Media Masters vic

15/09/2025

New kikuyu varieties show dairy feed potential
Three new strains of kikuyu grass have been identified as having commercial potential for dairy pastures – a potential game-changer for farmers battling tougher climatic conditions.

Initial findings by Dairy UP researchers indicate that all three lines have promising dry matter production, genetic diversity, disease resistance and nutritional value.

For farmers whose pasture lands are increasingly subject to moisture stress and warmer temperatures, new climate-ready kikuyu grasses could provide greater flexibility.

Dairy UP researchers in collaboration with Hatton’s Turf Research are now conducting further trials on the candidate varieties.

Project lead Professor Richard Trethowan from the University of Sydney said that only two new kikuyu cultivars had been released for grazing since the launch of the initial grasses more than 50 years ago.

Professor Trethowan said that compared to the varieties currently used on NSW dairy farms, the new lines potentially have better disease resistance, good biomass production, tolerance to salinity and drought, and represent significant new diversity for nutritional factors. “Current kikuyu pasture cultivars are limited in adaptation, nutritional quality and scope,” he added.

The University of Sydney in collaboration with Hatton’s Turf Research has been breeding improved kikuyu grasses for more than 15 years. Thirteen kikuyu genotypes developed by the University and owned by Hatton’s were evaluated in small, replicated plots at the Plant Breeding Institute at Cobbitty during 2021/22, leading to the three lines being identified as candidates with potential commercial value for dairy pastures.

These three lines were further assessed in 2024/25 through replicated strip trials on three dairy farms in southern NSW at Bega, Berry and Camden. The trials ran from November to May with the strips managed as closely as possible to the farm’s practices.

Dry matter produced at on-farm trials varied between 8t/ha and 14t/ha, but the unusually wet season meant there wasn’t an opportunity to observe differences in ability to tolerate dry conditions and subsequent impact on yield, Professor Trethowan said.

The lines were assessed for disease resistance, with all three appearing more resistant than current varieties.

Further field trials will be conducted over the 2025/26 summer to better understand the performance of the lines under different seasonal conditions. This will also include a field inoculation trial of black spot and kikuyu yellows.

The project is a collaboration between researchers from Dairy UP, University of Sydney and Hatton’s Turf research.

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03/09/2025

HELPING AUSTRALIANS COME OUT OF THE SHADOWS
The Warrnambool community can help to change the narrative on su***de and bring the issue `out of the shadows’ at a walk on September 10.

The local Out of the Shadows Walk for World Su***de Prevention Day on September 10 is the initiative of WRAD Health AOD clinician Janette Scott.

“Every day, nine Australians take their own life, a heartbreaking reality that affects countless lives, so we want to walk up to 9km for each of those Australians” Ms Scott said.

“While each loss is deeply felt, there is hope in our collective efforts to prevent su***de.
We will walk together to remember friends, colleagues and loved ones, and help Australians in crisis come out of the shadows and into the light.”

Ms Scott hopes the event will bring more attention to mental health.

“Lifeline used to organise a walk under this banner and I took part for many years and wanted to see it start up again,” she said.

“With my history of working in mental health, I have a commitment to getting the issue out in the public so people aren’t afraid to talk about it. The community needs to be aware that su***de happens. If people are feeling suicidal but realise other people are aware of the issue, they might be able to talk about their problems.”

The walk starts at 6.30am from WRAD Health at 172 Merri Street and will go to the Pavilion. People can walk as long as they like.

WRAD Health has invited other local organisations to participate and is encouraging concerned community members to join in.

“We hope people bring a torch to shine a light on su***de,” Ms Scott said.

World Su***de Prevention Day is following the theme “Changing the Narrative on Su***de”. This year, particular focus is being placed on accessibility, with resources translated into more languages to ensure the campaign can reach and engage communities around the world.
People can also donate to https://www.outoftheshadowswalk.org.au/sponsor.

03/09/2025

Renee Mugavin and Niesha Hunter found during their recent study tour of The Netherlands that there are lots of different ways to make money from milk.

Renee won a Lely raffle for a week-long study tour to The Netherlands and asked Niesha to join her. DemoDAIRY Foundation helped Niesha with flight costs and helped the pair to hire a car in Ireland to visit the countryside and inspect dairy farms.

In The Netherlands they got a behind-the-scenes tour of Lely headquarters and visited farms across the country. They also added Paris and London to their itinerary.

Most of the farms they visited housed cows in barns and featured Lely robotic milking and feeding systems. They returned thinking Australia is a lucky country for farming – but could learn a few lessons from the Dutch.

“We can learn from the cows being barned in terms of their behaviour and how easy it is for them to learn how to go into the robots,” Niesha said.

Niesha is making a video for DemoDAIRY Foundation that will cover cost effective options that Australian farmers could consider.

Renee and Niesha both work for Anthony Eccles at Purnim and plan long careers in farming, with Niesha hoping to move into share farming.

Niesha said the DemoDAIRY Foundation support had been invaluable. “Everything has been very easy because of their support.”

03/09/2025

South West TAFE carpentry apprentice Lachy King has been named as one of the rising stars in his field and is set to represent Australia on the world stage.
Lachy has been selected for the WorldSkills Australia national training squad — the first step toward selection for Team Australia at the 48th WorldSkills competition in Shanghai, China on September 22-27, 2026.
For Lachy it’s the culmination of a life-long dedication to carpentry and building.
“I was always interested in building and loved to get out into the shed and do that kind of stuff before school and after school,” he said. “The only thing I really enjoyed doing as a kid has paid off. To be recognised as one of the best in the world would be amazing.”
Lachy is one of only two carpentry apprentices and 10 Victorians named in the national training squad.
He’s also had a stroke of good timing with his selection after winning the south-west regional title and being chosen in the top three in Victoria and then competing in the national finals in Brisbane.
“I was third in the nationals but the first and second were too old to be eligible to compete in Shanghai. That let me become part of the squad with the chance to go.”
Lachy, 21, was born in July 2004 but the top place getters were 23 and 24; old enough to qualify for the Australian competition but too old for the international title that is only open to people born after January 1, 2004.
Lachy completed his carpentry apprenticeship at South West TAFE earlier this year and is working with Mick Hearn at MM Hearn Coast Constructions based in Port Fairy.
From Woodford, Lachy says the TAFE training was very beneficial. “Having TAFE run through all the units gives you an opportunity to learn things that you might not pick up in the workplace. I’ve also got a really good boss and Mick has been supporting me the whole way through it.”
After being selected, Lachy just has to prove he’s training and putting the effort in to represent Australia. “I’ve got an expert trainer from South Australia who was previously second in the world so that will be beneficial for me. We work together; he sets me tasks and gives me feedback.
“I really want to do it. It would be game changing and huge for my resume. It would open a whole world of opportunities for me.”
WorldSkills Australia announced the 39 rising stars in its national training squad, including high-performing apprentices, trainees and young professionals from every state and territory, who excelled at the WorldSkills Australia National Championships in Brisbane, earning medals across 35 different skill categories, ranging from carpentry and plumbing to graphic design, patisserie, cyber security and additive manufacturing.
Over the coming months, squad members will undertake an intensive training program. Those selected for the final team will represent Australia, competing against more than 1,400 peers from over 60 countries in the world’s largest skills excellence event.

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26/08/2025

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uv0QV0eUHUs

South Gippsland dairy farmer Kevin Jones, from Foster, tells how his wet farm has benefitted from the introduction of a new Dairy Shelters Australia five-spa...

26/08/2025

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMKxI5NLV8k

South West Victoria dairy farmer Simon Rea celebrates 10 years of operation of his dairy shelter. In that time Simon has built a second shelter next to the o...

26/08/2025

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1kk_pjuoTo

Loch, Gippsland dairy farmer Ian Ho**er tells why his farm has benefitted from the introduction of a new Dairy Shelters Australia three-span shelter. ...

25/08/2025

Pharmacotherapy program to roll out across Grampians Wimmera region
People across the Grampians-Wimmera region will have easier access to life-saving pharmacotherapy support with a new program being rolled out across the region.
Grampians Community Health (GCH) is one of 15 services across Victoria to receive funding from the Victorian Government’s Community Health Pharmacotherapy Grants program.
The three-year funding is to establish a new prescribing service to increase pharmacotherapy accessibility for vulnerable groups and those experiencing geographic barriers to care, and to provide more support for existing prescribers and dispensers.
Project leader and GCH alcohol and other drug worker Emma Mackley is becoming a nurse practitioner and will be able to prescribe opioid replacement therapies.
This will relieve some of the burden on mainstream health systems to address this health need.
The launch of the program is timely in the lead up to International Overdose Awareness Day on August 31.
Ms Mackley, who has worked in various AOD roles for the past 12 years, said the Pennington Institute 2025 Overdose Snapshot reports that opioids were the most common drug involved in unintentional deaths, contributing to almost half (43.9%) of all unintentional drug-induced deaths. Opioids have been the most common drug involved in unintentional deaths for more than two decades. “More people die from overdoses every year than on our roads, but it doesn’t get the same attention,” she said.
As a nurse practitioner specialising in alcohol and other drugs, Ms Mackley will be able to prescribe opioid replacement therapies and focus primarily on pharmacotherapy.
“We know that opioid replacement therapy is a proven treatment for opioid use disorder but being able to access this therapy in our region can be a limiting factor,” she said.
Ms Mackley will support current prescribers and dispensing pharmacies, “We recognise that in regional areas our GPs are often over-burdened servicing large communities, so having extra support will be beneficial.
“Becoming a nurse practitioner is the next step in my career and will allow me to better support people to access specialist drug and alcohol support without having to leave the Grampians-Wimmera region.”
Ms Mackley also hopes to break down stigma in the community. “I want to help reduce the stigma, breaking down the barries to treatment for people who use drugs, allowing them to feel supported and have access to quality healthcare within the region.”
She adds that not all opioid overdoses are connected to illegal substances. “There are significant amounts of opioids in our community but they are not all illicit. Many people are taking prescribed opioid-based medications for a variety of reasons and they are also at risk of overdose.
“In 2023, the age group with the highest number of unintentional drug-induced deaths was people aged 40-49”
Ms Mackley urged people to familiarise themselves with Naloxone, an approved medicine used to quickly reverse an opioid overdose is available for free from many community pharmacies.
The project is in its initial implementation phase and will be rolled out across the region this year. To find out more about the program, people can contact Grampians Community Health on 5358 7400 and ask for an Intake Worker.
The Victorian Government announced an $8.4 million Community Health Pharmacotherapy Grants program to support 15 community health services to establish or expand pharmacotherapy services.
Pharmacotherapy is the use of medication (such as methadone and buprenorphine) to help treat opioid dependence. These treatments are used by around 15,000 Victorians each day.

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25/08/2025

Overdose deaths prompt call for more support
A new report shows a record number of Victorians died from overdoses in 2024, including six in Warrnambool, prompting WRAD Health to call for more support and open conversations about the issue.
The report from the Coroners Court of Victoria shows overdose deaths reached their highest level in 2024, with 584 Victorians dying, including one-in-four in regional communities. The report also shows that most deaths involve more than one drug and that deaths involving methamphetamine are rising sharply.
The six lives lost in Warrnambool were the highest recorded in the past decade.
WRAD Health CEO Mark Powell said overdose deaths were preventable if there was sufficient investment in treatment, harm reduction and support for families.
“These aren’t just numbers – they are people from our towns, our families, our workplaces,” he said.
There were no overdose deaths in Moyne or Glenelg, three in Southern Grampians and Colac-Otway, and one in Corangamite.
In the lead up to International Overdose Awareness Day on August 31, Mr Powell called on South-West Victoria to start more open conversations about substance use.
“Talking about overdose reduces stigma,” he said. “It lets people know that help is available – for both individuals and the families who worry about them. We need to replace silence with support.”
WRAD Health has implemented a number of strategies to help address the need for access, care and treatment for people with substance use issues. This includes providing an outreach pharmacotherapy program across the Great South Coast region to provide life-saving harm reduction support to those dependent on prescribed or illicit opioids.
WRAD Health also provides AOD counsellors into the regions to reduce the challenges of transport. Through partnerships with South West Health Mental Health and Wellbeing services, WRAD Health has enhanced services to people with co-occurring mental health conditions and through a partnership with MIND Australia delivers an integrated mental illness and substance use treatment program called Step Thru Care.
Without funding support, WRAD Health has introduced an early engagement worker role for immediate face-to-face responses for people concerned about their or their loved one’s substance use.
“We are proud of the work we do at WRAD Health but know there is more that can be done,” Mr Powell said. “We want to see more treatment options closer to home, including rehab, withdrawal and counselling, expanded outreach services for adults and youth, funding for local intake and engagement workers, expanded harm reduction services through lived experience workforce and support for families.”
Mr Powell added that a residential rehabilitation program remained an important need to help break the cycle of addiction in the region.
For media inquiries or further details, please contact: Mark Powell WRAD Health 55 645 777 or [email protected]

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21/08/2025

The Ballarat community will hear first-hand how overdose prevention can save lives in the lead up to International Overdose Awareness Day on August 31.

Ballarat Community Health (B*H) is partnering with Uniting Ballarat to take a harm reduction message into the community.

Displays at Delacombe Town Centre on Monday August 25 from 1pm – 4pm, Breezeway at Uniting on Thursday August 28 from 9am – 11:30am and Stockland Shopping Centre on Friday August 29 from 1pm – 4pm will show how overdoses can be prevented.

In addition to providing overdose prevention education, naloxone, an approved medicine used to quickly reverse an opioid overdose, will be available to anyone who is at risk of, or likely to witness, an opioid overdose.

Ballarat Community Health Harm Reduction Coordinator Kate Davenport said this included anyone who has been prescribed opioids, as well as those using illicit opioids. Ms Davenport said that with illicit drug supplies becoming increasingly unstable, opioids are now being detected in non-opioid drugs, placing anyone who uses illicit substances at risk of opioid overdose.

Ms Davenport said B*H usually hosted an event to coincide with International Overdose Awareness Day but this year decided to take the message to the community.

“We thought this would be an effective way to reach people with the message that opioid overdoses are preventable,” she said. “There is a safe and effective way of preventing overdose deaths and we need more people to be aware of naloxone and how to respond to an opioid overdose.

“We want to have non-stigmatising, non-judgmental conversations, and hopefully we can bust some myths about opioid overdose.”

The displays will also feature a Naloxone nasal spray model. “We’ve commissioned Sam Dekok from Ballarat 3D Proto Services to 3D print a 160cm tall naloxone nasal spray model for people to check out and learn about how Naloxone can save lives,” Ms Davenport said.

The displays come as the latest Victorian Coroner’s overdose report shows there were six overdose deaths in Ballarat during 2024.

Victoria recorded 584 overdose deaths in 2024, the highest in a decade.

Ms Davenport said Ballarat’s overdose death rate was down on 14 in the previous two years but it was too early to say if the region was reversing the trend.

“We welcome the reduction but there could be many reasons for this lower number and six deaths from preventable overdose are still far too many,” she said.
Just over a quarter of Victorian overdose deaths occurred in regional Victoria.
Across Victoria, males accounted for 398 deaths in 2024, a 16 per cent increase from 2023. The highest death rates were males aged 35–44, females aged 45–54 and 75 per cent of deaths were unintentional.
Multiple drug toxicity was involved in more than 75 per cent of deaths. Pharmaceutical drugs were the most frequent contributors, although the percentage declined, while illegal drugs were involved in 65.6% of deaths in 2024, a 10-year high.
The top contributors to death in 2024 were he**in (248 deaths), methamphetamine (215), diazepam (219), alcohol (141) and pregabalin (92).

MORE INFORMMATION

Where can people access Naloxone:
• Community pharmacy
Where to access naloxone | Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care
• Needle and Syringe program sites

More Access To Life-Saving Medication To Reverse Overdose | Premier

Harm Reduction Victoria (HRVic)/Melbourne/Home

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19/08/2025

People urged to make a change in lead-up to Overdose Awareness Day

Grampians-Wimmera residents concerned about their alcohol or other drug use are being urged to make a change in the lead-up to International Overdose Awareness Day.
Grampians Community Health (GCH) is offering Making a Change (MAC), a structured alcohol and other drug (AOD) day rehabilitation program. While evidence suggest drug and alcohol use hasn’t declined across the region, rehabilitation programs aren’t being utilised as often as expected.
MAC facilitators Alisha Piper and Jess Bowater say that the program can change lives for the better, improve daily living skills, health and wellbeing, and prevent overdoses and other harms from AOD use.
Ms Piper has been facilitating the program for three years and Ms Bowater joined this year.
“The program is great for people to reduce the harms associated with their use,” she said. “People find that by creating a structure and routine over a few days each week, it allows them to reduce the harms associated with their use.”
The facilitators also see full recovery. “We’ve had people who have done the program two or three times and we see them recover,” Ms Piper said. “The last time we see them they are abstinent and in a completely different stage of their lives.”
Ms Bowater says Making a Change gives participants a place where people genuinely care about them. “Whether it’s the facilitators or the other people in the program, they feel that care and it helps them to keep going.”
“People make mistakes, and people using GCH services can be assured that this place is judgement-free.”
People don’t have to be abstinent to attend the program but cannot be visibly affected by substances. “I worry that people think they have to be abstinent, or ready to be abstinent, may not be engaging in the program because they aren’t ready to give up just yet, but as long as they are ready to make a change to their lives, even a small step, that’s what really counts.”
The State government funded program auspiced by Ballarat Community Health is delivered by GCH in Horsham, Stawell and Ararat.
Ms Piper said numbers were low in the current Stawell program. “We know there are people using alcohol and drugs in harmful ways, so we’re concerned that people don’t know about the program.”
The facilitators called on the community for support, including local shopkeepers to display posters to promote MAC.
Public transport can be an issue for people in rural communities but the facilitators will work with potential participants to try to find solutions.
“The program is really helpful, and we do fun things that people enjoy, as well as getting the lifestyle improvements,” Ms Piper said. “Even if they just take one or two things from the program, it’s going to set them up to be able to use safer, avoid overdose and improve their social connections.”
The program is over eight weeks for three or four days each week. It covers topics including communication, healthy relationships, relapse prevention, conflict management, stress and anxiety, exercise, cooking, budgeting, employability skills and self-esteem.
It also covers harm minimisation, the impacts of substance use on the body, stress and anxiety.
People can make appointments by ringing Grampians Community Health on 5358 7400 and ask for an Intake Worker.
International Overdose Awareness Day on August 31 highlights that overdose solutions exist and that a community-wide effort can end overdoses.

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18/08/2025

Pasture Roadshow to highlight successes during tough seasons

A two-day Grassland Society of Southern Australia (GSSA) Pasture Roadshow in September will highlight which pasture cultivars have excelled during the past two difficult seasons.

The travelling roadshow on September 17-18 will also give participants a rare opportunity to see inside the work of the Pasture Trials Network (PTN) in identifying productive and persistent pasture cultivars.

The roadshow will include visits to the Wando Bridge PTN phalaris trial site, the Strathkellar sub clover PTN site, the DLF Seeds’ tall fescue and phalaris pasture demonstration sites at the old Terang DemoDAIRY/RIST Training site near Terang, and the Southern Farming Systems (SFS) pasture trial site at Rokewood.

Grassland Society president Tim Prance said the roadshow would be a great opportunity for farmers and agronomists to see what new and old cultivars worked and what management practices succeeded during the drought.

“It’s important to learn from what worked and what didn’t work during the drought so we’re better prepared for next time,” Mr Prance said.

“The roadshow will show that there is some light at the end of the tunnel. Some pasture cultivars and management systems have worked in the difficult seasons and we want to highlight those successes,” he said.

Mr Prance said the roadshow would highlight the importance of PTN field trials. “The PTN is a valuable resource available to farmers that want verified information on what pastures are more productive and more persistent in our changing climate,” he said.

“The Roadshow will visit different farm paddocks so participants can look at the varieties and make up their own minds.”

The roadshow is open to Grassland Society members and non-members.

PTN executive officer Tony Butler will also join the tour. The PTN is funded by MLA, Dairy Australia and commercial pasture seed companies. Active PTN sites are not open to the public, but the Grassland Society has been allowed to visit the sites at Wando Bridge and Strathkellar. As a result, GSSA Roadshow participants will be required to register via the Grassland Society website (www.grasslands.org.au) to be provided with the exact paddock locations.

The roadshow will also include a dinner in Hamilton with an online presentation about Barenbrug’s clover breeding program and planned new sub clover varieties due to be released in the next 3-4 years.
People interested in joining the GSSA can visit https://www.grasslands.org.au. Students can become members for free. GSSA has successfully promoted the business of grass, science and farming since 1959 and has branches in Victoria, South Australia and southern NSW.

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