Agriculture and Biosecurity newsletter: April 2023

With over 200 people expected to arrive in Darwin to attend the 2023 Northern Beef Research Updates Conference (NBRUC) in August, the organising committee has put the call out for presentations to be submitted for the ‘Beef Bites’ program.

Chair of the NBRUC organising committee and Katherine beef producer, Jay Mohr Bell, said the Beef Bites presentations would add a lively, fast-paced dimension to a packed program of research and development presentations built around the theme of Recipes for Success.

Presentations should fit under the following themes:

• livestock performance and management
• feed base including rangelands and pastures
• technology, data management and use
• animal welfare and best practice
• human capacity, social science, extension.

Interested parties should register their interest on the Northern Beef Research Update Conference website.

One page Beef Bites papers should be submitted by 26 May 2023.

A significant win for the beautiful waters of the Territory with 7 newly graduated marine rangers. Candidates from Maningrida, Bulgul and Yirrkala came together recently in Nhulunbuy to complete the final module of their Certificate III in Fisheries Compliance.

Over the past 15 years, 232 rangers have completed the accredited fisheries compliance training with 32 of those graduating with a certificate III. The unique component of this course is the place based learning aspect with the final learning block delivered on-country, putting the student’s skills to the test in real life scenarios.

While completing the final modules, the students headed out with the water police on patrols to further develop practical compliance skills on the waters off Gove Peninsula. Through this training module, Fisheries and Water Police supported rangers to engage with commercial and recreational fishers. This included a tour of a commercial Barramundi vessel and interactions with local anglers. These were great opportunities to share information and establish a better understanding of a marine ranger’s role in fisheries compliance.

Although the priority of this on-country exercise was for the rangers to demonstrate the skills they have learnt over the last 6 months with Water Police on patrol, the best outcome was the interaction between the sectors, sharing their values and establishing a better understanding of the need for the shared use of fisheries resources in the Territory.

Fisheries around the world face many challenges, with one of the biggest being ocean climate and its effect on marine life. The Northern Territory Fisheries branch recently met with Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) and industry stakeholders to discuss and assess the Mud Crab Fishery and potential adaption responses that may be implemented to better manage climate change driven ecological changes to our waters.

A climate adaption handbook has been developed to better equip industry and fisheries managers on the impacts of climate change and the risk assessment will underpin this by further identifying adaptive methods.

For a copy of the climate adaptation handbook, go to the CSIRO website.

When the report has been completed, it will be circulated to interested parties. If you would like a copy of this report, please get in touch with Eliza by email eliza.kimlin@nt.gov.au.

The 38th annual Northern Territory Cattleman’s Association (NTCA) Industry Conference was held at the Darwin Convention Centre on 16 and 17 March. The conference brought together over 700 attendees to discuss key issues for the livestock sector, with biosecurity a hot topic.

With the government’s commitment to strong biosecurity measures for Australia and our neighbouring countries, Federal Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Murray Watts announced a further one million doses of lumpy skin disease vaccine for Indonesia.

A full breakdown of the conference and the objectives of the NTCA for the coming year can be found on the Northern Territory Cattleman’s Association website.

The Gunn Point Emerging Agribusiness Precinct has taken a huge leap with the lodgement of land clearing and ground water extraction licence applications and a tender release for design of road and water infrastructure now open.

Extensive studies were conducted to identify and map soil and land capability, water availability, vegetation and biodiversity assets for Gunn Point, to identify land most suitable for development under the $10 million Mapping the Future Program in 2020. This precinct will be developed in consultation with NT Farmers to run crop trialling and explore innovative farming and irrigation techniques.

This 260 hectare, $6.3 million pilot project has been jointly funded through the National Water Grid Fund and the Northern Territory Government.

For more information and investment opportunities, view about the Gunn Point Emerging Agribusiness Precinct.

The Northern Territory (NT), Queensland and Western Australia have recently joined forces with the establishment of the Northern Australia Coordination Network (NACN). A $4.33 million federally funded initiative to strengthen biosecurity measures and develop stronger connections for the northern half of Australia.

NACN will bring together key governing bodies and industry stakeholders and will be led by a senior coordinator who has been appointed by the NT Government. A national recruitment process took place, with Territorian Robbie Dalton appointed as lead coordinator. As the lead coordinator, Robbie will liaise across all northern jurisdictions to synchronise industry response training for stakeholders and support producers with respect to emergency animal disease preparedness.

The Territory is in a strong position, with Australia free of serious animal diseases at present. The NACN will support northern jurisdictions and industry to coordinate our approach to emergency animal disease preparedness.

For more information, go to the Northern Territory Show Council website.