Grassland Society of NSW

Get ready for the conference – on next week at the TRECC, Tamworth.

Remember, if you have not yet registered, it is not too late but we need your registration form by mid-week at the absolute latest!!  If you have not received a flyer, use this electronic version of the registration form and fax to (02) 6763 1265 (suggest you call 02 6369 0011 to check on payment arrangements).

The Conference will start on Monday 21st July with a pre-conference bus tour at the Tamworth Agricultural Institue (NSW DPI) in the afternoon.  Registrations will be finalised just prior to this tour at 2:30 – 3:30 pm and on Tuesday morning from 7:30am at the TRECC before Session 1 but for catering purposes you must submit your registration form this week (do it today!!).

Hope to see you there for a great collection of inspiring presentations as well as relevant and interesting poster and trade displays.

This year’s Annual Conference will be held at the Tamworth Regional Entertainment Centre, Tamworth on 21-23 July 2008.

Conference convenor Loretta Serafin, NSW Department of Primary Industries District Agronomist, Tamworth commented “Planning is well under way with an impressive array of key-note speakers, contributed poster-papers, farm visits and industry sponsors already in place.”

“This year we decided to employ the assistance of local farmers to provide suggestions on the key challenging and relevant themes’ to be covered in the conference. This proved to be extremely worthwhile to the organising committee which consists of a mix of growers, agribusiness and seed company representatives, grazing industry and NSW DPI staff.”

The theme for this year’s conference is ‘Pastures at the Cutting Edge’. Presentations by scientific experts, industry consultants and local producers will focus on the latest pasture technology for profitable grazing in an era of challenging market conditions, climate variability, and environmental awareness.

The 4 sub-themes to be addressed during the conference are:

1. ‘Making pastures pay – the profit drivers’. Speakers will discuss contemporary and future influences, opportunities and practices that make producers more profitable and better able to manage variability.
2. ‘Taking control of soil health’ which targets the use of biochar, soil organic matter, soil microbes and nutrient cycling and their roles in sequestering carbon, increasing yield and improving the efficiency of fertiliser use. First hand experience of rehabilitating degraded country by a local producer will be a highlight.
3. ‘Pastures on the horizon’ will explore future directions with conventional and molecular breeding for locally adapted varieties, the latest research into tropical grass agronomy and incorporating these into optimising animal nutrition. Producer experience with integrating temperate and tropical species for improved animal production will effectively pull the pieces of this puzzle together.
4. ‘Balancing pastures, livestock and climate’ will focus on managing the feed year with producer talks on management strategies. Specialists will also reveal what pastures can do for climate change, defining the feed-year and management for improved grazing production.
   Trade displays by our sponsors will be a major feature of the conference and will showcase their latest products and information during the entire conference. Company representatives will be on hand for discussion.

Conference registration will commence Monday afternoon on 21 July and be followed by tours of the Tamworth Agricultural Institute, the Annual General Meeting and a BBQ. The conference will open on Tuesday 22 July with bus tours to 3 local areas and be followed by an afternoon of conference sessions. The conference dinner will be held that evening at the West Leagues Club with Murray Hartin, bush poet as our special guest. Wednesday 23 will continue with conference sessions to conclude with lunch.

For further details on the conference, including registration details or to enquire about contributing poster-papers contact Loretta Serafin, NSW DPI, Tamworth on (02) 6763 1100 or Email: loretta.serafin@dpi.nsw.gov.au

The Conference Flyer containing the program and registration form is now available online - note that the file is quite large at 2.2MB (pdf format).

These are also available in hard copy at most NSW DPI offices or by contacting the Conference Convenor.  See contact details at the Conference page.

BRIEF PROGRAM:

Monday 21st July

• 2:30 – 3:30 pm Pre-Conference registration at NSW DPI, Tamworth
• 3:30 – 5:00 pm Pre-Conference tour at Tamworth Agricultural Institute (NSW DPI)
• 6:00 pm AGM followed by BBQ at NSW DPI Training Centre

Tuesday 22nd July

• 7:30 – 8:30 am Registrations at the TREC
• 8:30 am Conference Welcome
• 9:00 am - 1:00 pm Bus tours (choice of Barraba, Quirindi and Tamworth/Attunga)
• Session 1  Making pasture pay – the profit drivers
• Session 2  Taking control of soil health
• 6:30 pm Conference Dinner – West Leagues Club

Wednesday 23rd July

• Session 2 – Pastures on the horizon
• Session 3 – Balancing pastures, livestock and climate
• 1:00 pm Close of conference followed by lunch