IN a region that spans about 1700 kilometres from east to west, it is never possible to bring everyone together.
However, 60 people attended the recent Pastoral Industry Forum held by the Southern Rangelands Pastoral Alliance (SRPA) at DPIRD in Geraldton.
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The forum featured a broad spectrum of topics delivered by some excellent speakers.
The event began with an address by Chad Smith from major sponsor Nutrien Ag Solutions who articulated the potential for exciting partnerships between pastoralists and industry players in a region that is fast becoming a leading example of innovation in the face of tough times.
The SRPA annual general meeting was next - a swift and efficient meeting that delivered only minor changes to the board.
Outgoing chairwoman Debbie Dowden delivered her report and highlighted the significant achievements of the group since its inception just two years ago.
Enoch Bergman, Swans Vet Services, 'Zoomed in' from Esperance to give a rapid-fire presentation on herd health and how to get the best results from your heifers.
As always, he left the audience wanting to hear it all again, and to expand further on many of the issues he raised.
Next, everyone heard from two progressive Southern Rangelands pastoralists who have adopted specific tools and techniques to support their pastoral business.
Alys McKeough, Carey Downs station, is a Climate Mate representative for the Northern Australia Climate Program.
She explained the range of climate tools available through various platforms, giving tips on how to interpret these, as well as examples of the use of these in pastoral business decision-making.
Darren Cousens has implemented a 'Weed and Seed' inspection protocol for all vehicles entering Hillview station.
He certifies the cleanliness of vehicles and machinery coming onto his property, which means he sets the standards, ensuring no plant matter - even inadvertently - enters his property and becomes an additional biosecurity threat.
Mr Cousens has the option to refuse right of entry to those owners / operators of machinery who don't meet his standards.
Matt Wolcott, who leads the WA Northern Beef Breeding Project, spoke about the project that aims to improve understanding and application of modern genetic evaluation tools in WA's northern beef industry.
It has the ultimate objective to improve genetic merit for economically important traits in WA's northern beef herd, thereby raising profitability across that sector of Australia's beef industry.
His presentation made many reconsider how and why they might select individual animals for breeding.
Fleur Coaker, regional manager for the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation, gave an interesting presentation on ground water, including rights, licensing and other issues in the pastoral region, which prompted plenty of questions from the audience.
David Beatty, Meat & Livestock Australia group manager - Productivity and Animal Wellbeing - had the unenviable timeslot of the first speaker after lunch.
He gave an overview of the livestock market situation and future considerations.
Next up was Felix McQuistan from the Department of Fire and Emergency Services who gave a brief Seasonal Bushfire Outlook presentation.
Well known animal scientist Phil Vercoe, The University of WA, presented on the current topic - Methane in Ruminants.
Combining science with practice, there are some exciting options emerging for managing methane produced by cattle.
Soil scientist Susan Orgill, Select Carbon, with her irrepressible enthusiasm, was as lively as ever, presenting on soil health and how this underpins productivity.
Who knew that so many microscopic workers exist in our soils?
Mayne Jenour and Nigel Brown, Jingemarra and Meka stations, had their drone on display and explained how this has been utilised in wild dog control and monitoring.
Their current project will employ species-recognition software to aid detection and location of animals such as wild dogs, cats, foxes, camels, donkeys and kangaroos.
Debbie Dowden, Challa station and Wes Lawrence, AxisTech, explained how and why their project was developing automated technology to assess natural capital on pastoral leases.
This has great potential to simplify rangeland condition monitoring.
Agriculture and Food Minister Alannah MacTiernan gave a Southern Rangelands Industry Snapshot and a summary of current and completed projects supported by the State government.
She then ventured into some of the diverse and interesting future opportunities including climate change, carbon farming, methane, and nutritional value of rangelands produced red meat.
The minister also touched on land tenure, pastoralism and hydrogen, as well as pastoral land conditions standards.
The forum concluded with a presentation by Jack Carmody, Prenti Downs station.
He is the new SRPA chairman and an ambassador for the future Southern Rangelands pastoral industry.
Mr Carmody demonstrated his passion for technology and its application for on-station management with a display of his water monitoring and trap yard operability from an off-station location.
The forum was supported by additional sponsors Southern Wire, Meat & Livestock Australia, NACC and the National Landcare Program.
On Monday evening delegates enjoyed the Pastoralists' Dinner with ocean views at the Geraldton Yacht Club.
Rounding out the theme of the whole day, chef Nadeem stepped out of the kitchen after dinner to speak about his passion for local produce and true paddock-to-plate philosophy.
The next morning saw a handful of delegates travel to Grant and Pip Bain's property, Mt Michael, near Walkaway.
During a tag-along tour of the property Ms Bain explained their cattle operation and the reasoning behind numerous management tools and techniques that she and her father have adopted.
Overall, the whole event was an outstanding success and plans for next year's forum are already under way.
More information: Email info@srpa.org.au or go to srpa.org.au
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