What a fantastic day we had at the Landcare Zero Kill planting field day! Our Landcare on Farms group enjoyed seeing first hand a seeder that had been converted to plant with minimal soil disturbance, directly into existing vegetation under most conditions. The group checked out the fodder oat crop that had been sown in February and had a solid discussion on all things pasture, winter feed deficit balancing, soil health, pasture and grazing management.

What was learnt
- Vegetation and biodiversity can be maintained whilst still growing a winter fodder crop
- The potential cost savings
- An alternative which can help maintain native grasses in pastures
- the benefits of being able to plant into paddocks which still have ground cover (stands of thistles etc)
- discussions around the season and plant succession
The event was a wonderful opportunity to learn, be inspired and connect with like minded individuals.

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MORE ABOUT OUR LANDCARE ON FARMS GROUP
The Bowning Bookham Landcare group invites farmers and graziers in the district to join the Landcare on Farms group. This is an active and passionate group of farmers who is working and learning together to better their farm businesses, the properties that they run and the landscape as a whole.
The group meets regularly throughout the year with farm walks and other formal activities and training. The group aims to share ideas, help members plan and manage the upcoming season and provide peer support in decision making and problem solving.

This program is supported by South East Local Land Services though funding from the Australian Government’s National Landcare Program

The Issue
The Yass Landcare Group has completed four years of managing their signature Paddock Tree project. Funds to purchase weld mesh for either the sheep or cattle height tree guards has come from Yass SE LLS team for the last four years. Funding was reduced in 2023 thus the Yass Landcare group will have to seek other funding if this project if it is to continue past 2023.
The solution.

Jeremy Wilson and his long term partner Kate have been the key drivers behind the Yass Paddock Tree project. Jeremy estimates mesh qualities to be ordered and negotiates with potential suppliers for the best Landcare price. Jeremy is very much hands on in the roll-out of materials for this project and has learnt over the years to use machinery rather than muscle power. A planting package is provided with each tree guard and includes a locally grown climate ready Eucalyptus grown by the Yass Landcare Community Nursery volunteers.

Landholders participating in this project provide a co-contribution of $15 for each sheep height guard and $20 for each cattle height guard. The Landholder co-contributions enabled more tree guard packages to be provided under this project.

The Impact
Since 2020 which was the first year that Yass LLS funding was provided for the Yass Landcare Paddock Tree project over 1600 paddock tree guards and Eucalyptus planting packages have been planted across the Yass landscape.

Learnings
The use of machinery eg bobcat to handle heavy weldmesh rolls is vital
Using angle grinders to cut individual tree guards on moist, green paddock grass is recommended.

National Tree Day was celebrated by Yass Landcare members by visiting a Landcare members property on Yass River Road to view historical tree lane plantings and paddock revegetation.
The weather was brisk but the walk was enlightening with information provided by Alison Elvin, Yass Landcare President.

The property visited has been managed by two experienced Landcare families over the last 30 years, and has seen it transform from open paddocks with 3 pine trees to the diversely vegetated property that it is today. One lesson discussed was how narrow 2-3 wide tree lanes, when mature, out competes shrubs and don't provide total wind protection, as the lowever shrub layer is missing.

One golden rule for a biodiverse tree lane is to have a ratio of 30% trees - Eucalyptus and 70% mid and low level shrubs - the Eucalyptus should be in the middle of the tree lane, larger shrubs on the middle and small shrubs as the outer row. This planting model ensures that heavy branches from trees and acacias don't fall on the fence. Another interesting planting on this property was group plantings of shrubs and trees - the different plant groupings are now providing different habitats for native birds and wildlife.

Happy National Tree day to you all from Yass Landcare

Landcare nursery volunteers and members of our YAN Climate Ready team visited the National Seed Bank at the Australian Botanical Gardens in Canberra on 10th May 2023. People who work at the site also collect seed across Australian National Parks and Australian reserves from coastal to alpine landscapes.

The major focus of the national seed bank is on conservation and research. Any germinated seed is given to the gardens nursery team to grow on. The seed bank has approximately 8,000 seed packages which includes 1,200 threatened species. The team managing this seed bank is small however they are supported by volunteers. Like Landcare, they are also subject to funding highs and lows.

One of the interesting processes was the x-raying of seeds to determine their viability - I expect you can identify that photo below. And I expect you can identify a group of Landcarers in a lab in one of the photos below.