Farm Plan set asides improve profitability and sustainability

Introduction

Wyoming is a 1,050 hectare mixed enterprise in far north-west of NSW farmed since the 1960s. It is owned by a German family-run corporation through its Australian subsidiary, PEGA Wyoming Pty Ltd. PEGA has a long investment history in Australia with a strong focus on productivity balanced with conservation. Management of Wyoming is overseen by resident Directors based in north west NSW and is leased to a neighbouring farmer.

Wyoming’s farm business originally focused on 60% cattle grazing and 40% dryland cropping. The cropping included mainly barley and wheat, with a small area of irrigated crops.

A farm plan was developed to reorganise the property to improve profitability and environmental outcomes. This required a shift to 50-50 grazing to cropping. 

Challenge

Land managers wanted to increase productivity of the property for a greater return on investment. They also aimed to improve conservation outcomes.

The cropping, grazing and vegetated areas at Wyoming were not well organised across the property. As a result, the farm wasn’t achieving the best economic or ecological outcomes.

The existing cropping area was not the most suitable for cultivation because some areas were relatively steep and rocky. Some of these less suitable areas were identified as ideal for revegetation. These areas would create links between existing patches of remnant vegetation in the landscape.

"With changes in farming practices with larger wider machinery we were aware that there were areas that could have been cropped that weren’t being cropped and areas that were being cropped that probably should have been grazed; they were rocky. So we were looking at reorganising the property to allow the best output for the property. Also we had concerns about the environment, it’s a sensitive environment area."

Don McRae, Director, Wyoming

The owners of Wyoming wanted a better return on investment by making the farm more productive and better organised. At the same time, they remained committed to native plants and animal conservation.

Solution

Wyoming management worked closely with Local Land Services and an environmental consultant. They worked to re-organise the land use on the property to achieve both production and conservation outcomes. They also commissioned a full ecological survey of the property as part of their farm plan development.

Local Land Services supported PEGA Wyoming Pty Ltd to receive a certificate under the Farm Plan part of the Land Management Code 2018.

The Farm Plan pathway allowed them to redistribute native vegetation and cultivation areas on their property by:

• removing native vegetation on 114 ha of land
• setting aside nearly 115 ha to be managed for conservation in perpetuity.

Cultivation could be moved away from sensitive waterway that would then be revegetated. In exchange, native vegetation could be cleared on more productive parcels of land.

The 114-hectare treatment area was prepared for cropping with help from the Soil Conservation Service. They installed structures including 14 kilometres of contour banks to prevent soil erosion. This was followed by fencing along the riparian corridor by local contractors. 

The set aside areas have been carefully chosen for their location to:

• provide links between areas of remnant vegetation in the wider landscape
• incorporate a ridge on Wyoming that contains semi-evergreen vine thicket which is a remnant of a dry rainforest and an Endangered Ecological Community. 

Of the 115 ha set aside, 56 ha will be remnant vegetation of:

• Belah
• White Cypress
• Silverleaf Ironbark
• Weeping Myall Woodland. 

When seasonal conditions are right, the remaining 58-ha set aside area will be revegetated with 8,500 seedlings. These seedlings were specifically grown for the project by a nursery in Inverell. The species planted will reflect the nearby vegetation types and return that area to what it would have been before it was cultivated.

Some of the revegetation will be plantings of species to improve the condition of the vine thicket. The rest will be a mix of species that occur in Belah, Wilga and Whitebox Woodland and White Cypress & Silverleaf Ironbark Woodland. 

The set aside will be strategically grazed. The flora and fauna will be regularly monitored to guide proactive management strategies. 

Outcomes

"By setting aside areas for predominantly environmental purposes and recognising the commercial value of others, we’re able to achieve the best results overall and there are not conflicts in management”

Don McRae, Director, Wyoming

Working with Local Land Services under the Land Management Code, PEGA Wyoming has been able to:

• increase the productivity of the land used
• create linkages of native vegetation through the landscape for wildlife corridors
• link grazing areas and cropping areas to enable a more easy, sensible and sustainable use of the property.

PEGA Wyoming Pty Ltd has also entered into an agreement with North West Local Land Services. This helped with funding from the National Landcare Program. The goal is to continue environmental improvement works on 160 hectares of semi-evergreen vine thicket on and around Blue Nob and the central ridge. This borders the set aside areas and helps maintain vegetated corridors across the landscape.

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Video transcript

Sustainable Land Management at Wyoming, north west NSW

Introduction

[Music]

Hello, I'm Don McCrae. We're here at Wyoming, a 1,000 hectare property 25 kilometres from North Star in northern New South Wales. I'm the Operations Manager for PEGA Australia. It's a company owned by a German family who have farming interests in Australia and Germany.

Currently at Wyoming, we have approximately one-third cropping and two-thirds grazing. We're hoping, with the plans we have with Local Land Services at the moment, that we'll have a property of 50% cropping and 50% grazing.

[Music]

With changing farming practices and larger, wider machinery, we were aware that there were areas that could have be cropped that weren't being cropped and areas that were cropped that probably should have been grazed, they were rocky.

So we were looking at reorganising the property to allow the best output from the property. Also we had concerns about the environment, it's a sensitive environment area.

Wyoming is very special, it’s a unique property in a lot of ways it has very productive soils. As well as that, there’s a very prominent ridge, which is significant in terms of its visibility, but also it has remnant dry rainforest — which is an endangered ecological community.

What we’re looking at is taking areas out of production that were being cropped and shouldn't have been cropped. They are too stony, too steep. Other areas were sandy soil, erodible and very unsuitable.

And so what we're trying to do is make linkages through the landscape for wildlife corridors. But also to link the grazing areas together, and the cropping areas and making a better use of the property, a more sensible use of the property and easier use of the property. And more sustainable, which is something the owners were quite keen for us to look at as well.

Working with our environmental officer, Simon Smith, we approached Local Land Services, who gave us direction on what we could do with the property or the property's potential

[Music]

Farm Plan Code

The solution we came up with here at Wyoming was a certificate under the Land Management Code. It was under what's called the Farm Plan Code.

The Farm Plan Code allows a landholder to redistribute the native vegetation and cultivation on their property. So they're able to move cultivation in areas that might have become unproductive over the years — whether the land was too steep or too rocky, or they wanted to move their cultivation away from waterways. They are able to revegetate that in exchange for removing native vegetation from a more productive parcel of the land.

We think we’ll be able to maximise all three objectives for Wyoming — the environmental objective, the cropping areas and the grazing. We think we're going to be able to increase our cropping output and retain our cattle numbers.

We wouldn't have been able to achieve what we set out to do under the previous laws. And interestingly, we had a change of legislation as we went through the process. The new process has worked very well for us.

[Music]

Conservation

As part of the set-aside here, we've got about 50 hectares of replanting we're doing. That’s on the area taken out of production.

In that replanting, we're looking at planting over 8,000 seedlings. That’s going to create a link with existing vegetation, replanting consistent vegetation and making those areas work across that landscape.

We're very committed to using best practice, first thing. To do that  we are bringing in Soil Conservation Service and their expertise to do soil conservation works before we do any clearing. Any vegetation that is removed — we’ll be using that as part of our rehabilitation efforts.

In addition to the work we're doing under the Farm Plan, we've also signed an agreement with North West Local Land Services to protect some sensitive vegetation in the area.

We've been working with the owners at Wyoming so that they can implement fencing around the significant site to manage grazing effectively in the area. They're also undertaking a flora and fauna survey. The flora and fauna survey will also help them decide what are the best species to plant under the Farm Plan Code.

Conclusion

We've worked with two parts of Local Land Services on Wyoming, and that's been very, very positive. I think our experience has been very encouraging. It’s full communication and full cooperation. I think that showed in the final outcome of the plan.

It’s meant we've had to work through things and solve issues, discuss issues, and try to come up with sensible solutions.

Local Land Services have been a delight to work with. They can't answer every problem immediately, but they really are looking at the commercial side of things as well as the environmental side of things.

I think Wyoming is a good example of how environmental stewardship and increasing agricultural production can go hand in hand. We've seen that work here on the ground, and I would encourage other landholders to come to us and see what outcomes we can get for you.

[Music]