Ongoing events

During the original coaching project, the University of New England worked with Southern New England Landcare and GLENRAC to arrange both the group coaching sessions and a range of public workshops.

Both natural resource management groups continue to host practical and timely workshops for landholders: please visit Southern New England Landcare or GLENRAC and click events to find out what's coming up.

If you are keen to receive regular updates on all upcoming events and activites, sign up for FREE membership, so you never miss a notification:

• for GLENRAC membership click here
• for Southern New England Landcare membership click here.  

 

Coaching project events 2023-2024

 

Building a resilient pasture feedbase

Glen Innes public workshop

At this event in March 2023, participants heard about:

• More meat, less methane - Sarah Baker, NSW DPI
• Resilient legumes - Carol Harris, NSW DPI
• Mixed annual forages for the Northern Tablelands - Andrew Faithful, NSW DPI
• UNE Resilient Pasture Landscapes Project (Ag360) - Jaimi-lee Edwards, UNE

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reboot Your Grazing Landscapes

Glen Innes, Guyra & Walcha (NSW) public workshops

This series of workshops on resilient, healthy and productive grazing landscapes was offered to the community in the second half of 2023.

Workshop 1 (Soils, the Essentials) was presented by Kristy Youman, a Farming Systems Extension Specialist from Soil Land Food, and was designed to increase farmers understanding of their soil.

Workshop 2 (Managing Soil Health) was also presented by Kristy Youman from Soil Land Food, and covered the benefits of soil health for a grazing enterprise, measurement, assessment, management. and the link between grazing and soil health.

Workshop 3 (Pasture Plant Identification and Function) with Dr Judi Earl, one of Australia’s leading grazing specialists, covered the range of different plant groups that occur in pastures and growth cycles, pasture dynamics, the role of different species in pastures, managing different pasture types in the grazing program, and more.

Workshop 4 (Managing Your Grazing Landscape) was presented by agroecologist David Hardwick, and covered how to achievie a healthy, resilient and productive grazing landscape, options for landscape improvement, and the steps to successfully improving grazing landscapes.

 

 

Improving on-farm waterway health

Ben Lomond (NSW) public workshop

In this February 2024 event, participants heard from UNE Water Ecology's Sarah Mika (water quality, healthy riparian zones and livestock), The Pump Shed's Matt Ridley (water system design and installation), a Natural Resources Access Regulator representative (water laws in NSW), and UNE principal pasture coach Jaimi-lee Edwards (Drought Resilient Pasture Landscapes Project).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Grazing management & feed budgeting

Glen Innes, Guyra & Walcha (NSW) public workshops

Dr Judi Earl is one of Australia’s leading grazing specialists and has worked around Australia on planned grazing extension projects and research. She has a PhD in pasture ecology and is a Certified Holistic Management Educator.

At this series of community workshops in March 2024, participants explored:

• Different approaches to grazing management
• How grasses respond to grazing
• Pasture assessment
• Feed budgeting as a decison support tool
• Summer active pasture plant identification.

 

 

 

 

Record the past, predict the future: Ag360

Armidale (NSW) public workshop

Ag360 is a FREE farm management decision support tool that stands alone in its forecasting capability. It simplifies the complex relationships between weather, pasture and livestock performance to help producers optimise their operations, reduce unnecessary risk, and as a result potentially increase profits. Ag360 helps you to stay on track with your targets & make informed decisions for your livestock. 

It can help you track:

• Rainfall outlooks
• Soil moisture now and forecast
• Pasture availability
• Paddock movements
• Record management information

At this event in April 2024, presenter Lu Hogan helped participants set up their free account, and demonstrated how to use Ag360 to record farm management, access rainfall forecasts, and share information with advisors.

  

Calculating Carbon

Glen Innes, Guyra and Walcha (NSW) public workshops

For those curious to know more about how their farm can benchmark greenhouse gas emissions, a series of community workshops were held in May 2024. 

Delivered by Dr Tom Davison, who has had an extensive career in livestock production with a focus on methane research and emissions reduction, the workshop was a chance to present independent, research and fact-based material, featuring a mix of learning and practical activities. Participants utilised the University of Melbourne's Farm Greenhouse Accounting Framework Tools for sheep and beef producers. This is a free tool you can continue to use after the workshop. 

 

 

 

 

 

Farm mapping

Glenn Innes (NSW) public workshop

At this event in May 2024, particpants learnt how to map their property boundaries, map paddocks and important farm infrastructure, export or print maps, and how to access maps online.