Better Burnett

It’s going to be an exciting year, 2012.  There are already a number of exciting workshops in the making and they’re coming to a venue near you….

Friday 3rd Feb (Nanango) ‘Chopper Roller Field Day‘

Get up close and personal with a Chopper Roller which is being used around the region as a cost effective way of tidying thick regrowth for native forest management.  This workshop is being run by Private Forestry Service Queensland.  More info

Monday 6th Feb (Tansey) ‘Healthy Soils’ workshop

Based on the highly regarded Grazing for Profit school, this workshop is focused on understanding the strong link between how livestock are managed to improve the health of land and profitability of business.  This RCS workshop is being run by the South East Burnett Landcare Group and Burnett Mary Regional Group.  More info

Tuesday 14th Feb (Gympie) and Wednesday 15th (Mundubbera) – ‘Building Better Soils’

Information about innovative approaches to soil management in the horticulture industry, comparing and using convential and biological farming methods as examples with agronomist Brett Irvine as guest speaker.  This workshop is being run by Growcom and supported by the Burnett Mary Regional Group.  More info

Friday 16th March (Toowoomba) ‘PestSmart Roadshow’

The Invasive Animals CRC are hosting a nation-wide roadshow providing the latest information on pest animal control methods and tools.  In March we see it come to Queensland, to Charleville on 14th and Toowoomba on the 16th.  The workshop is supported by a number of organisations including MLA and the Australian Government.  More info

Thurday 29th March (Eidsvold) ‘Rabbits and the Land Field Day’

Rabbit specialist Dr David Berman from DEEDI will be guest speaking about all things Rabbit control, together with a number of other pest management tools and advice from local council and other organisations.  This workshop is being run by Burnett Catchment Care Association with the support of Burnett Mary Regional Group.  Details to be confirmed, and more info to come.

Funding is still available for landholders who have suffered land degredation issues as a result of the floods last Summer in the Burnett Mary region.

You can download the Expression of Interest Form for the current round of funding here:

- Expression of Interest Form – Disaster Recovery Funding.

These funds are specifically targeted at restoration of riparian areas (rivers, creeks, tributaries) that were degraded or eroded by the inundation of water experienced during last Summer’s flood event.  The kind of works considered include revegetation, emerging weed control, erosion mitigation and engineering works.

For further information please contact Kate Lyons at Burnett Mary Regional Group on ph. 4181 2999 ext. 107 or email  klyons@bmrg.org.au

Workshops for writing funding applications

Learn how to hone up on your  funding writing skills at workshops being held in Gayndah, Bundaberg and Gympie this March.  Samantha Morris, Managing Director of  Wombat Creative, will facilitate the workshops, and provide participants with a toolbox of tips and tricks for writing successful funding submissions, by simplifying the grant writing process.   This workshop will leave you motivated and well equipped for the grant writing challenges that lay ahead.

Workshops are limited to 15 participants for each workshop, and require a full day’s commitment, commencing at 9am and finishing at 3.30pm.  Dates and details for the workshops are as follows;

• Wednesday 28^th March – Gayndah, CWA Hall
• Thursday 29^th March – Bundaberg, Enterprise Centre
• Friday 30^th March – Gympie, Albert Bowls Club

Limited places mean that landcare/coastcare/bushcare volunteers and landholders will have priority – to register your interest and secure a spot, email – sustainable.landscapes@bmrg.org.au providing all your contact details, or phone Michelle Haase on 4181 2999 (extension 122).   These workshops are supported through the Regional Landcare Facilitator Initiative, by the Burnett Mary Regional Group through funding from the Australian Government’s Caring for our Country program.

Thanks to grants available for Burnett landholders some areas of  our regions endangered species habitat and threatened ecosystems be protected on private land.

Decades of population growth and the development of land for economic purposes has resulted in the clearing of many softwood scrub stands and remnant areas have now been highlighted by the state government as significant areas, unable to be cleared and in need of being retained and protected.

Areas such as Brigalow country and semi-evergreen vine thickets are being protected by fire breaks (fire is not well tolerated in these ecosystems), fences to keep cattle from bringing in weeds and trampling on vegetation, and weed and pest control to allow native species to flourish.

Over the past three years, an estimated $200,000 has been spent on protecting these ecosystems, which exist in the western Burnett, especially around Monto, and south and west of Mundubbera.

Now, a further $61,000 will be invested by the appropriately named ‘Healthy Habitats’ program together with landholders, who are able to undertake the work and contribute towards the planning of the project.  BCCA are working with BMRG on this project and with landholders in the western Burnett.

More projects will commence in early 2012. Chat to us if you’d like to take action to protect a patch of endangered scrub on your property.

Currrently in it’s 4th of 5 years, the Reef Rescue program has been run across the Queensland coast to help land managers to improve the management of and reduce their sediment and nutrient runnoff into the creeks and onto the Reef.

In the Burnett this year, 48 graziers‘ projects were funded with the assistance of BCCA’s Reef Rescue Field Officers, sharing over half a million dollars to build fences around creeks, improve groundcover in the paddocks and reduce erosion.  Grazing is only one of the agricultural industries in the Burnett helping the Reef; others industries involved in Reef Rescue in the Burnett include the dairy, cane and horticulture industries.

A short video (click here to open in new window) has been produced by the Queensland Regional NRM Groups Collective and Reef Alliance outlining the amazing numbers that have been acheived in the grazing industry across Queensland over the first 3 years.

Thank you to all the graziers who have partnered with BCCA with Reef Rescue over the years!

You can also cut and past this link into your web browser: http://vimeo.com/30411500

Private Forestry Services Queensland
are hosting a
Naitve Forest Treatment
Field Day
at Wonbah (off Mt Perry – Gin Gn Rd)

Thursday 15 December 2011

9am – 3pm

Free of charge

What to bring: A packed lunch, a water bottle and a chair. Morning tea will be provided. Please wear covered
shoes. Thongs, sandals and bare feet will not be permitted on site.

For more information and to register your attendence check out the information on the flyer: Field Day information

Two different topics, but one event for both: a Field Trip hosted by the Central Burnett Land Management Advisory Group on November 5th.

More than 20 landholders took part in the field trip which visited Terry Haupt’s successful biocontrol population for controlling the common weed, Blue Heliotrope. The beetle has been in Australia for several years, and has been slowly munching away at the Blue Heliotrope, making it weaker and less competitive in pastures.

Following on from this, the group visited John Henderson’s property to see how a series of water harvesting banks survived the wet season of last Summer and the reasoning behind them.

Those who attended said they enjoyed the opportunity to see what other landholders are doing on their properties.

Popular soils workshop, Soil and Plant Nutrition with Bart Davidson is being run in Bundaberg on Tuesday 6th December.

“This will be one of the most inspirational soil and plant workshops you will ever attend. You will find answers to many of the questions
which have confused and frustrated you in the past. Learn about the connection between soils, plants, nutrient cycling, microbes and
your management from one of the industries most knowledgeable presenters with real hands on skills.”

The workshop is a FarmReady approved course so click on the link HERE to find out more information and how to register.

The same workshop is also being run in Rockhampton on 29th November.

South Burnett Regional Council

and

Kingaroy Landcare Group

Giant Rats Tail grass management workshop on Tuesday 8 November 2011, 10am

Morgans Rd, Windera

RSVP to Denise Whyte at South Burnett Council on 41 899 122

DOWNLOAD:  GRT workshop flyer

BMRG & and the Better Catchment program invite you to:

FREE Pasture ID workshops

Guest Speaker: Damien O’Sullivan, Senior Extension Officer - DEEDI Primary Industries & Fisheries

Wed, 2 Nov  -  Monogorilby Hall  (more info)

Thurs, 3 Nov  -  Abercorn Hall  (more info)

Fri, 4 Nov  -  Maidenwell Hotel  (more info)

To register your attendance, call (07) 4169 0720

Workshop participants may be eligible to apply for a grant up to $3,000 to implement on-ground activities identified at the workshop. These activities will be aimed at improving sustainable land management practices, focusing on soil health.

Grants are only available to workshop attendees from within the Burnett Mary Region.