Digging in for sustainability

They are still growing 12 tonnes/ha DM of pasture.

They received the 2024 Lyrebird Award from West Gippsland Catchment Management Authority for their environmental sustainability efforts, that have included protecting waterways and a lagoon on their property and reducing nutrient run-off, while managing a profitable dairy farm.

“We have lots of lagoons and waterways, and we’ve planted native trees and vegetation for shade for the cows and to provide a filter for water that leaves the farm,” Peter said.

There are soil moisture probes scattered across their flood-irrigated farm, to measure how much water is used on farm.

Peter and Kate milked a spring calving peak of 322 cows in 2024, on their dairy farm at Newry, in the Macalister Irrigation District in Victoria.

Following conventional farming practices, Kate and Peter planted monoculture winter and summer crops, fertilised by granular urea, superphosphate and potash.

Their herd’s winter grazing was dependent on annual rye-grass, with a summer crop of millet followed by perennial rye-grass and clovers.

In recent years, they have shifted their focus to implementing regenerative farming practices, with more than 50 per cent of their farm now growing multispecies pasture varieties.

Peter and Kate are involved in a five-year pasture trial program on their farm, comparing regenerative and conventional farming techniques, supported by Agriculture Victoria and West Gippsland CMA.

Funding for the trial project began in 2019, and will run through to June, 2026.

Agriculture Victoria field staff have harvested and measured dry matter yield on the trial plots.

Feed tests and soil tests down to 60cm have also been incorporated.

A Soilkee comparison was part of the initial program, but has since been dropped.

Kate said the narrowness of the irrigation bays affected the effectiveness of using a Soilkee comparison.

“The bays developed ruts and the pasture grew well, but the ruts put us off,” Kate said.

Kate and Peter have stopped cultivation in their trial paddocks.

They have stopped using fungicides and pesticides on seeds, and reduced heavy applications of nitrogen and combined nitrogen, phosphorous and sulphur.

Kate and Peter are incorporating multispecies crops and perennial pastures into their grazing mix, with nutrient applications guided by soil tests and healthy soil biology.

They have planted chicory and plantain to loosen the deeper soil profile, encouraging plant roots and water to spread deeper, as part of their focus on regenerative farming.

Prior to sowing regenerative pasture, Kate and Peter add microbes, worm exudate and trace minerals to seed.

To encourage plant growth, they are using soluble fulvic acid powder as a foliar spray and as a carbon source to plants and the soil when they are adding a nitrogen fertiliser.

Peter and Kate are also using a soil drench, and incorporating boron, fish hydrolysate, and potassium sulphate.

Lime and gypsum have been incorporated into their farm’s soil where appropriate.

“In October 2019 we sowed an annual multispecies blend of summer species, followed in March 2020 with a multispecies winter blend,” Kate said.

“Then in October 2020, we sowed again with a 10 species summer blend, and then March 2021 with an eight species annual blend.

“We were trying to get the maximum value from what annual plants will do for helping the soil.

“The following year in March, we topped up with a bit more perennial multispecies.

“In March 2023 we sowed clovers. March 2023 is the last time anything was sown in the multispecies plots.”

The conventional pasture bays began with a crop of oats in 2019, followed by millet in summer and Italian rye-grass in winter.

Millet was sown again the following summer, followed by a mix of Matrix and perennial rye-grass and some clovers. Matrix was also oversown more recently.

Paddocks used for conventional farming continue to incorporate an N/P/K mix and pasture booster.

“In 2023 we fertilised at a rate of 20 kg/ha, and this year we’ve applied 29kg/ha,” Kate said at an on-farm field day in late 2024.

There were also two floods across their land in the same period.

Kate and Peter have measured more dry matter tonnage per hectare is consumed by the cows on the regenerative multispecies plots, compared to paddocks farmed conventionally.

The difference is as much as 1.3 tonne/ha DM.

In comparison, the cost of dry matter tonnage consumed has been lowest on their paddocks of regenerative multispecies pasture, almost $1/tonne DM behind those farmed conventionally.

The middle of spring shows little difference across the pastures, when measuring crude protein, energy and acid detergent fibre.

However, ADF is consistently highest in the regenerative pastures when measured across a year (July 2023 to June 2024).

“I would say that the feed test is far more variable over time on the multispecies pastures,” Kate said.

They have been able to lengthen plant recovery time between grazings.

In a comparison with eight other farms in the Macalister Irrigation District, all of them high users of N, Kate and Peter have almost eliminated N application on their farm.

Their pasture consumed as tonne DM/ha is still up with the highest producers in their district.

Production has also increased over the past five years – by about 40,000 kg MS.

Some of the questions that need answering as the project continues include if pasture production will be maintained or slow down as the perennial varieties age, and if pasture density will be changed as the multispecies age.

At the moment, bare patches of ground have been minimised across the farm.

Peter and Kate are also keen to incorporate measuring the carbon profile and biodiversity of their farm system; and to better utilise their soil moisture probes.

Peter and Kate have spoken about their journey at gatherings including the Grounds for Growth 2025 conference, held at Warrnambool in March this year, and the couple has hosted on-farm discussion groups.