On September 8th approximately 50 people gathered at Blue Gum Farm’s Brookside barn for a Farm Sustainability Field Day. Topics covered on the day included natural fertilizers, including the use of worm juice and dung beetles, horse-specific pasture seeding, control and resistance of internal parasites and whole-farm planning that covered native flora and fauna, water quality and land management incentives. “The day was a great opportunity for a number of farmers and suppliers to make contact and exchange news and views,” said Blue Gum Farm’s Bob Howie. “In our case we had made use of the worm juice on our improved pastures and it was great to have those guys meet with our seed merchants and collectively we were able to review the process whilst walking through that pasture.”

Bertram Lobert addressing the crowd

The day was made possible through a joint venture between North East Thoroughbreds, Landcare and the Federal Government and was part of a series of Field Day lectures organised by Bertram Lobert and Cindy Edwards. The speakers on the day were; Cindy Edwards who spoke about resistance build up in worming practices; Bertram Lobert on Landcare and the dung beetle introduction scheme; Dave Martin discussing the Beaulieu RUM/ Worm castings fertilizer, Sarah Challis from the Department of Primary Industries on whole farm planning and the waterways; Karl Drever from Stephen Pasture Seeds and Sue Ablitt from the Shire of Strathbogie on drought assistance and weed eradication bonuses.