Farmer stories | Resources – ANU Sustainable Farms

The Future of Farming and Biodiversity in Agricultural Landscapes: the Muttama Creek Catchment Area

Genevieve Newey — Tue, 01 Nov 2022 03:49:01 +0000

The Muttama Creek Catchment is a tributary of the Murrumbidgee River and stretches from North of Cootamundra to North of Gundagai. The catchment area has experienced a lot of change and is facing increasing volatility and pressures, such as climatic and demographic changes and market pressures. The project sought to understand different land-use priorities and explore the future of farming and biodiversity.

The project team, comprised of Leuphana University of Lüneburg in Germany, Australian National University Sustainable Farms and the Muttama Creek Landcare Group wrote a booklet which summarises the key findings from this project. It includes a guest chapter on natural assets on farms by Suzannah Macbeth from Sustainable Farms and a chapter on Indigenous knowledge and land management written by Peter Beath from the Cootamundra Aboriginal Working Party.

Read our blog post below to find out more. Click the PDF link to download a PDF copy or contact us if you would like a hard-copy.

The post The Future of Farming and Biodiversity in Agricultural Landscapes: the Muttama Creek Catchment Area appeared first on ANU Sustainable Farms.

Natural Asset Farming

Suzannah — Sun, 20 Mar 2022 00:11:33 +0000

Published by CSIRO Publishing, Natural Asset Farming: Creating Productive and Biodiverse Farms is authored by four members of the Sustainable Farms team – Lead Scientist David Lindenmayer, Project Director and social scientist Michelle Young, ecologist Dave Smith and communications manager and writer Suzannah Macbeth.

The book emerges from the work of the Sustainable Farms project at The Australian National University, bringing together the experience of farmers, expertise from the Landcare movement, and the results of 20 years of detailed ecological studies undertaken on farms in Australia’s south-eastern wheat-sheep belt.

There are many approaches to sustainable agriculture, but Natural Asset Farming has something to offer for everyone managing farming land in Australia. Whether it’s a relatively small project like fencing a paddock tree, or a larger project such as enhancing a farm dam, protecting natural assets can help improve biodiversity and farm resilience.

Click here to order your copy via CSIRO Publishing today.

The post Natural Asset Farming appeared first on ANU Sustainable Farms.

Learning From Experience book

Christiaan — Tue, 15 Sep 2020 01:49:19 +0000

The farms featured are dotted across the South West Slopes region of New South Wales and the Upper Murray of Victoria, areas that have been heavily modified by agricultural practices. The landscape was formerly dominated by temperate eucalypt woodland but 85 per cent is now intensively grazed, cropped and cultivated as agricultural land. The stories are from farmers seeking to find a balance between productivity and biodiversity, and to retain or increase the natural capital on their properties.

Each property is different, and the individuals, families and generations interviewed for this book varied in their approaches to living productively on the land. From the diverse stories in this book, we hope that others might glean ideas and strive for more sustainable farming practices on their land.

Please contact us if you would like to order a printed copy of the book, or click the link below to download a PDF copy.

The post Learning From Experience book appeared first on ANU Sustainable Farms.

After fire comes recovery: Life in a farm dam

Christiaan — Tue, 02 Jun 2020 01:45:11 +0000

This farm near Batlow burnt badly in the bushfires of January 2020. Heavy rain followed on the bare, burnt earth, and farmer David Waters was worried that his dam – and the family of platypus that lived there – would suffer. But the vegetation around the dam helped protect it from erosion and sediment, so it is once again a refuge for wildlife.

The post After fire comes recovery: Life in a farm dam appeared first on ANU Sustainable Farms.

Improving farm dams: a farmer’s perspective

Christiaan — Wed, 15 Apr 2020 01:40:43 +0000

In time, Marcus’s enhanced dams will provide cleaner water for his cattle, habitat for wildlife, and a green, vibrant place on the farm that will be a pleasure to visit.

Thanks Murray Local Land Services and Holbrook Landcare Network for making this video possible!

The post Improving farm dams: a farmer’s perspective appeared first on ANU Sustainable Farms.

ANU long-term ecology video

Christiaan — Wed, 18 Jan 2017 03:19:01 +0000

Hear about how our project started and meet some of our long-term monitoring farmers.

The post ANU long-term ecology video appeared first on ANU Sustainable Farms.