On the 24th of October 2020, Western Murray Land Improvement Group along with Barham Landcare, held a fun and interactive workshop involving local Primary School children at Federation Reserve in Barham NSW. Two primary school classes from Barham Public School attended the workshop that saw Kindergarten on their very first out of school excursion. They were buddied up with Grade 3/4 and accompanied by 6 teachers and assistants from the school- making the total number of attendees 47. The workshop was facilitated by Barham Landcare volunteer and group treasurer Christine Dartnell and Local Landcare Coordinator (hosted by WMLIG) Stacey Waylen.
A summary of the day.
A summary of the day.
On the 31st of January 2020, over 120 local farmers and agricultural experts attended a Feedlot Information Day held in Wakool. The crowd was a diverse geographical mix, with attendees from Lalbert, Piangil, Moulamein, Barham, Deniliquin and Wakool. As following with the 'young farmer' focus of the event, the majority (42%) of attendees were under 35, while 28% were 35-45 and 37% were 45+. The day began with a workshop at the Wakool Club focused on livestock feedlot considerations. Presenter Geoff Duddy from Sheep Solutions discussed the pro's and con's of feedlotting versus containment feeding, the cost of feed and comparison of different systems. He emphasized the importance of feeding sheep protein to build muscle, wool and encourage growth. The group finished off with an understanding of how feedlots interacted with the whole farm system. Following this presentation, district vet Linda Searle (Murray Local Land Services), educated attendees on the range of livestock diseases or health complications associated with feedlot production systems.
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Blackwater events cause mass fish deaths across the Murray-Darling Basin
In March 2020, we organised and coordinated a tour for local producers of the Griffith, Whitton and Coleambally areas, in the north-western region of the Riverina region of New South Wales. Whilst it was a challenge in COVID-regulation times, our organisers, Stacey and Amy, did a great job in selecting a line-up of some of the most impressive and inspiring businesses that have successfully innovated existing product or created new products utilising spare capacity. Many of the businesses that the group visited looked at value-adding options, supply chain innovation, collaboration and diversification opportunities.
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In December 2020, we hosted a tour of the Pollack Swamp and Smokehouse Lagoon in the Koondrook Perricoota (KP) Forest. The tour attracted over 45 people from Barham and surrounds, some making the trip from as far as Deniliquin, Moama and Kerang. The tour included three stops: the Pollack Swamp Inlet, the Pollack Lagoon, and lastly the KP Smokehouse Lagoon. The purpose of the tour was to demonstrate the positive effects that managed environmental watering has had in the Pollack, to raise awareness of the current poor condition of the broader Koondrook KP Forest, and to lead a bottom-up community-led approach for a shared vision of the forest.
