Minister MacTiernan promotes a range of activities at Field Days

Minister for Regional Development; Agriculture and Food, Alannah MacTiernan recently spent time at the GWN7 Dowerin and Newdegate Machinery Field Days, launching key initiatives and engaging with a range of key stakeholders.

At Dowerin Field Days, Minister MacTiernan took time to engage with a number of key initiatives of the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development at their display shed before launching the RegenWA Network and visiting the CSBP Women in Agriculture Networking event.

RegenWA is the brand name for the Regenerative Famers Network (RFN), a peer-to-peer support network of farmers working to identify and implement on-farm sustainability practices, particularly challenges in relation to soil health.

Supported by Perth Natural Resource Management (NRM), RegenWA aims to work in collaboration with all State NRMs and across all commodity sectors.  The program will help RegenWA members through scientific validation and extension of the impacts of regenerative agriculture practices.

Land degradation is estimated to cost WA’s agricultural sector $2 billion a year. Wheatbelt farmers have long looked at ways to manage and care for the landscape to ensure maintenance of short term productivity and long term sustainability of farming enterprises.

There is a groundswell of interest for Regenerative Agriculture (RA) and its link to production of high quality food. With an increasing societal awareness of the production of food, there is broad interest in seeing systems that use less agro-chemicals and make better use of water.

DPIRD is taking a cross sectoral approach, continuing to collaborate with Meat and Livestock Australia and Rangelands Natural Resource Management to investigate regenerative options for pastoral areas.

DPIRD is currently working with five landholders using regenerative practices to capture real data to underlie the narrative of improved soil health, crop production, quality and profitability.  In addition, DPIRD will support the formation of a Regenerative Agriculture Round Table with the aim to bring together experts in soil health and regenerative farming to explore opportunities for longitudinal research and extension.  

DPIRD will directly support RegenWA through the supply of evidence based information and provision of staff to assist with extension events. This includes a proposed long term trial at the DPIRD Wongan Hills Research Facility, evaluating the impact of incorporation of soil bio-stimulants to soil health.  

The Regenerative Farming Forum will be held at Brookton on 28 September, featuring several DPIRD speakers, including Soils Ministerial Advisory Committee Chair, Tim Overheu and Principal Research Officer, Ed Barrett-Lennard. 

(Our thanks to DPIRD Staff for providing background information for this article.) 

Newdegate Field Days

The town of Newdegate was abuzz last week for the 46^th Annual Newdegate Field Days.

Minister MacTiernan opened the Field Days and announced the Grainbelt Digital Enhancement Project and the Digital Infrastructure Atlas, funded by the Agricultural Telecommunications Infrastructure Fund, with the aim of improving digital connectivity across the grainbelt.

After meeting with representatives of the Field Days and the Shire of Lake Grace, Minister MacTiernan attended the launch of FORM’s PUBLIC Silo Trail. The Silo Trail evolved from a partnership between independent cultural organisation FORM and grain grower cooperative CBH Group and has seen murals created on grain silos in Northam, Merredin, Newdegate, Ravensthorpe, Albany and the final one at Pingrup. 

More information on the Silo Trail is available at https://www.form.net.au/project/public-silo-trail/

The Countryman article and pictures.