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The Land Is In Your Hands : A Practical Guide For Owners Of Small Rural Landholdings In Western Australia, Department Of Agriculture And Food, Wa

Bulletins 4000 -

This Bulletin discusses various aspects of managing a small farm or property in Western Australia, including soil and land care, vegetation and plant control on farm holdings, water resource management, biosecurity, plant, animal and insect pest control and livestock management.

Wild Dog Management: Best Practice Manual, Peter Thomson, Ken Rose, State Wild Dog Management Advisory Committee

Bulletins 4000 -

Wild dogs (all wild-living dogs including pure-bred dingoes, hybrids, and domestic dogs running wild) are one of the major pest species impacting on grazing industries across mainland Australia. In this Manual, the text refers to dingoes where the information is derived from studies of essentially pure dingoes. Elsewhere the text usually refers to the more generic term, wild dogs. The information in this Manual is based on scientific studies, including detailed evaluations of techniques and strategies, as well as considerable practical experience from doggers, Department of Agriculture and Food staff and land managers. Much of this Manual focuses on sheep …

You Can Help Keep Western Australia Free Of Pest Animals, Marion Massam

Bulletins 4000 -

Quite apart from their economic and environmental impacts, the sheer nuisance value that certain pest animals can create for people - even in the shelter of our own backyards - is reason enough to want to keep them out of Western Australia.

Currently our State is free from numerous pest animals that, interstate or overseas, damage crops, spread exotic diseases, endanger the survival of native animals and disturb habitats.

You can help in maintaining this freedom, by being on the lookout for the animals featured on the following pages. As yet, they are either absent from Western Australia or confined …

Guidelines For Management Of Farmland Adjacent To The Busselton Wetlands, William Oldfield, Department Of Conservation And Land Management, Department Of Planning And Infrastructure

Bulletins 4000 -

The Busselton Wetlands are a chain of wetlands that lie parallel with the coastline of Geographe Bay, Western Australia and in close proximity to the town of Busselton. The main issues for the maintenance of quality of the wetlands are nutrient levels and habitat value. This guide outlines many of the current best practices related to farming around wetlands.

Total Grazing Management : Results And Observations From The Pimbee Station Trial, Damien Pearce, Geoff Elliott, Robert Rouda

Agriculture reports

The major aim of the trial was to assess the effectiveness of permanent trapyards as a system for managing total grazing pressure. Permanent trapyards potentially offer a cost-effective system of controlling domestic stock, feral goats and kangaroos.

An Update On The Biological Control Of Rabbits, Stuart Wheeler

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

When myxomatosis was introduced into Western Australia in the early 1950s, farmers, pastoralists and government alike thought it was an answer to the rabbit problem.

The disease was devastatingly effective in the short term and initially had a 99 per cent kill rate. With time, the virus declined in strength, and the surviving rabbits have multiplied.

There have been many recent reports about new forms of biological control for rabbits and potential improvements in old ones.

This article summarises each of the prospective methods and improvements, and assesses the potential usefulness of each.

Research Objectives In Vertebrate Pest Control, A J. Oliver

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

The European rabbit, introduced into Australia in 856 by an early settler for hunting, caused massive losses to agricultural production in Western Australia in 1940s and 1950s.

In those years most of the country's recources and efforts allocated to vertebrate pest problems were aimed at controlling this animal.

Research and control measures by Commonwealth and State agencies, including the introduction of myxomatosis, were largely responsible for reducing the rabbit problem to the comparatively minor one it is now.

Today, the Agricultural Protection Board is involved in the control of a much wider range of mammals and birds which cause losses …

1080 : A Selective Poison For Pests, D R. King

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Since the 1960s, the control programmes for rabbits and dingoes in Western Australia have relied heavily on the use of sodium monofluoroacetate, more commonly known as compound 1080. Large quantaties are used each year as it is a valuable substance for the control of vertebrate pests.

Once in the animal's body 1080 is converted to fluorocitrate, a poison which is highly toxic to most mammals. Fluorocitrate blocks the Krebs cycle, a fundamental pathway of energy exchange in animals and plants. The animal dies as a result of damage to the heart, or to the brain and central nervous system, or …

Feral Donkeys : An Assessment Of Control In The Kimberley, S H. Wheeler

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Feral donkeys are one of the major limitations to increased pastoral production in many parts of the Kimberley area of Western Australia, where they compete with cattle for food. In addition donkeys are aggressive animals, driving cattle from watering points and better grazing areas. They eliminate perenial plants by overgrazing and therefore reduce the carrying capacity of the range.

Originally introduced as draught animals, donkeys were released when cars arrived; since then they have bred up to large numbers in many areas.

For several years the Agricultural Protection Board has undertaken a programme of donkey shooting from helicopters. Since this …

Saving The State From Rabbits, Department Of Agriculture, Western Australia

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

A thoughtful look at the rise and fall of rabbit populations in Western Astralia and the work done to achive the current levels.

Protecting Agriculture In 1976 : Three Sides Of An Apb Campaign, Department Of Agriculture, Western Australia

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

A quick look at three areas in which the A.P.B. are working with landholders to protect Western Australia from invasion.

Protecting our agriculture and wildlife is not only the APB's job— it is very much the community's job also. Any suspect birds or plants must be reported immediately to the Agriculture Protection Board.

Bounty Systems In Vermin Control, S J O Whitehouse

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

For more than 3000 years man has tried to reduce the numbers of pest animals by payment of bounties. In general, the system has failed.

This article, by a research scientist who specalizes in the study of declared (pest) animals in Western Australia reviews some of the literature about bounties and comments on the situation in Australia.

Development Of A Selective Bait For Rabbits, A J. Oliver, S. H. Wheeler

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

It has long been recognised that a means of killing rabbits selectively in the presence of stock would be a major advance in rabbit control. It would enable a whole farm to be treated for rabbit control at one time, saving operational costs and cutting down reinfestation of rabbits into treated areas from untreated areas.

A literature search and some pilot trials indicated that indandione derivatives were more toxic to rabbits than to ruminants.

Pindone (2- pivalyl-l,3-indandione) was selected for evaluation.

Grey Kangaroo Management Programme, Department Of Agriculture, Western Australia

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

The Grey Kangaroo Management Programme, introduced in 1971 by the Department of Fisheries and Fauna, is designed to ensure the long-term conservation of the grey kangaroo, while at the same time recognising the right of the landholder to protect his primary production from damage.

One of the points which has arisen after examination of the programme is that some individual farmers are not fully aware of the requirements of the regulations.

Fumigation And Rabbit Control, Department Of Agriculture, Western Australia

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Fumigation has been a valuable tool in Australian rabbit control for over 70 years, because of its economy and efficiency compared with methods such as shooting and trapping.

Even now, while it is not as economical as 'one-shot' baiting, fumigation remains a valuable initial control effort because it is not affected by season and does not require shifting of stock.

Rural Radio Reports - Animals And Birds Declared Vermin, A R. Tomlinson

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Animals and birds are declared vermin by the Agriculture Protection Board if they are a threat to primary industry.

The Java Sparrow, John L. Long

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

THE attractive Java Sparrow (Padda oryzivora) with its immaculate grey, white and black plumage is a favourite caged bird both in Australia and abroad.

It represents, however, a species of considerable pest potential to the agricultural interests of this State.

The Red-Whiskered Bulbul, John L. Long

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Widely distributed in both Africa and Asia, Bulbuls are a largely tropical group of fruit eating birds ranging in size from that of a house sparrow to a blackbird.

The Spice Finch, John L. Long

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

THE Spice Finch (Lonchura punctulata) is also known as Nutmeg Finch or Mannikin, Spice bird, Spotted Munia, Common Munia, Ricebird and Scaly-breasted Munia.

It is an east and south east Asian species inhabiting Malaya, Singapore, Penang, India, Ceylon, Burma, Indo-China, Yunnan, Formosa and the Philippines.

The dangers associated with such a species being introduced to Western Australia are great.

The Indian Mynah, John L. Long

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

THE Common or Indian Mynah (Acridotheres tristis) inhabits Afghanistan, Baluchistan, southern Russian Turkestan, India, Ceylon and the Andaman Islands.

The Starling, John L. Long

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Despite their pretty colour and their song, starlings cannot be considered beneficial, especially in the fruit and grain-growing areas of W.A. where they are declared vermin.

MILLIONS of starlings inhabit the settled parts of eastern and south-eastern Australia, but so far they have not reached Western Australia.

Vermin Control This Month, Department Of Agriculture, Western Australia

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

THE effects of the very wet winter are no longer being felt in vermin control activities in most of Western Australia and they have returned to normal.