Regional Coordinator
Katrina Durham
PO Box 240
Junee NSW 2663
Phone: (02) 6924 4633
Mobile: 0428 244 607
Email: katrina@farmlink.com.au
Grain & Graze projects in the Murrumbidgee region:
- Filling the feed gap. View project summary.
Project contact: Ms Katrina Durham, phone (02) 6924 4633, email katrina@farmlink.com.au - Communications: fact sheets, field days and training. View project summary.
Project contact: Ms Katrina Durham, phone (02) 6924 4633, email katrina@farmlink.com.au - Monitoring farming system impacts on natural resource management, using five Focus Farms. View project summary.
Project contact: Ms Katrina Durham, phone (02) 6924 4633, email katrina@farmlink.com.au
Updates, Fact Sheets and Further Information
Murrumbidgee Project Overview (pdf - 810KB)
Focus Farms Fact Sheets: Coolamon; Euroley; Sebastopol; Tarcutta; Tootool.
FarmLink Research Report G&G 2005.pdf (pdf - 1203KB)
Murrumbidgee Grain & Graze Fact Sheet Nov 06 (pdf - 344KB)
Region Snapshot
Murrumbidgee is located in New South Wales and stretches from the Great Dividing Range to the Mallee region in the west, encompassing the Southern Tablelands, the South-West Slopes and Plains. The total regional population is around 560,000 and major population centres include the national capital, Canberra, along with regional centres in Wagga Wagga, Queanbeyan, Cooma, Yass, Cootamundra, Tumut, Gundagai, Junee, Henty, Narrandera, Leeton, Griffith,
Coleambally and Hay.
The region includes rich grazing belts as well as semiarid areas in which crop growing seasons are shorter than average. There are significant areas of international ecological significance, amongst them the Kosciuszko National Park.
Mixed farmers in the Murrumbidgee have identified a critical need to develop improved rotations for mixed farming systems, including issues such as better pasture-crop integration, environmental effects of rotations and the role of grazing wheats.
Producers also face a range of natural resource management issues, including surface water quality, dryland salinity and waterlogging, irrigation salinity and waterlogging, soil erosion and acidity, streambank erosion, riparian zone degradation, wetland health, native vegetation decline, weeds, pests, feral animals and river regulation.
There are 5,186 farms in the region. The major dryland production enterprises are wool, sheep meat, beef, cropping and softwood plantations, while irrigated production includes vegetables, grapes and rice.