8th July, 2011 More than 120 growers attended the Victorian No-Till Farmers’ Association Wimmera Crop Walk on 6th July. Vic No-Till Committee President Evan Lewis said he was pleased with the level of enthusiasm shown by members and others interested in no-till farming. “We visited four properties around Minyip and Rupanyup during the morning, looking at how the wet summer affected weed growth and then sowing conditions. It was interesting to see how readily and easily people have adapted to no-till systems, even in wet conditions. “This season has shown how important it is to manage residue, and how critical …

8th July, 2011 The 9th Annual Conference of the Victorian No-Till Farmers’ Association on 29th July in Bendigo is expected to draw capacity crowds with its line-up of international and national speakers. Association Executive Officer, Vanessa Grieger, said the conference will be officially opened by the Victorian Minister for Agriculture, Peter Walsh. “We are really pleased that Minister Walsh will open the conference for us. We are looking forward to hearing about his role as Minister for Agriculture and Minister for Water, and the Government’s plans for the sector. “Our international speaker this year is Phil Needham, originally from the …

15th July, 2011 The Victorian No-Till Farmers’ Association will hold its Mallee crop walk on Monday 25th July west of Swan Hill. Vic No-Till’s executive Officer, Vanessa Grieger, said she expects the Mallee crop walk to generate a lot of discussion. “Our first Mallee crop walk for this season will cover a number of important issues, such as managing alternate crops like lentils, chickpeas, field peas, lupins and canola. We will discuss summer spraying and its impact on trash flow and look at a range of machinery such as an NDF disc seeder, VRT spreaders and shielded sprayers,” she said. …

1 August, 2011 Almost 130 people attended the 9th Annual Conference of the Victorian No-Till Farmers’ Association was on 29th July in Bendigo. The conference was officially opened the Victorian Minister for Agriculture, Peter Walsh, who praised the Association for attracting younger farmers, noting that unlike many other agricultural organisations, the average age of Vic No-Till Committee members is just 40 years of age. “It was great to have such positive feedback from Minister Walsh, and acknowledgement that Vic No-Till is a progressive organisation aimed at getting farmers together to learn from and support each other,” said Vic No-Till President …

29th October, 2011 Members of the Victorian No-Till Farmers Association will gather in Hopetoun for a spring workshop on Wednesday, October 12th at 1.00 pm. “At this time of year, Vic No-Till members are busy preparing for harvest, which is looking like it will be a good one. The Spring workshop is a great opportunity to do some additional planning before the hard work begins. The workshop will focus heavily on harvest logistics, but will also cover residue management and rotation,” said Vic No-Till Committee member and workshop co-facilitator Tim Pilkington. The workshop will commence with a session on monitoring …

9 November, 2011 Victorian No-Till Farmers’ Association (VNTFA) members discussed the ongoing benefits of good residue management during harvest at the group’s Residue Management Day on 3rd November. Residue management, or managing the stubble left after harvest, ensures minimal disturbance of the soil at sowing and ensures higher sub-soil moisture retention rates. Residue management is the foundation for no-till farming. Around 40 members attended the day at Kevin and Wayne Adler’s property in Coromby. Several members also had their machinery on display, so that the pros and cons of different residue management methods could be demonstrated. “So much of your …

9 November, 2012 Victorian No-Till Farmers’ Association (VNTFA) is built around the sharing of knowledge, with hands-on workshops and focus groups that are geared towards expanding the practice of no-till farming. The ‘Farmers Helping Farmers’ mentoring program is now in its second year, and is funded under the Caring for Country program. The program takes the form of a focus group of No-Till members which spans the generations, and introduces younger farmers, or those just staring out in the no-till method, to the practice of minimum tillage. “This program ran last year, and the boys found it so useful that …

The Vic No Till 10th Annual Conference is on Wednesday 25th of July, 2012. More information coming soon.

  World Authorities on Nutrients to Share Their Knowledge at Victorian Forum. The forum will be delivered by IPM MasterClass which was founded by Darren Cribbes of NEXUS Agronomy and further developed in conjunction with Owen McCarron of con NEXUS global. IPM MasterClass is anindependent education resource, connecting research, on farm application, and knowledge. The first forum was held in Horsham in 2010 and was extremely successful, with over 120 advisors and farmers participating. The topics covered included crop nutrition, business decisions to implement liquids along with plant physiology and liquid fertiliser research in Australia. The 2012 forum will host, …