South West Catchments Council participated in the annual Dolphin Festival family event on Saturday 17th October 2020, holding a stall to promote western ringtail possum conservation and related projects in the Greater Bunbury Region. This year stall visitors could enter a draw to win a ‘possum salad bar plant’...
South West Catchments Council facilitated a focus group session on Saturday 21st November 2020 to discuss the benefits and barriers of indoor cat ownership. “It was great to hear from local Bunbury region cat owners about the rewarding experience of owning an indoor cat, especially the companionship benefits,” said...
Curtin University PhD student Joshua Kestel was out in the field recently collecting data for the SWCC eDNA Avocado Pollinator project. He used cameras to record which insects visit avocado flowers, as well as pan traps to identify insects found in the orchard. Joshua also collected flowers for eDNA...
How deep would you plant a saltbush seedling? The answer surprised farmers who attended the Forage Options field day at Bell Pasture Seeds recently. Saltbush is often used on marginal lands to address problems such as vitamin and mineral deficiencies, reducing supplementary feeding, covering marginal land at risk of...
Sheep producers interested in confinement feeding were treated to a goldmine of information at the recent Rylington Park Annual Field Day when organisers engaged four farmers to talk about their experiences with the practice. We’ve put together a summary for three of the talks with a link to an...
Nurseries are finalising orders for 2021 over the next few weeks, so if you plan to plant in 2021, you need to start talking to your nursery about the species and numbers to order. However, before you make that call, the first step is to be clear about the...
With decreasing rainfall, there has been an expectation that the area affected by dryland salinity has peaked. However, recent observations by farmers that salinity is expanding in many areas have been verified through groundwater monitoring by the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD), particularly where clearing of...
With two early storms causing significant erosion in parts of Western Australia earlier this year, some producers may be looking at unproductive and uncovered sandy areas with increasing trepidation. It’s the type of situation that Woodanilling farmer John Pickford experienced in the 1990’s on an area with deep pale...
While confinement feeding is considered most relevant to sheep production, a recent trial by beef producer Brodie Allen south of Vasse suggests the cattle industry could also benefit by improving early season pasture establishment, animal condition and feed usage. The practice involves confining stock in relatively small pens for...
By Stephen Newbey. SWCC and Birdlife Australia recently ran two ran two cockatoo training workshops, one in conjunction with Katanning Landcare, and the other with Blackwood Basin Group. The training included: How to identify potential cockatoo nesting sites; Survey methods of nesting sites; How to use ‘Cocky Cam’ to...
Western ringtail possum conservation at the Dolphin Festival 30 November, 2020
South West Catchments Council participated in the ...
Indoor cat focus group in the Bunbury region 30 November, 2020
South West Catchments Council facilitated a focus ...
Data collection begins for avocado eDNA Project 30 November, 2020
Curtin University PhD student Joshua Kestel was ou...
Emily
Emma Keillor
Jodi Elston
Nerilee Boshammer
Peter Clifton
Pip Marshall
Sarah Molloy