Successfull Planting Day at Lake Gillear

Last Saturday 22nd August saw Basalt to Bay Landcare Network join forces with Warrnambool Motorcycle Club at Lake Gillear, some 6 km south of Allansford.

The Warrnambool Motorcycle Club has their club premises and motorcross track on the site. The site is part of a much larger area that has been largely neglected by landholders since white settlement. In an effort to begin restoring native vegetation to the area, the WMC has planted a 1000 native trees and shrubs along one part of their fence line and along the drainage line leading to the lake.



It was inspiring to see some 20 people from the club and 3 of us working together to help transform the landscape. I didn't hear anybody complain about the difficult conditions or the weather and infact I heard numerous comments about what a difference it would make.

Plants such as Wooly Tea Tree, Prickly Moses and Manna Gums will now be part of the landscape. Creating habitat for birds, frogs, lizards and insects, enhancing the aesthetic appeal of the area and improving water quality in the lake. It is anticipated that this might mark the beginning of further work around the lake and inspire other local landholders to do the same.

Lake Gillear is part of the Western District Tree Muster project, which is sponsored by Mobile Muster via Landcare Australia.

To learn more about WMC, visit : http://warrnamboolmotorcycleclub.com/
To learn more about Mobile Muster visit : http://www.mobilemuster.com.au/ .

Best Practice in Direct Seeding Demonstration

With local contractor Bill O’Shea

Bill O’Shea will be presenting a direct seeding demonstration on site at Demo Dairy,
as part of the monthly farm tour.

During this demonstration, Bill will talk about :

• Best practice in direct seeding in dairy & coastal zones in the south west
• Site suitability
• Selecting appropriate seed
• Appropriate planting & soil conditions
• Overcoming challenges & difficult soils
• Growth rates
• Benefits of shelter belts & revegetation

WHERE : DEMO DAIRY
(1/2 WAY BETWEEN GARVOC & TERANG ON THE PRINCES HIGHWAY)
WHEN : 10:30 AM -12:30 PM ON WEDNESDAY 7TH OCTOBER, 2009.

To reserve your place, RSVP Margie Finnigan at the Glenelg Hopkins CMA on
55 626 104 by or for further information call Richard Hudson on 0458 268 119.
Sponsored by Basalt to Bay Landcare Network (http://www.basalttobay.org.au/ &
http://b2bln.blogspot.com/), Department of Planning & Community Development & Demo Dairy (http://www.demodairy.org.au/joomla15/)
& Bill O’Shea of Direct Seed (http://www.directseed.com.au/index.html) .

Planting Day at 'The Common' Hawkesdale

Sunday 13th September at 1 pm

The Common has finally been given back to the Hawkesdale Community.

Our plan is to make it into a native reserve with a walking track. We are seeking volunteers to plant out the area with indigenous plants. A planting day has been organised on September 13th. If you are able to help please let one of the following know. Barbeque to follow planting.

Bruce Mirtschin 55607213 email murch@westvic.com.au
Frank Huglin 55607232
Julie Boss at the Post Office

Funding for the trees has been supplied by Mobile Muster, C/O Landcare Australia through Basalt to Bay and Hopkins Moyne Landcare Network.

Cheers,

Bruce.

Succesfull Dung Beetle Session

Yesterday the 4th leg of John Feehan's Dung Beetle Road Show, kicked off with a morning session in Macarthur and then an afternoon session in Koroit. Apparently there was a turnout of about 40 people in Macartur, including about 20 local high school students. The Koroit session had a turnout of about 30 people, which was about twice what we expected.

John gave an entertaining and informative presentation that engaged everyone and planted the seeds for a strong regional interest in the use of Dung Beetles. John noted that Dung Beetles made a powerfull addition to sustainability. He suggested that key benefits to releasing Dung Beetles include :

• Up to or greater than a 30 % reduction in fertilizer application
• Cyclical turnover & aeration of top soil
• A reduction in visible dung
• An increase in soil Carbon, Phosphorous and Nitrogen
• A reduction in sedimentation, run off & point source nutrification for waterways which results in a reduction in algal blooms and water turbidity
• A reduction in bush fly larvae and bush flies (almost total eradication where Dung Beetle colonies were established)
• A reduction in other dung borne parasites
• Providing habitat & food supply for earthworms
• A reduction in the effect of soil acidity & salinity by promoting deeper grass root penetration
• An increase in rain water penetration & retention of ground water.

All in all John put forth a fairly convincing argument for the use of Dung Beetles as part of a suit of sustainability practices.

John suggested that farmers wishing to purchase Dung Beetles, first collect some on their own property so that he can identify them and allocate the right beetles to the right climate and location. For further information about how to do this contact John at Soilcam on 02 6248 0376.

Thanks to Fort Dodge and Agri-Doo for bringing John down for us and to the Department of Planning & Community Development for funding to run the day.

The road show continues, with the next session in Timboon today, Cobdon and Simpson tomorrow and Apollo Bay on Friday. Check out http://www.dungbeetles.net.au/index.html for further information about the roadshow.

South West Victoria Dung Beetle Project

Dean Suckling from local agricultural consultancy Agri-Doo has set up the South West Dung Beetle project, in collaboration with Heytsbury Landcare Network and Rod Evans of Fort Dodge. Further information can be found on their website here : http://www.dungbeetles.net.au/index.html .

Just a reminder that the Dung Beetle Information Session with John Feehan, will be held at Koroit next Tuesday 11th August between 1-3 pm. See blog entry below for further details.