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Eden Valley livestock producer and grape grower Ben Zander is a strong advocate of sheep grazing in vineyards, with his family using the increasingly-popular practice for more than 30 years.

The Barossa Improved Grazing Group (BIGG) and Grasslands Society of Southern Australia (GSSA) have teamed up to bring together a pasture update for graziers in the Barossa region, to be held at the Nuriootpa Sports and Function Centre on August 25.

Two autumns after fire devastated grazing land in the Eden Valley regions, BIGG monitoring sites have demonstrated strong resilience of native grasses, with 90 per cent of burnt grasses having recovered.

Barossa sheep producers have learnt about farm management practices to improve lamb survival at a workshop in Flaxman Valley.

The workshop, organised by Rural Solutions in conjunction with the Barossa Improved Grazing Group, featured presenters Jason Trompf, J.T. Agri-source, and Gordon Refshauge, New South Wales Department of Primary Industries, and provided producers with strategies for minimising lamb losses.

A survey by the Barossa Improved Grazing Group and Barossa Grape & Wine Association has found the majority of BGWA respondents either already graze livestock in their vineyards or are interested in grazing in the future.

Following a record dry spell through spring and summer, increasing numbers of Barossa producers have been turning to confinement feeding to preserve paddock groundcover and increase NRM outcomes.

Sub-clover is a vital component of Barossa pasture systems and in 2014 Barossa Improved Grazing Group (BIGG) received a three-year Producer Research Sites grant ($70,000) from Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA) to investigate the effect of soil borne root diseases on local sub-clover productivity.

The Barossa Valley region in South Australia has a strong history of local producer groups in the sheep, dairy and beef industries.

Although the Angaston Agricultural Bureau had links with all these industries, there was no organised avenue for farmers from the different industries to get together to share information, ideas and approaches.

BIGG has won a $5000 community action grant for a new project, ‘Livestock grazing management in Barossa Valley vineyards’, funded by Natural Resources Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges.

The project will work with the Barossa Grape & Wine Association to quantify the level of livestock grazing in vineyards, understand the barriers to grazing adoption, and promote the natural resources management and productivity benefits of the practice.

ACCURATE identification is the first step towards improving native grass populations in pastures, according to native grass expert Millie \’Nicholls, Brinkworth. Ms Nicholls helped Barossa graziers develop their identification skills at a field day in Keyneton last month, visiting properties affected by the damaging Eden Valley fires. She said the field day was timed to make it easy to spot the often elusive native grass species.