A terrific response to the series of Drought Resilience field days held last month at Oaky Creek, Mount Beppo and Ottaba, with over 90 people hearing from landholders and presenters about land management principles and practices to improve the health, sustainability and resilience of soils, pastures and crops, riparian areas and landscapes.

The field days featured some great interactive discussions on the following topics:

• Maximising diversity in pastures /farming systems – including growing multispecies cover crops and establishing new legume-based perennial pastures.
• Implementing planned rotational grazing and rest at critical times to improve pasture and land condition.
• Establishing and managing shrubby legumes including Leucaena & Desmanthus.
• Utilising composed manures to improve soil health and pasture production.
• Applying landscape rehydration principles – managing the water cycle to maximise infiltration, slow and spread flows and protecting wetlands and riparian areas and farming on floodplains.
• Implementing biodynamic farming principles to improve biological function and condition.

Big thanks to the Clark, Roughan and Fisher families for their generous hospitality in showcasing the demonstration projects and plans they are undertaking to improve the condition and resilience of their grazing enterprises. Also, a shout out to regen educator, Shane Joyce, DAF’s Ted Callanan and Soil consultant David Hall for their engaging discussions throughout the days.

The field days were supported by Healthy Land & Water through funding from the Australian Government’s Future Drought Fund.