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Please note: This content may be out of date and is currently under review.

July

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

Topics Issues to consider

Livestock
  • Monitor stock for drop in condition and increase supplementary feed as cold weather slows pasture growth.
  • Monitor first-calvers, consider drenching this group, and feed well. Before lamb and calf marking, check your registered brand details and NLIS requirements to be sure that calves and lambs are given the correct ear tags and that earmarks are made in the correct position.
  • Be on the lookout for grass tetany in lactating cows, especially during hard frosts and when pasture is short.
  • Livestock owners, do you know what a livestock standstill is and what it would mean to you? A livestock standstill is when animals susceptible to a specific disease are restricted from moving for a period of time to prevent the spread of the disease.

Crops and pasture
  • If you are planning on sowing subtropical perennial pastures in spring this year, order seed now. Perennials require good weed and pest control or establishment may be compromised.
  • If you have wet and waterlogged areas on your property where nothing much will grow consider sowing these areas in spring with more waterlogging tolerant perennials (like Kikuyu) or summer fodder crops (like millets) to take advantage of that moisture and provide some green feed later in the season.

Fresh produce
  • Continue planting beetroot, broccoli/cabbage/cauliflower family, carrots, celery, lettuce, peas and parsnips. Incorporate organic manures into soil, as there is less risk of fly breeding in July. Last plantings of potatoes and strawberries.
  • Use dormant cuttings to propagate figs, grapes and pomegranates. Collect dormant wood from stone or pome fruit and store in a cool room/fridge, wrapped in damp paper sealed in a plastic bag, until spring if grafting/budding wood is required.
  • Avocado growers need to continue to monitor soil moisture and irrigate as required if extended periods without rain occur.

Land and infrastucture management

Pests and weeds
  • Pretty but poisonous and harmful. The three prime targets which need to be controlled now before they develop flowers and seed heads are cape tulip, Paterson’s curse and arum lily. For information on control methods and management strategies contact the Department of Agriculture and Food on 1800 084 881 or search our website.
  • Ensure that all unwanted fruit from pome, stone or persimmon trees have been removed from the trees and ground and appropriately disposed of. This will not only reduce the number of Mediterranean fruit fly carrying over into next season, but also reduce carryover of brown rot in stone-fruit and scab in pears and apples. Stone-fruit growers who have suffered from bacterial issues should be applying a dormant spray of copper (ideally a Bordeaux mixture).

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