Soils, pastures, livestock, grains and fodder, the five research pillars of the Gippsland Agricultural Group (GAgG) will be covered in detail at the upcoming Spring Field Day, which includes presenters from local farmers to industry experts.
GAgG general manager, Jen Smith, said this year’s spring field day had something for everyone.
“Producers large and small, industry representatives, and those with a keen interest in agriculture in our region are welcome and encouraged to come to the Gippsland Research Farm,” Jen said.
“Results from our projects are published in February each year, but spring is a great time to come and see, feel, and experience for yourself what’s happening.
“I challenge people to come along with an open mind to examine for themselves the input and activities we are testing and demonstrating and the results that are coming out.
“In most instances, we are looking for what’s commercially viable, and often that means we test several designs, and some fail.
“They fail because there is not enough return on the investment, require too much labour or simply don’t work.
“Failure is a great teacher, and if you are open to it, every mistake especially on a farm has a lesson to offer.
“However, it’s even better when you can learn from the failures of others.
“Failure and success look very different to every farmer, size of farm, equity, access to capital, all may render what is applicable for one irrelevant to another.
“Winston Churchill said ‘Success is not final, failure is not fatal: It is the courage to continue that counts’.
“So come along and check out what’s happening here and find something to try in your farming system.
“There are 10 sessions across four times slots, which means you can choose your own adventure and what’s relevant for you in your farming systems right now,” she said.
The bane of many farmers’ existence, African lovegrass, will be in the spotlight with stories of burning infested paddocks and resowing them, plus the top three and worst three control options for the pervasive weed.
Wally Notman will speak about agro-forestry on farm, Richard Shepard on artificial insemination in beef herds, and AgVic’s Fiona Baker will conduct a fertiliser budgeting master class.
GAgG’s Alister Micallef will speak about the ovastim demonstration and lamb survival percentages, and local farmer Dave Caldwell, along with Emily Cook, will speak on the Growing Pastures in a Variable Climate demonstration, perennials versus annuals.
Nitrogen fixation in farming systems will be covered by research agronomist Richard Prusa, including species like faba beans, vetch and clovers, while Ben Morris from Field Applied Research (FAR) Australia will talk about fungicide use to manage diseases in cereal crops and cereal variety performance.
GAgG agronomist, Casey Willis, and drought adoption officer, Rick Blackshaw, will conduct the ‘Fail Fast – Resow quickly’ session about growing lucerne in wet conditions and variety performance.
Attendees need to book for each session online to secure a spot as the session groups will be limited in size.
The fifth annual GAgG Spring Field Day will take place on Thursday, October 24, from 8.30am-3.30pm.
