Local Land Services

Your rates at work

It’s been another big year filled with challenges that affected many landholders and communities across the state. Through biosecurity threats, animal health alerts and emergency responses, we’re proud to be the boots on the ground delivering advice and services to you and your community.

Across the state in 2021-22 we:

• protected almost 59,000,000 ha of land through coordinated pest animal control programs
• conducted over 3,000 on-farm disease investigations
• protected more than 210,000 ha of land against priority weeds
• conducted over 1,000 plant pest disease inspections
• had 279 staff assisting with flood emergency responses

Your rates that are collected each year are 100% returned to you through these services which helps us, help you when you need it most.

Even though you may not have livestock, your property will have benefited from our services including our coordinated pest and weed control programs.

Under the Local Land Services Act 2013, we must charge rates on all land classified as rateable land under the Act. This is generally land 10 hectares or more in size (40 hectares in the Western region and 20 hectares in some parts of Murray and Riverina regions). Our rates are different to council rates charged under the Local Government Act 1993. Rates contribute up to one fifth of Local Land Services operating budget.

Your rates notice will arrive in January, before then we encourage you to visit our dedicated rates portal to learn more about our rating process and the value you receive from the work we do – www.lls.nsw.gov.au/rates

Sheep issues

The wet conditions this year have been exceptionally hard on our livestock, and in particular sheep.

Sodden country has caused foot problems, and normal husbandry practices like shearing and fly treatments have been challenging due to persistent rain and isolation.

Feed quality was good with the lush spring, however it may be declining on many properties due to saturation or physical damage from flash flooding.

During the floods many stock owners had to box animals and put large mobs on small areas of land, increasing stress and exposing stock to a build-up of worms, bacteria and other infections. 

For advice contact your local veterinarian or animal health advisor.

Cattle worm burdens

Floods provide ideal conditions for gastrointestinal worms to flourish.

With adequate pasture cover and a cooler microclimate at ground level, larvae are insulated from extreme temperatures and provided shade, meaning immature worms can live longer.

These pastures are regarded as ‘at risk’ of potential worm contamination and should not be considered as clean paddocks despite the dilution of flood waters.

Eggs can survive flood waters where manure is washed up. Larvae may also climb out of the flood water and attach to grass stems waiting to be eaten by stock. 

Many flooded paddocks have elevated zones where stock have congregated in high numbers causing highly contaminated areas.

Check out the Paraboss website for current recommended programs and treatments or contact your Local Veterinarian or Animal Health Advisor.

Goitre diagnoses

Our district vets have diagnosed multiple cases of Goitre in calves, sheep and goats across the region

A Goitre is an enlarged thyroid gland, which presents as swelling in the neck & throat area. It is caused by a deficiency in iodine, a trace element that stock usually get from grazing pasture, or soil that they eat while grazing.

1. With abundant pasture available, stock are grazing higher up the leaf, and not ingesting as much soil as they usually would when grazing.
2. Years of high rainfall, following on from drought when a lot of top soil was lost, has led to leaching of iodine from soils, making the pastures deficient in iodine.

Goitre can be prevented by ensuring pregnant animals in particular have adequate iodine in their diets – drenches containing iodine, iodine licks and feed supplements can all be helpful in preventing deficiency.

Weed watch | St Johns Wort

The best way to control St. John’s Wort is to take an integrated control approach. Heavily graze areas with infestations in the winter period to allow a good target for an effective spray program to be undertaken early Spring and Summer.
Seeding and fertilising should follow to help get desirable pasture species established to help out-compete new St. John’s Wort seedlings.  
Biocontrol agents are present in some areas but to date have not been an effective tool to get large infestations under control.  

Kamilaroi Guda Koalas

We have partnered with the Australian Government to deliver $1 million worth of investment, which aims to increase and enhance koala habitat to provide refugia in a changing climate. 

Gunnedah’s koalas have been in serious decline since at least 2008 largely attributed to prolonged heatwaves in summer and drought. It is thought that with stressed and dehydrated animals, this may be influencing the rate of infections of chlamydia and therefore further population declines.

To mitigate these impacts, this project was developed to target an area that will be important for koala populations in a changing climate. The area between Carroll and Gunnedah adjacent to the Namoi River has been identified as the target due to proximity to permanent water and existing remnant native vegetation. By enhancing these areas, this will give the koala population the best chance of survival and recovery. Project activities include:

• 15 hectares of revegetation to include additional shelter species and diversity of size and age of trees
• 260 hectares will be treated to reduce priority weeds that impact koala movement
• Provide permanent and safe water for koala and wildlife drinking
• Remediating riparian areas for improved habitat and access to river for koalas
• On ground work will be predominately on crown land such as travelling stock reserves with a smaller amount being on private land.

Waratah Project

Announced as the Liverpool Plains Biodiversity Project, the Waratah Project will see Local Land Services manage 6000 hectares of high biodiversity land with significant emphasis placed on the long-term protection and improvement of biodiversity values, enhancing habitat for koalas and other endangered species, including protecting significant Indigenous cultural sites and artefacts in perpetuity.
This will be achieved by building relationships with stakeholders and investing funds towards priority targets, along with honouring pre-negotiated agreements between the NSW Government and Shenhua.

Protecting Woodland Bird Habitat for Regent Honeyeaters

The spectacular regent honeyeater was once common around Bingara, Barraba, Tamworth and further west towards the Pilliga however, the most recent surveys this breeding season have failed to spot any. This continuing trend over recent times seems to support research that shows these birds are now heading for rapid extinction within the next 10 years. If the remaining birds do not make it, the regent honeyeater will be the second bird extinction on the Australian mainland since European colonisation, following the paradise parrot.

Since 2018, Local Land Services has been working with over twelve landholders along with Landcare, Ozfish Unlimited, and Birdlife Australia to increase native vegetation for woodland birds by improving grazing management and plantings in key areas.

Native bushland that provides food and nesting sites is critical to the survival and dispersal of regent honeyeaters, including those released from captive breeding programs. Local Landcare Coordinator (Northern Slopes), Ali Bigg explained, tree plantings provide habitat for many species - not just our target regent honeyeater but also the swift parrot and other threatened woodland birds. Mugga ironbark, yellow box, white box. and river oak are key nectar sources for a range of threatened woodland birds. In urban gardens flowering shrubs like bottlebrush and grevillea are great options.

Local Land Services is pleased to see project works approaching completion and revegetation sites capitalising on the frequent rain events. The combined efforts of project participants such as the Barraba community are essential to providing food and habitat for the future of woodland birds in the North West into the future.

This project is delivered by North West Local Land Services, through funding from the Australian Government’s National Landcare Program. For more information, contact Craig Pullman on 0428 432 784 or craig.pullman@lls.nsw.gov.au 

Get your cereal crops tested for potential disease

A new program has been launched to protect future cereal crops! Farmers can get their retained cereal, such as wheat, durum and barley, tested for potential disease free of charge.

Our staff are working with the NSW Department of Primary Industries to bring lab tests to the farm gate to help growers identify and stamp out cereal diseases such as crown rot.

Sample kits are available at the following Local Land Services offices:

• Moree
• Narrabri
• Gunnedah
• Scone
• Dubbo
• Forbes
• Wagga Wagga
• Deniliquin

This program is supported by the @GRDC - project code DPI2207-04RTX.

A productive year despite the challenges of floods and wet weather

The NSW Fencing Northern Basin Riverbank Program is taking stock after what was another busy year working with landholders and stakeholders to deliver on-ground projects to benefit the environment, primary production and local communities, while also planning for 2023.  

While much progress has been made by landholders to deliver their projects, with a number either complete or close to being completed, it hasn’t been without challenge, caused largely by floods, severe storms and persistent rainfall across the year.

In the first year of the program (2021-22 financial year), landholders committed to protecting 216 km of riverbanks which will keep livestock safe while improving water quality and fish habitat, along with managing 5,785 hectares of riparian areas.  

In the second year (2022-23 financial year), a call for expressions of interest in July and August resulted in over 100 EOIs submitted for projects.  

In addition to new fencing, other projects will see work undertaken to revegetate riparian zones, undertake weed removal, minor erosion control works and re-snagging activities to improve fish habitat.  

The EOIs are currently being assessed and once that is complete, on-ground project work will commence. For further information visit www.lls.nsw.gov.au/fnbr or contact LLS on 1300 795 299.  

The LLS staff involved in the delivery of the NSW Fencing Northern Basin Riverbanks Program wish all the participating landholders and stakeholders a happy and safe Christmas and prosperous year ahead.  

The NSW Fencing Northern Basin Riverbanks program is being delivered by LLS across its Central Tablelands, Central West, Northern Tablelands, North West and Western regions. 

The NSW Fencing Northern Basin Riverbanks Program is delivered under the Murray-Darling Basin Plan by the NSW Government, through funding from the Australian Government Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water. 

Office closure over December and January  

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas! 🎁🎄 

We will be taking a short break over the holiday period and will be closed from 4.30 pm Friday 23 December and will be back on deck on Monday 9 January 2022.  

So, if you’ve got any enquiries until then, get in touch on 1300 795 299 or use our online enquiry form! www.lls.nsw.gov.au/contact 

From everyone at Local Land Services, we wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. We’ll see you all again in 2023! 

Our mailing address is: PO Box 500 · Tamworth, NSW 2340 · Australia Copyright © 2022 Local Land Services, all rights reserved. The information contained in this publication is based on knowledge and understanding at the time of writing. However, because of advances in knowledge, users are reminded of the need to ensure that the information upon which they rely is up to date and to check the currency of the information with the appropriate officer of Local Land Services or the user’s independent adviser. For updates go to www.lls.nsw.gov.au