Central West Lachlan Landcare are thrilled to be hosting a Celebration Dinner. Following on from two days of Soil Health workshops at Adavale Lane Hall, April 5 and Bedgerabong Hall, April 6, we will be hosting a dinner at Forbes Town Hall to bring attention to the role that Landcare plays, not only in the Parkes and Forbes Shires, but regionally and across the State.

As we move towards the last 12 months of the Local Landcare Coordinator Initiative, we saw the opportunity to bring attention to the positive things that are happening in the regenerative agriculture space and celebrate, tying in with our theme for this year: Healthy Landscapes; Healthy People; Healthy Communities. We are excited to have such a fabulous line up, not just one, but six! Each speaker will be providing an overview of a significant program or project that they are currently involved in that is particularly relevant to agriculture, either in our area or region. During the evening, guests will have the opportunity to participate in a Q and A session.

We are pleased to have Mr Rob Dulhunty, Chair of Landcare NSW Council joining us. Rob has played a significant role in raising the profile of Landcare NSW and particularly, the Local Landcare Coordinator Initiative (LLCI) which supports my part-time role and over. 

Many of you would be familiar with Ms Pip Job, who was winner of the 2014 Australian and NSW RIRDC Rural Women’s Award, and Pip has a strong connection with Landcare, though her roles as Landcare Coordinator and Landcare Facilitator over many years. Pip is currently the Acting Manager Business and Social Resilience Programs with the Department of Primary Industries and will be speaking with us about the Young Farmer Business Program.

As mentioned in my column last week, Dr Ash Martin from Australian Microbe Labs will be presenting at the two days of workshops leading up to the dinner. Ash has been actively involved in the Soil C Quest Project and will be presenting with Guy Webb and providing an overview of the project and how it is progressing. One of the success stories of the past few years has to be Grazing Down the Lachlan. We are pleased to have Wendy Muffett speaking to us about the ‘Grazing’ concept, their exciting 2018 event and the importance of the message that the event delivers in our region.

We could not host an event like this without a contribution from the Central West Local Land Services. We are welcoming Ms Susan Madden, Chair of CWLLS. Susan has more than 15 years of professional experience working in agriculture and natural resource management. Of course, we need someone to bring this all together and keep us on track. Our Master of Ceremonies, the MC with the moistest is Geoff Rice from Langlands Hanlon. Tickets are limited visit centralwestlachlanlandcare.org. Until next week, happy Landcaring!