The rollout of the successful Farmers Peer Support Network Development Program has continued across the state. The program, one of several managed by Country Health SA aims to encourage a culture where men in farm and farm related communities affected by drought, watch out for one another’s well being through tough times.

Coordinator, Stephen Toon has been working on delivering the program and training other trainers across the state. The program, “Men and Communities” is aimed very specifically at men who traditionally have always been keen to help one another out, but are increasingly finding themselves in difficult situations where they’re not sure just “what to say” to their mates.

The program has been delivered in the South East, Lower and Upper Mid North, Eyre Peninsula, and Riverland. Already several people have been trained as trainers and will deliver programs across their local areas. The aim is for the delivery of 20 programs across the state this financial year.

More information Stephen Toon on 0488 936 474 or email Stephen.toon@health.sa.gov.au

The Upper North Cropping Exceptional Circumstances declaration has been extended. Eligible farmers and farm dependant small businesses in the region can now access assistance until 31 March 2009. The declaration was due to expire on 30 September 2008. It is one of 32 drought-declared areas across Australia that were due to expire and have been extended.

Meanwhile, applications for interest rate subsidies under the Exceptional Circumstances (EC) program in two of the state’s drought declared regions are due to close shortly.
 
Applications for the first year of interest rate subsidies assistance in the Lower South East and Central and Eastern Mount Lofty Ranges will close on 24 September this year.
 
Drought affected farmers and farm-dependent small business operators in those regions who may be eligible for support are urged to contact a Rural Financial Counsellor who can assist with information about the range of available support measures, rather than self assess.

Appointments with a Rural Financial Counsellor can be made by phoning 1800 836 211. Application forms can be downloaded from www.pir.sa.gov.au and be submitted direct to PIRSA.

A $50 million project to construct two pipelines supplying potable water to Lower Lakes communities has been presented to Parliament’s Public Works Committee. The pipelines will deliver water from Tailem Bend and Strathalbyn to households and properties in the Raukkan, Narrung, Meningie and Langhorne Creek districts and along the Poltalloch Peninsula.

Minister for Water Security Karlene Maywald says about 120 kilometres of pipeline will be built, which will improve water security and guarantee consistent water quality for communities currently sourcing water from the Lower Lakes.

Tenders will be called shortly for companies to build the pipelines with construction scheduled to start by the end of September. First water will be delivered to the communities by early 2009. The Langhorne Creek and Currency Creek irrigation communities are also working on the proposal to build a pipeline network to supply irrigation water to the region by 2009-10.

This is the first of several projects to be rolled out as part of the State Government’s $610 million Murray Futures package, funded through the Commonwealth’s Water for the Future program.

Changes are on the way which will see all Mallee irrigators needing to manage water use with a volumetric water licence. For many potato growers, where there are currently few limits on water use due to licences being restricted only by area, this may create a challenge.

Anticipating this, the South Australian Murray-Darling Basin Natural Resources Management (SA MDB NRM) Board has provided support to irrigators in the Mallee through a project “Assessing crop water use in the Mallee” which assists irrigators to record water use details, monitor soil moisture and understand where water use is distributed throughout the crop growing cycle.

The project has been technically supported by Rural Solutions SA, with financial input from the SA MDB NRM Board, Horticulture Australia Limited and the SA Potato Industry Trust for the purchase and installation of soil moisture monitoring equipment and a field day.

A free field day will be held on Wednesday 27 August 2008 at the Parilla Sports Club. More information: Sarah Kuchel 8582 4477.

Horticulturalists in the Riverland are being urged to take advantage of free one-on-one information sessions being offered in South Australia. The sessions provide the tools for all growers – not just citrus - to work out water budgets, to assess the costs and expected income of various crop options, and to generally plan ahead in the face of low water availability.

The project is being run by Horticulture Australia Limited and is run locally by Citrus Growers SA, which reports that the water budgeting tools are proving extremely popular with growers who want to calculate water prices against potential returns to determine whether to shift all or part of their operation to different crops.

More information: www.horticulture.com.au/mdbdroughtinfo or contact Citrus Growers SA 08 8582 1561 or email citido@riverland.net.au

River Murray irrigator allocations will increase from 2% to 6% and 100% of carry-over water will be available from 1 September as a result of small improvements in River Murray inflows during July.

The Minister for the River Murray, Karlene Maywald, said that while 300 gigalitres on inflows to the River Murray system were recorded during July, the majority was received in tributaries in New South Wales and Victoria.

The improvement to the shared resource during July was 35GL and South Australia’s share of this is 12GL. More information about conditions in the River Murray or wider Murray-Darling Basin: www.dwlbc.sa.gov.au/murray/drought/index.html

“Think Big – commodities, consumers and value chains” is a workshop for young people (18-35) managing or involved in primary production and agri-business enterprises. Topics include business planning, understanding consumer needs, diversifying through the value chain, knowing your commodities, understanding and utilising export opportunities and market opportunities and identifying the chain partners.

The Minister for Agriculture, Food and Fisheries, Rory McEwen, will provide an opening address and Professor Andrew Fearne, Adelaide’s current Thinker in Residence, will participate in round table discussions to help priorities actions.

The workshop will be held from 8.30 am to 5 pm with a dinner from 7 pm to 10.30 pm on 22 September 2008 at the Holiday Inn, 65 Hindley Street. $80 per head (includes refreshments and dinner). Subsidised accommodation can be arranged upon request.

The event is sponsored by PIRSA, the Future Farmers Network and The State Government Drought Response Young Farmers Drought Program. More information from Anne Madden, PIRSA. Email: madden.anne@saugov.sa.gov.au. Telephone (08) 8226 0351.

The Premier Mike Rann has called for the harshest penalties for anyone caught illegally diverting water from the Murray-Darling River system. Mr Rann said it should be a criminal offence and anyone siphoning water off illegally, in his view, should be locked up, rather than the fines that are currently in place.

He will ask for the issue, including making large scale water theft an indictable offence, to be raised at the next meeting of the Murray-Darling Basin Commission and the next Murray-Darling Basin Ministerial Council meeting.

A reminder that the Expert Social Panel that is nationally investigating the social impacts of the drought will visit South Australia on 28 August to meet with the South Australian Government and a range of other stakeholders. The panel will conduct four regional consultation forums; in Keith on 25 August, Gawler on 26 August, and Orroroo and Wudinna on 27 August.

The meetings are part of the Australian Government’s investigations to inform decision making on future national drought policy. The Productivity Commission which will assess business and income support measures also met recently with the South Australian Government and other key groups.

A new information program has been launched to help 5,000 Murray Darling Basin grapegrowers survive what is expected to be one of the toughest summers in Australia’s history. Water & Vine – Managing the Challenge, is part of the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry’s Irrigation Industries Workshop Program.

The Grape and Wine Research and Development Corporation (GWRDC) will administer the winegrape program which will be rolled out over the next five months in SA, NSW, and Victoria.

The GWRDC says research shows that it is possible to grow profitable crops on reduced water supplies but management systems must change. A key element of the program is empowering growers to liaise more effectively with wineries and understand more about grape purchasing and pricing decisions, the influence of international markets, stock levels and competition.

Regional grower liaison officers, industry development officers, viticultural consultants and agribusiness advisers will be engaged across the entire Murray Darling Basin in an Innovators Network. It is envisaged that the Innovators Network will continue on after the Water&Vine program has finished, and be an ongoing delivery mechanism for technical information and tools for the Australian wine industry.

More information http://waterandvine.gwrdc.com.au or contact the GWRDC Program Manager Mark Krstic on 0437 325 438 or email mark@gwrdc.com.au.

Access and equity
The information in this publication can be provided on request to those who need it in an alternative format or another language. Contact PIRSA Communications and Marketing. Telephone (08) 8226 0539.

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