Many people move from cities to regional areas and part of the lifestyle shift usually includes taking up ownership of small parcels of land and rearing livestock.
Recent worm count and egg count results throughout the south east of Australia suggest that Barbers Pole worm (Haemonchus contortus) will be a challenge this spring and summer on farms that traditionally may not have seen issues previously with this parasite.
As we head into spring, a few cases of cattle bloat have caused some problems in the region over the last week. Bloat is a seasonal problem in both dairy and beef cattle.
The Department of Primary Industries (DPI) is reminding livestock producers that now is the time to vaccinate their flocks and herds for clostridial diseases such as pulpy kidney, blackleg and black disease.
Between 2001 and 2010, there was an average of 13 quad bike deaths per year. In 2011, this increased to 23 deaths and tragically in the first five months of 2012, 8 people have already died on quad bikes.
‘Getting away from it all’ is an Australian dream. In our area, getting away from it all often involves buying a rural block. Rural blocks can be productive farmland, a bush block or a combination of both.
This compost pile was the star attraction for more than 100 farmers and agricultural industry members, who flocked to Craig Mathews’ Bass Coast dairy farm to find out more about on-farm composting.
