Better Burnett

Anyone interested in getting to a workshop or two in August should look no further!  As well as the Brisbane Ekka showcasing Queensland’s best produce, there are a number of local opportunities for landholders to see some top-class management techniques and products.  The list below will get you started. 

2-3 August – Soil & Plant Nutrition workshop (Biloela) Download information

7-8 August – Technology of Growing Grass workshop (Mt Perry) Download information

10 August – Beef-Up Forum (Kingaroy) Download information

11 August – Beef-Up Forum (Gayndah) Download information

12-13 August – Soil and Plant Nutrition workshop (Bundaberg) Download information

12 August – Community workshop: Productivity (Mundubbera) Download information

13 August – Community workshop: Land Management (Wondai) Download information

17 August – Community workshop: Biodiversity (Gympie) Download information

19 August Pasture cropping field day (Monogorilby) Information to come

This practical workshop will explore the following topics:

• How to start a mosaic burning pattern on your place—going from current patterns to mosaics to get the most out of your productivity and ecosystem

• Mosaic burning for threat reduction

• How to use fire as a sharpened tool, not a blunt instrument—humans may have worked out how to make fire millions of years ago… but we’re still working out all the things it does!

• Understanding Scale, Frequency and Season when using fire on your particular land type.

Featuring guest speakers……..
Don Sands— CSIRO Fire Ecologist and Entomologist
Sean Ryan— Private Forestry Southern Qld (PFSQ)
Bill Schulke—DPI (DEEDI)

Where: Goomeri Golf Course, Goomeribong Road, Goomeri
When: Friday 30 July, 9am—4pm
Cost:$25/person
Includes morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea

RSVP: Please call Penny Kennedy on 4168 6179 or 0419 442 325

More info: click here!

The practical methods using what you already have on-farm to stop your precious resources— soil, water and organic material, “leaking” from your farm and bank balance.

Burnett Catchment Care Association (through the Burnett Mary Regional Group and the Australian Government’s Caring for our Country program) will have limited funding available for farmers to implement on-ground works that address resource trapping issues on property. Grants will be competitive, are limited and farmers must attend the seminar to be eligible to apply for the funding on offer.

The field day will be hosted by the South East Burnett Landcare Group under their Caring for our Country project – Premium Practice in Burnett Land Management

Thursday 22 July 2010
8.30am start until 4.30pm
Booubyjan Hall, 9397 Burnett Highway, Booubyjan

Cost—$10
Featuring guest speaker
Rangeland Scientist, Bruce Alchin

RSVP to Penny Kennedy on 4168 6179 or 0419 442 325
Morning tea, BBQ lunch and afternoon tea provided

More info: click here!

The Burnett Catchment Care Association have been calling for registrations for the upcoming Peter Andrews workshop, to be held in Mundubbera on 16 July 2010.  Due to the high demand of landholders wishing to attend the Peter Andrews workshop, the workshop is now, unfortunately, fully booked.

This workshop is supported by the Burnett Mary Regional Group through funding from the Australian Government’s Caring for Our Country and the Queensland Government’s Q2 Coasts and Country.

After plenty of rain in the Burnett now is a good time to learn how to make the most of what the native forest will be doing in terms of regrowth and healthy trees!

PFSQ (Private Forestry Southern Queensland) are running a ‘Native Forest Regrowth Management Field Day’ at the McLaughlin property near Burrandowan in the south Burnett and best of all it’s FREE!

Many different topics relating to native forestry will be covered so don’t miss out on this exciting opportunity held Thurs 29 July.  Contact PFSQ on 5483 6535 or pfsq@bigpond.com for more information.

This workshop is also being held on another property near Gundiah (near Gympie) on Saturday 31st July- get in contact with PFSQ for more details!

Peter Andrews will be conducting a one day workshop, on Friday 16th July 2010 on a property near Mundubbera.  Peter Andrews is the founder of Natural Sequence farming and the author of “Beyond the Brink” and “Back from the Brink”.

The workshop will consist of half day seminar followed by an in field demonstration.

The workshop will be held at the property of D&M Young, 171 Jankes Rd, Mundubbera (approx 22km south of Mundubbera).  Directions to the property can be found by clicking here.

The workshop will start at 8:30am on Friday 16 July 2010 and will finish at approx 4pm.

The cost will be $50 per participant, which includes morning tea and lunch.

Registration is essential and registration forms and payment are due Tuesday 13 July 2010

You can download a registration form by clicking here. 

This workshop is supported by the Burnett Mary Regional Group through funding from the Australian Government’s Caring for Our Country and the Queensland Government’s Q2 Coasts and Country.

For more information, please phone the BCCA office on  (07) 4166 3898 .

Agro Trend is on again in 2010 and this year will be incorporating the Bundaberg Organic Roadshow. The event, run by Biological Farmers Australia together with Seasol, will be happening at the Agro Trend Field Days at Kendalls Rd on:

Thurs 6 May – All day from 8.30am

See Bundaberg Organic Roadshow Information flyer.
Check out AgroTrend online!

RSVP needed to Biological Farmer Assoc. by Monday May 5th (see flyer).  So get in touch!!

The past few weeks have been busy on the Burnett River, in preparation for the start of the nesting season for the White-throated Snapping Turtle.   On a couple of popular nesting areas near South Kolan, BCCA have been working with landholders, Dept of Environment and Resource Management, and the National Green Jobs Corps from IMPACT Employment Services to erect electric fences that will keep grazing cattle from trodding on nests and some hungry dogs and foxes as well as some native predators from destroying the nests.

As you may have heard us mention before, this freshwater turtle species is under threat from such elements, and the results are a major imbalance in the generatations:  99% of the turtle population are adults!  Where are all the juveniles to continue the species?  Nest predation has been a common occurance in the Burnett and it is a major threat to the survival of the species, which some suggestions that they may not be in existence in 10 or 20 years time.

So to start with, two significant sites were identified by DERM as areas to protect with this fencing.  The team from Impact have provided us with a group of young people learning skills in conservation to do the labour.  Each fenced area is approximately 500m2 of sandy slopey ground with some grass patches.

Check out the photos on Elsie the White-throated Snapping Turtle’s FACEBOOK page.

  present

Biological Farming On-site Seminar

Featuring guest speaker—Dr Maarten Stapper

When: Wednesday 5 May 2010

Time: 9.00am start until 2pm

Where: Meeting Point—Booubyjan Hall, 9397 Burnett Highway, Booubyjan

Cost: $10

RSVP: to Penny Kennedy on 4168 6179 or Belinda Pennell on 4168 6064

For more information and seminar program please click here!

 Morning tea and lunch provided

Click here to view our latest newsletter – the burnett buzz.

In this issue:

• Reef Rescue Graziers finish projects despite the rain
• Better Catchments in the inland Burnett in 2010
• GLM forum for Gayndah
• Nest protection underway for threatened freshwater turtle
• Compost Tea workshop a hit