Soil improvement, pest control and pollination are just some of the jobs millions of beneficial insects do to improve farming production. This, and more, is the subject of an exciting field trip near Junee hosted by the Junee Area Landcare and Murrumbidgee Landcare in partnership with Sustainable Farms, an ANU initiative.
The field day, titled Maximising the Benefits of Bugs and Biodiversity and Provide Shelter by Restoring Riparian Areas, will kick off on Phil Turner’s property ‘Briarleigh’ at 9.30am with Sustainable Farms presenter, Prof Saul Cunningham.
“Saul is a world expert in bugs and biodiversity and it is a great honour to have him share knowledge with our local farmers,” Junee Landcare organiser Skye Bellamy said.
Talking about the field trip Prof Cunningham said, “much talk about biodiversity tends to focus on the big and glamorous creatures – like koalas and parrots, but the truth is most of the biodiversity on farms is in the form of millions of small creatures, like insects. Our farms and gardens are brimming with this kind of biodiversity, and these small creatures help in farm production in many important ways.”
The calibre of presenters is exceptional, with Dr Peter Orchard (CSU, Graham Centre), and Dr Mason Crane (Sustainable Farms) also on deck to discuss their recent work on optimising shelter belt design and developing more complex revegetation initiatives and biodiversity to agricultural production.
With an increasing trend to “intensive” land use (like cropping and highly fertilised grazing) on broad acre properties, we are seeing a reduction of quality biodiversity habitats on farms. Both types of land use can co-exist and it is more important than ever to manage our land to support biodiversity.
The event is on September 27. Arrive at 9.30am for 10am start, finish at 1pm at 1078 Goldfields Way, Junee. A free, barbecue lunch is included. Register by calling 0429 458 717 or on Eventbrite.
