A 'New Dryland' workshop conducted in Pyramid Hill last week has paved the way for local farmers and businesses to explore new agricultural options in our changing environment.

Uncertainty over future water allocations and rainfall patterns means that many farmers, who have relied on high water allocations, need to consider less water intensive or more opportunistic irrigation opportunities. 

The term 'New Dryland' describes land that will be transitioning in the near future from intensive irrigation to opportunistic irrigation or dryland farming.

The workshop was organised by North Central Catchment Management Authority, who are leading the way in facilitating community discussion and communication over these issues. 29 local farmers and industry representatives listened to presentations, and discussed the ways to best manage the conditions and adapt to the social, environmental and land use changes.

Six presentations covering various new dryland issues were made, with Tim Shanahan of the North Central Catchment Management Authority (NCCMA) starting off proceedings by providing an introduction to the concept of 'new dryland'. Tim provided a new dryland definition and summary of the currently understood issues, opportunities and challenges.

Geoff Park of the NCCMA explained the environmental opportunities involved through land stewardship, the ecosystem services available.

From a cropping perspective, the DPI's Damien Jones gave examples of changing land use in the area and the alternatives for future farming. The Birchip Cropping Group was represented by chairman Ian McClelland O.A.M, who outlined challenges facing farmers and learnings from key research projects.

Tim Barden, outlined the opportunities of using native grasses to improve farm resilience to drought and harvesting and selling native grass seed. His organisation, Ko-Warra Native Grasses, has been involved in growing and trialing native grasses, and has been working with scientists to find appropriate species to suit local conditions.

From an industry agency point of view, Ron Saunders of Landmark discussed some local trends and examples in meat and wool enterprises and gave his company's perspective on the future outlook and opportunities for those industries.

NCCMA's Rohan Hogan said that the group discussions on the day encouraged local landholders to explain concerns and issues and identify possible solutions to better manage 'New Dryland'. "The options discussed during the workshop included better access to information, trial sites and the prospect of establishing a community group to ensure solutions were focused on local community needs."

Malcolm Brown, from the Northern United Forestry Group, said that he was pleased to see the North Central CMA respond to community concern and kick-start a process for dealing with the 'New Dryland' that is rapidly emerging in the Irrigation Region. 

"The community participation in the Pyramid Hill workshop showed concern for the issue and great commitment to do something about it," said Mr Brown. "I thought one irrigator hit the mark with his comment that we are only going to get one chance to get this right and we need access to the best available information."

Jo Bear runs a mixed farm at Loddon Vale and was very positive about the initiative: "I think all of us are concerned about what lies ahead for us in this region and so we appreciated the NCCMA actively bringing the issues to the table for open discussion and for local input.

"Although there was a slight information overload to the seminar, we did appreciate the holistic emphasis with all facets of our region's farming included. We were happy to see that the importance of community was considered and we hope that this will remain so.

"It was also refreshing to leave a seminar feeling a little bit more positive than when arriving. I left with Ian McClelland's quote on my mind - "with every problem there is opportunity. The bigger the problem, the bigger the opportunity".

The information gathered at the workshop will be used by Catchment Management Authority staff to inform the projects delivered under the Loddon Campaspe Land and Water Management Plan. Mr Hogan said that the Authority will report back to group about the information collected on the day and ideas and opportunities that will be explored further. 

"These workshops are fundamental in communication on the issues" said Mr Hogan. "The knowledge, expertise and involvement of local landholders are highly valued by the North Central CMA".

For further information please contact: 

Communications Officer, North Central CMA
PO Box 18, Huntly VIC 3551
t: 03 5448 7124
e: info@nccma.vic.gov.au