Website additions

Just a quick note to Society members advising of website updates. Grassland Society newsletters are now published on the website up till Volume 21, Number 1. The search box in the left margin allows you to search the whole website for any articles or topics of interest or by author name. Very handy if you are trying to track down that elusive article that you would like to read again.

We have also incorporated a weather search box - also on the left margin below the menu bar and search box. This allows you to enter any town name or postcode and instantly see the relevant weather and climate information for the nearest weather station. While most people in the agricultural industry will have their favourite weather sites, we hope you will find this addition a useful feature to the Grassland Society website.

Preliminary information for the 2006 Conference is also published and will be updated as details are finalised by the Conference Committee. Cheers for now, and remember we welcome feedback and suggestions from members on how to improve the website.

Cicerone Project Symposium

Grassland Society members may be interested to attend the 2006 Cicerone Project Symposium being held at Chiswick (Armidale, NSW) on the 11th May.

The Cicerone Project is a producer-led research project, aiming to increase the profitability and sustainability of grazing-based agriculture on the Northern Tablelands. The main research focus has been investigating three different input and grazing management regimes with a whole farm, systems approach. This work has been conducted on a central learning farm located at Chiswick, 17km south of Armidale, NSW.

After almost 6 years of successful research, this day has been planned to bring together the conclusions from activities thus far - a symposium "Cicerone Two...Coming to Conclusions". The cost will be $30 for Cicerone members, $50 for non-members. A short printed proceedings plus lunch and morning/afternoon teas will be provided as part ofyour registration fee.

The Symposium will feature farm walks with discussions on

• botanical composition changes on the farm over 6 years,
• the balance between managing pastures and livestock for sustainability,
• realising production potention from merino enterprises and
• results from the Cicerone Farmlets.

After lunch, there will be presentations on:

• soil fertility changes/fertiliser decisions,
• grazining management/worm control,
• optimising risk management for various pasture based enterprises,
• economic outcomes form the 3 farmlets and
• assessing the sustainability of the farmlets.

For more information about registrations, please contact Cicerone Project administration via email or by phone on 02 6778 3871.

Preliminary Conference Program

Here is a sneak preview of the NSW Grassland Society Conference Program for 2006 - there are some excellent speakers lined up so make sure you do not miss this important and informative conference.

The conference will be held at Wagga Wagga on 25th-27th July 2006 with the theme of "Waging War on Pasture Weeds". Conference tours will be held on Wednesday 26th from noon and inspect NSW DPI weeds and pasture research. The Conference Dinner speaker will be Dr Geoff Auricht, Pasture Research Leader at SARDI who will be talking about some of the plant collection tours that he has been involved in to some unusual overseas areas. More information will be posted here as details are finalised.

Tuesday 25th July
Session 1: Weed introductions, economic costs and management principles
Lynley Stone – Weed introductions – what has been learned from the past
Randall Jones – The economic cost of weeds in pasture systems
David Kemp – Weed management in annual and perennial pasture systems

Session 2: New and existing weed threats in southern and northern NSW
Birgitte Verbeek – New and existing weed threats for Southern NSW
Andrew Storrie – New and existing weed threats for Northern NSW

Session 3 Successful weed control/eradication/utilisation strategies
Alison Nicholls – Serrated tussock: a Southern NSW perspective
David McLaren – Flurproponate resistance in serrated tussock
Steve and Leonie Hunt– Coolati grass: a Northern NSW perspective

Session 4: Importance of forward planning for weed control
Michael Moerkerk – Are you importing weeds onto your property?
Peter Lockley – Herbicide tolerance of annual legumes and chicory
Brian Dear – Herbicide tolerance of seedling perennial grasses

Wednesday 25th
Session 5 : Biological weed control
Royce Holtkamp – biological control of pasture weeds in NSW
Max and Jenny Cowie – Successful on-farm control of Paterson’s curse using flea beetle

Session 6 Fodder conservation for weed control
Annabel Bowcher – Timing fodder conservation to control pasture weeds
John Piltz – Making quality silage and hay from pastures
Frank Austin – Silage making – pasture and animal benefits

Thursday 27th
Session 7 Pasture, weed and animal interactions
Kate Sargent – Using grazing management to control weeds in pastures
Chris and Margot Wright – Managing weeds through effective grazing
Bryan Corrigan – Shifting from sheep to cattle and its effect on pasture weeds
Luzia Rast – The effect of animals grazing weeds on short and long-term productivity
David Michalk – Balancing enterprises on a whole farm basis for improved economic viability and improved weed management


Please feel free to contact the Conference Committee for details about the upcoming conference - contact the NSW DPI office at Wagga Wagga. Conference registrations will be posted as they become available. That is all for now from the website admin team.