Wednesday 13th August

12:00-3:00pm

Pre Conference Tour ~ Ellinbank

Presented by Department of Primary Industries

6:30pm to 9:00pm  

Young Graziers Summit

Supported by Meat & Livestock Australia

Thursday 14th August

7:30am

Registration and Trade Fair

8:30am

GSSA Welcome

Andrew Sheridan GSS

8:40am

Welcome to Country

Albert Mullet, Senior Elder -Traditional Owners of the Gunai-kurnai

8:50am

Official Opening

Rachael Davis, Marketing Manager, Incitec Pivot Limited

9:00am

East Gippsland - Regional Overview

Graeme Dear, Executive Officer, East Gippsland CMA

9:15am

You can take on the world

John Auer took Snowy River Seeds from a small co-operative to large export company.

John Auer, Global Marketing Director, HSR Seeds

9:45am

GSSA AGM

Michael Pocock, GSSA President

10:00am

Morning Tea

10:30am

Investing in Fertiliser

In light of recent price rises in the cost of fertiliser this session will take a comparative look at using fertilisers and how the benefits stack up.

John Webbware, The Mackinnon Project

11:00am

Native Grasses - How they Stack Up

All species have a place within the farming system. This session focuses on the advantages and challenges of native grasses and the role they play.  In addition hear the latest about the EverGraze Project.

Meredith Mitchell, Department of Primary Industries

11:30am

Break

11:45am

Bus Tours Depart (choose one)

Tour 1

“The Perfect Meal”

This kicks off a visit to Oneharvest Vegco’s processing factory where value adding to vegetables occurs, with fresh cut packs and ready to eat meals prepared for supermarkets Australia –wide. Then to Bonaccord Ingram on the Mitchell River flats at Lindenow where Ross Ingram will demonstrate and discuss the challenges of intensive vegetable production with uncertain water supplies.  Then on to Rod Polkinghorne’s farm “Marinya” to look at adaptations for rearing cattle in a changing climate. Rod is well known for his work with MSA meat grading standards, and has opened butcher shops in Melbourne which sell guaranteed quality meat meals, not anatomy lessons

Tour 2

"Irrigation Transformation"

Come and see how these two sheep properties have been transformed by the adoption of irrigation (centre pivots) , improved overall management, and changes in enterprise. “Paringa” a traditional sheep property has been converted into a large scale dairy and irrigated cropping operation milking in excess of 1400 dairy cows. See first hand the Vardy’s challenge of feeding a large milking herd using irrigated pasture, maize, lucerne, and cereal crops all grown on the property. The property has undergone large scale development in not only infrastructure but also in soil fertility, starting with Olsen phosphorus levels of 3 or 4. “Disley” The Fechners have expanded the irrigation on their Bengworden property taking it from a dry land Merino wool enterprise to also include irrigated seed potatoes and Prime Lambs under Irrigated pastures, Canola, and fodder crops.  Experience the journey of gearing up the irrigation, pasture production, prime lamb production, and the opportunistic crops that can be grown under a centre pivot irrigator.

Tour 3

Crop Care Australasia “Integration a Key to Success”

This tour is about integrating cereal crops into pasture systems, particularly focussing on their costs, production, agronomic properties, characteristics and benefits. Visit the Bengworden district looking at wheat, barley, triticale and grazing canola. The farm hosts, Trevor Caithness and Rick Robertson and The Southern Farming Systems trial site will show how three months of high quality and high quantity forage can be grazed from these crops in the winter, followed by the harvest of silage or hay or grain in the spring / summer. This tour will also incorporate an EverGraze site.

Tour 4

Landmark “Grazing and Fertiliser hit the Spot”

Visit Shaun and Maria Beasley’s Farm “Emu Park” where they are hosting the NLP funded Redgum Plains Sustainable Grazing Trial. This trial  demonstrates that with the establishment of appropriate perennial pastures, fertiliser regimes and grazing management systems, stocking rates 2-3 times the district average can be carried sustainably. Project consultant Lisa Warn will present the trial results so far and give an overview of the rationale behind the trial. Shaun will give us a farm tour focusing on large scale pasture renovation, benchmarked wool production and his nucleus flock producing rams of high genetic merit.

5:30pm

Buses Return

7:00pm

Annual Dinner - FLYING HIGH - A Real Buzz!

Wy Yung Hotel

Featuring Ben Buckley

Agricultural Pilot

Day 3 - Friday 15th August

7:30am

Big Breakfast

8:00am

Student Bursary Winners

Chris Dunn

Will Johanson

Session 1 - Focus on Soils

8:30am

Plant Growth and it’s Manipulation

8:40am

Is Super Losing its Fizz - The Boron Rhizobia Story

Leo Hamilton will look at why old established pastures may not respond to phosphate fertilisers

Leo Hamilton, Agronomic  Services Pty Ltd

9:20am

Nutritional Constraints affecting Symbiotic Nitrogen Fixation

Matt Denton will discuss nutrient constraints affecting symbiotic nitrogen fixation

Dr Matt Denton, Department of Primary Industries

10:00am

BioPhos a New Alternative

Charlie Walker will share the latest trial results on BioPhos, an alternative source of phosphate fertiliser.

Charlie Walker, Incitec Pivot Limited

10:30am

Morning Tea

Session 2 - Department of Primary Industries "Adapting to a Changing Climate"

11:00am

The Low Down on Soil Carbon

Dr Baldock will look at how to balance your carbon books and economically lift your soil carbon levels

Dr Jeffery Baldock, CSIRO Land and Water

11:40am

Soil Water Holding Capacity

Trevor Caithness will talk on strategies for changing soil water holding characteristics by deep ripping  and clay incorporation and his use of alternative fertilisers as well as his Nuffield study tour into alternative fertilisers and his own usage of  poultry manure as his main fertiliser.

Trevor Caithness, producer, Bairnsdale, Victoria

12:20pm

Pasture Cropping - An Option for the Future

Colin increased profitability by an incredible 25% on his mixed farm in the NSW central tablelands using different fertiliser strategies, management including  pulse grazing to rest pastures, and introducing winter crops directly into summer-growing pastures. The water table has dropped, biodiversity has skyrocketed and profitability.

Colin Seis, Producer, “Winona” Gulgong, NSW

1:00pm

Lunch

Session 3 - Planttech - "Research Snippets - GSSA Special Projects"

1:45pm

Mycotoxins in the Feedbase

Identifying & preventing ill-thrift production losses

Annette Litherland  AgResearch (NZ)

2:15pm

Novel endophyte technologies to enhance on-farm dairy productivity in Victoria

 David Hume AgResearch (NZ)

2:30pm

Pastures from Space

The Pastures from Space program provides estimates of pasture production during the growing season by means of remote sensing. Satellite data combined with climate and soil data is used to produce Pasture Growth Rate (PGR) estimates. Hear the latest on ground truthing this fascinating information from space for eastern Australia.

Dr Nick Edwards, SARDI

2:50pm

Pastures Australia

Pastures Australia represents an industry-wide effort to create the most efficient vehicle for future investment in annual grasses, perennial grasses, legumes, shrubs and herbs to best benefit Australian agriculture. Get an update on what projects are funded and what is the latest on priority areas for investment.

Rory Coffey Executive Officer, Pastures Australia

3:10pm

2008 IGC China

What are the key messages and insights from the International Grasslands Congress in China.

Geoff Saul, National EverGraze Coordinator

3:30pm

Panel Questions

3:50pm

Closing Remarks

Andrew Sheridan, Conference Convenor