Healthy Soils workshops hit the spot

As part of the Hills and Fleurieu Landscape Board’s ‘Healthy Soils, Healthy Landscapes’ project, Dr Rebecca Tonkin, the board’s resident soils guru, presented a number of ‘Healthy Soils’ workshops across the Hills and Fleurieu region during February. The workshops were delivered in partnership with the Fleurieu and Willunga environment centres and targeted farmers, small landowners and gardeners. Participants learnt about basic soil characteristics and functions, how soil feeds plants and how plants feed soil. Common soil issues such as erosion and acidification were addressed and answers provided on how to correct them. Attendees brought soil samples and got their hands dirty learning how to conduct hands-on pH  soil tests.

A final workshop at Yankalilla is scheduled for Tuesday 12 April. For details of this workshop, contact Shane Mills at Yankalilla Council -  shane.mills@yankalilla.sa.gov.au .

These events are a joint initiative between the Hills and Fleurieu Landscape Board and the Fleurieu and Willunga Environment Centres and is supported through funding from the Australian Government’s National Landcare Program.

Grassroots Grants announced!

The Hills and Fleurieu Landscape Board is pleased to announce the next round of Grassroots Grants for 2022. 

The Grassroots Grants program aims to support individual landholders, volunteers, schools, community organisations, First Nations and not-for-profit groups working locally for environmental and sustainable agriculture benefits.

• Applications open for submission from 10am Tuesday 22 March 2022.
• Applications close and must be submitted by midday Tuesday 3 May 2022.

For more details, click here.

Rabbit workshops tackle a feral problem

As part of a strategic campaign, rabbit workshops were held across the region in February, witha great turn-out of 20 residents at the Yankalilla workshop on Monday 21 February.

The Yankalilla workshop was delivered by Hills and Fleurieu Landscape Officer Jacqui Best, and supported by Green Adelaide and Yankalilla Council's Coastal Conservation Officer Corey Jackson and the Fleurieu Environment Centre’s Maddie Maguire. Fleurieu Environment Centre, Green Adelaide and the District Council of Yankalilla work with the Hills and Fleurieu Landscape Board to tackle feral rabbits in a coordinated and strategic approach. The District Council of Yankalilla provided the workshop venue.

If you are a property owner (with 1000sqm + of land) with a rabbit problem, contact your local Landscape Officer at Mt Barker or Willunga to purchase rabbit baits and to learn about the baiting process.

Hills and Fleurieu finalists headed for SA Landcare Awards

The Hills and Fleurieu Landscape Board is proud to support two local finalists from the region in the SA Landcare Awards, scheduled for Thursday 31 March, at the Living Kaurna Cultural Centre, Warriparinga in Marion. The McLaren Vale Biodiversity Group are finalists in the Landcare Community Group category, while local Ngarrindjeri/Ramindjeri man Mark Koolmatrie is a finalist in the Indigenous Land Management category.

Tickets to the event are invite only for Landcare group members and finalists.

The Hills and Fleurieu Landscape Board congratulates both of our finalists and wishes them well for the awards.

First Nations News: Kaurna Cultural Training events for Volunteers held at Warriparinga

Volunteers from the Hills and Fleurieu region regularly express their desire to learn more about First Nations culture.

As regional facilitators, we recently worked with Green Adelaide to deliver two Aboriginal Cultural Heritage and Cultural Awareness sessions in February at the Living Kaurna Cultural Centre at Warriparinga.

The first session was presented by Kaurna/Ngarrindjeri/Yankunytjatjara Cultural Bearer and artist, Allan Sumner (Aboriginal Contemporary Arts), and David Mott (Integrated Heritage Services). Attendees were able to hear first-hand why certain sites are culturally significant to Aboriginal people. They also learnt what to look for when out enjoying nature, or working to conserve it, to indicate a site of cultural significance, and where we can go for advice and support if they find something.

The second session was an interactive and emotive session led by Allan Sumner and Nancy Bates. Nancy is a Song Woman originating from Barkindji Country in Far Western NSW. This was a deeply insightful session that where attendees formed small groups to discuss topics including how to address racism in our society and how to determine if cultural engagement is safe and respectful.

Feedback received was overwhelmingly positive, with many noting that the sessions created awareness, understanding and respect.

Note: If your volunteer group discovers an Aboriginal site or object, or skeletal remains, remember to stop work immediately and contact Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation on (08) 8226 8900.

A big thank you to the Green Adelaide team for driving these events.

Southern Fleurieu Regenerative Agriculture group kicks off

The Southern Fleurieu Regenerative Agriculture Group held their inaugural meeting and farm walk on Wednesday 16 February at Rob Malone and Pamela Wright’s beautiful Anacotilla Springs property at Second Valley.

The group is interested in sharing ideas, learning about regenerative agriculture principles, and seeing them put into practice on each other’s properties.

They are one of four regenerative agriculture groups starting up on the Fleurieu to form a Hills and Fleurieu Regenerative Agriculture Network. The other groups are the Upper Fleurieu, Central Hills and Eastern Mount Lofty Ranges groups.

To find out more, contact Regional Agriculture Landcare Facilitator Jim Mead on jim.mead@sa.gov.au

Humble Dung Beetles build Soil Carbon

Did you know that humble dung beetles can be used to bury cattle dung and raise soil carbon levels, offsetting up to 50% of CO2 emissions from the beef and dairy industries in Australia? They currently offset about 25%, so there is room to improve. Greg Dalton from Creation Care at Strathalbyn can provide more information on how dung beetles can improve your soil. For more information, click here.

What is Regen Farmers Mutual? Webinar - 24 March

Regenerative Farmers Mutual is a farmer-owned broker service which aims to enable farmers to be paid for environmental goods and services (EG&S) on their farms, such as clean water, soil and biodiversity. As seen recently on Landline, founder Rohan Clarke and business partner Andrew Ward will be presenting a webinar on EG&S on Tuesday 24 March at 7:30 pm. To find out more about Regen Farmers Mutual, click here.

Webinar: A presentation by the Regenerative Farmers Mutual

Title: Understanding Environmental Markets – Hills and Fleurieu Landscape Board

Topics covered will include:

• What are Environmental Markets?
• Costs and risks associated with Environmental Goods and Services (EG&S)
• Where did these EG&S markets emerge from & where are they going?
• How do EG&S relate to farming practices?
• Why you may want to be involved Region Farmers Mutual
• The benefits of joining and/or facilitating a group in your local region

Date: Thursday, 24th March, 2022

Time: 7.30 PM ACDT

For the Zoom Meeting link click here.

Local Landcare Legends – Friends of Hindmarsh River Estuary

The March 2022 Local Landcare Legends are the “Friends of Hindmarsh River Estuary Group” who are working on Ramindjeri country. The group are relatively new, establishing themselves only a year ago, but in that short time they have 40 dedicated volunteers who attend fortnightly working bees!

The group focuses its on ground works around Cudmore Reserve at McCracken, the Billlabong and Cootamundra Reserve, all along the Hindmarsh River.
Their approach of applying biodiversity conservation concepts has 3 key elements:

1. Control emerging threats (i.e. invasive feral plants/animal pests)
2. Maintaining intact (viable) landscapes and
3. Reversing the decline of ecosystems by reinstating habitat and recovering threatened species.

A complementary side project for the group is their partnership with Monarto Safari Park. The group cuts down the invasive weed Acacia longifolia, whilst staff from Monarto bring along trailers to collect the weeds.It’s taken back as fodder for the giraffes, rhinos and porcupines (everything but the primates eat it)!

This friendly and inspiring group meet once a fortnight to undertake weed control, watering, propagation and planting (there is something for every skill level and physical ability) with the ever important social catch up shared over a cuppa and home-made cake.

They group would like to thank the Victor Harbor Council, Hills and Fleurieu Landscape Board, South Coast Environment Centre, Victor Harbor Coastcare and Fleurieu Environment Centre for their support.

For more information on the group’s work, check out the Friends of Hindmarsh River Estuary Facebook page and watch a short video of their activities here.

What are WAA’s? - Water affecting activities!

Are you planning to build a structure or carry out an activity that could impact a water resource? You might be planning what is referred to as a ‘water affecting activity’ and will need to apply for a permit.

The Hills and Fleurieu Landscape Board (HFLB) recognises that water is vital to the health of the environment and ecosystems, as well as being a precious shared resource for landholders and farmers throughout the Mount Lofty Ranges and Fleurieu Peninsula.

Getting the balance right between leaving enough water to sustain water-dependant ecosystems and the amenity of our landscapes, while providing water to support agricultural productivity across the region, requires careful management.

What are water affecting activities?

Activities that can impact water quality or quantity for neighbouring properties or other water users.
Activities that have adverse impacts on the health and condition of water resources and the ecosystems that depend on them.
Activities that obstruct, divert or impede the natural systems of a watercourse or floodplain.
Water affecting activities can reduce flows to downstream users, change the timing of flows to water-dependent ecosystems, reduce water quality or increase erosion and sedimentation of watercourses and their surrounding areas.

Examples of water affecting activities include ford and culvert crossings, vegetation planting or removal, modifications or repair works to existing dams, and depositing material or brine into a watercourse.

What is a watercourse?

A watercourse refers to a river, creek, or other natural watercourse in which water is contained or flows. This includes all of the ephemeral (dry most of the year) or seasonal watercourses, and dams or reservoirs. Watercourses are not always obvious or readily identifiable, but it is important to remember that all watercourses regardless of size, appearance or seasonality play an important role in supplying and sustaining a catchment.

Almost all water affecting activities require a permit.

HFLB Team Leader Water Resources Paul Wainwright asks landholders to contact the board for clarification and advice when planning to undertake activities that may be considered water affecting.

“Our team regularly fields a range of enquiries regarding modifications to watercourses and dams.

“The board is the approving body for water affecting activities, not your local council. While the application process is relatively straightforward, it is always best to apply early. We can provide advice which may potentially save you time and money down the track.

“Ultimately, the landholder is responsible to ensure permits are obtained where necessary, although contractors can apply on the landholder’s behalf,” he said.

There are over twenty-thousand dams across the Mount Lofty Ranges and Fleurieu Peninsula

Due to high number of existing dams and their potential impact to sensitive water-dependant ecosystems, applications for new or enlarged dams are generally not being approved at this time. However, applications to reconfigure dams to improve on-farm efficiencies are encouraged.

To find out more about water affecting activities including fact sheets and frequently asked questions about the application process, visit www.landscape.sa.gov.au/hf/waa or call the Hills and Fleurieu Landscape Board offices in Mount Barker (8391 7500) or Willunga.

Applications Open for New Farm resilience Program

South Australian grain and livestock producers have the opportunity to learn how to manage and adapt to adverse events and improve their business’ economic, environmental and social resilience thanks to a new farm resilience program.

Applications are now open for the AgRi-Silience Program, which is a part of the Farm Business Resilience program, jointly funded through the Australian Government’s Future Drought Fund and the Government of South Australia, delivered by Livestock SA and Grain Producers SA.

The program will connect producers with professionals who will deliver a mix of on-farm support and group workshop learning to assist in the development of Resilience Roadmaps for each participating farm business. For more information click here.

AgKI Celebrates 25th Annual Conference

Members of the Hills and Fleurieu Landscape Board’s Sustainable Agriculture team attended the AgKI Conference on Friday 4 March. The conference marked the 26th year of AgKI’s existence and was their 25th conference, last year’s event being cancelled due to COVID-19.

The range of impressive guest speakers included local boy made-good, Dr Nick Berry, whose presentation titled ‘Becoming a Mountain  Climber’ outlined the ups and down of researching, developing, creating and marketing his ‘Seed terminator’ invention for terminating weed seed while harvesting.

Other presenters included

• Phoebe Johnson of MLA who presented on lamb exports
• Dr Andrew Kennedy, Thrive Agri Services, who presented on optimizing sheep production systems
• Nathan Scott of Achieve Ag who presented on Biosecurity
• Dr Andrew Ferguson of neXtgen Agri who presented on breeding the best sheep and adapting to change
• Mark Wootton of Jigsaw Farms on dealing with the Climate Change Puzzle

The day finished with staff from various agencies updating the community on their projects, including fire recovery, weed control and feral pig control. Kangaroo Island Landscape Board General Manager Will Durack encouraged farmers to work closely with the board on both farming and conservation issues. 

PIRSA’s Lyn Dohle was presented with an AgKI Life Membership for her tireless efforts over 26 years. The day finished with a BBQ and drinks to celebrate the 25th conference.

Kangaroo Island Resilient Agriculture farm tour

On the day before the conference, the Hills and Fleurieu Sustainable Ag team joined our Kangaroo Island Landscape Board colleagues to visit four Resilient Agriculture demonstration farms on Kangaroo Island.

Wheaton’s Stranraer Homestead - For more click here. 
This property has been in the family for several generations. The homestead is operated as a guest house, and the farm run primarily to sheep. The Wheaton’s are implementing some new activities on the farm such as perennial pastures (tall wheat grass) and new cover crop mixes. They are in the process of consolidating their water resources to drought proof the property and are reinvigorating threatened Narrow-leaf Mallee Woodland on the McGillivray site.

Bussenschutt’s farm - For more click here. 
Carly and Adam are implementing a range of regenerative agriculture techniques including changing their grazing practices to increase soil health. They have recently purchased a ‘Tow-and-Fert’ for spreading alternatives to traditional fertilisers and are very happy with the results. They are also experimenting with growing mint on their property for essential oil production. In their spare time, they run Stowaway KI, an accommodation business.

Shane & Suzie Leahy - KI Fresh Garlic - For more click here 
Over the past 5 years, Shane and Suzie Leahy have established a business growing fresh garlic and producing a range of value-added garlic products. The property was heavily impacted by the fires, and they tragically lost both business partners to accident and illness prior to launching their enterprise. Since then, they have stoically managed to successfully rebuild and have further upped their production. They are also looking to consolidate their water resources to drought proof the property and sustainably increase their garlic production.

Will and Jenny Stanton - Primal Harvest - For more click here.
Jenny and Will run cattle and grow oats for KI Oats. They are implementing a range of regenerative agriculture principles such as grazing naturally, cover crops and perennial pastures. Since the fires, Jenny and Will have begun producing free-range meat chickens under their Primal Harvest label. They recently received a grant to build a micro-abattoir so the chickens can be butchered on-island. Interestingly, Jenny and Will have been trialling feeding Shane and Suzie’s garlic to the chickens to reduce the need for antibiotics!

Thanks to Joe Sullivan, Laura Williams and Cassie Douglas–Hill from the Kangaroo Island Landscape Board and the farmers for their time in organising the field trip and hosting the Hills and Fleurieu team.

Landcare Australia News

Call for Abstracts and Posters for the 2022 National Landcare Conference – Closes Sunday 13 March

The call abstracts and posters will soon close for the 2022 National Landcare Conference.  The 2022 theme is “The Power of Landcare | Shaping Our Future” which affirms the importance of looking to the future when addressing the issues and opportunities open to Landcare and NRM.

We have six concurrent streams including two new streams which provide many individuals, groups and organisations involved in landcare and NRM an opportunity to get involved as a stream speaker and share their learnings with a global audience. Last year we had over 3,000 online delegates and this year promises to be just as big. We will host this year’s conference as a hybrid event for both in-person and online delegates.

You can present in person at the International Convention in Sydney or as a virtual speaker online. If your abstract is selected by the assessment panel, we will provide support to the speakers presenting the paper.
We invite papers and posters for the following concurrent streams:

• Landcare Farming and Emerging Environmental Markets
Innovation and technology, soil health, climate change adaptation and mitigation, young farmers, connecting farmers to emerging alternative markets.
• Environment and Climate Change
Call to action for all Australians to be on the frontline together with Landcare to reduce the impacts of climate change and biodiversity loss.
Community Partnerships in Action
Building community capacity and resilience, communication and storytelling, volunteering,    partnerships, building and sharing knowledge.
• Landcare Impact
Landscape, biodiversity, community resilience, mental and physical health of individuals, economy.
• Urban Landcare
Urban environments bring challenges and opportunities with a growing role for Landcare in urban settings.
• First Nations people
Providing a platform that recognises the role First Nations people have played in sustainable natural resource management.

For more information or to submit an abstract please visit here.

Landcare in Focus Magazine May Edition – Invitation to submit content by 1 April
Landcare Australia welcome content submissions for the next edition of "Landcare in Focus" magazine to be published on Thursday 19 May. If you have a project or group with a great story, content contributions of up to 300 words with a high resolution photo are welcomed. Please submit your content by April 1 to enquiries@landcareaustralia.com.au  You can read previous editions of the Landcare in Focus magazine here.

General Jeffery Soil Health Award cash prize of $20K - nominations close 17 April
Individual farmers, land managers, extension specialists or educators may be nominated. Nominees will be recognised for activities including undertaking and promoting good management practices, raising awareness about the importance of maintaining and improving soil health, and/or educating others about soils.

Now in its second year, this national award, the Award honours and perpetuates the memory of Australia’s first National Soils Advocate, the late Major General the Honourable Michael Jeffery AC, AO (Mil), CVO, MC (Retd), who died in December 2020.
Nominations close Sunday 17 April, 2022. Finalists will be announced in June with the Award winner announced at the 2022 National Landcare Awards on Wednesday, 24 August 2022. The Award winner will receive a trophy and a $20,000 cash prize to continue their work.

If you know someone in Australia who deserves recognition for helping improve soil health and inspiring others—it may even be you—nominate them for an award today. For more information or to nominate for an award please visit here.

Woolworths Junior Landcare Grants – Now open!!
We have launched the Woolworths Junior Landcare grants and the program is providing $1 million to Australian primary schools and early learning centres. Schools involved in the Junior Landcare program are encouraged to connect with their local landcare group or environmental community group, and with local Indigenous organisations to involve them in school projects.
To help schools in your network apply, more information is here. 

Check out the new Junior Landcare environment calendar here.

Costa and the Junior Landcare team have produced ‘how to’ videos now published on the new Junior Landcare YouTube channel. You can use the video links with schools and youth groups in your community here.

Landcare Australia New Board Directors
Landcare Australia is extremely pleased to announce the appointment of four new Directors to the board. These appointments mark the culmination of an extensive national search to ensure the organisation is well supported by Directors with a comprehensive set of skills and experience, particularly related to engagement with youth, strong Indigenous connections, innovative services, agriculture and broader landcare knowledge. The four new board members appointed by Landcare Australia, joining North Australian Indigenous Land & Sea Management Alliance CEO Ricky Archer (NT), Co-Founder of Intrepid Landcare Naomi Edwards (QLD) and fifth generation grazier James Walker (QLD) and Anna Hooper (SA), a highly regarded agribusiness professional with extensive national resource management, policy, finance and governance experience. You can read more here.

If you have a story or event to promote, please email the Regional Agriculture Landcare Facilitator for the Hills and Fleurieu Landscape Board, Jim Mead, at jim.mead@sa.gov.au.

The Regional Agriculture Landcare Facilitator Program is funded by the Australian Government's National Landcare Program.

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