Walk & Talk to witness 'Change in Our time'.

Fifty people rolled up one sunny, Sunday afternoon in Autumn for ‘Farm Tour No 1, 2010’ which was held on the properties of Terry & Mary Cliff of ‘Carinya Belted Galloways’ and also Murray and Marita Johns’ of ‘Woodlands’, on Hendy Main Road, Bellbrae. The casual ‘walk and talk’ format introduced people to a wide range of issues and encouraged many questions & answers.  A key one was the drought planning that the farming families had engaged in over time.  An enlarge dam, waiting for a few inches of rain in order to be filled by sufficient runoff could be compared with a new ‘roaded catchment’ which began to capture water for the nearby dam after only 4mm of rain, much to the family’s delight.  The theme, ‘Change in Our Time’ enabled those present to see that what we thought were innovative ideas, in adjustment to climate change and reduced rainfall, had actually been tried in the 1920’s: increased cropping instead of heavy stocking; lucerne, instead of shallow rooted pasture for stock were brought to light by ‘Woodlands’ long standing records.  The strengths of growing lucerne as a winter crop was explored, by farmers, DPI representatives, contractors and seed growers.  Alongside this, the hazards of newly emergent lucerne for stock grazing was introduced in the context of rotational grazing.  Murray and Terry were generous with the recounting of their successes and failures, so that all present could benefit.  TLG gives sincere thanks to them both, and  to Murray Johns who facilitated the day’s events.  No gathering is sufficient without the warming elements of food and drink: for this we thank Marita Johns for her time and effort.  Scones and cakes were devoured between visits and before we ventured out into the cool of the evening.  Our thanks are also extended to Lisa Miller who enabled the day through making Climate Change, Federal funding available through DPI and hence TLG.  The Winter Farm tour is now organised, so contact Murray and come along.  For further details, go to the link:Winter Farm Tour No 2, 2010