This webinar was recorded in October 2022 with Dr Ken Hodgkinson, a retired CSIRO scientist. Ken and the Landcare group he convenes is seeking effective means of restoring remnant patches of Natural Temperate Grassland, a critically endangered ecosystem of south-east Australia, in urban and peri-urban Canberra. Ken presented the findings of the groups’ fire and mowing research for remnant patches in the Ginninderra Catchment and how these findings apply to managing biodiversity in the paddock.

Watch the webinar

Fire was used by Aboriginal people to manage landscapes over thousands of years. They deliberately and thoughtfully patch-burned country to ensure the local survival of plant and animal species they cared for. They also firestick farmed the natural environment to ensure a ready supply of animal and plant foods. The fire-managed woodland vegetation became ‘open’ with scattered trees and shrubs, ideal for grazing of the domestic livestock brought by colonising farmers.  

In his career as a CSIRO scientist Ken studied for a time the effects of burning semi-arid rangelands. He found fire could profitably be used to improve the composition of grasslands beneath woodland and to reduce unpalatable shrub density thereby benefitting domestic livestock production.

The Native Grassland Restoration Landcare Group found that biennial Autumn burning increased native plant species richness significantly more than Spring burning and mowing. Autumn burning increased plant diversity by ten native species not found in other treatments. Autumn cool burns not only stimulated native plant diversity but also slowly suppressed Chilean Needle Grass and African Lovegrass patches.  Maintaining, and possibly increasing, plant species richness using fire, may also benefit livestock production. Other research has suggested patchy grassland should improve the conservation of native animals, such as lizards, particularly when paddocks are lightly and patchily grazed.

Resources

Ginninderra Landcare Grassland Restoration Project

Small farms and bushfire summary

Cultural Burning Summary

Prescribed burning

Cheney P and Sullivan A (2008). Grassfires: fuel, weather and fire behaviour. CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne. 

Fire management for biodiversity conservation: NSW Department of Planning and Conservation 

Rural Fire Service NSW

Biodiversity Management

Dorrough J, Stol J and McIntyre S (2008). Biodiversity in the Paddock: a Land Managers Guide. Future Farm Industries CRC. 

Stol J and Prober SM (2015). Jewels in the landscape: Managing very high conservation value ground-layers in Box-Gum Grassy Woodlands. www.publications.csiro.au

Stol J, Doerr V, Davies M and Doerr E (2016). Checking for change: A practical guide to checking whether sites newly managed for conservation are on track to improve. www.publications.csiro.au

This event was made possible with funding from the Australian Government through the National Landcare Program. 

This field day was an opportunity to meet Dr Jason Condon, Associate Professor in  Soil Science from Charles Sturt University and Helen Burns Development Officer – Pastures from the NSW Department of Primary Industries. We visited two farms just outside Canberra to talk about the major findings of the Grassing the Bare Patches Demonstration and learn about soils from Jason. Farmers Jennie Curtis, Harjinder Dhindsa and Allan Spencer shared their experiences from the Grassing the Bare Patches project.

It was interesting to look at the differences in the soils between the properties and see the factors limiting pasture growth. At Jennie’s farm, Jason showed us how to test for dispersive soils, soil pH and soil structure. We looked at the soil profile and the soil test results together. We could see the effect that soil acidity was having on root growth below 10cm, where low pH and high aluminium were stunting root growth and causing roots to grow sideways. Jason explained that high aluminium in the soil stops the uptake of nutrients by plants because the ion spaces on the plant roots are filled with the Al ion. The application of liming materials to increase the pH will inactivate the aluminium, thus increasing the level of plant available nutrients. Jason explained that soil pH closer to neutral favours conditions for soil microbes to replicate and flourish. The dispersion test showed that soils lower in the soil profile are vulnerable to erosion. Ripping or cultivating the soil at these depths could be risky.

Jason discussed the methodology for addressing low soil pH, suggesting the initial application of lime for the project could be  2.5 tonnes per hectare. The removal of agricultural products acidifies the soil, therefore agricultural soils will become more acidic over time. Selecting pastures with low pH tolerance is one strategy to help combat acid soils but over time the species of plants you can grow will be narrowed. Jason suggested that is it better to address the soil factors limiting pasture growth through liming, correct fertiliser application and increasing soil carbon.

At Harjinder’s farm, Jason dug another series of soil profiles, it was interesting to see the effect that the physical soil characteristics were having on the pasture. At this farm the demonstration plot had been cultivated to 15cm over a number of years. Harjinder explained how his crops would grow to a certain height and then wilt and die. Jason showed us the effect that a cultivation hardpan was having on root growth. The hard pan was causing J rooting and had formed a barrier preventing the roots growing below 15cm. Helen told us that once off deep ripping could be a remedy, as well as planting an annual cover crop of rye grass that is renowned for helping breaking down hard pans. A reference for using rye grass and clover in citrus orchards is included in the resources section below, look for the heading ‘Permanent Sod Culture’.

We learnt that the usual soil testing approach where samples from the 0-10cm range are combined is not always useful in a pasture management context because soil and physical factors can vary significantly though the soil profile. In this case, physical factors lower in the soil profile were preventing root growth. One simple way for landholders to look at soil acidity and texture below 10cm is to use a dig stick to take deeper soil samples and then use a home pH test kit to see the variation in pH at different depths. The home test kits show pH (water) which is different from lab tests for pH (CaCl).

When we compared soil profiles from the control plots with soil profiles from the common treatment plots, growing green manure crops with minimal tillage appears to have been a useful strategy for increasing soil biology and improving soil texture on previously bare patches. One of the major observations from farmers hosting the demonstration plots is that green manure crops need to be managed by mowing or grazing to keep them short during the growing season. This allows other shorter species including sub clover to germinate and not be out competed. When the green manure was left to grow high in the trial plots, the biomass made it hard to sow the permanent grass seed since there was a lot of thatch covering the bare soil.

The farmers also found that using jute mesh in a pasture setting was limiting because the cover crop could not be slashed or mowed without machinery becoming entangled in the mesh. Jute mesh still has useful applications in more inaccessible erosion sites that would not be slashed or mown.

What will the farmers do next?

Jason asked us to think about what we had learned and what we would do next in the paddocks where the trial plots are.

Jennie is planning to apply lime at a rate of 2.5kg/ha over the surface of the paddock and elsewhere on the property to raise the pH of the soil. This will be a slow process but Jason told us that the lime will travel down through the soil profile if the surface pH(CaCl) is 5.5. She is also intending to surface broadcast Crimson Clover on bare patches as an early coloniser and green manure and manage the height using strategic grazing. She observed that her sheep preferentially grazed the plots that had been limed and then grew green manure.

Allan found that deep ripping inhibited the growth of seed in one of his plots, on his property he will be using harrows to scratch in grass seed and lime on the surface of the soil. He will use green manure crops but only to get the soil processes going and he won’t allow them to grow higher than 600cm. He observed that excluding kangaroos had a big impact on the diversity of his control plot and that the kangaroos preferentially grazed the areas that had been limed. Allan also observed that increasing soil pH had a direct impact on Sifton bush (Cassinia sifton) germinating, there was no Sifton bush in the plots treated with lime or in the paddocks he has applied lime for growing oak trees for truffles.

Harjinder is keen to use organic methods to improve the fertility on his property and was surprised to see the impact that repeated cultivation had on the soil profile. He believes that doing something, whether that be applying lime, compost of fertiliser is better than leaving the bare patches of ground on your property. He could see definite improvement in the areas that the compost was applied to the ground, the grass seed germinated better and there was less space for weeds to colonise. He is investigating what to do next in the cultivation paddock to treat the soil compaction layer, future strategies may include deep ripping or growing cover crops to break up the compaction. 

Resources

NSW DPI - Soil Acidity and Liming 4th Edition

Northern Rivers Soil Health Card 

Sodic Soils 

Soil test interpretation 

Protect your soils from compaction

How to manage soil for citrus (using rye grass for compaction)

This project received funding from the National Landcare Program. South East Local Land Services provided funding for soil testing and provided technical support. Thank you to the demonstration plot farmers Jennie Curtis, Allan Spencer and Harjinder Dhindsa for their support and hosting the trials. 

At this webinar we discussed regenerative agriculture with Vince Heffernan from Moorlands Biodynamic Lamb, Vince shared his extensive knowledge of natural systems farming, discussed the principles of regenerative agriculture and how they can be applied on small farms.

The webinar was recorded and can be viewed on the Small Farms Network Capital Region YouTube Channel.

This is a summary of the key points from the webinar and links to further information.

1. Vince discussed the four aspects of holistic management that he uses on his farm - grazing a herd with lots of mouths, for a short duration, with long rest periods in between, with the correct carrying capacity. Vince manages his pasture at around 5cm long in a high growth phase. This is optimum for pasture production and protein content, animal weight gains and for maximizing the fertility of the soil. He manages the stocking rate on the farm to maintain ground cover and destocks in drought periods if necessary.
2. Vince does not use herbicides, he carries a hoe on his quadbike to manually remove weeds, he uses biodynamic preparations to inoculate the soil with microorganisms. Soil health, social fairness, five freedoms for animals and not using synthetic fertilisers are some of the management principles that Vince uses on his farm.
3. Plan for diversity and plant a wide range of native plants suitable to the area, look at what is growing in the region to get an idea of what to plant and join a Landcare Group for advice. Use this knowledge to fill the gaps on your property, the ‘gaps’ could be revegetating or smaller actions to increase biodiversity on your farm.  Plant trees, shrubs and groundcovers. Wide wind breaks, whole of paddock restoration and fencing remnant trees, dams and rocky outcrops are some of the techniques you could try. Twenty percent of Vince’s farm is revegetated, some species such as wattle are used for supplementary feed, others are specifically planted for insects and birds.
4. Vince talked about the concept of ‘fair food’ and how farm certification can be beneficial for customers who are remote to you. Some of the methods you can use on a smaller scale include permaculture, backgrounding or livestock agistment, using portable electric fencing and water troughs for grazing management and growing native plants for seed. You can own a farm but not be a farmer, consider leasing part of your farm for more intensive agriculture or market gardening. Share with your neighbours, by loaning equipment and planning cross boundary revegetation projects.
5. To benchmark your progress consider taking a bird/bat survey, take photos from the same place, same time every year and monitor soil test results for improvements in soil carbon, cation exchange capacity and microbial activity.

These are some of the resources that Vince suggested during the webinar. 

Darren Aitken – Vortex Veggies

Alex Podolinsky – Biodynamic Farming

Allan Savoury – Holistic Management

Collin Seils – Pasture Cropping

Lamb Pro – Holbrook – Lamb benchmarking

Soil Knowledge Network

Sustainable Farms ANU

Books:

Fire Country – How Indigenous Fire Management Could Help Save Australia by Victor Steffensen

Regenesis by George Monbiot

This webinar was made possible with funding from the Australian Government through the National Landcare Program. 

This event was a combined webinar and paddock walk in early September 2022 with Jo Powells and Fiona Leech, Agricultural Advisors from South-East Local Land Services.

The topics discussed in the webinar include:

• How native pastures respond to fertilisers and lime, and how fertiliser inputs impact species composition
• Common native grasses and how to manipulate species composition through grazing management and fertiliser
• The common myths about native pasture such as ‘fertilisers kill native pasture’ and ‘fertiliser reduces native plant biodiversity’.

You can watch the webinar here.

The paddock walk was an opportunity for landholders to practice their plant identification skills and look at the grazing values of some of the main pasture species in the Yass area.  

These are the main points from the event:

1.    Native and introduced perennial grasses can be divided into groups depending on their main growing season. The main groups are temperate (e.g. some Spear grasses, Phalaris, Yorkshire fog grass), tropical (e.g. Kangaroo grass, Red grass and Wire grass) and year-long green perennial grasses (e.g. Weeping grass, Wallaby grasses, Poa, some Speargrass species, some Cocksfoot cultivars, some Tall Fescue cultivars). Year-long green grasses respond well to rain in all seasons often providing green feed in summer when temperate species are dormant.

2.    Learn what pasture plants you’ve got and consider doing a grazing management course such as PROGRAZE. Modified native pastures can be manipulated using grazing and fertiliser to increase dry matter production and animal productivity. Seek advice from South East Local Land Services through workshops and reading grazing research trials for your area.

3.    Some native grassland ecosystems are protected under threatened species legislation and these high conservation grasslands should be managed for diversity through modified grazing plans and management. If you need advice contact South East Local Land Services or the NSW Biodiversity Conservation Trust.

4.    Research has shown that most native grasses respond well to fertiliser and lime application, some species such as Weeping grass, have a particularly high requirement for phosphorus, similar to the level required for Phalaris.

5.    Legumes are an important component in native perennial grass pastures. In order to realise a pasture production response it is essential to have a legume present with the native perennial grasses. Subterranean clover is a common introduced legume found in native pastures and usually has been sown into the pasture at some point in the past. However, there are a number of other introduced annual legume species that have become naturalised over time (e.g. Yellow suckling clover, Cluster clover, Hop clover) that are often found naturally occurring in native pastures and also respond well to fertiliser application. 

6.    Learn to use a land lens to help look at the different parts of grasses and forbs to aid their identification. You can buy cheap hand lenses at JayCar.

A useful publication for the identification of grasses both native and introduced is, ‘Grasses of the NSW tablelands’ NSW DPI publication (2013). It is available from the Tocal College website. 

Jo Powells and Fiona Leech with landholder Christine 

Resources

Managing native pastures NSWDPI

Native pasture management and delayed grazing

How you can help protect native grasslands

Pasture legumes and their benefit

Laggan grazing demonstration (South-East Local Land Services)

Alternative grazing demonstration (South East Local Land Services)

Grasses of the NSW Tablelands

Threatened ecological communities ACT/NSW

Pasture recovery after bushfire

Prograze course

South-East Local Land Services – Contact us

Grassed up - Guidelines for revegetating with Australian Natives

This event was made possible with funding from the Australian Government through the National Landcare Program and in-kind support from South East Local Land Services. 

On Saturday 10 September 2022 twenty-six landholders participated in the Woodland Bird and Habitat Workshop held at Mulloon, just outside of Bungendore. Richard Beggs (ANU Sustainable Farms), Tobi Edmunds (NSW Biodiversity Conservation Trust) and Jed Pearson (Molonglo Catchment Group) joined us to talk about native birds and their habitat requirements. The aim of the workshop was to highlight the importance of retaining and creating habitat for woodland birds.

Jed, Richard and Tobi - presenting at the workshop

Small woodland birds are amongst the most threatened groups of birds in South-Eastern New South Wales. This is due to habitat loss from development, agriculture, lack of food resources and competition for habitat from birds like noisy minors.

These are the key points from the workshop:

1. Woodland birds like structural diversity in their habitat, including grasses and forbs, open patches for foraging, mid story shrubs and some trees. Spikey bushes, dead trees and fallen wood provide great nesting sites and habitat.
2. Dams act as ‘insect chimneys’ and increase food resources for birds and other animals. Fencing farm dams can provide dual benefits by improving habitat values and providing better water quality for livestock. Fencing and revegetation improve water quality by reducing faecal contamination and supporting the physical and chemical filtering of inflows. Better quality water is more palatable to livestock so may encourage greater water consumption and allow greater feed consumption. Remarkably little research has been done on the relationship between water quality and weight gain, however. Properly managed farm dams can provide phytoremediation (water cleaning services) by aquatic plants and animals.
3. Livestock preferentially graze some species of plants in native pasture. The Biodiversity Conservation Trust (BCT) uses a floristic value score to rate the value of grasslands and woodlands. Some species that are preferentially grazed include glycine, bulbine lily and other legume species.
4. There are a number of bird and plant identification apps available including -

For birds - Pizzey & Knight Birds of Australia and Canberra Nature Map

For plants – Picture This and Plants of South- Eastern Australia

5. Landholders with an in-perpetuity agreement with the BCT are eligible for rate relief on the part of the property being conserved under an agreement. 

Richard identified twenty-one bird species and Jed three species of frogs, including:

1. Australian magpie
2. Australian raven (& nest)
3. Grey currawong
4. Black-faced cuckoo shrike
5. Laughing kookaburra
6. Crimson rosella
7. Little corella
8. Yellow-tailed black cockatoo
9. Australian wood duck
10. Pacific black duck
11. Grey shrike-thrush
12. Golden whistler
13. White-throated treecreeper
14. Yellow-rumped thornbill (& nest)
15. Brown thornbill
16. Striated pardalote
17. Grey fantail
18. Silvereye
19. Red wattlebird
20. Yellow-faced honeyeater
21. Superb fairy wren

The frogs were the Common Eastern Froglet (Crinia signifera), the Spotted Marsh Frog (Limnodynastes tasmaniensis) and Eastern Sign-bearing Froglet (Crinia parinsignifera).

Further information

Biodiversity Conservation Trust 

Phytoremediation 

Friends of Grasslands Floristic Score

ANU Sustainable Farms farm dams

Save our Scarlet Robin – Saving our Species resources and guides

Landcare NSW Find a Landcare Group 

This activity is part of the Partnering in Private Land Conservation. A joint initiative delivered by Landcare NSW and the NSW Biodiversity Conservation Trust. Thanks to ANU Sustainable Farms, the Molonglo Catchment Group and the Biodiversity Conservation Trust for in-kind support of this workshop. 

This is a summary of a webinar and paddock walk held in June 2022.

The webinar was recorded on Thursday 17 June 2022. During the webinar we discussed managing blackberries in creeks and gullies with Lori Gould from the Australian River Restoration Centre and small farmer Christine Aughey.

The topics discussed in the webinar include blackberry control options, managing a weed control project and where to start, preventing erosion after the weeds are removed, fencing and revegetation.

Watch the webinar 

After the webinar a group of farmers visited a small farm just outside of Yass for a paddock walk to discuss blackberry management. These are the take away messages from the event.

1.      The focus of weed management has shifted from eradication to asset protection and containment. Some weeds like blackberry are known as transformer weeds. Transformer weeds have a high impact on native plant communities and degraded landscapes by transforming ecosystem processes and functioning. Transformer weeds use their competitive advantage to develop monocultures by modifying the soil and conditions to their preferred niche. They are also able to recruit seedlings easily, often using a number of different methods. Through these processes transformer weeds change the surrounding environment to favour their spread. Blackberry plants for example are able to spread using seed, seedlings from their roots (that can extend for 4 meters from the plant) and by growing from the tips of branches when they touch the ground.

2.      Weeds like blackberry are opportunistic and will colonise bare soil and eroded slopes. Lori recommends keeping ground cover above 80% so there is no space for weeds to germinate. Some weeds are considered pioneer plants, modifying the soil and habitat conditions so other plants can establish once they have completed their lifecycle. Some examples may include cape weed and Patterson’s Curse.

3.      The native raspberry Rubus parvifolius, looks similar to the introduced blackberry Rubus fruticosus. Native raspberry has a different leaf shape to blackberry and is red on the outer leaf margin, the veins are also more pronounced. Blackberry has nine different species in NSW.

4.      Wetting agents used with herbicides are not approved for use along waterways, Glyphosate is the only approved herbicide for blackberry control in waterways. You can apply for an off-label permit for other herbicides through the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA).  Lori recommends that you only spray actively growing plants, just before or while they are fruiting. Care must be taken when spraying in waterways, if you are unsure of how to do it seek professional advice. In some cases the paint and brush method may be a more targeted approach.

5.      Lori suggests you aim to control 30% of the weed infestation/year. By using a staged approach you can replant the affected areas and leave some habitat for woodland birds until you can get the infestation under control.

Resources

Rivers of Carbon Blackberry Guide

Mt Lofty Rangers video - on how to differentiate blackberry and native raspberry

Maintaining ground cover for water infiltration - Local Land Services 

Goat webinar (includes information on how to use goats to control weeds)

Herds for Hire

NSW DPI Weed Wise

Victorian blackberry control taskforce

Plant NET native raspberry

Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicine Authority

This event was sponsored by the Australian Government with funding from the National Landcare Program. 

This webinar was recorded on Thursday 12 May 2022 with presenters Dr Sandra Baxendell from Goat Veterinary Consultancies-Goat Vet Oz and Elisabeth Larsen from Herds for Hire. Dr Sandra Baxendell is a specialist goat veterinarian based in Queensland, she has decades of experience advising farmers and industry about goat health, management and nutrition. Elisabeth Larsen is a goat husbandry entrepreneur who is using a herd of goats to manage problem weed infestations in South Eastern NSW.  

In this webinar Sandra discussed goat enterprises for small farms, common equipment used for goat management, worm management and common health conditions affecting goats. Elisabeth talked about her experience managing goats for weed control.

A copy of the webinar recording can be found on the Small Farms Network Capital Region YouTube Channel, click here.

Below is a summary of the webinar and a list of resources relating to goat management.

1.  Managing goats and intestinal worms requires planning and thought. Goats have lower worm resistance than sheep and cattle. Quarantine your goats when they arrive, a quarantine drench is important to help prevent bringing worms onto your farm. Goat drenches are ‘off label’, you need to get a prescription and the correct dose from your vet, some vets can dispense drenches in smaller quantities.  WormBoss is an online platform to help producers make decisions about drenching goats, the website has information on faecal egg counting, rotational grazing, strategic drenching and managing worm resistance in goats.
2. There are organic treatments for worms in goats including copper sulphate, copper oxide wire particles and Bioworma. Grazing on forage high in tannins (such as chicory) can help reduce worm burdens in goats.
3. When buying goats ask the seller for an Animal Health Declaration that includes Johne's disease, footrot, and Caprine Arthritis Encephalitis. Goats should be vaccinated for clostridial diseases, goats with no vaccination history and kids need two doses four weeks apart and then a booster every six months. The type of vaccination used will depend on the diseases in your area so seek specialist advice for your situation.
4. Castration should be performed as early as management practices allow and before two months of age, bucks and kids are fertile at three months of age.
5. Goats can be successfully trained to eat woody weeds. If the weeds are too high for the goats to reach try laying them down using a heavy branch or board so they can get access to eat them.

Resources 

WormBoss Website 

Drenches for goats - using them correctly and legally 

Drench decision guide for sheep and goats 

Drenches for goats: alternatives to registered commercial drench products 

NSW DPI 

Managing worms in organic goat production systems

Goat AgSkills

Goat health and vaccinations 

Other

Goat Handling Standards - Animal Health Australia

Australian welfare standards for Goats

The palatability and potential toxicity of Australian weeds to goats - Agrifutures

Goats at the Australian National Botanic Gardens 

NSW DPI Weed Wise

This event was made possible with funding from the National Landcare Program and in-kind support from Elisabeth Larsen, Herds for Hire.

On a cold, windy day in early May 2022, participants gathered near Murrumbateman to learn about lamb marking with veterinarians Peter and Penny Dagg and sheep owners Jennie Curtis and Ashleigh Wildridge.

Some key points from the workshop:

Why mark?

Marking is a set of procedures designed to improve lamb health, manage breeding and identify sheep. Marking is typically done when lambs are around 4-6 weeks of age. Typical procedures are ear tagging, castrating ram lambs that are not needed for breeding, tail docking and vaccinations.

Catching lambs

• Lambs and ewes can be drafted in a race to temporarily separate the lambs from the ewes so that they can be marked. Low stress handling is important since ewes can crush small lambs in a mixed mob in the yards.
• Individual lambs can either be restrained on their back in a cradle or held by another person during lamb marking.

Pain relief

There are two types of pain to consider for lamb marking: immediate (fast) pain and chronic (slow) pain.

• Local anaesthetics make the lamb more comfortable while the procedure occurs and for up to an hour afterwards (immediate pain). Farmers have two options: NumOcaine which is used when applying rings using the Numnuts system and Tri-Solfen which only works when there is an open wound. Tri-Solfen does not provide pain relief for sites where rubber rings are applied since the skin is not cut so will not be useful for most small farmers. NumOcaine is currently available on prescription from vets, Tri-Solfen can be bought from rural suppliers.
• Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs reduce inflammation, pain and fever but do not deal well with immediate pain. These take 15-30 minutes to take effect and last 9 hours or longer. Nurofen is an example used in humans. Options for sheep are injectable Metacam and Buccalgesic, which is a gel placed between the check and the gum. These are available on prescription from vets.

While traditionally lamb marking was done with no pain relief, the gold standard approach to lamb marking is to provide both immediate and chronic pain relief.

Ear tagging

Ear tags may be applied to lambs at marking. Where there is a need to know parentage of lambs (eg. in a sheep stud), ear tags may be applied within a day or two of birth.

Sheep need an ear tag with the Property Identification Code (PIC) for the property where they are born before they leave the property. In NSW, tags can be visual tags (all the information is printed on the tag) or EID tags (all the information is printed on the tag plus the tag can be scanned with a digital scanner).

There is a convention that each year there will be a different colour used for lamb ear tags. It is easy to search for the table of sheep ear tag colours online. The colour for 2022 is red. If a sheep born on another property loses its ear tag while on your property, your only option is to replace it with a pink post breeder tag showing your PIC.

Another convention is to put the tag in the right ear of ewes and left ear of rams/wethers. This is helpful as a visual aid when you are sorting a flock of sheep by sex.

Additional information that may be included on ear tags:

• V to indicate sheep has been vaccinated with Gudair
• Individual sheep number – this can be any format that you choose. One example, for tags for lambs born in 2022 would be to use numbers 2200001, 2200002 etc.

There are many brands of ear tags. Each brand has their own applicator so be sure to match the applicator with the tags you are using. Tags can be bought online or ordered through rural stores. The smallest order size we have found is 10 tags.

Vaccination

Best practice:

• Vaccinate ewes with 6in1 (or 5in1) vaccine against clostridial diseases 4-6 weeks before lambing. The ewes will pass the antibodies to the lambs in the colostrum. This gives the lambs the some protection in the first four weeks after birth.
• Vaccinate lambs with 6in1 (or 5in1) vaccine at 4-6 weeks of age at lamb marking. This is the primer dose.
• Vaccinate lambs with Gudair at lamb marking or up to 16 weeks of age. This is a lifetime vaccination. The vaccine is dangerous if accidentally injected into humans. Lambs that will be slaughtered in first two years do not need Gudair vaccination.
  
• Give lambs a booster dose of 6in1 (or 5in1) vaccine 4-6 weeks after lamb marking (often done at weaning). This booster dose is essential for continuing immunity through the first year.
• Vaccinate all sheep with 6in1 (or 5in1) annually.

Tail docking

Lamb tails are docked to reduce risk of fly strike caused by dags collecting on long tails. This may be more of a problem for woolly sheep so there is a trend developing to not dock tails of shedding hair sheep.

The current best practice recommendation is to dock the tail at the third palpable joint from the base of the tail. This provides more sun protection for bare skin around the tail and is thought to reduce occurrence of anal and vaginal prolapse.

The most accessible option for small farmers is ring docking where a rubber ring is applied to the tail and the tail falls off 2-4 weeks later.

Castration

Castration is the process of removing a ram lamb’s testicles where the lamb will not be used for breeding. This can be done surgically or by applying a rubber ring. Care needs to be taken to get both testicles in the scrotum before applying the ring.

Record keeping

Where sheep will be sold off property, records need to be kept for all medications given. These should include date, which sheep received treatment, name of drug or chemical, dose, batch number and expiry date. These records can be on paper or digital. Various templates are available online.

Other records often made at lamb marking are weight, assessment of lamb structure and adherence to breed standards.

Post marking and weaning

After marking, lambs need to find their mothers (called mothering up). Some breeds are better at this than others. Look for any lambs and ewes that are ‘yelling’ after marking. Quite likely they have lost each other.

Lambs are typically weaned at about 12 weeks of age. This gives the ewes time to recover before joining. Weaning can be very noisy with lambs and ewes calling to each other. Don’t do it near the house! The weaning process will be much slower if the lambs and ewes share a fenceline.

Lambs are more susceptible to worms immediately after weaning. It is helpful to give them a drench and move them onto clean pasture to set them up well to keep growing. This is when they should also get their booster vaccination (6in1 or 5in1). Weaned lambs need the best pasture possible.

Resources

• Pain relief options for sheep (MLA)  https://elearning.mla.com.au/courses/pain-relief-for-sheep/

• Vaccination options for sheep (MLA)
  https://elearning.mla.com.au/courses/vaccination-in-sheep-flocks/
• Sheep Vaccinations in the Capital Region https://smallfarmscapital.org.au/summaries-and-links/9086990
• LPA Livestock Treatment Record Sheet (see pp 6-7 for example and template)
  https://www.mla.com.au/globalassets/mla-corporate/meat-safety-and-traceability/documents/on-farm-practices/lpa-farm-records_update_may14.pdf
• Another treatment record template from Victoria
  https://agriculture.vic.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/536793/Record-keeping-template-Veterinary-Chemical-Use.pdf

This workshop was organised by the Small Farms Network Capital Region committee. Our thanks go to veterinarians Peter and Penny Dagg for sharing their expertise and Ashleigh Wildridge for presenting information.

Grassing the Bare Patches is a citizen science project that has been running in Bywong and Sutton over the past eighteen months. It has been looking at bare patches of ground on three small farms and simple things that might be done to repair them. 

We have tested the soil before and after so we can compare the controls with the plots where we applied treatments. We have measured the herbage mass each season and recorded the plant species that we observed growing on each plot.

This blog post contains a summary of the project findings, and a comparison of the soil test results from the beginning and end of the project.

Project Summary

Soil Test Comparison 

This project is funded by the Australian Government through the National Landcare Program.

This is a summary of the key points from the webinar and paddock walk on plant identification with Jo Powells, Geoff Robertson and Margaret Ning in March 2022.

You can watch the webinar by clicking on this link. 

The key messages from this paddock walk are summarised below, and links to further information on each topic can be found at the bottom the page;

• Grasses are usually categorised by the shape of their seed head.
• Different parts of grasses are used to identify species these include nodes, auricles, leaf shape and ligules. The presence and absence of hairs on the leaf, nodes, stem and other parts of the grass can also help identify different species.
• Perennial grasses are classified as C3 or C4 grasses, this refers to the way in which the grasses capture carbon dioxide during photosynthesis. They are adapted to different environments, with C3 grasses found in temperate areas, while C4 grasses come from tropical climates.
• Cocksfoot grass has branched, open panicles and is folded like a book at the base of the leaf, phalaris has a round stem with cylindrical seed head.
• Grass weeds such as Serrated Tussock, Chilean Needle Grass and African Love Grass can be a big problem for property owners. African love grass has a seed panicle that looks like a Christmas tree, Chilean Needle Grass has distinct ribbed, hairy leaves and a corona at the base of the seed awn. Serrated tussock is largely indigestible and can cause animals to die of malnutrition. Find out more about these weeds in the NSW DPI Weed Wise App.
• Not sure what you’ve got at your place? Contact South East Local Land Services, local council weeds officer or try logging your sighting on the Canberra Nature Map website or app for identification.

Chilean Needle Grass Seed Head – Photo NSW DPI

Jo Powells is a Senior Agricultural Adviser - Pastures from South East Local Land Services based in Cooma.

Contact your nearest South East Local Land Services Office.

Resources

Friends of Grasslands (FOG) – Parts of Grasses 

Department of Primary industry and Fisheries – C3 and C4 Grasses

Ag Guide Pastures in Farming Systems

Grasses of the NSW Tablelands

Canberra Nature Map

NSW DPI pasture plant species and varieties

Grass Identification

This event was made possible with funding from the Australian Government thorough the National Landcare Program and in-kind support from South East Local Land Services.