Rural landholders will decide who is elected to Local Land Services boards around the state with voting underway since Thursday, April 9.

The University of New England are conducting a Community Attitudes Survey of the Upland Lagoons n the Tablelands, and they would love you to contribute! 

The Dynamic Lagoons project aims to assess your attitudes related to the ecological function of threatened Upland Wetlands in Northern and Monaro Tablelands. This will help establish an evidence-based public engagement and education program to raise awareness of the importance of upland wetlands and the critical threats and impacts that affect their ecological function.

In this brief animation, Dr Russ Harris, author of the international best-seller The Happiness Trap, illustrates how to use ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy) to deal with the Corona crisis and the fear, anxiety and worry that goes with it.

It's been a challenging few months for our community; facing drought, bushfires, floods, and now the COVID-19 Pandemic. The NSW Office of Emergency Management has the following message and list of assistance...

Although the world is in lockdown, the fungi are running riot out there in the countryside! The recent rains could mean we are in for a bumper fungus season.

When: Tuesday May 5th, 10.00am-12.00pm

• 10:00 am Seminar introducing fungi and basic techniques for their identification in the field
• 11:00 am Interactive session where we will identify participants’ fungus specimens

For more information and registration, take a look at the flier here.

As many livestock producers move their business forward from one of the worst droughts on record, Northern Tablelands and North Coast Local Land Services have engaged market analyst Simon Quilty for this two part webinar series.

Simon has extensively researched the factors that have driven livestock prices higher over many years.He has just returned from an extensive North American research tour, meeting key industry stakeholders. You’ll get an opportunity to ask Simon and the LLS Officers live questions. The webinar will be recorded and made available for those that are unable attend.

Session 1 Wednesday 13th May 2020 7:30pm "Forecasting Australia's Livestock Future (Part 1)"
 To Register CLICK HERE 

• Australia's cattle cycles - drought versus the rebuild.
• African Swine Fever
• COVID19
• Impact on global food services
• Impact on global retail demand
• High unemployment globally and its impact on consumer spending
• The impact of these events on livestock prices in Australia.
• Preparing for the future.

Session 2 Wednesday 20th May 2020 7:30pm "Forecasting Australia’s Livestock Future (Part 2)"
To Register CLICK HERE

• Global beef production - India, US, Brazil and Australia
• Assessing US, Japan, Korea, China markets
• Trade agreements
• Opportunities in e-commerce for marketing/selling beef as the world changes post COVID-19
• Forecast on Australian feeder steer prices for 2 years (monthly)
• Forecast on Australian cow prices for 2 years (monthly)
• Forecast on Australian lamb price for 2 years (monthly)
• Developing a strategy.

For more information contact the webinar hosts:

• Max Newsome, Northern Tablelands LLS Land Services Officer (Livestock) T: (02) 67301900 M: 0427 007 190
• Brent McLeod, Northern Tablelands LLS Senior Land Services Officer (Sheep) T: (02) 67301900 M: 0413 884 710

A number of “fee-free” short courses are being offered by TAFE which may be of interest to those comtemplating a change in direction during COVID-19 isolation. The courses are within 3 areas:

• Develop Administrative Skills;
• Enhance your Digital Impact; and
• Grow Health and Medical Knowledge.

More information at https://www.tafensw.edu.au/fee-free-short-courses

Up to $10,000

Closing date: 26 May 2020.

Each year, the Heywire Competition winners attend the Heywire Regional Youth Summit to develop ideas to improve regional Australia for young people. Community organisations are invited to apply for grants of up to $10,000 from the Foundation for Rural and Regional Renewal to make these ideas a reality.

Check out the ideas at www.abc.net.au/heywire/grants/ and apply for a grant.

The NSW Government has committed $209 million to help bushfire-affected landholders with the cost of rebuilding boundary fences adjoining public lands.

Private landholders who share a boundary with public land and were impacted by the Northern and Southern fires of late 2019 and early 2020 are eligible to receive up to $5,000 per kilometre to contribute to the replacement of damaged boundary fences.

Note that for the purposes of this grant, public lands includes: National parks; Forestry Corporation land; Travelling stock reserves; Crown reserves, tenured roads and leases and Roads managed by Roads and Maritime Services or Local Government.

Grants can be issued retrospectively to cover costs already incurred by landholders replacing fire damaged fencing where a boundary is shared with public lands.

• To register your interest, click here.
• Download a flier with more information.
• Visit https://www.lls.nsw.gov.au/what-we-do/our-major-projects/supporting-our-neighbours-public-land-boundary-fencing-program

Available: $20,000

Closing: 30 April 2020

Landcare Australia have partnered with WIRES to implement immediate response, recovery and resilience building projects for wildlife in bushfire and drought impacted communities across Australia. The grants program will provide networks and groups additional support to coordinate and fund projects to maximise the impact of their contribution to recovery efforts and strengthen outcomes for wildlife.

Federal Member for New England, Barnaby Joyce, said individuals and organisations at the centre of protecting our native species could now receive additional Federal Government support to help with the recovery of wildlife and habitats following the devastating bushfires.