
We acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the land and waters,
and we show our respect for Elders past, present and emerging.
Our mailing address is:
PO Box 1048 Dubbo NSW 2830
The information contained in this publication is based on knowledge and understanding at the time of writing. However, because of advances in knowledge, users are reminded of the need to ensure that the information upon which they rely is up to date and to check the currency of the information with the appropriate officer of Local Land Services or the user’s independent adviser. For updates go to www.lls.nsw.gov.au
By Alicia Moses, District Veterinarian Central West Local Land Services 
