Youth Scholarships for 2008

Richard Hubbard, Corryong College, Taila Briggs, Tony Jarvis, UMAG, Brooke McKimmie and Peter Joyce, Towong Shire Councillor, at Corryong College.

One of the great initiatives coming from the SAS project was the establishment of the Upper Murray Agribusiness Youth Scholarship.

This award is available to secondary students from Tallangatta Secondary College and Corryong College who demonstrate academic achievement and vocational aspirations in agriculture and related fields. The goal is to showcase the work of UMAG and present career opportunities for young people interested in this field.

This year, the winners of this scholarship were Matt Parker from Tallangatta Secondary College and Taila Briggs from Corryong College.

Each student will receive a laptop computer and extra training within their chosen field. Both students will be required to participate in various UMAG activities over the next year. Congratulations to Taila and Matt.

Adam Dyde, Towong Shire, Matt Parker and Bernadette Thomas, Project Manager UMAG, at Tallangatta High School.

Paddock Action Manager Introduction and Workshop

The Upper Murray Agribusiness Group is holding a workshop to introduce and demonstrate the computer software package Paddock Action Manager.

One of many software aids available for farm managers, PAM is used successfully across the Upper Murray in a wide range of farming enterprises.

Some of the features of PAM include:

• Farm planning
• Production, yield and input recording
• General farm management
• Applicable to broad acre and intensive crops

This day will be run by experienced agronomist Tim Paramore who has worked for many years with farmers in the Upper Murray.

Funding success for new pasture project

Upper Murray Pastures Group Farm Walk 2007 Group visiting Tintaldra.

One of the great benefits in the Upper Murray Pastures Group joining forces with UMAG was the chance to partner the Towong Shire in large, region wide projects.

It is with great excitement that the group can announce the successful funding of a three year project called Grazing the Hills — Improved pasture management systems for the Upper Murray. This project is funded by the National Landcare Project and is again a partnership with Towong Shire Council, a formula which appears to be working really well for all parties.

This project grew out of the work of the pastures group in developing a systematic approach to establishing and managing perennial pastures, especially on the rising and hilly country in the Upper Murray. From a Landcare perspective, the project ticks all the boxes relating to water and soil conservation and sustainable farming systems at the top of the Murray-Darling catchment. Importantly, this project will also involve the participation of the University of Melbourne, an initiative both UMAG and Towong Shire have been trying to develop for some time.

The project will allow for the ongoing support of existing programs (farm walks, information sessions etc.) with the group as well as the establishment of eight large scale demonstration sites across Towong Shire and a range of associated agronomic services. Some funding is available for establishing these sites.

UMAG Focus on Mitta Valley

The soil moisture monitoring work of UMAG continued with a field day in Eskdale featuring Dennis Watson of DPI, Pauline McDonald from IK Caldwells and UMAG member Tom Paton who has been working with monitors in pastures and onions.

This day targeted another region within the shire and aimed to spread the services of UMAG and the Sustainability at the Source project as wide as possible.

The session was well attended, especially from within the dairy sector, with a particular interest in the G-Bug systems offered by the group.

It is anticipated that several new installations will result from the field day in preparation for the forthcoming irrigation season.

Centre Pivot Training

UMAG is seeking expressions of interest in a training day focusing on the management of centre pivot irrigators.

The day will involve participation from irrigation consultants and Irrigation Association of Australia training packages. The training will target scheduling and set up of pivots and operation and maintenance.

More information and dates will be available soon but interested parties are encouraged to contact Bernadette Thomas on 0428 511 575.

Telemetry Presentation

Last month's UMAG meeting also featured a presentation from Sandy Salmon demonstrating the new "My Farm" website and aspects relating to the operation of telemetry equipment installed as part of the "Know your environment" project.

This one year project is winding up with just a few installations to go and a series of further workshops, training opportunities media releases to go out over the next few months. Go to www.umag.org.au and click on the "My Farm" menu option on the right to see the full scope of services on offer.

This project has created a lot of interest outside of the shire and has also paved the way to develop some new applications such as a wild dog fence monitor which monitors the function of electric fences.

This prototype, developed as part of the project, has formed the basis of a further funding application with DPI to roll out units on critical fences across Towong Shire. The project has national significance for wild dog managers.