AgVic Talk

To say it's been a difficult year for many farming communities is an understatement. Some have had to deal with everything from drought through to fire through to the pandemic. Psychologist David Cherry talks about the mental and physical effects of stress and how dealing with them is important not only for your own mental health, but also for ensuring you're in the best possible position to make...

Imagine farming on some of the most fragile land in the State and being able to say, after the worst rainfall figures on record a mere 25% of your 250 mm average, that you harvested a viable crop from 50% of your farm seeded area. This is the remarkable story of Ron and Nick Hards, who farm in the Millewa at Yurara in the Northwest corner of the State. The key to their success has been passionatel...

Peter Young, second generation Gippsland farmer who produces wool, lamb and beef on their 550-hectare farm at Briagolong, some 60 kilometres west of Bairnsdale. After three tough years, there've finally been some good rains and things are looking up. Peter discusses how being prepared and accessing support systems help them contend with dry seasons and drought. For drought and dry seasonal conditi...

For over a decade, a number of soil moisture probes across Victoria, have been gathering real-time soil moisture analysis, to help give farmers confidence in their decision making. To find out how it all works with Dale Boyd, Seasonal Risk Agronomist with Agriculture Victoria and Bec Marshall, a cropping farmer from Normanville in Mallee country. For more Agriculture Victoria information on managi...

Craig Dwyer is a dairy farmer at Bullaharre, which is just out of Cobden in South West Victoria. In this podcast, Craig discusses how excessively wet winters can be a real problem when juggling the needs of a dairy herd against maintaining healthy paddocks. For more Agriculture Victoria information on dealing with climate variability, you can subscribe to: The Break https://agriculture.vic.gov.au/...

Clay Gowers a Young Farmer from the Millewa works in his family's broadacre cropping operation. Clay tells us how Agriculture Victoria's Upskill and Invest Young Farmer Scholarship gave him the opportunity to pursue his passion for Ag Tech – specifically using drones on-farm. Having almost completed his three training courses funded by the scholarship, his next step is to invest the second half of...

Fiona Baker, extension officer with Agriculture Victoria provides spring management tips for pastures affected by bushfires. Fiona discusses key strategies to assist recovering pastures including assessing pastures, when to think about resowing, fodder conservation, summer fodder cropping, grazing management and the importance of maintaining soil fertility. For more fire recovery and general pastu...

Kevin Fitzsimmons is a dairy farmer at Merrigum in the Northern Irrigation region. His family has farmed there for three generations, but he says since the millennium drought running profitably has never been more difficult. In this podcast, Kevin discusses how he manages climate variability on his farm. For more Agriculture Victoria information on dealing with climate variability, you can subscri...

Sarah McLean a young beef farmer from Purnim, near Warrnambool. Sarah tells us how the Agriculture Victoria's Upskill and Invest Young Farmer Scholarship has helped to make her dream of running a farm a reality. Sarah used the scholarship to complete the Resource Consulting Services (RCS) Grazing and Farming for Profit course and invest in farm safety by installing a new cattle crush. Sarah has be...

In a first for Agriculture Victoria, we bring you this AgVic Talk podcast series. Follow along as we bring you stories, information and advice from around our great state of Victoria. In our first series we will be covering contemporary problems and solutions for bushfire recovery, drought and dry seasonal conditions, weather and climate as well as hearing some fantastic inspiring stories from our...