Last week the Landcare Victoria Inc. Board had the pleasure of visiting the Stewart family’s Yan Yan Gurt West farm in the foothills of the Otway Ranges and learnt about the Otway Agroforestry Network’s approach to landcare capacity building; a development initiative supported by the Natural Resource Conservation League. The Board also had a chance to visit local Landcare member groups in Corangamite, learning about their upcoming projects.
Yan Yan Gurt West farm is a leading example of sustainable farming, balancing environmental management with agricultural production. The Stewart family have been on the land for five generations, revegetating their property since the 1960's, embarking upon a journey of agricultural regeneration and landscape diversification. A whole farm plan was developed in 1991 to address erosion, exposure, waterlogging, salinity and ecological decline.
Andrew Stewart was awarded the 2021 Bob Hawke Landcare Award and 2021 Australian Government Landcare Farming Award, recognising a multigenerational effort. Together with his wife Jill, daughter Kristy and brother Hugh, the Landcare Victoria Inc. Board was given a first-hand look at what they have achieved.
(Pictured: Jill & Kristy Stewart and Chair of Landcare Victoria Inc. Board - Jane Carney)
As the Board toured the family's property, they witnessed the family’s amazing environmental efforts to maximise ecological, production and biodiversity benefits. Fencing and re-vegetation had been placed along land class boundaries, and creeks and drainage lines had been developed, providing benefits for livestock, pasture, crops soil and wildlife. Wildlife corridors have been established which meander throughout the property, flanked by commercial timber trees, which improve water quality and sequester carbon.
(Pictured: Andrew Stewart speaking to the Landcare Victoria Inc. Board)
(Pictured: Kristy Stewart speaking to the Landcare Victoria Inc. Board)
The Stewarts have taken an integrated approach to production and the environment, and even though they have increased their on-farm vegetation from 3% to 18%, they have done so without decreasing outputs. Income diversification through agroforestry, carbon sequestration and native flower production are just some of the additional opportunities created, demonstrating a sustainable business model in the current farming context.
The Otway Agroforestry Network is a landcare group that encourages farmers to establish and manage trees for the reasons that matter to them. Mike Robinson- Kossand and David Curry from the Otway Agroforestry Network explained how their group has provided a supportive culture of mentoring to empower their members to create sustainable change on their properties. With the collective vision of 20 landholders linking 1,800 hectares of habitat, this has resulted in 123 bird species being sighted on the Stewart's property.
(Pictured: the Stewart family's property)
The Stewart family's property is both inspirational and educational, demonstrating the ability for collective community action in achieving landscape scale change both on farm and regionally.