Victorian Landcare Magazine - , Issue 89
In the late 1970s I was one of a group of six farmers spread across two municipalities, who began talking to each other about the increase of dryland salinity on our land. We realised that the problem was ours and we needed to work together across property boundaries, which was also one of the fundamental principles of Landcare, when it began in 1986.
In 1983, with the support of Violet Town Shire Council and the former Department of Soil Conservation, this group founded the Warrenbayne Boho Land Protection Group. The area covered two adjoining catchments and involved approximately 140 farms. At that time, less than 10 of those farms had their owners working off farm to supplement their incomes. Forty years later there are less than 10 farm families who can depend on their property for their livelihood.
Above: Steve and Karen Viant with previous Rotherlea owner Angus Howell at the field day in October 2024.
In that time, I have seen many of the original generations of local settler families replaced by newcomers with smaller holdings and fresh ideas as custodians of the land.
Our father purchased Rotherlea in 1929 and I joined the farm after returning from school in 1958. Our family conducted a sheep and beef enterprise until the early 2000s when we moved to contract dairy heifer agistment and farm forestry.
Since our Landcare beginnings, I have continued to learn from the experience of my neighbours, as well as invited technical expertise. So many positive changes have occurred, including an improved landscape, hundreds of hectares of tree plantations growing on recharge areas, and creeks and streams fenced and revegetated to provide streambank protection.
Above: Karen and Steve Viant in front of Rocky Hill at Rotherlea in 2024.
Some of the trees established by the group were planted by urban visitors as part of the WBLPG Rural Urban Program supported by the Myer Foundation. This program brought groups of urban students and adults to Warrenbayne Boho to learn about Landcare. They departed with our gratitude and the knowledge they had contributed to helping us care for the land.
Whole Farm Planning has been a core activity for the group with members congregating in central locations using aerial photos and maps to focus on land class separation. This exercise has allowed members to share and consult with their neighbours over ideas, and at the same time enhance community ownership of the group.
Rotherlea has now been subdivided with Howell family members assuming their own parcels of land, each with a concentration on Landcare. I retired from farming my own portion of Rotherlea in 2014, after more than sixty years. I have had much pleasure and comfort in handing the place over to Karen and Steve Viant who are determined to bring new vigour to continuing our family’s Landcare ethic.
I am always welcome at Rotherlea at any time. It is nourishing to see the farm as it changes and develops. I now start to understand the belief of our First Nation’s people – we do not own the land; the land owns us.