Water solutions for stock and carbon farming focus of Stokes Bay Field Day
Are you running low on stock water? Wondering what all this talk about carbon farming is about? Would like to know five key tactics to keep your sheep alive now and after it rains? Would you like a free feed?
All of the above topics are the subject of discussion during a farmer information session at Stokes Bay on Tuesday 25March, starting from 2.30pm at Dan and Sue Pattingale's farm 115 Christensen Track, Stokes Bay and finishing at 5pm with a FREE BBQ tea at the Stokes Bay Hall.
The afternoon will cover a range of topics from dam design options to help fill dams in winter. One solution is a graded catchment. A graded catchment reduces the soakage of rainfall into the topsoil, promoting rapid run-off into the dam. Run-off on a normal pasture paddock equates to about 10 percent of a rainfall event. A graded catchment can increase run-off by 50-60 percent.
The farm field day will start off having a look at Dan and Sue’s graded catchment. Dan and Lyn Dohle from the Department of Primary Industries and Regions SA (PIRSA) will explain how they work, where to site them for maximum effectiveness and everything else you need to know about water capture. Bring along any dam samples you have for a FREE water test.
We will then move to the Stokes Bay Hall for three different information sessions.
In the firsts session the Kangaroo Island Landscape Board (KILB) will help demystify carbon farming. Over the next 12 months, the KILB will be rolling out workshops for KI farmers to help them better understand what carbon farming is, what can be done to reduce on-farm emissions, what carbon credits are, how on-farm emissions are measured and what upcoming reporting requirements mean for farmers. This session will provide a summary of what you will learn at the workshops.
The next session will focus on livestock management, Steph Warwick, Livestock Production Advisor Elders and Stokes Bay farmer Caleb Pratt will discuss the five key things farmers need to consider to keep stock alive now and also what to do when it rains. Often the livestock losses after it rains can be as high or higher than during the dry spell. Come along to find out wat you need to know to make sure this doesn’t happen on your farm.
The last session will be the launch of the Adelaide Hills, Fleurieu and Kangaroo Island Regional Drought Resilience Plan. Many of you were involved in the development of this plan in a workshop at Parndana in late June last year. Here is your chance to find out what’s in the plan and in particular how KI may benefit in the future now we have a collective plan.
The evening will finish off with a FREE BBQ tea, non-alcoholic drinks will be provided, but you are free to BYO alcoholic drinks. RSVP is essential for catering purposes. Please RSVP via text to Lyn Dohle 0419 846 204
This event is brought to you by SA Drought Hub, Department of Primary Industries and Regions, Agriculture Kangaroo Island, Kangaroo Island Landscape Board and Regional Development Australia.
