DANIELLE CETINSKI

22 Feb, 2012 01:00 AM

A RESEARCHER could have the answer to the future of dairy farming and the solution was born in Kiama.

Research company SBScibus director Neil Moss, who lives in Kiama, has spent the past eight years developing a new kind of pasture using no grass at all.

“We wanted another way of doing things to fill gaps in the feed base,” he said.

Dr Moss’ “salad bowl of ingredients” includes lucerne, chicory and plantain, which are all deep-rooted legumes and herbs – red clover is part of the mix because it grows quickly while the lucerne establishes itself, and the white clover fills in gaps in the pasture if other plants die out.

The trial pasture at Clover Hill Dairies’ research farm Lemon Grove at Jamberoo has already yielded some surprising results.

“We’ve found it generates 10 to 15 per cent more energy and the milk is 15 to 20 per cent higher in protein,” he said.

“We’re also getting between one-and-a-half and two litres more milk per cow per day spent on the pasture, which is a rise of five to 10 per cent.”

Dr Moss selected them from years of observations and fieldwork because they grow year-round, unlike the ryegrass and kikuyu commonly used on coastal dairy farms, which only grow in winter and spring and summer and autumn respectively.

They have deeper root systems than grass, meaning the pasture would be more resilient in times of drought.

They also rely less on nitrogen-based fertilisers, which are increasing in price, and respond to recycled effluent from the dairy.

Clover Hill Dairies owner Lynne Strong said she was excited about the research.

“It is widely recognised nine out of 10 farmers learn from other farmers and they want to see the research working in their own backyard,” she said.

The Southern Rivers Catchment Management Authority will run a field day at Clover Hill Dairies on March 26-27, allowing farmers to see the pasture firsthand.

“This field day will let regional farmers to see the results we are getting on our farm and allow them to determine if they think it will fit into their farming system,” Mrs Strong said.

It will include presentations on sustainable farming, soil health and the Australian Government’s Carbon Farming Initiative, including how to generate carbon credits.

Mrs Strong said the presenters were experts in their fields, including Dr Moss, Richard Eckard from the University of Melbourne, Mick Keogh from the Australian Farming Institute and Louisa Kiely from Carbon Farmers Australia.

Also speaking is Steve Wiedemann

Presentation topic:  Carbon and Nutrient Efficiency; Opportunities for dairyfarmers

Profitability and sustainability are front and centre issues for dairyfarmers.  One unlikely area where there may be opportunities to win on both fronts is from the manure pile.  Steve Wiedemann will speak about the carbon and nutrient opportunities that exist for dairyfarmers through improving effluent and manure management.  This will be a practical look at how to best utilise the resources that remain in waste streams at the dairy and in the paddock, and how to set a path to reducing some costly fertiliser inputs. Beyond the farm gate, we’ll also look at how dairy farmers might be able to participate in the carbon farming initiate by getting paid to reduce their emissions.

Technical summary:

• Nutrient and carbon flows around the dairy farm – what they are and what they tell us
• ‘Waste energy’ – how to capture this (Anaerobic digestion at the farm scale)
• ‘Waste nutrients’ – where do under-utilised nutrients end up on a dairy farm and what can be done about it?
• How increasing productivity can lower your carbon footprint
• How emissions capture may lead to carbon credits

Bio:

Steve Wiedemann is a carbon and nutrient management specialist with FSA Consulting, based in Toowoomba Queensland.  Steve is currently running a number of national R&D projects looking at the carbon footprint of livestock enterprises, is a member of the livestock technical committee for developing Carbon Farming Initiative methodologies, and works regularly with a wide range of famers in the area of nutrient management.

If you would like to attend the field day, email peter.pigott@cma.nsw.gov.au or phone on 4429 4449.

He found this little guy injured on the road and wrapped him up and bought him home

He has tyre tracks from head to toe

We put him the shade gave him a little water and rang WIRES on 13 000 WIRES

As it turns the WIRES hotel in our region has no vacancy. So we are going to care for this little guy under supervision of WIRES

We have cleaned all his wounds which appear superficial except for a very deep cut between his ears with warm salty water, found him a nice big cage in the shade with some juicy grass underneath and WIRES are coming later to review him and give him antibiotics and pain relief if necessary

So far so good.

Now for a name – any ideas

All the way from Lantanaland we have a name – DUNLOP

A few hours later Dunlop is making a strong statement “I am wild animal and I should not be caged and I am out of here” Fair enough Dunlop we can assure you we agree 100% and will let you out as soon as WIRES says its okay

WIRES have now come and gone and sadly Dunlop is not as well as we had hoped

The pads on Dunlop’s feet are all torn and apparently this is not good. She is very thin (yes we now know Dunlop is a she) and it appears may have been doing it tough for quite a while before she got run over.

So WIRES have taken her away and will take her to the vet tomorrow. OUR FINGERS AND TOES ARE CROSSED

Michael is very upset about his little friend she seems so tough lets hope she makes it

DAY 3 Update on Dunlop

After a visit to the vet, pain killers and antibiotics Dunlop is now drinking her milk bottles and nibling on grass prognosis is improving – Good News indeed

There are lots of things you need to know if you are caring for Marsupials some info here http://www.marsupialsociety.org/hand_rearing.html

All dressed up and ready to work

Today I was to have the ultimate sensory ice-cream experience stewarding the ice-cream judging at the Sydney Royal Cheese and Dairy Produce Show. I don’t know anyone who doesn’t like ice-cream and there I was eyeing off the best the country has to offer.

The Sydney Royal does everything with style and the day started with a yummy breakfast for judges and stewards.

I had a birds-eye view of the massive upgrade being undertaken on the arena

I had the pleasure of meeting international legend that is Herve Mons

Herve Mons discusses the day’s duties with Chairman of the Royal Dairy Produce Show Gerry Andersen

My mentor for the day was RAS Councillor and former chairman of the Sydney Turf Club Bill Picken. Bill is all personality and with lots of wise advice I soon got into the swing of things.

Racing Identity Bill Picken

Ice-cream judges Susan Burns, Craig Davis and Mark Livermore.

The steward’s role is to ensure the judging process runs smooth and effectively. This includes ensuring each entry is presented to the judges at the correct temperature.

A scoop of each ice-cream is placed on a separate plate behind the entry so the judges can view its melting profile. The judges then take numerous samples for tasting.

Ice-cream is judged on Flavour, Texture, Appearance and Melting.

Susan closes her eyes and mind to the world about her and holds each sample approximately the same length of time in her mouth,

As the ice cream melts on your tongue there should be a pure taste

To evaluate the flavour a small amount of the frozen ice cream is placed directly into the mouth and quickly manipulated between the tongue and palate and the taste and odour sensations are noted. By pressing a small portion of the frozen ice cream against the roof of the mouth the smoothness, the coarseness, the sandiness, and the relative size of the ice crystals can be determined

Mark clearly enjoys the task

The experts can get a fairly accurate impression of the ice-cream’s body and texture characteristics by dipping the ice cream. The judges notice the way it cuts and the feel of the dipper or spoon as its cutting edge passes through the ice cream.

You may have heard that the overall quality of an ice-cream line can be judged by tasting its vanilla. True. Simple and pure, a scoop of vanilla should have a distinctive but delicate flavour that lets you experience the texture of the ice cream without masking other quality indicators.

There was no shortage of flavours on offer

Appearance/Presentation -  Ice cream should look freshly made. Icy crystals on the surface or around the edges of the tub indicate either that the ice cream has been melted and refrozen or that it’s old.

There was even a Banana and Vegemite Flavour

Texture -There has to be some “air” in ice cream or else it would be hard as ice. But you also don’t want it to be all fluffy. The surface of the ice cream should be smooth. There should be some heft to a cup of ice cream, and when you dig in your spoon, you should feel a little resistance.

A team of 5 RAS staff ensures everything runs smoothly and double and triple check every score card

Once the individual classes are judged and the gold medal winners decided the top four gold medal winners are bought out in each section to determine the champions in their respective categories

The judges from all the sections come together to decide the champions. One of the finalists was a Lamington flavoured ice-cream. Not surprisingly this was a flavour our French judge was not familiar with

Fellow judge Rob Elliott describing the Ozzie icon the “lamington” to Herve Mons

AND THE WINNER IS

Champion Ice-cream

Entry 413 Class 49 Premium Ice Cream or Gelato, any flavour, minimum 12% fat content. GUNDOWRING FINEST ICE CREAM GINGER

Don’t quote me but I got the impression that our Aussie Gelatos and ice-creams could compete with the best of the best world wide

And a great day was had by all including me. I look forward to doing it all again next year

See here for a full list of the Gold Medal Winners

Great follow up from ABC

http://www.abc.net.au/rural/content/2012/s3435882.htm#.T0Q-_9OKIDc.twitter

Reprinted here

French judge praises Australian cheese as world class

Chief dairy judge Russell Smith holding dairy food in large group of judges at show in Sydney (photo courtesy of RAS)

The highlight every year has always been taking the show team to the Sydney Royal Easter Show.

“And nothing beats getting a blue ribbon at the Sydney Royal Easter Show. Its Royal. Its blue. Its beautiful.”

RAS Councillor Downes, the blue ribbon winner Tangalla Leduc Fond and proud Nick Strong

Winning a champion ribbon well that takes the cake

Since we have been milking three times daily finding time to prepare our cattle for a show is pretty tricky

But this doesn’t mean my involvement in the judging arena has ceased. For the past two years I have been a judge of the Junior District Exhibits at the Sydney Royal Easter Show and how clever are these kids

LtoR Runner Up and the winning Junior District Exhibit at the 2011 Royal Easter Show

You can see it wasn’t easy to pick between these two, Just as well I have my good friend Wendy Taylor who designs the Central District Exhibit to “train me up” to do the role justice

Wendy is the genius behind this display in 2010

This year I have an exciting new gig and I am officiating as a steward in the Royal Cheese and Dairy Produce Show  This competition is held annually in the second week in February. Attracting between 900 and 1,000 entries in 130 classes, the Sydney Royal Cheese & Dairy Produce Show hosts the most prestigious and competitive events on the dairy show calendar. As well as butter, milk, cheese, cream, dips, dairy desserts, gelato, ice cream and chocolate, products judged also include sheep, goat and buffalo milk….

The judges start with mild cheeses in the morning and leave the likes of chilli cheese to the very last.

Cheese judges chew and then spit into buckets, just like their wine colleagues.

Because cheese is so “cloying” on the palate, green apples and olives help freshen the tastebuds.

This year the world renowned French Fromager and Affineur Herve Mons will be doing the honours. This is his first ever visit to Australia

The ‘big cheese’ when it comes to this art of affinage, is French Fromager and Affineur, Hervé Mons

The art of affinage, or cheese maturing, is gaining momentum in Australia as cheese lovers demand quality food experiences. Those who are serious about cheese want to know how, and for how long, a cheese has been cared for to maximise its flavour potential. Artisan cheeses are complex and unique depending on the conditions in which they are made and kept.
.

And how excited am I just love Australian cheese and I cant wait to tell you all about my experience . But my lips will be sealed about who wins what (I probably wont be be told anyway – it will be a big secret)

John and his new ipad

Now John has a sense of humour very like  Michael from http://farmerswayoflife.blogspot.com.au/So we added the blog to his list of favourites

Check out his face as he reads through The Golden Rules of Farming

Now I am a 6th generation dairy farmer’s daughter of a 5th generation dairy farmer who turned beef farmer as soon as the opportunity arose. I can always remember John telling me from a very early age “Lynne never ever learn to milk a cow”

As is usually the case when John comes to visit there is quite a bit of reminiscing about his life growing up on the family dairy farm at Dapto.

John’s sister my Aunty Ruth recently wrote the family history and below are some extracts which shed some insights on my grandfather Walter Dunster Lindsay and what it was like to dairy in the Illawarra in the 1930’s to 1950’s . You can also see why John would have found milking cows with his father pretty frustrating. The post also gives some insights into why many farmers in the Illawarra were never particularly fond of the Dairy Farmers Cooperative who had a reputation for being very ruthless with their competitors

Some previous background can also be found in the post http://chdairiesdiary.wordpress.com/2012/01/21/eileen-stars-at-international-dairy-week/

Extract from Lindsay Family history by Ruth Rae

Walter was born into a dairy farming family well known in Dapto and throughout the Illawarra of that time. His ancestors had all been farmers, leaders in the community and very well respected.

He was a gentle man, slow to anger and rather shy. This shyness may well have been because he was born with a harelip and cleft palate, neither mended with today’s skills. He probably took more interest in his children than he showed but he seemed to have all the conservatism and indifference to his young family that he claimed his forebears displayed so abundantly. He left his wife, Ethel, to dispense both tenderness and discipline. Only once did he show anger and act upon it. That was when he was obliged to return to the dairy late one evening and did some damage to his shins when he tripped over his son John’s bike which had been carelessly left on the ground just outside the gate from the house. John, despite his protests, was the recipient of a sound hiding according to the traditions of justice of the day. It was only later that it became clear that it was a workman who had borrowed the bike, and not John, and had thrown it on the ground at the gate when he had finished with it. None of the children ever received any form of punishment from their father from that day on.

He did his work slowly, thoroughly and methodically, illustrated by his technique for washing up. He took responsibility for this within the dairy for half a century and, after retirement, continued it into the kitchen. First everything was rinsed, then washed immaculately, then rinsed again. It took all evening for he suspected that detergents had hidden implications for health. When he weeded a garden the result was just perfect and raked evenly to a fine tithe.

His conservatism extended to all things mechanical and, when a shortage of labour during the war forced Lindsay Bros to buy a milking machine, it was taken on with extreme suspicion and reluctance. For most of the war years the cows were milked by machine in the morning because it was the only way to get the job done and by hand in the afternoon when an extra person was available. Even with the machine his distrust was such that he always sat down and verified that the machine had done its work properly by doing a short finishing milking, or stripping as it was called. The cows gradually got used to this and saved up some of their milk for the hand milking so that some of them gave as much milk the second time around as they had initially given to the machine. Consequently milking 80 to 100 cows took an eternity and an inordinate amount of manpower- 6-7 hours a day plus another 2-3 hours for washing and cleaning the dairy equipment. There was not a lot of time for other farm work or recreation and he indulged in very little of either. This remained the case until the “Karara” herd was dispersed in 1958.

In 1864 the first attempt to introduce milking machines to dairy farmers in Australia was made. However the machines were met with great suspicion and cows continued to be milked by hand twice daily seven days a week for many decades to come. Strange but true!

It was many years before he could afford a car (his brother Eric owned one and that was the family car) but he was very pleased with the one he bought and he drove it skilfully and well.

He had a good relationship with Eric and they had nicknames for each other. Dad was ‘Andy’ when Gug was ‘Horace’ while, in other gender mood, Gug was ‘Katie’ and Dad ‘Lena’.

Walter and Eric began to value add (to use a modern expression) to their dairy farming activity by becoming vendors of milk. Eric was the entrepreneur (to use another modern expression) and Walter the anchor man. To upgrade the herd Eric went to New Zealand and bought a prize bull.

Dairy Farming in the blood – 6th and 7th Generation dairy farmers Lynne and Nick Strong collecting Champion Holstein Cow trophy  at Albion Park Show 20 years ago –

It became an extremely successful business and WD & ES Lindsay, later to be called Lindsay Bros, was, at its height, retailing more milk in the Wollongong-Port Kembla district than any other firm including the Dairy Farmers Cooperative Milk Company. Some 8 or 9 farmers in the district sold their milk to the firm and this was cooled, stored and distributed through some 3 domestic milk runs and a wholesale network that included almost every milk bar and general store from Dapto in the south to Austinmeer and Coaldale in the north.

Eric would go to bed early and set off in the wee small hours with a laden truck to start the day’s distribution. Particularly in the hot months he would leave the milk in the cool room till the last possible time necessitating the early rising. After the war draconian and unfair government regulations were imposed that forced all other farmers to sell their milk only to a government agent which was the rival Dairy Farmers Milk Cooperative.

The Dairy Farmers Cooperative was a ruthless competitor

With the loss of their major source of supply, Lindsay Bros were forced to sell their domestic business and retain only the wholesale business in the city of Wollongong itself. Their milk was subjected to regular and intrusive testing, while that of the rival company was not, but was always found to be well above the prescribed norms. Eric bought the farm, “Kembla Park” and a subsidiary dairy was set up to augment the supply of milk. Lindsay Bros also bought a small farm at Albion Park to run dry and young stock, but the retail business was only a shadow of its former size. The company could not afford or warrant upgrading its machinery to enable processing and pasteurization which were beginning to be an important part of the industry and the business and herd were sold in 1958. The Dairy Farmers Coop bought the plant which they scrapped to forestall potential competitors but the herd, which had become well known for its productivity in the State herd testing scheme, attracted excellent prices for the time. Walter was 65 at this time and Eric 64 so retirement was timely option.

Dad and Mum fell in love 7 years before they were married, the first of his family to do so. They had to wait for several reasons: her responsibilities to her parents (her two sisters had moved away and were working) and the need to have a home when the farm was established. Karara only had on it a weatherboard old house with no facilities whatever and a cloying smell of dust and age. There was also the matter of religion – he, Protestant and she, Catholic. The exact details of the arrangement that allowed this to happen were never divulged but Mum was presumably excommunicated from the Catholic Church because she never attended mass again. They were married in St Phillips in Sydney and went home to a rented house called “Lakeview’ at Unanderra- a house with no electricity and home to a host of possums. Gug joined them and lived with them for the rest of their lives. Dad spoke of the Catholic Church only with bitterness but he always avoided mentioning the subject of their marriage.

Fortunately, the acrimony did not extend beyond the church and the Carr and Lindsay families had an extremely good relationship.

After the business was sold the garden became a pleasant hobby. He had always had a love of nature and knew all the birds around the farm. He watched them nesting and was so determined that they would not be disturbed that he told nobody about it. I often regret not having been allowed to share his knowledge. Mum would always consult him before hanging out the washing, and I can’t remember that his forecasts were ever wrong. I understand that he had only one year of secondary schooling, but he must have absorbed a tremendous amount of knowledge later as he read the Herald from cover to cover.

One very cold winter when Dad and Mum were house-sitting in Cowra for John and Robyn, I sent them an electric blanket. This was a sheer delight to him – there was only one control and he would set it to keep very warm, while Mum, who couldn’t spoil his enjoyment, slept with both feet outside the sheets. When small battery radios came in he considered it pure heaven to lie in a warm bed, head in the cool air, listening to news from far places. Then I would be called in to prepare a very large, cold milkshake which he drank with gusto before turning out the light………

Sadly I don’t have a picture of my grandfather to share with you I must rectify that and fast

As I said my dad is 82 but he is determined to live life to the fullest and we couldn’t help but laugh when he couldn’t leave without first putting his destination into another toy his Tom Tom – after all he has been driving from the Illawarra to Cowra for almost 60 years

Check out those low profile tyres

PS John hope you enjoy reading this post

Mike sent me this quote this evening.  Don’t you just love it

I crave human beings who understand the world, who gain sustenance from such understanding, and who want–ardently, perennially–to alter it for the better. Such citizens can only come into existence if students learn to understand the world as it has been portrayed by those who have studied it most carefully and lived in it most thoughtfully; if they become familiar with the range–the summits, the valleys, the straight and meandering paths – of what other humans have achieved; and if they learn always to monitor their own lives in terms of human possibilities, including ones that have not been anticipated before. Source: Gardner, The Disciplined Mind – Penguin – pages 19/20

This week Art4Agriculture Young Farming Champion and Clover Hill Dairies team member Emma Visser is one of “ 36 young, thoughtful and opinionated Australians who will come together in Canberra today, February 5th to attend Heywire – a “Tell It Like It Is” Regional Youth Summit. The 2011 Heywire winners from across regional Australia will engage in a five days of discussion and project idea pitching. They will speak directly with government decision makers, Australian youth sector leaders and key ABC staff.”

Emma and fellow Heywire winners tackling the Marshmallow Competition

Emma joins talented young people of the ilk of Melody Pedlar for this once in a lifetime opportunity.

The challenge for agriculture is how do we build on these opportunities our shining stars are being given.

Bindi Turner commented on my previous post “The world is run by those who show up” by saying “I struggle with a) the apathy when its an open invitation and b) who gets the tap on the shoulder when its not”

Bindi you have inspired me to put this forward.  I would like to suggest to all those people out there who get a tap on the shoulder – ask if you can bring a friend. Then identify an exciting inspiring YOUNG person in agriculture who deserves to be heard and take them – you have nothing to lose and agriculture has everything to gain.

The National Farmers Federation Blueprint is our chance to define the farming landscape. Lets make it a legacy we can all be proud of

Emma’s winning Heywire video can be watched here

There was a few farmers there, a number of representatives of peak industry bodies, a lot of bureaucrats,a lot of professors from agricultural universities, some thought leaders from industry service providers, a representative of the AWU and the RSPCA and some pollies.

Can you see the glaring big hole in the audience? Where were all the young people? All those exciting young people who have just been through, or are going through, or a hoping to go though “Higher Education and Skills and Training in Agriculture”

Yes we all sat around the room and listened and talked and second guessed their needs.

“The world is run by those who show up” Its time agriculture made sure the right people were given the opportunity to show up

Erin is perfect for this position which is offered to people who demonstrate leadership potential, enthusiasm and initiative

Erin is particularly hoping to work in the Land and Coasts division (which look after initiatives such as Caring for Our Country), where she will be able to apply the fundamental knowledge she has gained while working on ground, to achieve the best outcomes for managing Australia’s natural resources.

See previous posts about Erin here

Custodians of the Land

Next Gen Giving our Farm lots of TLC

Start the day with the perfect cocktail

Erin and Megan Rowlatt who heads up Illawarra Youth Landcare are the driving force of a group of young people who are not only passionate about the sustainability of the planet they are actually doing something about it.In fact Megan is the current NSW Young Landcarer of the Year.

Megan and Erin in full flight

Together we have been coordinating a number of activities which include film and social media and now art to engage, enthuse, educate and empower both farmers and rural landholders who care about their land but don’t necessarily have the skills sets to ensure the best outcomes for the landscape and the native animals.

We are using art to reinvigorate Landcare messages and Erin has left us with these superb artistic reminders ( made from 44 gallon drums) of her time with us..

Drum Art is now protecting endangered and treasured native species at Clover Hill

The drum artworks are Erin Lake inspired masterpieces painted by artists from La Division. This is a highly motivated group of young people who showcase the talent of local artists and share their passions through art, film, photography, surf and skate.

Visit LA’DIVISION Facebook page here

The label, La Division, is an outlet to produce clothing to help support local artists. La Division artists have been supporters of many community events including Landcare Illawarra’s Dune Day festival and the recent KISS arts festival.

LA’DIVISION artist at Dune Day

One of the great things about art is it enables participation from people of all ages and backgrounds. Its highly visual. It captures attention. It ensures people stop and think and appreciate

LA’DIVISION artist Trait said “Painting tawny frog mouths and fleshy fruits on 44 gallon drums is not exactly traditional street art but it was a great challenge and an even greater cause” 

Erin Megan and Anna plant our special trees

Each drum lists the botanic name and the common name of the species it is hosting and providing shade and shelter for

This drum has the prestigious role of hosting the endangered  Illawarra Socketwood

What a great idea Erin and what great outcomes

We finished the tree plantings with a celebration party to say a big thank you to Erin and wish her all the best in the “Bush Capital

Erin will be christening her new job with a bottle of the delicious Clover Hill Champagne 2001 Vintage

The Art VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Special thanks to LADIVISION artists

Trait

Mirko Sossai

Boyd.e

Chris Anderson

This weekend Erin (see Next Gen giving our farm lots of TLC) has bought the troops in to put the finishing touches on our Fountaindale Dam project

Fountaindale Dam is a beautiful area bordering our farm but was sadly suffering from benign neglect and we have taken it upon ourselves to build community partnerships to help rectify this.

This important community area covers diverse environmental zones including the headwaters of Fountaindale Creek which flows into Minnamurra River and wetlands.

Red circle indicate area of Fountaindale Dam at Jamberoo

Whilst the dam borders our farm it is actually owned by Kiama Council who built it a long time ago in the hope of supplying Kiama with water. An expensive pipe dream as it turned out.

Lots of farm generations have had fun playing under the dam wall

Above the dam are a number of hobby and lifestyle farms and many small mountain streams which bisect significant areas of high conservation value remnant rainforest feed into the dam. The hobby and lifestyle farms unfortunately in the main don’t fence their cattle out of the waterways and this has led to considerable degradation of the upper stream beds during the drought.

The region is also habitat for the spotted quoll – a beautiful little native animal (which also has a penchance for chooks)

…

Spotted quoll cute and endangered but don’t let him near your chickens

Zieria Granulata is an endangered shrub found only in the Illawarra region of NSW and also thrives here.

With the support of Kiama Council and funding from a Community Action Grant and Erin’s expertise we cleared the invasive evil lantana from the banks of the dam.

Lantana is considered to be one of the ten worst weeds worldwide but it is so entrenched in the Australian landscape its thickets now provide a substitute habitat for a range of animals, including bandicoots, whipbirds, quail, wrens, birdwing butterflies and brush turkeys, where it has replaced the natural understorey vegetation.

Every wise landholder knows removing Lantana is a waste of time unless cleared areas are revegetated with native trees or pasture immediately and regular maintenance is a must until the vegetation is well established.

Once we had cleared the Lantana we sowed ryegrass in the open areas and did spot spraying of secondary weed nasties in the rainforest understory.

We ensure all our paddocks around the dam have a permanent pasture coverage which helps keep the nutrients on the pasture where they should be and not washed into the waterways during major rainfall events. 

This weekend Erin and her eco warriors have planted a further 400 rainforest tree species such as Black plum, bleeding heart and myrtle ebony as part of a new wildlife corridor.

Petrol powered plant auger makes light work of digging the holes

We even landscaped the backyard of our friendly neighbourhood wombat

Michael bravely put his hand up to plant all the Giant Stinging Trees (Dendrocnide excelsa)-

The purpose of these plantings is to strengthen the existing wildlife corridor that links the lower rainforest to the rainforest around the dam. Once the trees in the wildlife corridor are established we will be planting rows of native grasses to act as a nutrient buffer zone between the pastures and the dam. This will ensure minimal farm runoff can get into the community waterways and help reduce the nutrient load on the waterways.

All the rainforest trees that have been planted here have been provided by Landcare Illawarra as part of the “Illawarra Rainforest and Woodland project”.

This project aims to increase the genetic diversity of plantings in the Illawarra which has the potential to increase the level of fruiting of individual species. This is an important project as it aims to ensure genetic variability in the many species selected. Landcare Illawarra has collected seed from multiple locations to guarantee this.

Many hands make light work and another great effort from Next Gen Eco Warriors

Heads up today is Erin’s birthday – you can wish her happy birthday and tell her what a great little eco warrior she is via Twitter @ErinLake_C2G

This month it is the Future World Eco Technology Centre in Wollongong and the topic is ‘Sustainable Urban Food Production”

Once upon a time when I was just starting my crusade ( Farmers Call to Arms) to give the community real farmers they could relate to and most importantly talk to; Rosemary Stanton was the face of sustainable agriculture at every community forum I went to. I was mortified. Expert on human nutrition she may be, commercial farmer she is not and whilst my degree gives me a sound knowledge of human nutrition and I have opinions about it there is no way I would up put myself up as an expert. Rosemary has strong opinions indeed about sustainable agriculture but that’s all they are, armchair expert opinions.

So I asked myself why is Rosemary asked to talk on this topic and not a farmer. After hearing her speak a couple of times and attending a few agriculture conferences the reason was obvious Rosemary Stanton is a damned good highly charismatic presenter

It then became very clear to me agriculture desperately needed farmers who were both experts in their field and charismatic speakers who could relate to urban audiences and urban audiences to them.

This is why I love and fight so hard for the Young Farming Champions program. (See footnote)

In November last year I presented at the Future Focused Ag Oz forum to a group of 20 young rising stars of agriculture. The topic of my presentation was “Wanted extraordinary people for an extraordinary challenge”

I started my presentation with a picture of me and said “My name is Lynne Strong and I am extraordinary”  Slide 1

This was followed by a picture of Michael and Nick with the statement “ I farm with my family and they are extraordinary”  Slide 2

I then put up a slide with a picture of our cows and said “our cows supply 50,000 Australians with milk everyday and they are extraordinary” Then I said “ as you can see there is a pattern forming here extraordinary can be contagious.” Slide 3

With that I asked each person to introduce themselves to the person sitting next to them and then tell them they were extraordinary and of course these exciting young people got into the groove straight away.

Slide 4 went on to say “Feeding, clothing and housing the world now and in the next 50 years is going to require an extraordinary effort. This means we need extraordinary people to take up the challenge.  There is no room for ordinary in agriculture anymore”

Now when I do a new presentation that’s a bit out there I run it by my family. This time I only showed them slides 1, 2 and 3 without telling them who the audience was.  They both looked shocked and said “You are not giving that presentation to dairy farmers are you?”  When I said no its for a group of young farmers with similar mindset to the Young Farming Champions they were quite comfortable with that but assured me I could never give that presentation to a group of dairy farmers.

I recently asked a wise person who works across all industries why dairy farmers are such quiet achievers.? Why has it been inbuilt in dairy farmers to play things down? Why aren’t we encouraged to celebrate?

He said the dairy industry is like the egg industry. They are the two most silo orientated industries in Australia and this mindset is embeded in their culture.

It is clear to me and the exciting young farmers I meet and work with we need a culture of change as being quiet achievers is achieving very little. Agriculture has great stories to tell and farmers should be loud and proud. If agriculture is going to overcome the challenges and grasp the opportunities with both hands it is imperative that we find vehicles for our young farmers to stand up and show Australia (and the world) just how extraordinary our farmers are.

I am currently putting together a number of blog posts for the Art4agriculutureChat site that have been written by some of the inspiring young farmers I have met over the last 12 months.

Last week we featured Melissa Henry and thanks to the twitterverse and Facebook Melissa’s story is now one of the Art4AgricultureChat most popular blog posts. It is clear that the community is interested in stories about young farmers written by young farmers  and we will be sharing them with you as often as we can

Next up is Young Farming Champion, AYOF Roadie and NSW Farmers Young Farmers’ Council Chair Hollie Baillieu followed by Horizon Scholar Rozzie O’Reilly. Two extraordinary young farmers of the future.

You can read Hollies post here Agriculture can take you anywhere you chose

If you know an exciting young farmer and would like to share their story with the world send me an email at Lynnestrong@cloverhilldairies.com.au

Footnote

The Young Farming Champions program was inspired by the most impressive initiative I have ever been involved in which is the Climate Champions program.

The Climate Champions program is a cross industry partnership of farmers across Australia which has exposed me to the bright minds from other industries. There is nothing more rewarding for your personal development than surrounding yourself with innovative thinkers you can learn from. The Climate Champions program is managed by the fabulous team from Econnect who not only deliver the workshops they support each of the 34 farmers 365 days 24/7

The Climate Champions program is a collaboration between the Grains Research & Development Corporation, Managing Climate Variability and Meat & Livestock Australia