Southern New England Landcare recently finalised delivery of a two-year National Landcare Program funded project that assisted 200 landholders in our region to adapt to the challenges being presented by climate change.

Executive Officer, Karen Zirkler said, "the project, Mustering Members 4 Climate Change Challenges, aimed to build awareness, knowledge and skills among members and friends of Southern New England Landcare, around four topics that align with natural resource management and sustainable agriculture priorities identified in our organisation's Strategic Plan".

The events hosted special guest speakers and delivered interactive workshops that focussed on the challenges associated with climate change around each topic.

They also provided a forum for land managers, extension and nursery staff, and local and state government representatives to exchange ideas, knowledge and techniques, and design ways forward that will be more successful given changing climatic conditions in our region.

Focus on Ferals Forum

Specialist guests with expertise in pest animal management were invited to present at an interactive one-day workshop to enable participants to explore and address together, emerging issues relating to pest animal management, including the impact of climate change.

Although the event was promoted widely, drought conditions and bushfires, meant that only 25 participants, including graziers, urban community members and pest animal specialists gathered at Uralla Bowling Club on 4 March 2020.

When asked to what extent the Feral Forum enhanced their ability to embrace new ideas, innovate or transform their practices relating to pest animals, one participant said, “As I'm an environmental consultant it improved my potential to better communicate with people working in this field”.

Eighty three per cent of participants said the information presented at the Feral Forum was either extremely or very useful for their situation, and that they were very likely or likely to implement the ideas in the near future.

Another participant said, “I feel more comfortable with aerial shooting and baiting strategies since learning about the extent of the issue relating to introduced/invasive species.”

Download the Focus on Ferals Forum (March 2020) Case Study.

Saving Soil Health and Hydration

During Activity 2, we investigated 'variations' on Natural Sequence Farming, and demonstrated what some local landholders were doing to improve on farm results, though two events attended by 70 local farmers:

1. Regenerating Rural Landscapes Bootcamp with David Hardwick and Damon Telfer on 16-17 September 2020.
2. Rehydrating Roumalla Creek Catchment, an Introduction to Natural Sequence Farming with Stuart Andrews on 22 October 2020.

Restoring hydration to farms comes from supporting healthy, diverse perennial plant communities on all areas of the farm, and using management practices to slow water flow naturally, especially high in the landscape.

Participants saw first hand demonstrations of how supporting diverse and healthy perennial plant communities restores hydration to farms. A diversity of plants builds soil during good times and protects soil during difficult times.

"Groundcover, grass and more grass" and "slow water at the top before it creates a problem at the bottom" were common reflections among participants.

In the New England, we can strive to maintain 100+% ground cover and substantial herbage mass so that rainfall infiltrates rather than running off.

Conditions in 2019 were challenging but the higher the diversity of plants, including unpalatable ones, the more likely there are strong perennial grasses that respond quickly when rain falls, slow overland flow, holding water in the landscape.

Participants learnt to see their farm as a mosaic of patches: "Even though I had divided my place into a patchwork of systems, I hadn’t really noted it, and so by noting it, it is easier to see the benefits and use those benefits to improve further," said one participant.

People were enthusiastic about some of the more physical interventions, but recognised they need more knowledge and experience before implementing. There exists a clear desire for deeper understanding in group settings, perhaps through demonstration sites.

"Landscapes can be regenerated, and it’s not as expensive as you think," said one participant.

Download the Saving Soil Health and Hydration (September & October 2020) Case Study.

Species Selection for Revegetation Success - Silvopasture

The Silvopasture 2021 webinar series was the confluence of two goals. It marked the 29th anniversary of “TreeFest” when 6000 attended the Taylor property 'The Hill' at Kentucky. It also delivered information on Species Selection For Revegetation Success, a key activity of this project.

Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the event pivoted to an online event, and attracted 34 participants on 6 & 13 May 2021.

Participants heard from the following keynote speakers:

• Rowan Reid, author of ‘Heartwood’, founder of the Australian Master Tree Grower program and the Australian Agroforestry Foundation, on Silvopasture theory, practice and species selection.
• Professor Nick Reid co-author of ‘Nature and Farming: Sustaining Native Biodiversity in Agricultural Landscapes’ on biodiversity benefits of silvopasture under a Changing Climate.
• Scott Hall, advocate and educator for Syntropic AgricultureMaintenance/Succession.
• Michael Taylor, The Hill, who runs the Taylor’s silvopasture enterprise on harvesting.
• Andrew Gardiner, research technician in seed collection/database management, Fields Environmental Solutions, Uralla on seed collection.
• Chris Eveleigh, Kentucky Tree Nursery on planting techniques.

Key learnings included:

• Increased biodiversity through Silvopasture is beneficial to pastures and grazing livestock.
• Silvopasture assists with carbon storage.
• Attention to species selection may help manage climate change challenges.
• More research is required to quantify the benefits of Silvopasture for resilient landscapes.
• View Silvopasture Webinar 1 here and Webinar 2 here.

Download the Species Selection for Revegetation Success - Silvopasture (May 2021) Case Study.

Greener Grazing - Principles, Paddock, Potential

A more variable climate with more frequent, severe and stressful droughts, means that livestock grazing businesses must increase their resilience.

There is pressure on farms to reduce their carbon footprint, and potential for reward if carbon and biodiversity are regenerated. Going forward, grazing management that supports those goals is essential for business and landscape resilience.

Southern New England Landcare engaged a range of speakers and demonstrate one form of resilient livestock grazing at Tim and Suzanne Wright's property 'Lana', near Uralla.

The event was originally planned for March 2021 during a 'gap' in Covid-19 restrictions, however due to severe flooding in northern NSW at that time, the event was cancelled at short notice. It then pivoted to a webinar in October 2021.

Tim presented an overview of his management of Lana over the last 40 or so years and illustrated aspects of his property through short videos. Dr Judi Earl outlined the fundamental principles underpinning grazing management at ‘Lana’, as well as regenerative grazing management more generally. Mark Gardner then presented a set of experimental Natural Capital Accounts that have recently been applied to Lana. Guest speakers were followed by interactive Q&A sessions and a short workshop in breakout groups.

The event attracted 52 registrants and 35 participants, and produced a recording that is now available here: https://youtu.be/rlmQYxFCE1Q. Fourteen participants responded to an evaluation questionnaire after the event. Three quarters said the event increased their knowledge and understanding of the principles of planned grazing either a moderate amount, a lot or a great deal.

Eighty fiver per cent said the event increased their knowledge and understanding of the history of grazing management on Lana either a lot, or a great deal, with one commenting it was “Great to see outcomes from an extended period of time under Holistic Grazing Management”.

All participants gained knowledge around Natural Capital Accounting. When asked to what extent it did their for their business, 43% said a moderate amount, 35% said a lot and 22% said a great deal. “Mark spoke to reach a wide audience’s level of understanding… It gave us a much stronger understanding of the topic,” (participant). When asked to what extent they could implement changes based on what they had learnt, respondents ranged from stating ‘none at all’ (7%) through to a great deal (7%), with 86% of respondents being somewhere in the middle. However, when asked how likely they were to implement some of these practice in the future, 86% said it was either Very likely, or Likely.

• Understanding management principles that support the water cycle, protect soils and optimise nutrient cycling help create resilient grazing businesses in the face of challenging climate variability.
• Promoting a diversity of naturally present trees, grasses and herbs through planned rest and recovery allows for less reliance on purchased fodder and minimal use of applied nutrients.
• Natural capital accounts accompany financial accounts to enable managers to make 'considered decisions’ and understand both the environmental and production impacts of those decisions.
• The approach a landholder takes ultimately depends on their business and landscape goals.
• "The best presentations are always from the hands-on, practical operators who are good communicators. Couldn't have had a better line-up of speakers." Participant.

Download the Greener Grazing - Principles, Paddock Potential Case Study (October 2021) here.

The four events were delivered over a two year period from 2019 to 2021. This project was funded by the National Landcare Program Phase 2 Smart Farm Small Grants to the value of $47,215.

Image - the final case study fact sheet produced by the project was completed this week following the Greener Grazing online event.