Family holidays

Wagga based organisation Waggacares and Vision Valley are operating a free holiday camp during the July school holidays for families affected by the drought. The camp is at the Vision Valley Conference and Retreat Centre located at Acadia near Wisemans Ferry. Vision Valley is a conference and retreat centre, owned and operated by Wesley Mission in Sydney, a parish of the Uniting Church in Australia. The holiday is sponsored by Rotary International and other business houses and is an ideal opportunity for families living in drought affected areas to have a break away from the farm or business in the school holidays.

Identifying earthmites

Pasture growth has been boosted by the recent widespread rain and with the soil temperature still reasonable, growth has been continuing. Weather conditions over the last four to six weeks have been ideal for hatchings of Red Legged Earth Mite (RLEM), Blue Oat Mite (BOM), Bryobia Mite and Balaustium Mite. Damage caused by these mites is similar as they are all sap suckers, however they do require different chemical treatments for control so need to be correctly identified. Farmers have seen the effects of these mites in crops and pastures over many years and there has been plenty of research done by a multitude of people. Pastures need to be monitored closely and the mites must be correctly identified if control is to be a successful.