Set asides offer more room to grow

See an example of using the Equity provisions of the Land Management Code to expand cropping areas, harness new market opportunities, and create biodiversity conservation areas.

Aerial view of Lalli Farms with visible paddocks and infrastructure.
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Region
North Coast
Topics
Native vegetation management
Cropping
Location
Wells Crossing near Woolgoolga
Aboriginal place name
Gumbainggir

Introduction

Nerinderjeet Lalli (known as Nick) has been growing blueberries on the NSW mid north coast for 17 years. For the past 6 years, he has been looking to move into new varieties, specifically a thornless, winter-harvested blackberry. 

These berries are being trialled all over the world and Nick has travelled to the US and Mexico as part of his research into the variety. 

Nick’s business, Lalli Farms Enterprises, bought a 40-hectare property at Wells Crossing. The aim was to grow new berry varieties to meet growing consumer demand.

The property is perfect for this type of operation, providing flat country with the right climate. About half the property is now used for growing blueberries, with one hectare set aside for a new variety of blackberry.

Challenge

Nick wanted to work within legislation to expand his berry-growing land. He also planned to actively manage the woodland areas on his property.

Diversifying into a new winter-harvest blackberry variety would open new markets. It would also create secure jobs and harvest opportunities during the traditional ‘off season’.

For success, the winter-cropping berries need: 

  • a particular sub-tropical climate
  • the right amount of light
  • a specific amount of water
  • a certain number of relatively cold days. 

To make expansion plans financially viable, Lalli Farms needed to clear vegetation on the property to allow for the establishment of large poly tunnels for growing the berries.

The poly tunnels would allow electronical monitoring of variables including: 

  • soil moisture
  • temperature
  • fertiliser
  • light.

Solution

Local Land Services supported Nick to gain approval through a Part 5, Division 4 Certificate under the Equity provisions in the Land Management Code. 

For Nick, Equity provisions allowed for biodiversity offset with:

  • removal of native vegetation from 5.3 ha of land
  • active management of 10.7 ha of land as an on-site and in-perpetuity ‘set aside’ or conservation area.

Outcomes

The addition of another 5.3 ha of polytunnels on the cleared land with the new blackberry variety has allowed Nick to:

  • significantly upscale the farm’s blackberry production
  • ensure ongoing viability of the farm
  • generate additional jobs
  • secure year-round employment for existing staff on Lalli Farms to do picking, pruning and general maintenance. 

Nick is expecting to invest around $1.5 million on the expansion. Much of which will be spent locally through contracting of local mid north coast firms to undertake vegetation removal and construction of the poly tunnels. 

Removing the vegetation from one section of the property will unlock massive opportunities not just for me, but for the whole district.

Nick Lalli, owner Lalli Farms 

The 10.7 ha set aside area will maintain tracts of Needlebark Stringybark-Red Bloodwood Heathy woodlands on sandstone of the Lower Clarence bioregion. 

A section of the set aside was chosen specifically because it provides a corridor to large tracts of heavily timbered country on adjoining properties to the north and south.

The set aside area also provides a windbreak between crops. 

Nick will actively manage the set aside to control weeds and participate in wild dog programs, in conjunction with Local Land Services.

Watch the video

5:06

Sustainable Land Management at Lalli Farms, mid-north coast

Read transcript
Video transcript

Sustainable Land Management at Lalli Farms, mid-north coast

Sustainable Land Management at Lalli Farms

[Music]

Hello, I'm Nick Lalli. Today at Woolgoolga, you are visiting my Lalli Farms. At this farm, I'm growing blueberries and blackberries

17 years of blueberry production and 3 years into blackberry (thornless variety).

The reason I chose this property five years ago is because the land is quite flat. These poly tunnels — anything can be grow in these poly tunnels — but poly tunnels can be taken out easily. A glasshouse can be erected. You know, 40 or 50 years from now, you know, food security — that's the future. Agriculture, feeding the world.

Unlocking New Opportunities

[Music]

So I was very keen to get into this blackberry variety. It's a whole new product. We've been growing blueberries for around 15 years, and now we’re stepping into raspberries and blackberries side of things.

You know, I realised there’s a market for blackberries soon opening up, and there are new varieties coming through the line. To get the amount of production to make it viable to justify the cost, I needed to clear another 4 or 5 hectares.

So Nick made contact with Local Land Services, and we arranged a site visit with Nick.

We came out to the site and had a bit of a talk about what he wanted to achieve. We worked with Nick to get him through a certification process.

So Nick, these are the thornless varieties?

Mm-hmm.

Why have you opted to go with thornless?

Look, this is the latest, cutting-edge technology — latest variety to come out of the US. The reason being: thornless, and the taste quality of the fruit it's bearing. This is the number one variety of blackberry in the world right now.

So Nick's been approved to use the equity part of the code, which allows him to clear just a little over five hectares. He sets aside a little over 10 as a biodiversity offset for the amount of clearing he's undertaking.

Production and Employment Security

With the blackberries this year, we found in the peak season I was employing around 70 seasonal workers for the one hectare.

In providing new varieties that can cover work over a 12-month period — well, for the workers, that’s what they want. They don’t want to be travelling around the countryside trying to get a week’s work here or two weeks’ work there.

They want to know: “This is what we've got, and this is what's happening this month of the year, and then we’re going to progress into this and then into that.”

And everybody wins. I have security. They have security.

Nick’s really been able to achieve great outcomes here. Just the employment alone that this approval will achieve for the local community is fantastic. The money goes back into the community that's spent on farm.

So with this new legislation that’s been approved for my property, it gives me security — not just for myself, but also my family, for my children, and maybe even their children.

[Music]

Landholders Looking After the Land

In any situation, it's good to have a bit of vegetation around a property — for any sort of animals, birds, and especially bees. And native bees are a massive bonus for myself on this property.

With the blackberries, I require a lot of pollination. The blueberries also. And with this 10-hectare set-aside, I'm still guaranteeing I will have bees going into the future.

The set-aside actually links the vegetation through this section to large tracts of vegetation on either side of the property. It also provides a windbreak to the crops currently on the property as well.

So it's situated between the blueberry crop and the blackberry crop. I’ll be maintaining it — keeping the weeds down, keeping it clear of weeds, wild dog eradication, and any other sort of pests that shouldn't be in this area.

[Music]

Working with Local Land Services

Working with Selena in the local department with this new Act, the process was very streamlined. On three or four occasions, Selena visited the property and went through everything. I was happy, she was happy, the department was happy.

I’d encourage any landholders who are looking at what their options are on-farm to give us a call at Local Land Services. We've got really friendly staff that are here and are happy to assist in any way they can. We’re highly trained and highly skilled at what we do, and love coming out on-site to assist landholders to achieve their goals.

[Music]

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