Solutions Newsletter Edition 10

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In this issue:

 

Rural Solutions SA sows seeds of future growth

We’re out there spreading the word about the good work we are doing and the solutions we bring to our major customers’ key audiences and our own customers.

One of the most important strategies for spreading that knowledge is through the newsletters we write, publish or contribute to, and they cover many areas of the agricultural, environmental and emerging mining sectors.

This issue of Solutions – our 10th – gives a snapshot of the high level of activity Rural Solutions SA staff is involved in to showcase our services and our clients’ services, and sow the seeds of future business growth.

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Flagship Newsletter marks 10th Issue

Rural Solutions SA has customers and potential new customers in many areas of the State’s economic life – and these include communities, councils, rural businesses, mining companies and NRM boards as well as agriculture, viticulture and horticulture.

One of the key challenges facing the Business Development and Marketing team is how to spread the word about the good work we are doing – and the services we can deliver – to all these sectors.

Solutions is our flagship publication and is going from strength to strength – this is our 10th issue since the first in Spring 2003 and we are happy to celebrate the milestone by spreading the word about this and other newsletters.

Issues of Solutions have covered such valuable topics as wastewater and salinity management, environmental solutions, and how we come to the fore in communities recovering from emergencies such as the Eyre Peninsula bushfires.  We’ve also written about the conferences we attend and how we help rural industry to build business and maximise their opportunities.

The newsletter gives Rural Solutions SA a great opportunity to showcase our work – we know we deliver a top service to our many customers and Solutions is the messenger carrying the news.

Solutions is published in hard copy and electronically and sent out to a wide audience. You can request a copy by emailing: info@ruralsolutions.sa.gov.au Solutions is available for download from the Rural Solutions SA website.

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Hot off the press – Roseworthy’s e-newsletter

Our Roseworthy Information Centre is among the best resourced collections of rural books, resource material and information connection on regional and rural matters – agricultural, environmental, horticultural and viticultural – in South Australia. You can request a copy of the Roseworthy Information Centre e-newsletter by emailing Lisa Irvine: Irvine.lisa@saugov.sa.gov.au

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Cereals matter most in the Mallee

South Australia’s farmers are always looking for the knowledge to improve their skills and the productivity of their land – and Rural Solutions SA is there to help them.

One information-packed newsletter published by our staff at the Murray Bridge office is Agronomy Matters, now into its fourth year of publication. This eight-page newsletter is supported by Mallee Sustainable Farming Inc, a body devoted to improving and developing one of our State’s main cereal growing areas. The newsletter is available on the Mallee Sustainable Farming website now at: www.msfp.org.au as well as in
hard copy.

The newsletter’s autumn issue contained valuable cropping guidance such as information on phosphorous application, the threat of stem and stripe rusts, and advice on rhizoctonia.

Agronomy Matters is edited and compiled on a quarterly basis by Grant Johnson, Tanja Morgan, Craig Bell, Peter Treloar and Chris McDonough, and the Summer Edition this year contained the first of a new series of farmer case studiesprovided by Graeme Jennings.

He looked at the problem of branched broomrape and the research and agronomic inputs aimed at containing this weed that are leading cereal growers in the quarantine area to re-evaluate and modify their farming systems.

Agronomy Matters is produced by Rural Solutions SA on behalf of PIRSA and is also supported by Operation Clean Sweep, the Grains Research & Development Corporation and the Murray Mallee Local Action Planning Association Inc.

You can request a copy of Agronomy Matters by emailing Grant Johnson: johnson.grant@saugov.sa.gov.au

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Happy Birthday Stock, Crop & Country – 100 issues

The team at Rural Solutions SA’s Jamestown office have something to celebrate – the current issue of their newsletter, Stock, Crop & Country will be the 100th edition and this year celebrates its 25th anniversary.  Staff from PIRSA Minerals & Energy Resources – Peter Talbot, Dean Carbine and Steven Silvester in the Jamestown office – are also involved with the newsletter.

The newsletter is packed with useful information for farming families in the Upper and Mid North and elsewhere. Topics such as pasture management and stock production are featured as well as information about the help available for people on the land, such asthe recent drought, especially with accessing Exceptional Circumstances funding, are among the many examples of how Rural Solutions SA is reaching out to and helping customers across the State.  Livestock Consultant Brian Ashton is also a contributor, so Stock, Crop and Country is proving an excellent – and long-term – asset in spreading the word about Rural Solutions SA.

You can request a copy of Stock, Crop and Country by emailing Dee Joss: joss.dee@saugov.sa.gov.au Stock, Crop and Country is available for download from the Rural Solutions SA website: www.ruralsolutions.sa.gov.au/news/industry_newsletters

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Spreading good news on crops

One of our most important regular publications of immense value to South Australian crop and pasture growers is the monthly Crop and Pasture Report. This comprehensive report is compiled and prepared by Peter Fulwood at our Nuriootpa office for PIRSA Grains Industry Development with critical information from across the cropping areas of the State. What is especially helpful for croppers everywhere is the range of information on other areas of the State and the range of crops that have been planted.

The report provides crop production estimates – a service that enables everyone in the industry to know how much of what crop has been planted, from wheat to triticale and lupins to vetch. This gives invaluable financial information to growers who can then estimate crop tonnages and values more easily and make decisions based on that knowledge.

The report was able to say in the May edition that the State had had a near ideal start to the season with good levels of soil moisture allowing excellent opportunities for effective weed control and seeding around the
optimum times. The result, the report said, was a total crop area this season estimated at 3.95 million hectares – the largest crop area on record for South Australia – with production expected to be 6.68 million tonnes, well above the five-year average.

The Crop and Pasture Report is available for download from the PIRSA website: www.pir.sa.gov.au/grains

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Far and wide – solutions across SA

Rural Solutions SA is not only a publisher of newsletters but also a major contributor. One of the most significant publications we have input into is Across the Outback. Serving the pastoral industry and outback communities, Across the Outback is produced every second month for Outback SA.

Contributions and funding for this newsletter come from DWLBC; PIRSA and Rural Solutions SA, Port Augusta; the Arid Lands NRM Board and the Outback Areas Community Development Trust, making this publication a truly collaborative venture.The newsletter contains general news stories as well as technical information for pastoralists and communities in the outback region.

You can request a copy of Across the Outback byemailing Leith Yelland: Leith.Yelland2@state.sa.gov.au. Across the Outback is available for download from the Outback Areas Community Development Trust website: www.oacdt.sa.gov.au

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We’re there for the Long Run too

Another valuable publication Rural Solutions SA contributes to is The Long Run produced by the Eyre Peninsula Natural Resources Management Board.

This newsletter serves as a broad based provider of land management information to the rural and regional community of Eyre Peninsula. In addition to the regular contribution by Rural SolutionsSA, organisations such as SARDI, Greening Australia, Landcare, DEH, private business and Trees For Life provide input.

Published three times per year, 3,000 copies of each The Long Run issue are distributed via Australia Post’s bulk mailing system, plus subscription mailing to educational, library, research and government organisations. For recent issues, Rural Solutions SA has provided articleson soil conservation and livestock management.

You can request a copy of The Long Run by emailing the Eyre Peninsula Natural Resources Management Board Office, Port Lincoln: admin@epnrm.com.au

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Indigenous Services e-newsletter

The Indigenous Services team has established a regular quarterly e-newsletter that is distributed to the team’s many networks. The e-newsletter serves as a communication tool that provides information on the projects and work the team is involved in, including regular updates on some strategic statewide projects and information on the skills and knowledge of personnel within the team.

The e-newsletter is a relatively new strategy for the team with the first edition distributed in December 2006. Clients have responded with many positive comments on the content of the e-newsletter and requests from others who wish to be included on the distribution list, including many interstate requests. As a result the team has discovered many new networks and contacts.

The Indigenous Services team delivers tailored programs to assist Indigenous groups to assess and develop viable and sustainable economic businesses. Assistance to enter partnerships in business, NRM and economic development are mapped out in a collaborative process. The team works across many technical areas including governance and has extensive experience in working with Indigenous groups, extensive networks and relationships with individuals, communities and agencies. These services are currently provided on a national scale in a diverse range of areas.

For further information or to request a copy of the Indigenous Services e-newsletter email Peter Marin: marin.peter@saugov.sa.gov.au

The Indigenous Services e-newsletter is available for download from the Rural Solutions SA website: www.ruralsolutions.sa.gov.au/markets/indigenous_services

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We’re close to the community

Two Rural Solutions SA consultants working closely with their regional community are Lyn Dohle and Ben Hebart – and they are regular providers of assistance and information to Kangaroo Island farmers.

Lyn and Ben both contribute to Agriculture Kangaroo Island Inc’s official newsletter, Agriculture Kangaroo Island News, which is sponsored by the KI NRM Board and distributed to all local landholders four times per year. The newsletter provides invaluable information for the unique agricultural conditions on the island – in spite of its higher average rainfall the island did not escape the recent drought.

In the latest issue, Lyn, who lives on the island, invited local farmers to learn more about sustainable land management practices after linking with Agriculture KI to attract more research funding to the island. Ben, in his role as Project Policy Officer working with the KI Beef Group, reported on a farm visit by the group and told beef producers about future opportunities to improve their knowledge through a link with the Beef CRC to take guest speakers and experts to the island.

You can request a copy of Agriculture Kangaroo Island News by emailing Kim Blenkiron: woodlana@internode.on.net

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