Barkly House 1st Floor99 Paterson St PO Box 159,Tennant Creek NT 0861 Fax: 08 8962 4480ISSN: 1325-9539

CONTENTS

Barkly Flora Guide Launched

Regional Director’s Report

Welcome New Staff

Parkinsonia Project Update

FrontGate Website

Events Calendar

Beef Up Forum

Greenhouse Gases

New book features 500 Barkly Region Plants JUNE 2008

was his fi rst publication l aunch sincebecoming a first public ation launch sinc ebecoming a Minister. Speak ing at the NTCattlemen’s Association conference in Darwin, h e t alked a bout t he i mportance o f this guide for the pastoral industry and visitors to the region. Longreach also gaveglowing praise, focus sing on the practical uses of the guide.

Contd on page 3

The first of its kind fo r the Barkl y region, the Field Guide to Plants of the Barkl yRegion Northern Territory, has beenlaunched. Featuring 375 plant species found acro ss the Barkly T ablelands it al soincludes photos, notes and informationabout another 125 related species. On launching the field guide Federal Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, the Hon. Tony Burke MP Minister remarked that this

DEPARTMENT OF PRIMARY INDUSTRY, FISHERIES AND MINES BARKLY BEEF1

Regional Director’s Report Now with the

new book, ‘A Field Gui de to Plants of the Barkly

D

“Clayton’s Wet” behind us, it’s stock

management Following a very disappointing wet season, all stations

are flat out mustering a nd trucking. The road transport industry is finding it extremely difficult to recruit drivers to kee p up with th e demand for stock move ments predominately into Queensland. Concerns have been raised regarding the conditio n of some travelling stock with our Senior V eterinary Officer, Brian Radunz, who in conjunction with the NTCA has contacted the N.T Stock Agents, Transport Operators and Station Owners / Managers informing that ‘Agnotes’ are available to assist in the pre-t ransport, du ring transpo rt and on arrival of cattle to t heir new destination . Livestock welfare outcomes are the responsibility of all pa rts of the chain, with every section having an obligation t o manage cattle in th e best way possible d uring these trying times. If assistance is require d from this Department, contact can be made either to Ted Martin (RSI -8962 4490) or Tom Haines (SI -8962 4458) at Barkly House (8962 4484). The Pastoral Production team a nd DPIF M welcomes our newest member Kri stie Cogill. Kristie ha s been recr uited to the posit ion vacated by Ruth Allan whom I believe is enjoying her move across the bor der. Kristie will be well known to some of our clients, especially those at Brunette Downs and the AACo connections. Kristie bring s to the PP team livestock skills from her family property in central Qu eensland a nd time sp ent in the bullock and stud camps at Brunet te Downs station. Sarah Stre eter was appointed ‘Regional Manager’ o f the PP T eam just prior to her taking leave , during which she is tr avelling to the USA, i n particular the World Brahma n Congress. So if you hav en’t placed your order for a prese nt to be br ought back, you’re too late. Harmony represented our office at the NTCA –AGM in Darwin, and attended the launch of the

Region’. Harmony is working hard on her project the, ‘Barkly Best Pract ice Manual’ and some major data analysis fro m previous trials in th e Barkly, despite being in huge demand for her singing talents. I believe the next big ‘gig’ will b e in Darwin, followed by a trip to Vic toria later in the year. Copies of the comprehensive Barkly plant guide produced by Barkly La ndcare Association ca n be purchased from L andcare st aff Drew o r Naomi here at Barkly House. This publicat ion makes a great informative present t o family and friends travelling through our district. Miss Helen will be joine d in early June by Sk ye Ries who fills a t emporary vacancy for administrative staff an d will a ssist Miss Hele n, who has been keeping down two positions since the departure of Kate Rush to t he Tennant Creek High School. I believe Helen’s co lt (th e name is still a secret) has been t urned out in preparation for the ABC-Brunette Races so we will have to watch the betting in June. Another project orig inating from the Tennan t Creek office, called ‘Drought Preparedness’, has completed its first two properties. This project, in conjunction with DNRETA - Alice Springs, uses satellite mapping, ground inspections & soil tests to establish the water aquifers, th eir recharge s areas, disp lacements, quality and volume. It takes the guess work out of finding and establishing suitable aquifers to open up country or spread the stocking rates out. Following the completion of the third property to utilise this project in i ts early stag es, DPIFM will be in a position to display the results of this join t partnership. I take this opportunit y to thank all those participants involved in our DPIF M "Stakeholders Meeting", whom b y now would have received John Carroll's response to queries raised. This will enable th e department to have a clearer knowledge of industry expectations and how to better provide services to stakeholders in our region. Looking forward to seeing many of you at the social four day ABC - Brunette Races. Paul Black Regional Director

EPARTMENT OF PRIMARY INDUSTRY, FISHERIES AND MINES BARKLY BEEF 2

Barkly Flora Guide launched (continued from front)

The authors Jenny Purdie, Chris Ma terne and Andy Bubb all lived in Tennant Creek and worked in the Pasto ral Production team. Being acute ly aware of t he need for such a pub lication they were successful in applying for funding through the National Landcare Programme in conjunction with the Barkly Landcare and Conservation Association. This publication was made possible with the support of AACo, NAPCO, Georgina Pastoral, and the Northern Territory Government. Chair of the BLCA, Henry Burke said “This book will help to enrich the experience of all who work in and visit the Barkly re gion through providing them with a greater und erstanding of the plants that exist in this unique environment.”

Jenny says they wanted to collate an easy and simple guide to plants in the Barkly, and after three years they have done just that. "There are about 375 plants featured with photos, descriptions, notes, the meanings of the scientific names, distribution maps, and then there are about another 125 closely related species mentioned , so there are about 500 species altogether." She says the field guide was written for pastoralists because it's important for them to know what plants their cattle are eating. "There's information on nutrition, weeds & poisonous plants, but there's also a lot of plants that I'm sure tourists and people travelling through the region will be interested to know the names of."

The book is available from the Barkl y Landcare and Conservation Association for a cost of $35 + postage and packaging if required. See the new website www.barklylandcare.org.au Or for further information contact: Jenny Purdie on 8953 8717 or Drew Gracie (BLCA) 8962 4479 Cover photo: Jenny Purdie, Chris Materne, Hon. Tony Burke MP and Andy Bubb at the launch

Welcome New Staff Kristie Cogill has commenced as our newest Technical Off icer in the Tennant Creek Pastoral Production team, she will be a ssisting with the increased work load of data collection for the Live Weight Gain Project and immersing herse lf in other day to day duties of the research team. Kristie may be well known to Barkly pastoralists as she spent the the majority of 2006 & 2007 in the stock camp at Brunette Downs Station and this year has been working at Kiana and Kalala Stations.

DEPARTMENT OF PRIMARY INDUSTRY, FISHERIES AND MINES BARKLY BEEF 3

Prior to moving to the Barkly region, Kristie came from

Marlborough, Queensla nd, where she gained h er prac tical experience working for her family's commercial cattle operation and for Tartrus Brahmans, in stud cattle operations.

Kristie is eager to learn more about the northern Australian pastoral industry and looks forward to working with the DPIFM team and getting to know more people and places on the Barkly.

Mapping Parkinsonia in the Upper Georgina River Catchment As a part of the effort to tackle p arkinsonia on the Eastern Barkl y, the Barkl y Landcare and Conservation Association (BLCA) recen tly joined with landholders under a National Landcare Program funded project to survey and map this weed of national significance in over 2,500 kilometres of water courses in the Georgina River Catchment.

Most of us have heard the saying “you can’t manage wh at you can’t measure” and can appreciate the value of a good quality dataset when working with ou r natural r esources. Unfortunately when it came to parkinsonia in the Georgina River Catchme nt, land managers were unable to take advantage of these benef its, with par kinsonia de nsity and distribution mapping for their a rea being patchy at b est with outdated information in some areas while others had no in formation at all.

Knowing the density and distribu tion of a weed in a catchment (especially with a species such as par kinsonia w here the primary seed dispersa l mechanism relies on the mo vement of water) can make a considerable difference in the s uccess o r otherwise of a management program. Having a good understanding of these fa ctors can assist land managers to better plan a strategic control pr ogram applying a catchment-based approach (working from the head waters down), significantly improve their likelihood o f achieving their man agement objectives a nd increa se the long-t erm return on their investment.

With this in mind, the BLCA and la ndholders working to gether under the NLP funded Strategic Management of Pa rkinsonia aculeata in the Georgina River Cat chment – NT project have recently completed a full survey of all major wate rcourses in the upper Georgina River Catc hment (NT). During March and April of this year the gro up took to the air in both two and four seater h elicopters

from North Australian Helicopters to cover an area of over 1,590km 2, with the results to be applied in an upcoming treatment program and the future strategic management of the species.

Barkly Landcare parkinsonia project officer Naomi Wilson heads out for a day in the skies

DEPARTMENT OF PRIMARY INDUSTRY, FISHERIES AND MINES BARKLY BEEF 4

As the primary intention for this dat a is to apply it to treatment programs, the group needed to capture specific location information on each gr ouping of multiple p lants as well as individual isolated pla nts. To achieve this t hey used a handheld PDA with GPS and ESRI ArcPa d software and applied the standard Natural Resources Environment and the Arts (NRETA) weed spatial data layer. As the helicopter hovered over each individual plant or grouping of plants, a GPS read ing was taken and an estimate of density and diameter was recorded using an automated data capture form developed by the group. In all, 2,247 points and 52.8 km of line data were captured during 48 hours of flight t ime. Once back in the office this data was processed and maps produced to identify the exact and relative location of parkinsonia infestations across the catchment. These maps, along wit h the GPS data will assist landholders in returning to and treating these infestations later this year and into the future.

Land managers in the project area will continue to build on this significant data asset, recording changes in density and distribution as well as the treatment activities they carry out at each site for years to come. This information will be prov ided to NRETA and will build on our collective knowledge of parkinsonia in the Territory, as well as provide valuable in sight into successfully managing this species and reducing its impact on primary production values.

For more information on parkinsonia mapping in the Georgina River Catchment or the Strategic Management of Parkinsonia aculeat a in the Georgina River Catch ment – NT project, please contact th e project manager Naomi Wilson on (08 ) 8962 4494 or at barklylandcare.nw@bigpond.com. You can also find out more about this and o ther BLCA projects online at the new website: www.barklylandcare.org.au.

DEPARTMENT OF PRIMARY INDUSTRY, FISHERIES AND MINES BARKLY BEEF 5

DEPARTMENT OF PRIMARY INDUSTRY, FISHERIES AND MINES BARKLY BEEF 6

CALENDAR OF EVENTS June 12-15 Brunette ABC Races June 20-22 Mount Isa Show July 4-5 Alice Springs Show Alice Springs Ute Muster July 11 Tennant Creek Show Barkly Beef Dinner July 12 Tennant Creek Annual Droughtmaster Bull Sale

DEP

July 18-19 Katherine Show July 19 Katherine Campdraft July 20 Katherine Rodeo August 6 Kidman Springs Beef Up Forum August 8-10 Mount Isa Rodeo August 29-31 Spell Bore Campdraft

Cattle Pregnancy Diagnosis Course The NT Rural College conducts Short Courses in Cattle Pregnancy Testing and Workplace Assessment for Experienced Operators The short course in ca ttle pregnancy diagnosis is run over a 2 and a h alf day period and subje ct to numbers a course can be arranged to be held on a property in the Barkly Region. If you would like to attend such a course please contact Wilma at the Katherine Rural Campus on (08) 8973 8311 Other skills workshops available t hrough the Rural College include ChemCert c ertification, basic welding, quad/motorbike operation, 4WD techn iques, basic vehicle mai ntenance, tractor operation, stock waters maintenance, and more. Contact Brian Heim, NTRC Course Coordinator, on (08) 8973 8311 for addition al information o n courses the College can offer.

ARTMENT OF PRIMARY INDUSTRY, FISHERIES AND MINES BARKLY BEEF 7

Opening the FrontGate to information FrontGate Website Information and Resources for Primary Industry businesses

Ever wondered what training cour ses are ava ilable in g razing management, where to get information on succession planning, or how to get hold o f a map of your property? The FrontGate website was launched recently at the 2008 Northern Territory Cattlemen’s Association Annual Co nference and is design ed to give NT primary producers access to a range of information and services that will assist them in their business.

A browse through this website may help you to find just wh at you are looking for. It may also open your e yes to a lot more information that is out there. The tools and resource s available are categorised under three mai n headings in the business; Peo ple, Natural Resource Management and Profitability. You can search by key word or browse the tools listed by subject area to identify those relevant to your needs.

The FrontGate website is de signed and managed by the Departme nt of Primary Industry, Fisheries and Mines and was funded by the Australian Government. Can’t find what you are looking for or have some comments on the FrontGate website? Please contact Simone White on 8973 9764.

http://www.nt.gov.au/dpifm/Primary_Industry/FrontGate/

DEPARTMENT OF PRIMARY INDUSTRY, FISHERIES AND MINES BARKLY BEEF 8

WAYBILLS – Have you sent your PINK copies in to your local Stock Inspector?

Note: Pink copies must be sent to DPIFM Stock Inspector within 28 days

Applies to all Livestock Owners – Cattle / Buffalo / Sheep / Goats / Camels / Pigs

Tennant Creek

DPIFM Stock Inspector Primary Industry PO Box 159 TENNANT CREEK NT 0861

Katherine

DPIFM Stock Inspector Primary Industry PO Box 1346 KATHERINE NT 0851

Alice Springs

DPIFM Stock Inspector Primary Industry PO Box 8760 ALICE SPRINGS NT 0871

Australian Rangeland Society Conference

A Climate of Change in the Rangelands The 15th Conference of the Australian Rangeland Society will be held in Charters Towers, Queensland from 28 September – 2 October 2008. The conference theme “A Climate of Change in the Rangelands”

will focus on the changing environmental, social, cultural and economics facing Australia’s rangelands in the future and linking this dynamic to the broader community’s real values concerning the rangelands.

For more information contact

Janine King

07 5547 0774

janine@jkconnections.com.au

DEPARTMENT OF PRIMARY INDUSTRY, FISHERIES AND MINES BARKLY BEEF 9

Greenhouse gases – what are they, why do they matter and what can we do about them? Robyn Cowley ph 08 8973 9750 What are the greenhouse gases? Greenhouse gases are gases in th e air that co ntribute to t he warming of the earth. They occur naturally in the atmosphere and are the reason the earth is so warm. The greenhouse gases work like a blan ket on the earth’s surface. Without t hem the earth would be on average 23 oC cooler than it is today – even Darwin would be very cold. The concen tration of gr eenhouse g ases have naturally flu ctuated in t he past, but over the last century, human activities have contributed to increasing levels of some g reenhouse gases so that they are now much higher than at any time over the last 400 000 years. For example ice core data tells us that carbon dio xide naturally ranged be tween 200-300ppm. The current co ncentration of carbon dioxide is now 380ppm and is predicted to rise to 500-1000ppm b y 2100, depending on how the glo bal commu nity manag es emission s between now and th en. The ma in greenhouse gases that have increased are carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide and methane. Where do the greenhouse gases come from? Carbon dioxide is mostly from the burning of fossil fu els for transport and energy production. Methane and nitrous oxide are mostly from ca ttle burping, savanna and agricultura l burning an d agricultural soils. The N T emitted a n estimated 13.5 million tonnes (Mt) of greenhouse gases i n 2005, which represents 2.4% of Australia’s emissions for that year. The sectoral composition of NT and Australian emissions are shown in Figures 1-2. Savanna fires are the single major source of greenhouse emissions in the NT. Emissions from the combustion of fuels for stationary energy (e.g. electricity gen eration) is the second largest source. Agricultural emissions fr om cattle a nd agricu ltural soils combine to co ntribute 21 % of Territo ry emissions.

Figure 1: NT greenhouse gas emissions by sector 2005

Stationary Energy27%

Transport10%

Agriculture excluding savanna

burning21%

Savanna Burning 35%

LULUCF3%

Waste1%

Other / Rounding3%

LULUCF – Land Use / Land Use Change and

DEPARTMENT OF PRIMARY INDUSTRY, FISHERIES AND MINES BARKLY BEEF 10

Land Use and land use change 6% Waste 5%%

Industrial p

fug s rocesses /

itive emission11%

Stationary Energy

50%Agriculture a nd savannaburning 16%

igure 2: Australian greenhouse gas emissions by sector 2005

he NT is unique in that agriculture and savanna fires contribute such a large part (more than h alf

Sector Sub-sector Greenhouse 2005 Em s

(National) (Mt)

% of Total 2005 Em s

% of Total NT

DEPARTMENT OF PRIMARY INDUSTRY, FISHERIES AND MINES BARKLY BEEF 11

F

Tat 56%), compared to Australia as a whole. The major sources of greenhouse gas emissions from the agriculture and land use sectors, type of greenhouse ga s emitted from each source, and th e quantity of emissions generated in 2005 are summarised in Table 1.

Gas Emitted ission National Emissions

ission(NT) (Mt)

Emissions

Total 87.9 15.7 7.5 55 Enteric fermentation H4 (methane) (ruminant belching)

C 58.7 10.5 2.3 16.9

Manure ent managem

CH and N O 4 2(nitrous oxide)

3.4 0.6 0 0

Rice cultivation CH4 0.2 0 0 0 Agricultural soils N2O 16.6 3 0.5 4.0Prescribed burning nd N2O 8.7 of savannas

CH4 a 1.5 4.7 34.5

Agriculture

ues 4 2Field burning of

agricultural residCH and N O 0.4 0.1 0 0

Total 33.7 6 0.4 3.3 Afforestation and 5 reforestation

-19.6 -3. -0.1 -0.8 LULUCF

Deforestation 53.3 9.5 0.6 4.1

Table 1: National and NT greenhouse gas emissions in 2005 fr om the Agriculture and

hat can be done to reduce greenhouse emissions? reduce its g reenhouse gas emissions.

dustries that are likely to be included in the NETS are the emissions intensive energy sector and

LULUCF sectors. Source: National Greenhouse Gas Inventory 2005. WThere are several national initiat ives to assist Australia toThey includ e the National Emissions Trading Scheme (NETS) due to start in 2010, and t he Emissions Intensity Benchmarking for Agriculture. Insignificantly for the Territory, mining operations and fuels a nd the distr ibution level of the supply chain. Thi s will increa se the cost o f fuel, energ y and energy intensive inputs such as fertilisers, chemicals and feedstock. Industry efficiencies may offset this somewhat, but it is likely that th e cost of production for resource indu stries products will incr ease. Agriculture may not be directly covered in the NETS initially, but th e cost of pr oduction will increase a s a result. Ag riculture may be able to create offsets for use in the scheme before it is included directly.

Transport 14%

It is likely that agricultur e will eventually be incl uded in the emissions tr ading scheme, although

missions Intensity Benchmarking for agriculture is a p rocess that aims to assist agricu ltural

t and soil management of agricultural land

rgy use on farm

an the agricultural sector be a part of the global warming solution? me basic principles are

or agricultural soils, reductions are possible through minimum tillage, best practice fertiliser use,

here is currently no effective way t o reduce emi ssions from cattle on extensive p astures, apart

arbon offsetting cussion about using soil carbon and tree thickenin g to get carbon credits on

here is also the problem of the requirement of additionality, which is that the activity must be in

groforestry may be an option for carbon credits for areas that were cleared prior to 1990, in the

ummary he last time you will hea r about greenhouse gases. Emissions reduction is a massive

the form of this is curre ntly under r eview. If so , producers may have to offset or pay for their emissions. Eindustries to voluntarily meet emissions reduc tions, and help prepare agriculture fo r an eventual inclusion in a NETS. Benchmarks will provid e i ndustry with emissi ons targets, and ident ifying practices to achieve e missions re ductions. T here are five main sources of e missions fr om agriculture that will be benchmarked. • Nitrous oxide from nutrien• Methane from livestock • Carbon dioxide from ene• Emissions from livestock waste • Vegetation as carbon sinks CReducing emissions on farm is still an active area of research, although soknown. For example, less frequen t, cooler fir es have fe wer emissio ns of n itrous oxide an d methane than more frequent, hotte r fires. Red ucing fossil fuel based power through the use of solar energy and reducing fuel consumption on farm through remote water monitoring technology (to reduce bore runs) are some exa mples of how new technology can help to reduce greenhouse gas emissions on farm. Fstubble retention and planting perennial grasses. Tfrom having fewer cattle, although this is an area of ongoing research. CThere is a lot of disfarm. Unfortunately there is much less information about what the real potential for sequestration (storage of carbon in above and below ground plant mater ial) in north Australian systems is a nd what management is required to achieve this. T his is an are a of emerging and ong oing research and in the mean time beware the shonks who will try to sell you their carbon wares. The num ber of providers of offsets in this market is rapidly increasing, as is the number of abatement products available. Like many ne w markets, there is limited regulation of this market and wide difference s in product quality, with the potential for fraud and less than optimal greenhouse outcomes. Taddition to business as usual activity. The othe r issue is th at if you claim on farm c redits for so il carbon or forestry that is lost though fire, storm o r drought, you will have to pay for your losses of carbon. It is a risky business. Ahigh rainfall zones where trees grow fastest. To be an eligible offset the vegetation needs to have a potential height of at least 2 metres, with a tree crown cover of at le ast 20% and be areas of cover greater than 0.2ha with a minimum width of 10m. SThis is not tglobal challenge and the game p lan is chan ging rapidly, with continuing development of international and national agreements and policies, as w ell as new science to answer the questions of what can we do to reduce and offset greenhouse gas emissions.

DEPARTMENT OF PRIMARY INDUSTRY, FISHERIES AND MINES BARKLY BEEF 12

DEPARTMENT OF PRIMARY INDUSTRY, FISHERIES AND MINES BARKLY BEEF 13

DEPARTMENT OF PRIMARY INDUSTRY, FISHERIES AND MINES BARKLY BEEF 14

DPIFM Tennant Creek Staff List Department of Primary, Industry, Fisheries & Mines (DPIFM) Barkly House – 1st Floor 99 Paterson St PO Box 159, Tennant Creek NT 0861

REGIONAL MANAGEMENT & PRIMARY INDUSTRY Fax: 08 8962 4480

Regional Management

Regional Director Paul Black 08 8962 4485

Executive Officer Hele n Kempe 08 8962 4484

Administration Officer Skye Ries 08 8962 4488

Animal Health

Regional Stock Inspector Ted Martin 08 8962 4490

08 89622559 (a/h)

Stock Inspector Thoma s Haines 08 8962 4458 M: 0401 113 445

Pastoral Production Beef Research Officer Sarah Streeter 08 8962 4487 Pastoral Production Technical Officer Harmony James 08 8962 4483 Pastoral Technical Officer Kristie Cogill 08 8962 4493

If undelivered please return to:

Dept of Primary Industry, Fisheries and Mines

PO Box 159 TENNANT CREEK NT 0861

To:

This publication contains commodity market information prepared for DPIFM staff use in strategic research and extension planning. While DPIFM exercise care in the compilation and preparation of this information, no responsibility is taken for its accuracy or for the completeness of any information that is reproduced from other sources. DPIFM denies any loss or damage to any person whether caused directly or indirectly by the use of any of the information provided.