Grassland Society of NSW

The 2010 conference is to be held in Dubbo in July.  This is a very special conference for the NSW Grassland Society as it is our 25th Anniversary. Locating the conference in Dubbo this year has allowed the organisers to focus on mixed farm enterprises that characterise central western New South Wales. Dubbo is also conveniently located in the centre of the State and has the benefit of more than 70 accommodation venues.

The theme of the conference is “Adapting mixed farms to future environments”. This theme was chosen because farmers are concerned over the impacts of climate change on pasture and livestock productivity, the influence of the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme on farms, the management of prolonged drought and extreme climatic events as well as legislative environmental and animal welfare requirements. These are some of the issues to be discussed at the Dubbo conference.

The conference is to be held over two days, 28 and 29th July at the Dubbo RSL Club.

The first day is largely concerned with showcasing the practical experiences of key landholders in central western NSW. Three field tours are being organised giving information on prime lamb marketing, the incorporation of dual purpose crops and forage shrubs in pasture systems, the role of animal behaviour in livestock management and pasture utilisation. In addition, a visit to the Trangie Agricultural Research Centre is planned where latest research on the genetic variation in methane emission in cattle and results from the Sheep Information Nucleus Flock will be showcased.

The second day of the conference will have a more technical focus and while following the conference theme will specifically concentrate on animals, plants and natural resource management. Among other topics, presenters on this day will discuss precision sheep production, increasing productivity and persistence of native pastures, impact of extreme drought on pastures, new sub-tropical pasture species and how carbon may be valued in pasture systems.

IMPORTANT: Expressions of interest for contributing papers to this conference will be called for in mid March with papers due in 23 April 2010. For further information on written contributions please contact cathy.waters@industry.nsw.gov.au

The Australian botanical community invites you to Melbourne, Australia in July 2011 to participate in the XVIII International Botanical Congress. Australia has a vibrant scientific community active across all botanical disciplines and its researchers play a prominent and highly collaborative role in international biological sciences.

IBC2011 will be held in Melbourne from 23-30th July 2011.

Proposals for symposia under the following themes are due by 31st March 2010:

• Systematics, evolution, biogeography
• Ecology, environmental change and conservation
• Structure, development and cellular biology
• Genetics, genomics and bioinformatics
• Physiology and biochemistry
• Biotechnology, agriculture and plant breeding

Please see this pdf file for more information about suggesting Symposia IBC2011.    Suggestions may be made online or by using the contact details in the file.