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Welcome to the Perth Region NRM sustainable agriculture knowledge base. Use the left hand sidebar navigation to drill down to topics of interest or use the search tool.

Managing your wind erosion risk

The loss of your valuable topsoil and organic carbon due to the action of wind is of particular concern in summer months. During this time of the year factors such as low soil moisture and reduced ground cover combine with consistently high wind speeds to increase the susceptibility and risk of wind erosion. Replacing valuable topsoil is an expensive and time consuming exercise so avoidance is the key. Read more.....

Perth Region NRM awarded best overall exhibit at the 2013 Karragullen Horticultural Expo

Perth Region NRM was awarded the best overall exhibit at the 2013 Karragullen Horticultural Expo.  The exhibit comprised of a 132 year old “Sulky” adorned with luscious displays of locally produced fruit, native plants and surrounded by rustic art.  The display created a link between the importance of local produce to the local economy and the overall theme of the expo being the acknowledgement the 30 anniversary of the expo and the history of the region.  The display drew people into the large Marquee where Perth Region NRM staff and other exhibitors including, Domus Nursery, WA Horse Council and Living Farm promoted Sustainable Agricultural practices and Natural Resource Management.

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Report on Sustainable Natural Resource Use in Agriculture Highlights Regional Issues

Last month the Department of Agriculture and Food released an important baselining and benchmarking report which provided scorecards to highlight the hazards and conditions associated with ten (10) important soil management issues across Western Australia's agricultural regions. Read more......

 Where does your fresh food come from?

Fresh food production (horticulture) is an important activity in the region and to Western Australia. There are approximately 483 orchardists in the region farming around 5,884 ha representing 26% of the total number of growers in Western Australia. In relation to vegetable and grape growing, there are.....Read more

Waterlogging and salinity management

Waterlogging and salinity go hand in hand. Land susceptible to waterlogging and salinity comprises over 117,000 hectares or 10% of the Perth NRM region.

•  Pollution of increasingly scarce water supplies
•  Loss of productive agricultural land
•  Loss of habitat and biodiversity and
•  Increased soil erosion risk

Weed identification & management library updated

The weed library contains resources to support identification and management of over 30 weed species across the Perth region. Check it out here..

Horse property management guidelines updated   Yes these popular guidelines have just been updated and are available for download from the info hub by clicking here..   WA carbon farming website launched   The WA Department of Agricultre and Food along with Rangelands NRM have recently launched some new publications and a website for carbon farming. A number of these have been added to our pre-existing carbon farming library. Some we like are listed here: Permanent environmental plantings to earn carbon credits Green and brown manuring as part of carbon farming Claying as a method of increasing soil carbon Applying biochar to improve soil quality and crop productivity Find more here....   Pest apps make a mark A couple of new apps have become available recently - the Field Guide to Pest Animals of Australia and the locally produced Pestwatch App. Check them out...

Property planning for a variable climate   It is uncertain what the coming winter will hold. Forecasts are for a 50 percent chance of above or below average rainfall while there is an 80 percent probability that winter will be warmer than normal. If the accuracy of past trends assessed by the Department of Agriculture and Food are anything to go by then long term the forecasts have been more or less on track. For horse owners there is some assistance on the way. Register with the climate change action planning initiative for horse owners to get assistance with preparing your property plan.   Did you know? There are 1,511 farm businesses in the Perth NRM region which is 12 percent of theWA total. There are 19,764 rural small landholders in the region which is 36.5 percent of the WA total (Source: Department of Agriculture and Food WA, 2007).   Bring your soils alive   Depletion of life giving carbon from soils is an increasingly important issue. Recently over 200 people attended the Talking Soil Health conference in Northam to uncover some of the latest research on what is being done to manage soils. Even if you weren't able to attend please peruse the information hub library to find out more. In the meantime here are some new resources we have added to the informaton hub which will be of assistance: Carbon farming resources Reducing Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Emissions Total organic carbon How much carbon can soil store Soil Groups of Western Australia: edition 4