Small landholder seasonal activity list

Page last updated: Wednesday, 13 December 2017 - 1:32pm

Please note: This content may be out of date and is currently under review.

November

Keep on top of the following issues during November to ensure your property is well prepared for the coming months:

Topics Issues to consider

Livestock
  • Assess your livestock’s health now. As spring draws to a close, your livestock should be in their best condition. Condition scoring as a measure of animal health allows you to assess the amount of tissue and fat covering the backbone and the short ribs of each animal.
  • The Department of Agriculture and Food, WA recommends that livestock on small landholdings are maintained at a score of 3 or the “healthy” condition, where animals are neither fat nor underweight. To learn more search our website or visit the app store to download the ‘Sheep Condition Score’. Regular condition scoring of animals throughout summer will allow you to monitor any weight loss as pasture becomes less nutritious with summer.
  • Don’t forget to check sheep for flystrike while you're checking their condition.

  • Buyers should ask vendors to provide a National Sheep Health Statement in which the status of the vendor’s flock in relation to footrot, lice, Johnes disease, vaccination and worm drench practices and ovine brucellosis will be described.

  • Make sure stock water systems are ready for summer.

  • Spring is a high-risk period for blackleg in cattle and enterotoxaemia (pulpy kidney) in sheep. Make sure your vaccination program is up to date. Your vet or rural supplier can supply vaccines and advice.

  • If you intend to sell some stock prior to summer, make sure they are correctly identified and that you have National Vendor Declaration (NVD)/waybills organised.

Crops and pasture
  • Assess food on offer (FOO) in your paddocks and plan supplementary feeding. At this stage most plants have set seed and are starting to dry off. If you have excess paddock feed, a late hay cut may be better than leaving a standing fire hazard.
  • Unless irrigated, pastures will senesce and the food value will begin to drop. Knowledge of the decline rates of dry pasture can aid the estimation of remaining grazing days. This knowledge can be used to begin planning supplementary feeding. Visit Lifetime Wool for easy-to-use feed budget tables.

  • All hay should now be cut so make sure to collect and stack small bales or store under cover because quality will drop if left in the paddock to get rained on.

  • If you don’t have your own equipment to harvest crops, make arrangements to book a contractor.

  • Check irrigation systems for leaks and ensure the correct distribution of water.

Fresh produce
  • First plantings of eggplant, sweet potatoes, rockmelons and watermelons should be carried out.
  • Select banana suckers for new growth and remove surplus suckers, this will encourage the plant to focus its energy into selected new growth.
  • Harvest mulberries and freeze excess. Harvest last crops of potatoes and garlic.
  • Trapping for fruit fly should begin in November and continue until April. Baiting for fruit flies should also begin when flies are recorded in traps. Search our website for more information.

  • November and December are a great time to prune stone fruit and pome fruit trees. By summer pruning you will prevent the tree from becoming top heavy and improve the shape.

  • Monitor soil moisture carefully for avocados to avoid stress that might increase early fruit shed. Manage nutrition to encourage healthy spring flush to replace the old falling leaves, to protect the fruit and start the development of next season’s flowers.

Land and infrastructure management
  • Don’t forget to check, clean and prepare your stock watering points for use this summer.
  • During the drier months when pasture is starting to hay off and the ground is dry it is easier to detect any leaks in you pipes, it is important to check pipes regularly to ensure your stock don’t go without water. Continue to check water quality over summer.
  • If you are going to be ordering native trees now is a good time to contact your local supplier and place your order.
  • If you planted trees or are rehabilitating an area this year, it is important to undertake weed management at these sites to reduce competition in the critical establishment phase.

Pests and weeds
  • The warmer weather will start to see pond plants develop new growth as water temperature increases.  Landholders should be aware that many pond plants have the potential to become serious weeds. Water plants such as Salvinia, Hydrocotyle, water lettuce, water hyacinth and Cabomba are all noxious weeds. If you have any pond plants which are able to rapidly cover a pond and regularly need to be removed then it is possible that this plant is a declared water weed.  If you are unsure about any water plants please take a sample for identification.
  • Want to use an organic method of insect control in your orchard? Guinea fowl, a medium-sized grey bird, is proving to be an effective way of controlling insects in and around the orchard. Alternatively use bantams for insect control.
  • If kangaroos are causing damage to your property, seek advice on control methods and appropriate fencing or gates from your local Department of Parks and Wildlife.
  • Be on the lookout for declared plants. Cotton Bush, Apple of Sodom and Blackberry are some of the plants that you need to control.
  • Keep on top of fruit fly control, your success in controlling these early populations is critical to the overall success of fruit fly management.

Pages

Topics

Small landholder seasonal activity list

  1. January
  2. February
  3. March
  4. April
  5. May
  6. June
  7. July
  8. August
  9. September
  10. October
  11. November
  12. December
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See Also

Pest and Disease Information Service (PaDIS)

Regions

Goldfields-Esperance
Great Southern
Peel
Perth regions
South West
Wheatbelt

Seasons

Autumn
Spring
Summer
Winter