 Over 300 of the state’s dairy farmers and service providers attended Western Dairy’s Dairy Innovation Day on Thursday 11 May at Ravenhill Pastoral in Narrikup. The largest dairy in Western Australia was the site for the 23rd annual Dairy Innovation Day, returning to its original format of being on-farm post-COVID19 disruptions. Host farmers Ken and Bonnie Ravenhill own and operate Ravenhill Pastoral, the home of WA’s only 100-stand rotary dairy. Their herd of 1,700 Holstein cattle produces 16 million liters of milk annually. Ms Ravenhill said the experience of hosting DID was surreal. “It’s hard to give every topic justice in one day, but we were very proud to welcome people to our farm. We’re glad the heavens were kind to us and gave us a nice day where people could enjoy what we’ve got here,” Ms Ravenhill said. The day’s program included an in-depth look at the business operations of Ravenhill Pastoral over the decade since Ken and Bonnie took the reins from Ken’s parents, Graham and Jan. “Our farm is special to us as it’s a generational farm,” explained Ms Ravenhill. The amicable succession between the Ravenhill family was one of the day’s key topics, with dairy consultant Steve Hossen facilitating the discussion. “The Ravenhills are an interesting case study,” Mr Hossen said. “The Dairy Innovation Day was an excellent forum to highlight the features of what a successful succession can look like.” In the afternoon, attendees were treated to a tour of the rotary dairy and holding yard floodwash system that uses recycled effluent in operation at Ravenhill Pastoral. Western Dairy Regional Manager Jo Saunders was pleased with the turnout at this year’s event. “The Western Dairy and Ravenhill Pastoral teams worked incredibly hard to coordinate Dairy Innovation Day 2023,” Ms Saunders said. “To have so many people make the journey south for the day demonstrates how connected the WA dairying community is and its commitment to remaining sustainable. We are also incredibly grateful to this year’s sponsors who helped make the day possible.” Busselton dairy farmer and Chair of the Western Dairy board, Robin Lammie, echoed Ms Saunders’ comments. “Western Australia’s dairy industry is small but mighty,” Mr Lammie said. “We currently have 116 dairy businesses contributing four percent to national milk production. Ken and Bonnie are an inspiring example to the next generation of dairy farmers as demonstrated in the vision for their dairy and having built on it by having confidence in their business.” Dairy Innovation Day concluded with a number of farmers and service providers attending the Albany Entertainment Centre for the Brownes pre-dinner drinks and sold-out Pioneer Seeds Gala Dinner.
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 Farmers keen to get the most out of their fertiliser investment joined us at a series of seven Accu-Spread® demonstration days across south-west WA in March as part of the State Government’s Healthy Estuaries WA program. A total of 120 participants took part, some bringing along their own fertiliser spreaders for testing and calibration by Australia’s leading specialist, Russell Nichol. Russell has been testing the performance of spreaders for more than 30 years. The testing helps farmers select an optimum spread width for different fertiliser products and lime, based on the performance of their spreader. Understanding the spread pattern of a fertiliser spreader when using different products can result in higher productivity and healthier waterways. Farmers joined fertiliser spread expert Russell Nichol at the Accu-Spread demonstration days  “Many fertiliser spreaders deliver highly variable spread patterns, meaning that some areas of a paddock may receive too little fertiliser and others too much,” said Dr Deborah Holtham, the Sustainable Agriculture Project Coordinator for the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation. “With the high costs of fertiliser, it is especially timely for farmers and contractors to learn how to test and calibrate their fertiliser spreaders to make sure they are applying the right amount of fertiliser in the right places,” Dr Holtham said. “From the perspective of waterways, and in a drying climate, it is more important than ever to keep excess nutrients from entering our waterways where they can fuel harmful algal growth.” Accu-Spread involves the testing of fertiliser spreading equipment for accuracy and evenness of spread to optimise performance. Calibration through manual adjustments of the spreader mechanisms can then be done, after which the spreader is retested. The process also identifies whether further adjustments, repairs or maintenance are needed. As part of the test, a spreader is driven between fertiliser collection trays set up at one-metre intervals. The fertiliser collected is then weighed, and the weight data is entered into the Accu-Spread computer program to produce a graph showing the width and evenness of the spread. A series of trays set up to collect fertiliser as part of the testing.  “We conducted 75 tests on 21 spreaders during the seven field days and used three different products: urea, superphosphate and lime,” said Dr Holtham. “Farmers were surprised to learn that only a quarter of the machinery tested had satisfactory spread patterns. This has some serious implications for fertiliser management and spreading costs.” Russell Nichol inspects and adjusts the fertiliser spreader to address issues identified by the tests.  Bruce Radys from Oyster Harbour Catchment Group hosted two of the demonstration days. “The days were a great opportunity for farmers and contractors because you don’t really know how a spreader/tractor combination performs until it does a run over the trays. Even two spreaders of the same model can have different spread patterns,” said Bruce. “Although some farmers were disappointed at how their spreader performed, the Accu-Spread graphs show them at what distance they can accurately spread for different fertiliser products.” “Some of the more modern spreaders can be easily adjusted by changing the drop point where the fertiliser hits the spinners. By running the machine over the trays on different settings, it allows the operator to determine the best drop point setting to use for their application.” “Various upgrade kits available for locally manufactured machines can improve spread pattern, but testing after upgrades, modifications or adjustments is essential to determine if there really is an improvement and what the new ‘ideal’ bout width is.” “It’s great for the farmers who make improvements to be able to spread at a wider bout width – reducing waste, spreading time and costs or being able to match seeder widths [tramlining]. It’s a great outcome because a properly calibrated spreader running at its ideal bout width is not only more efficient, but the fertiliser is more likely to be absorbed by pasture and less likely to end up in our waterways,” said Bruce. Bruce Radys, Senior Project Officer from Oyster Harbour Catchment Group, observes a spreader going over the Accu-Spread trays.  Dr Holtham said the demonstration days enabled farmers to build up their knowledge and skills about optimising the performance of their spreaders.
“We also had retailers who sell fertiliser spreaders, a spreader contractor and high school agriculture students come along to learn more about best management practices for fertiliser application,” said Dr Holtham. The demonstration days were delivered by Healthy Estuaries WA catchment group partners, the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation and the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development. This project is part of the State Government’s Healthy Estuaries WA and Revitalising Geographe Waterways programs. These State Government initiatives aim to support the long-term health of our South West estuaries. Learn more about best practices for nutrient management, including fertiliser spreading, here: https://www.wa.gov.au/government/publications/nutrient-best-management-practices-guideline  Our local harbour, rivers, and streams are highly valued for the wide variety of social, cultural, recreational, environmental, and economic services they provide. These include water sports, fishing and marroning, nature-based recreation and ecotourism, and water supply for a range of agricultural, industrial, and urban uses. A properly functioning ecosystem supporting native biodiversity is critical to maintaining the intrinsic values of rivers and the essential services they provide. However, because of our use of rivers and the development pressures they face, aquatic ecosystems are exposed to significant and increasing stress. Notable impacts include changes to natural flow patterns and connectivity (interrupting species migrations and flushing), poor water quality, reduced instream and fringing vegetation and habitat, and introduction of exotic species (which predate and/or compete with native species and bring disease and parasites). The more stress our environmental systems face, the less they are able to tolerate and adapt to a changing climate, pressures from expanding and intensifying development, and increased frequency and magnitude of bushfires. Since 2008, a total of eight river health assessments have been carried out throughout the Oyster Harbour catchment under the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation’s (the department) ongoing program. This includes targeted assessments during the 2017-20 Regional Estuaries Initiative to investigate key areas of the catchment that previously had little or no data. Information from these assessments was examined under the Regional Estuaries Initiative to assess the status of values and threats. Based on historical data, the Oyster Harbour catchment was found to have reasonably high native biodiversity, with 15 species of native fish and crustaceans observed. This included eight species of native freshwater/freshwater-estuarine fish, the pouched lamprey, which migrates from the ocean into the headwaters of rivers to spawn, and four species of freshwater crustaceans (crayfish and shrimp). Ten of these species are endemic to the South West of Western Australia (WA), which means that these species are not naturally found anywhere else. At the sites sampled in the 2020 assessments on Chelgiup Creek, King River and Mill Brook, the biodiversity was found to be in generally good condition, as was the water quality and aquatic habitat. In contrast, significant issues were identified for the Yakamia Creek site, many of which are known and are the subject of ongoing rehabilitation and restoration efforts as part of. The 2020 assessments highlighted important ecosystem values, but also several pressures on the health of the river ecosystems, including:
Recent assessments were not an exhaustive survey of the current status of the entire catchment. New data now adds to our knowledge base of how WA river systems function in different circumstances. Data also provides a baseline for ongoing monitoring of river health in the catchment. The Healthy Estuaries WA website has just finished being updated to include all this content and reports.  |
Author: Bruce Radys
Senior Project Officer Archives
August 2024
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