“The National Environment Centre is a specialist TAFE College, part of the Riverina Institute of TAFE. This campus includes a 190 hectare certified organic farm, which is run on agro-ecology principles. “ NEC Organic Farm

This is where I went yesterday. They have been operating since 1997 on crap soil and have been improving it ever since with their agro-ecology practices.

They strive to develop a farming practice that will cope with uncertainty and change. One of the uncertainties is climate change. The only thing they are certain about is that there is noting certain about the effects of climate change. An observable fact is that the “border line” to the west where evaporation rate exceeds rainfall is moving east and closer to the farm. When the land was undisturbed any rain would slowly drain off aver about a month, allowing it to soak into the soil, but now we might get twice as much rain but it drains off in a matter of days and the soil remains dry. To capture this water in dams in impractical as much would be lost in evaporation. They therefore use techniques to slow down the water runoff allowing it to soak into the soil and be held there. The soil’s capacity to hold moisture is directly related to the amount of carbon in the soil so there is a two fold approach. First to slow the water and secondly to increase the carbon in the soil. They slow the water by having rough paddocks. Conventional farming practices tend to smooth and flatten paddocks but they started by ripping furrows along the contours. Initially the soil was so poor that their “deep ripping” was only a few centimetres deep. Any more and the soil type would have meant serious erosion. The swales were built to catch the water that got past the furrows which further slowed down the runoff, and they directed the water into leaky dams – a series off small dams designed to leak, not hold, water very slowly. Eventually any water remaining ended out into a dam which they pumped to the top of the hill with a solar powered pump and this gravity fed into the stock troughs.

more to come….

Good ideas always track upwards via those who have the capacity to con people into paying for them.

I started this off as a job application to be one of the project officers setting up the then CYSS, now Skillshare, amalgamated with TAFE. Other con artists wanted the glory, so I let them run with it.. It is now 32 years later. They are still trying to make it work.

roughbarked said:

Good ideas always track upwards via those who have the capacity to con people into paying for them.

I started this off as a job application to be one of the project officers setting up the then CYSS, now Skillshare, amalgamated with TAFE. Other con artists wanted the glory, so I let them run with it.. It is now 32 years later. They are still trying to make it work.

I’m not sure what you are implying there but I found it all very informative and liked a lot of what they are doing.

bluegreen said:

I found it all very informative and liked a lot of what they are doing.

Yes of course.

Input is graded on a five star energy system. The more energy input required the lower the grade, so 1 star is where a large amount of external input is required like machinery, fertilizers, pesticides etc. 3 stars is when you do the work by human labour, like go and dig the weeds out by hand. 5 stars, the ideal, is when the system is balanced and no input is required.

Peak oil and peak phosphorous are two of the issues facing farmers in conventional farming. Highly dependent on mechanisation and the need for added fertilisers puts them at risk if these resources run out. At the NEC they are working on getting as close to a 5 star system as possible. One way is to get the stock to do some of the work for them. If a field needs ploughing they run some pigs in there and they do the ploughing for them. Not in nice straight furrows, they don’t want that, but by turning up the soil in their searching for roots etc. Onion grass is not a problem for them because pigs love it!

Their stock is certified organic so there is not drenching or medicating of their sheep. To minimise the risk of parasites they rotate them over 70 paddocks moving them every three to four days. Four days is the life cycle of intestinal worms so by moving the stock on the sheep don’t get reinfected and the cycle is broken by the time the sheep get back to that paddock. That is not to say that there is not some risk of infection but it is so low as to be insignificant. Also it means that the sheep are being checked every few days as well so if they see any potential problems those sheep can be quarantined.

The sheep have a couple of guardian alpacas. They were having problems with local town dogs working together and killing some of the sheep and the alpacas were not able to deal with them, so Barbara the donkey was added to the flock. Barbara hates dogs with a passion and will run them off as soon as she sees them and they have had no problems since. If she were to catch up with one she would no doubt attempt to kill it. The local authorities have been notified of the dogs and where they live, but the owners of course deny that their dog would ever do that! Barbara also knows when the sheep are about to be moved on and she will give a couple of brays and the sheep bunch up behind her and follow her to the next paddock!

Rotating over such a large number of paddocks also works in with the plan of increasing the carbon in the soil. The depth of roots is determined by the height of the plants growing in the soil. By allowing time for the grasses and other plants (the more diversified the better) between grazing to grow the more bio-mass gets added to the soil and the more friable it becomes and more able to retain water. They run about 200-250 head of sheep, with almost continual access to the ram. Selling their meat at the markets suits an ongoing lambing system rather than the once a year lambing done on big commercial farms. They could run more but they only run as much as they can sell practically. They can also set their own price and are not subject to the market fluctuations set by the big supermarkets etc. More on that later.

The pigs also get rotated but not as frequently. This is more determined by what the needs of the paddocks are. They have also learned not to move a sow about to litter too close to her time. She needs time to check out and be comfortable with the new paddock before she births.

The pigs also get rotated but not as frequently. This is more determined by what the needs of the paddocks are. They have also learned not to move a sow about to litter too close to her time. She needs time to check out and be comfortable with the new paddock before she births.

—————————————————-

are you allowed to keep pigs on your place?

do pigs ruin the swale system?

interesting article thanks BG.

justin said:

The pigs also get rotated but not as frequently. This is more determined by what the needs of the paddocks are. They have also learned not to move a sow about to litter too close to her time. She needs time to check out and be comfortable with the new paddock before she births.

—————————————————-

are you allowed to keep pigs on your place?

do pigs ruin the swale system?

interesting article thanks BG.

I have not talked about the layout of the farm yet but to answer your question it would help. The landscape is used according to its profile. Hill tops are not farmed but trees are allowed to grow and provide habitat for many native species. The sloping areas are farmed and the low lying and gully areas are again left alone and trees grown. The pigs are on the sloping areas. These areas are likely to have furrows along the contours where the swales are more likely to be in the lower lying areas. Swales that are higher up are also used for access roads and therefore not farmed as such. On one paddock where some chooks were and pigs had been in previously you could see the traces of the furrowing which are about a tractor width apart and in between it was all lumpy from the pigs. It didn’t matter at this point if the furrows were disturbed as the uneven surface left by the pigs achieved the same purpose as the furrows by allowing water to be captured instead of running off over a smooth surface.

The profile of the land determines its use, rather than the conventional way of thinking where you modify the landscape to suit what you want to do. More on that later too :)

One of the ecological side benefits of doing this is that a rare native froglet has taken up residence on the farm. They did not purposely create a habitat for it, they had not even heard of it before! But what they did unintentionally created the ideal habitat for this frog. This had added value to their product although does not directly affect the sheep and pigs themselves. The customers who buy their meat value the fact that they way they farm actively supports indigenous and endangered species and are therefore prepared to pay a premium price for their product.

My place would not be big enough to sustainably keep a pig, although I would love too :)

bluegreen said:

justin said:

The pigs also get rotated but not as frequently. This is more determined by what the needs of the paddocks are. They have also learned not to move a sow about to litter too close to her time. She needs time to check out and be comfortable with the new paddock before she births.

—————————————————-

are you allowed to keep pigs on your place?

do pigs ruin the swale system?

interesting article thanks BG.

I have not talked about the layout of the farm yet but to answer your question it would help. The landscape is used according to its profile. Hill tops are not farmed but trees are allowed to grow and provide habitat for many native species. The sloping areas are farmed and the low lying and gully areas are again left alone and trees grown. The pigs are on the sloping areas. These areas are likely to have furrows along the contours where the swales are more likely to be in the lower lying areas. Swales that are higher up are also used for access roads and therefore not farmed as such. On one paddock where some chooks were and pigs had been in previously you could see the traces of the furrowing which are about a tractor width apart and in between it was all lumpy from the pigs. It didn’t matter at this point if the furrows were disturbed as the uneven surface left by the pigs achieved the same purpose as the furrows by allowing water to be captured instead of running off over a smooth surface.

The profile of the land determines its use, rather than the conventional way of thinking where you modify the landscape to suit what you want to do. More on that later too :)

One of the ecological side benefits of doing this is that a rare native froglet has taken up residence on the farm. They did not purposely create a habitat for it, they had not even heard of it before! But what they did unintentionally created the ideal habitat for this frog. This had added value to their product although does not directly affect the sheep and pigs themselves. The customers who buy their meat value the fact that they way they farm actively supports indigenous and endangered species and are therefore prepared to pay a premium price for their product.

My place would not be big enough to sustainably keep a pig, although I would love too :)

Sounds cool, and I would like to hear Roughy’s thoughts. I read that he has ideals and tenets that are close to this, but perhaps are different. All input is welcome.

This place sounds like a place of education, and not everything is taken onboard by students, but if one thing is adopted and taken as gospel then that particular student will be better for the experience. Bu not having the NEC, then we are doing nothing.

painmaster said:

bluegreen said:

justin said:

The pigs also get rotated but not as frequently. This is more determined by what the needs of the paddocks are. They have also learned not to move a sow about to litter too close to her time. She needs time to check out and be comfortable with the new paddock before she births.

—————————————————-

are you allowed to keep pigs on your place?

do pigs ruin the swale system?

interesting article thanks BG.

I have not talked about the layout of the farm yet but to answer your question it would help. The landscape is used according to its profile. Hill tops are not farmed but trees are allowed to grow and provide habitat for many native species. The sloping areas are farmed and the low lying and gully areas are again left alone and trees grown. The pigs are on the sloping areas. These areas are likely to have furrows along the contours where the swales are more likely to be in the lower lying areas. Swales that are higher up are also used for access roads and therefore not farmed as such. On one paddock where some chooks were and pigs had been in previously you could see the traces of the furrowing which are about a tractor width apart and in between it was all lumpy from the pigs. It didn’t matter at this point if the furrows were disturbed as the uneven surface left by the pigs achieved the same purpose as the furrows by allowing water to be captured instead of running off over a smooth surface.

The profile of the land determines its use, rather than the conventional way of thinking where you modify the landscape to suit what you want to do. More on that later too :)

One of the ecological side benefits of doing this is that a rare native froglet has taken up residence on the farm. They did not purposely create a habitat for it, they had not even heard of it before! But what they did unintentionally created the ideal habitat for this frog. This had added value to their product although does not directly affect the sheep and pigs themselves. The customers who buy their meat value the fact that they way they farm actively supports indigenous and endangered species and are therefore prepared to pay a premium price for their product.

My place would not be big enough to sustainably keep a pig, although I would love too :)

Sounds cool, and I would like to hear Roughy’s thoughts. I read that he has ideals and tenets that are close to this, but perhaps are different. All input is welcome.

This place sounds like a place of education, and not everything is taken onboard by students, but if one thing is adopted and taken as gospel then that particular student will be better for the experience. Bu not having the NEC, then we are doing nothing.

Yes, I do have a lot of ideas.
but hey.. That’ll cost a couple of cartons of Coopers downed between us..

roughbarked said:

painmaster said:

bluegreen said:

I have not talked about the layout of the farm yet but to answer your question it would help. The landscape is used according to its profile. Hill tops are not farmed but trees are allowed to grow and provide habitat for many native species. The sloping areas are farmed and the low lying and gully areas are again left alone and trees grown. The pigs are on the sloping areas. These areas are likely to have furrows along the contours where the swales are more likely to be in the lower lying areas. Swales that are higher up are also used for access roads and therefore not farmed as such. On one paddock where some chooks were and pigs had been in previously you could see the traces of the furrowing which are about a tractor width apart and in between it was all lumpy from the pigs. It didn’t matter at this point if the furrows were disturbed as the uneven surface left by the pigs achieved the same purpose as the furrows by allowing water to be captured instead of running off over a smooth surface.

The profile of the land determines its use, rather than the conventional way of thinking where you modify the landscape to suit what you want to do. More on that later too :)

One of the ecological side benefits of doing this is that a rare native froglet has taken up residence on the farm. They did not purposely create a habitat for it, they had not even heard of it before! But what they did unintentionally created the ideal habitat for this frog. This had added value to their product although does not directly affect the sheep and pigs themselves. The customers who buy their meat value the fact that they way they farm actively supports indigenous and endangered species and are therefore prepared to pay a premium price for their product.

My place would not be big enough to sustainably keep a pig, although I would love too :)

Sounds cool, and I would like to hear Roughy’s thoughts. I read that he has ideals and tenets that are close to this, but perhaps are different. All input is welcome.

This place sounds like a place of education, and not everything is taken onboard by students, but if one thing is adopted and taken as gospel then that particular student will be better for the experience. Bu not having the NEC, then we are doing nothing.

Yes, I do have a lot of ideas.
but hey.. That’ll cost a couple of cartons of Coopers downed between us..

Have you tried their 150th Anniversary Celebratory Ale yet?

painmaster said:

roughbarked said:

painmaster said:

Sounds cool, and I would like to hear Roughy’s thoughts. I read that he has ideals and tenets that are close to this, but perhaps are different. All input is welcome.

This place sounds like a place of education, and not everything is taken onboard by students, but if one thing is adopted and taken as gospel then that particular student will be better for the experience. Bu not having the NEC, then we are doing nothing.

Yes, I do have a lot of ideas.
but hey.. That’ll cost a couple of cartons of Coopers downed between us..

Have you tried their 150th Anniversary Celebratory Ale yet?

They all are.. or that’s what they all say when I take the top off. They have a special anniversary ale? I’ll ask my bottlo.

roughbarked said:

painmaster said:

roughbarked said:

Yes, I do have a lot of ideas.
but hey.. That’ll cost a couple of cartons of Coopers downed between us..

Have you tried their 150th Anniversary Celebratory Ale yet?

They all are.. or that’s what they all say when I take the top off. They have a special anniversary ale? I’ll ask my bottlo.

They have a special release. Well tasty too. Ummm thread hijacked.

The sloping areas are farmed and the low lying and gully areas are again left alone and trees grown. The pigs are on the sloping areas. These areas are likely to have furrows along the contours where the swales are more likely to be in the lower lying areas. Swales that are higher up are also used for access roads and therefore not farmed as such. On one paddock where some chooks were and pigs had been in previously you could see the traces of the furrowing which are about a tractor width apart and in between it was all lumpy from the pigs. It didn’t matter at this point if the furrows were disturbed as the uneven surface left by the pigs achieved the same purpose as the furrows by allowing water to be captured instead of running off over a smooth surface.
———————————————————————-

livestock are a tough business – probably more complex than pruning really.
that mate of mine, who couldn’t prune, actually has sheep and cattle on other peoples places and is very good at husbandry.

you are writing this article v’well oh blueone. i hope to manage to get some inspiration for your place.

Good ideas always track upwards via those who have the capacity to con people into paying for them.

————————————————————————————————

a lot of original thinkers don’t have the capacity to practically apply their ideas.

the original clear sight becomes a victim of politics. the original ideas are watered down and become a compromise – it happens all the time.

I mentioned the frogs earlier. One of the key philosophies is that the farming practices do not disturb the environment but even enhance it, as was the case with the frogs. Of 400 acres or so only half of that is farmed (the slopes.) There are forest areas and wetland areas and habitat for various animals. This land is not considered idle however as it adds value to their end product as I mentioned before by appealing to the environmentally conscious. When they started up a survey revealed about 26 bird species, most of them noisy miners. Now they have over 200 bird species not to mention sugar gliders etc. Although there are roos around they have not been found to be the problem that other farmers seem to have. Maybe it is because there is so much natural land and feed around that they do not feel the need to incur onto the farm paddocks. They consider one of their most valuable resources to be dead timber. They do not remove or burn it but leave it as habitat for native wildlife. The pond areas have “islands” of this dead timber as havens for the ducks and frogs from foxes.

Mistletoe is generally considered a pest and something to be removed, but here they are actively seeding trees with mistletoe on the lower branches of some trees. It is still in the experimental stage but apparently it a favourite fodder of the sheep. It is highly nutritious and seemingly tasty. It is also a preferred food source for many possum and glider species and in a balanced environment where these “predators” have access it is kept in check. Where mistletoe is a problem it is most likely to be on isolated trees or stands where the “predators” can’t get to it. In a previous job the fellow that was showing us around said that a section of bushland was culled of the mistletoe. They went right to the tops of the trees to cut every piece off. The cattle grazing in the area followed them around eating the mistletoe as it fell to the ground. A follow up survey was made of the wildlife in the area and they found a considerable drop in diversity. An important food source has been removed.

A lot of what they do is experimental. When they first started the soil was so poor the only thing it could support were some sheep. As time goes on and the soil improves they have been adding other crops and stock. What they do is like a spiral. They start something and let it run for a while then evaluate the results. Then they modify their practices depending on what they have learned and go through another cycle. Because they started with sheep it is at the top of the spiral and is the most finely tuned product they have. Further down the spiral they have bees, pigs, chickens for eggs, olive trees and veges. The chickens and veges are still in the experimental stage and still have issues.

As they work with a small niche market (the farmers markets) diversification makes sense. It is more viable to sell one customer 5 products rather than only have one product and have to find 5 customers to buy it. At the moment they can sell lamb, pork, honey and eggs and they want to be able to sell their own olive oil and veges, all organic. By diversifying they are also less affected if there is a bad year in one area. For example the honey side is not doing well as there is an issue with bees (not just them, but across the industry.) Normally they could expect 2 to 3 extractions of honey a year but this past year they only had one and had to throw it away as it was from canola which makes poor honey. The gum blossoms were damaged by rain at the critical time.

With the chickens they initially bought ex-factory isa browns and tried to introduce them to free range. The poor chooks had no idea what to do and would wander off and get themselves eaten. They guard the chooks with a maremma dog but in the principle of their 5 star energy system they want to avoid electric fences etc. They then tried breeds like Australorp and Light Sussex which were better but had still been bred and reared in a limited environment and had difficulty adjusting to open range life. Their plan is to breed their own “smart” chooks that are at home to life in the open. They have a chook trailer which provides roosting and nesting areas which can be moved from paddock to paddock, but it is not locked at night and the chooks are free to come and go as they please. They have also been experimenting with the chook tractor system for vege beds and have found that this produces some areas of good soil, but other areas of hard packed soil because the chooks tend to scratch the material down hill so they need to refine their design.

At the moment they have about 200 olive trees but they are not utilised at the moment except as sheep fodder. The sheep “prune” the lower branches and eat the dropped fruit. In the future they want to get a press and produce their own olive oil. Another “fodder” plant they are starting to grow is indigenous wattle trees for the chooks as the seed is high in protein and meets the 5 star requirement once established. Apparently wattles produce a substance from their roots that inhibits the germination of the seed in the surrounding soil so the seed just falls to the ground where the chooks can eat it. (I’m thinking I might grow a few wattle here!) The chooks get all their feed from their environment with no input required.

justin said:

Good ideas always track upwards via those who have the capacity to con people into paying for them.

————————————————————————————————

a lot of original thinkers don’t have the capacity to practically apply their ideas.

the original clear sight becomes a victim of politics. the original ideas are watered down and become a compromise – it happens all the time.

Yair.. tell me about it.

roughbarked said:

justin said:

Good ideas always track upwards via those who have the capacity to con people into paying for them.

————————————————————————————————

a lot of original thinkers don’t have the capacity to practically apply their ideas.

the original clear sight becomes a victim of politics. the original ideas are watered down and become a compromise – it happens all the time.

Yair.. tell me about it.

ok
a certain professor was the first in this state to reuse stormwater in a large scale housing estate. we all thought he was marvelous and when i lost contact he was developing filter systems and underground storage systems which looked promising.

about five years later i was astounded to see a tv programme about the (now famous) salisbury wetlands. my professor was not mentioned. what had happened?
the funding model had changed. no longer were housing estates leading the way in stormwater reuse. now municipal councils were converting whole river systems into storage basins.

…and there is nothing to say that the model won’t change again. i can see us building enormous water cisterns under apartment buildings and each house having its own independent storage – with none of it reaching the wetlands.

so each time the system changes a new champion emerges. its all stormwater retention – but hey – who invented it ????

bluegreen said:

I mentioned the frogs earlier. One of the key philosophies is that the farming practices do not disturb the environment but even enhance it, as was the case with the frogs. Of 400 acres or so only half of that is farmed (the slopes.) There are forest areas and wetland areas and habitat for various animals. This land is not considered idle however as it adds value to their end product as I mentioned before by appealing to the environmentally conscious. When they started up a survey revealed about 26 bird species, most of them noisy miners. Now they have over 200 bird species not to mention sugar gliders etc. Although there are roos around they have not been found to be the problem that other farmers seem to have. Maybe it is because there is so much natural land and feed around that they do not feel the need to incur onto the farm paddocks. They consider one of their most valuable resources to be dead timber. They do not remove or burn it but leave it as habitat for native wildlife. The pond areas have “islands” of this dead timber as havens for the ducks and frogs from foxes.

Mistletoe is generally considered a pest and something to be removed, but here they are actively seeding trees with mistletoe on the lower branches of some trees. It is still in the experimental stage but apparently it a favourite fodder of the sheep. It is highly nutritious and seemingly tasty. It is also a preferred food source for many possum and glider species and in a balanced environment where these “predators” have access it is kept in check. Where mistletoe is a problem it is most likely to be on isolated trees or stands where the “predators” can’t get to it. In a previous job the fellow that was showing us around said that a section of bushland was culled of the mistletoe. They went right to the tops of the trees to cut every piece off. The cattle grazing in the area followed them around eating the mistletoe as it fell to the ground. A follow up survey was made of the wildlife in the area and they found a considerable drop in diversity. An important food source has been removed.

cool. We live with Mistletoe up here in Qbilly country. In fact the Mistletoe bird is gorgeous and great to see.

painmaster said:

bluegreen said:

I mentioned the frogs earlier. One of the key philosophies is that the farming practices do not disturb the environment but even enhance it, as was the case with the frogs. Of 400 acres or so only half of that is farmed (the slopes.) There are forest areas and wetland areas and habitat for various animals. This land is not considered idle however as it adds value to their end product as I mentioned before by appealing to the environmentally conscious. When they started up a survey revealed about 26 bird species, most of them noisy miners. Now they have over 200 bird species not to mention sugar gliders etc. Although there are roos around they have not been found to be the problem that other farmers seem to have. Maybe it is because there is so much natural land and feed around that they do not feel the need to incur onto the farm paddocks. They consider one of their most valuable resources to be dead timber. They do not remove or burn it but leave it as habitat for native wildlife. The pond areas have “islands” of this dead timber as havens for the ducks and frogs from foxes.

Mistletoe is generally considered a pest and something to be removed, but here they are actively seeding trees with mistletoe on the lower branches of some trees. It is still in the experimental stage but apparently it a favourite fodder of the sheep. It is highly nutritious and seemingly tasty. It is also a preferred food source for many possum and glider species and in a balanced environment where these “predators” have access it is kept in check. Where mistletoe is a problem it is most likely to be on isolated trees or stands where the “predators” can’t get to it. In a previous job the fellow that was showing us around said that a section of bushland was culled of the mistletoe. They went right to the tops of the trees to cut every piece off. The cattle grazing in the area followed them around eating the mistletoe as it fell to the ground. A follow up survey was made of the wildlife in the area and they found a considerable drop in diversity. An important food source has been removed.

cool. We live with Mistletoe up here in Qbilly country. In fact the Mistletoe bird is gorgeous and great to see.

Again.. In my day mistletoe was cut from trees because the belief was that it eventually killed the trees. I have always left if on and .. they nested for me ..

roughbarked said:

painmaster said:

bluegreen said:

I mentioned the frogs earlier. One of the key philosophies is that the farming practices do not disturb the environment but even enhance it, as was the case with the frogs. Of 400 acres or so only half of that is farmed (the slopes.) There are forest areas and wetland areas and habitat for various animals. This land is not considered idle however as it adds value to their end product as I mentioned before by appealing to the environmentally conscious. When they started up a survey revealed about 26 bird species, most of them noisy miners. Now they have over 200 bird species not to mention sugar gliders etc. Although there are roos around they have not been found to be the problem that other farmers seem to have. Maybe it is because there is so much natural land and feed around that they do not feel the need to incur onto the farm paddocks. They consider one of their most valuable resources to be dead timber. They do not remove or burn it but leave it as habitat for native wildlife. The pond areas have “islands” of this dead timber as havens for the ducks and frogs from foxes.

Mistletoe is generally considered a pest and something to be removed, but here they are actively seeding trees with mistletoe on the lower branches of some trees. It is still in the experimental stage but apparently it a favourite fodder of the sheep. It is highly nutritious and seemingly tasty. It is also a preferred food source for many possum and glider species and in a balanced environment where these “predators” have access it is kept in check. Where mistletoe is a problem it is most likely to be on isolated trees or stands where the “predators” can’t get to it. In a previous job the fellow that was showing us around said that a section of bushland was culled of the mistletoe. They went right to the tops of the trees to cut every piece off. The cattle grazing in the area followed them around eating the mistletoe as it fell to the ground. A follow up survey was made of the wildlife in the area and they found a considerable drop in diversity. An important food source has been removed.

cool. We live with Mistletoe up here in Qbilly country. In fact the Mistletoe bird is gorgeous and great to see.

Again.. In my day mistletoe was cut from trees because the belief was that it eventually killed the trees. I have always left if on and .. they nested for me ..

beautiful shot Roughy… the Mistletoe Bird has never posed well for my lens.

painmaster said:

beautiful shot Roughy… the Mistletoe Bird has never posed well for my lens.

I’ll scan these better one day. It is true that the mistletoe bird never sits still very long. However if you can locate a nesting pair at the nest. They have to keep coming back to feed the bubs. They always nest at about head height so you need no ladders.

The biggest problem is that the nest moves around in the breezes.

roughbarked said:

painmaster said:

bluegreen said:

I mentioned the frogs earlier. One of the key philosophies is that the farming practices do not disturb the environment but even enhance it, as was the case with the frogs. Of 400 acres or so only half of that is farmed (the slopes.) There are forest areas and wetland areas and habitat for various animals. This land is not considered idle however as it adds value to their end product as I mentioned before by appealing to the environmentally conscious. When they started up a survey revealed about 26 bird species, most of them noisy miners. Now they have over 200 bird species not to mention sugar gliders etc. Although there are roos around they have not been found to be the problem that other farmers seem to have. Maybe it is because there is so much natural land and feed around that they do not feel the need to incur onto the farm paddocks. They consider one of their most valuable resources to be dead timber. They do not remove or burn it but leave it as habitat for native wildlife. The pond areas have “islands” of this dead timber as havens for the ducks and frogs from foxes.

Mistletoe is generally considered a pest and something to be removed, but here they are actively seeding trees with mistletoe on the lower branches of some trees. It is still in the experimental stage but apparently it a favourite fodder of the sheep. It is highly nutritious and seemingly tasty. It is also a preferred food source for many possum and glider species and in a balanced environment where these “predators” have access it is kept in check. Where mistletoe is a problem it is most likely to be on isolated trees or stands where the “predators” can’t get to it. In a previous job the fellow that was showing us around said that a section of bushland was culled of the mistletoe. They went right to the tops of the trees to cut every piece off. The cattle grazing in the area followed them around eating the mistletoe as it fell to the ground. A follow up survey was made of the wildlife in the area and they found a considerable drop in diversity. An important food source has been removed.

cool. We live with Mistletoe up here in Qbilly country. In fact the Mistletoe bird is gorgeous and great to see.

Again.. In my day mistletoe was cut from trees because the belief was that it eventually killed the trees. I have always left if on and .. they nested for me ..

Fantastic photo!