- Home
- Regerative Agriculture
Smart Farming for Western Port – Increasing awareness and adoption of improved land management practices on farms in the catchment of Western Port
This is a large 5 year sustainable agriculture focused project running from Oct 2018 to June 2023. The project is working with landholders from multiple enterprise types throughout the Western Port catchment to promote Sustainable Farming Practices. This project aims to increase the understanding and uptake of innovative farming practices to improve farmers productivity and our natural resources. 5 innovative on-farm demonstration sites covering a range of enterprise types and trialling innovative practices will be established and monitored with a specific focus on building soil carbon. Benchmarks will be established, and the practices will provide farmers with actual scenarios they can use to relate to their own situation. While building soil carbon will be the focus, other sustainability indicators such as soil nutrient balance, productivity and resilience will also be monitored. Farmer discussion groups, field days, and smart farm innovation training will provide the agricultural community with skills to assist with on-farm practice change.Discussion groups will also challenge and inspire. Check out our videos and photos of some of the activities we are involved in. Project results communicated through open farms, discussion groups, case studies and field days.
The project involves many partners which includes; Western Port Catchment Landcare Network, Bass Coast Landcare Network, Mornington Peninsula Shire Council, South Gippsland Landcare Network, AGVIC & Melbourne Water. The project is supported by Port Phillip & Westernport CMA through funding from the Australian Governments National Landcare Program (NLP2). If you would like more information, then please contact Peter Ronalds at peter@wpcln.org.au or 0402 650382.
Farmers Digging Deeper
We are excited to announce that we have received funding from the Commonwealth Government Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment for the ‘Farmers Digging Deeper’ Project. This project will support 315 farmers across the region to increase their knowledge of soil health and to better understand the links between soil health, farm productivity and profitability. The project will also help farmers develop management pathways to actively improve their farms soil health and condition.
On 115 farms situated across the region, the project will collect:
- 540 soil carbon core samples;
- 184 soil chemistry samples; and
- 115 soil biology samples.
A series of soil health interpretation training workshops and field days will further support farmers knowledge on soil carbon, natural capital accounting opportunities, and practices proven to increase soil health and productivity.
Five on-farm demonstration sites will be established throughout the region to measure the soil health impacts of multi-species pastures and regenerative grazing management.
The South Gippsland Landcare Network will also form a farmer discussion group focusing on soils and regenerative agriculture. This new discussion group will compliment an already active discussion network managed by all partners across the region.
This 2-year regional project will run from March 2022 until April 2024, and will be facilitated by the Western Port Catchment Landcare Network. Key partners include; Bass Coast Landcare Network, Latrobe Catchment Landcare Network, Mornington Peninsula Shire, South Gippsland Landcare Network & Melbourne Water.
For more info contact Peter Ronalds at peter@wpcln.org.au
This project is supported by Westernport Catchment Landcare Network, through funding from the Australian Government’s National Landcare Program.