April 10, 2024
A free workshop for eligible primary producers will be held at Moffatdale on April 24 to discuss preventative measures for flood recovery.
The Burnett Mary Regional Group (BMRG) has organised the event to allow producers to hear from leading experts in the regenerative agricultural sector.
They will discuss how natural sequence farming methods and rotational grazing principals can help manage flood impacts.
It’s part of the Industry Recovery and Resilience Officer program, jointly funded by the Australian and Queensland governments under the Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements.
Stuart Andrews from Forage Farms and Mary Valley and Tarwyn Park Training and cattle producer and consultant Andrew Zerner will be keynote speakers.
Virginia Kelleher from BMRG said more than 80 flood management plans have been completed for producers across the Burnett Mary Region.
“We’ve found that many of these producers are still feeling the knock-on effects of the 2021-22 floods, with their production and profitability taking a significant hit,” she said.
“We are holding the event to support producers by showcasing ways that they can engage technical advice to develop strategies for their properties and operations to become more resilient to extreme weather events such as flooding.
“These strategies include grazing land management for more effective ground cover and landscape hydration methods to slow the flow across the landscape and reduce sediment and nutrient/fertility loss.
“There are other technical service providers such as animal nutritionists and agronomists assisting our producers.”
Virginia said some graziers experienced low calving rates with pressure from an extremely wet joining season.
Poor animal health, particularly in breeders, due to nutritional deficiencies and a lack of fibre in pastures was most likely because of waterlogging.
“This resulted in low calving rates during the following calving season, directly affecting the bottom line for many producers,” she said.
“Cattle also lost weight throughout the extreme wet season, enduring a cold wet winter, meaning less kilos of beef produced and animals that didn’t really finish, also affecting the bottom line.”
Virginia said the workshop would take a deep dive into the effects of soil health and biology after flooding.
“There are some producers with paddocks that suffered heavy topsoil and nutrient loss”” she said.
“They are now having to look at more resilient ways to run their business operation if they are going to remain viable through extreme seasonal weather events.”
For more information, including expressions of interest to attend the workshop for eligible primary producers, visit Trybooking.com
