Another fantastic Over The Fence field day, where we got to learn about and look at some practical solutions to combat a drying (and heating) landscape.
Today a group of around 20 farmers explored approaches for Landscape Rehydration with the awesome duo of Sharni Pike and Penny Cooper from Mulloon Institute on the MacAlpine’s property near Grenfell.
We learnt about:
- The small water cycle and it’s influence on farms
- Reading and interpreting rural landscapes
- Fundamentals of water in landscapes
- Skills in assessing the health of a farm’s hydrology
- The importance of plants, slowing rainfall runoff and hydrating the whole farm landscape
- How caring for creek, gully and runoff areas can achieve real benefits for farms
- Simple strategies and methods to prevent erosion and rehydrate the landscape.
- Long-term plans to reduce the extremes of high rainfall years and drought cycles using strategies and tactics from expert practitioners.
A big thanks to the team at Mulloon Institute for sharing their knowledge and to Alex MacAlpine for hosting us on his property and providing a great site for this field day. Alex has been taking some incredible leaps towards rehydrating his farm by optimising plant growth and groundcover with well managed perennial pastures and cover crops, improving his soil health through organic matter retention and zero-till and undertaking some additional works to address active erosion and restore his creeks
Thanks also to Central West Local Land Services who supported the day, Unwind in Grenfell for a great spread and to everyone who came along!
This field day is supported by the Australian Government through funding from the Climate-Smart Agriculture Program under the Natural Heritage Trust and Central West Local Land Services.