Events

EVENTS

To assist the Gascoyne Catchments Project in reaching part of its vision to become a respected pastoral industry there has been a strong focus on publicising the project and its outcomes to the general public.

Meeting with Minister Redman

On the 6th of October 2009 the Gascoyne Catchments Group met with Minister Redman at Bidgemia Station, near Gascoyne Junction, to discuss potentila future opportunties for the group. The long term goals of the group were presented to the Minister as were the opportunites that highlight the pro-active approach being taken by members of the pastoral industry and rangeland communities in the Gascoyne region

Long term goals

1. Increasing the productive capacity of the rangeland through significantly improving rangeland health and changing producers attitudes to rangeland management.
• Rangeland health is the single most important factor in our business.
• Improving rangeland health will increase productive capacity through higher carrying capacity and the potential to increase weight gain of cattle
• Make livestock easier to market due to their condition and lessening effects of drought
• improve public perception of our industry and our performance as rangeland managers

The Monitoring Tool can achieve the goal of improving catchment wide rangeland health through education and empowering producers to make better decisions and tell the story along the way.

2. Improving the marketability of GCG cattle, research new markets for our cattle, forming lasting relationships with other members of the supply change and offering producers up to date information on all markets available.
• The GCG held the Carnarvon cattle forum because we saw the marketing of our plainer lines of cattle as a major block effecting the profitability of our businesses.
This inability to easily sell females and plainer lines has a big impact on rangeland health as producers are forced to carry cattle they didn’t intend to.

3. Production and R & D
4. Raising the profile and telling the story through media and web site.
5. Influence policy and offer a united producer voice on local and regional issues as well as supplying ideas and information to DAFWA on such issues.

The GCG are currently in the process of applying for funding to realise these long term goals.

Carnarvon Cattle Industry Forum

The Carnarvon Cattle Industry Forum was held on the 30th April 2009 in Carnarvon. This forum was organised by the Gascoyne Catchments Project and the Department of Agriculture and Food to specifically provide livestock producers with the market specifications for selling via lot feeders, live export, processors and finishers.

The forum was very well attended with over 130 people including 60+ pastoral businesses, the Minister for Agriculture and Food, Liberal Senators, the Hon Wendy Duncan and many other distinguished guests.

Sponsorship for the day was provided by R & K Leeds, Elders, ANZ, Landmark, Commonwealth Bank and Meat and Livestock Australia.

A summary of the day is available by clicking here.

To view the coverage from the Farm Weekly, Northern Guardian and Pastoral Memo please scroll to the bottom of the page.

Australian Rangelands Society Conference

At the 15th Biennial Australian Rangelands Society Conference in Charters Towers, QLD in September 2008 the Gascoyne Catchments Project sent four industry and steering committee representatives to present a poster on the project. These gatherings are important opportunities for rangeland managers to share ideas.

The conference consisted of a mix of field trips and scientific presentations. Poster presentations were held on the 3rd day of the conference and many interested parties came to see what we had to say about our region and our project.

There was some stimulating conversation about the future of the project, our objectives and the development of the monitoring and self assessment tool.