Looking back, moving forward - Renaissance at Lyndfield

superuser — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 05:37:43 +0000

John has achieved so much in terms of land management, that his farm ‘Lyndfield Park’ was chosen as the site to launch the Australian Conservation Foundation and National Farmers Federation joint natural resource management campaign.

IDs and People

Program:

Innovation

Program Theme:

Community Fellows

Research Type:

Community Fellow

Researchers:

John Weatherstone

Subjects

Subjects:

Landscapes

Biodiversity

Native Vegetation

Livestock (Mixed)

Keywords:

2001 2002 Community Fellow

Project Information

Summary:

The success didn’t come overnight.

Originally a fine wool merino stud, John started working on ‘Lyndfield Park’ in 1959, clearing trees and improving pastures, but by the early 70’s he noticed some unhealthy changes. Tree dieback, erosion and salinity were emerging; the fertilisers weren’t having the same effect, there was no stock shelter and weeds, pests and diseases were increasing. John was following expert advice and couldn’t work out what was going wrong.

The drought of 82/83 caused a huge re-think at Lyndfield Park. Now there are an extra 70,000 trees, minimum tillage and direct drilling replace intensive cultivation; stocking rates are flexible; erosion is stabilised; perennial pastures replace some annuals and the farm earns more money from natives, than cropping or livestock.

John has now published a small booklet - Lyndfield Park - looking back, moving forward - telling the story of ‘Lyndfield Park’ for other land managers.

Current Activities

Status:

Pending

Farming without farming

superuser — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 00:06:49 +0000

Christine, Darryl, Colin, Bruce and Greg, want to redefine our attitude to land management, to think about Australian farming in new ways.

IDs and People

Program:

Innovation

Program Theme:

Community Fellows

Research Type:

Community Fellow

Researchers:

Christine Jones

Darryl Cluff

Colin Seis

Bruce Maynard

Greg Martin

Subjects

Subjects:

Biodiversity

Soils

Livestock (Mixed)

Keywords:

2001 2002 Community Fellow

Project Information

Summary:

Each has a story to tell: about soil regeneration, or increasing biodiversity or increasing profitability. They believe in a new era, not simply planting and waiting for the results, but managing land for a range of living things.

They are a diverse group. Darryl, Colin and Bruce run mixed farms, Greg works for the company Earth Sanctuaries, and Christine Jones specialises in native grass and grasslands. They are pooling their talents to record past experiences in a manual and offer a challenge to future land managers.

Christine Jones’ chapter Recognise, Relate, Innovate is available by clicking on the link.

Current Activities

Status:

Complete

All in Livestock (Mixed)

Looking back, moving forward - Renaissance at Lyndfield

Farming without farming