Taking a holistic approach to carbon farming presents the opportunity to not only benefit your farm’s productivity and profitability, but also the health and function of your whole farm landscape and ecosystem.

Recently, the Carbon Farming Foundation and Mulloon Institute collaborated on a project at Paraway Pastoral in Boyup Brook. The Mulloon Institute helped develop their whole farm plan, with landscape rehydration at its’ core. The CFF helped to design the carbon farming approach within that whole farm plan.

Tune in to this month’s educational webinar with special guest Carolyn Hall from the Mulloon Institute to learn about rehydration strategy and tactics implemented at Paraway Pastoral in Boyup Brook.

The CFF exists to make it as easy as possible for farming businesses to tap into the carbon farming opportunity and accelerate towards carbon neutrality.

We enable farmers to have 100% control of their carbon crops, meaning they come away with 100% of their carbon credits.

Our carbon farming services and solutions are good for the planet and our customer’s bottom line. We operate under a flexible and transparent delivery model that gives farmers the freedom can pick from a menu of our services that best match their project requirements and budget.

Carbon sequestration is becoming a hot topic in the ag industry, with the value of an ACCU, or Australian Carbon Credit Unit forecast to soar, according to a recent report by National Australia Bank.

That could be a handy addition to a farmer’s bottom line but the industry is still in its infancy, with new players emerging all the time, and a confusing barrage of information about how the rules works.

Matt Egerton-Warburton is a partner at Gadens Law firm in Sydney and a director of the Mulloon Institute and is worried will the wild west nature of the carbon sequestration market see farmers locked in to lopsided contracts.

https://www.weeklytimesnow.com.au/agribusiness/the-australian-ag-podcast/podcast/f35a218a88fdeb66fe773f398d0018ee

ABC Rural / By Kim Honan

As the painstakingly slow recovery continues for flooded communities across parts of Australia, a land management group says it’s possible to take more than 2 metres off the flood peak by slowing the flow of water across the landscape.  

Key points:

• Stuart Andrews claims Natural Sequence Farming could take more than 2 metres off a flood peak

• Southern Cross University professor Jerry Vanclay has questioned those claims, and says up to 1 metre is more realistic

• Lismore City Council says it would need a grant to conduct scientific trials

Stuart Andrews, whose father Peter pioneered natural sequence farming (NSF) more than 40 years ago, hopes to get the chance to prove his father’s theory on the north coast of New South Wales.

The CSIRO’s interim report on the causes of the Lismore flood disaster found there was a need for a better understanding of how effective nature-based solutions could be in managing a flood.

The report’s team wants to look at the whole of the catchment, including the role of vegetation in slowing and reducing the flow. The Lismore Council hopes some funding will be available to trial that approach in the region.

The federal government has allocated $150 million for flood recovery projects, and parts of the community are demanding work get started now.

But the government is waiting on a final report from the CSIRO before deciding whether to prioritise new dams and infrastructure or other approaches like this one.

READ MORE in the original article:

Lismore floods aftermath debate asks if land management could slow flow of water, ABC Rural, 8 May 2023

The Farm Writers’ Association of NSW have done it again! This time tackling a challenging topic that touches all of us invested in Australian agriculture.

‘Harnessing the Power of Farm Data’ was an opportunity to explore this topic and discuss how best to navigate the data journey.

Industry experts included John Fargher (AgriWebb), Andrew Ward (Regen Farmers Mutual) and Pip Grant (Loam Bio) provided a gripping panel discussion enjoyed by the Mulloon Institute’s CEO & Managing Director Carolyn Hall and Dr Laura Fisher Creative Adaptation & Partnerships. 

Rapid technological change is occurring across the sector and the associated farm data can help farmers make informed decisions taking a lot of the ‘guess work’ out of farming, providing greater efficiencies right along the supply chain.

But there are questions around whether that data can be used against farmers. 

The value of good quality data certainly became clear from the discussion with the message that natural capital markets are really data markets, that data is knowledge and the more accurate the data the more our farmers can get paid. 

The Mulloon Institute’s Chairman Gary Nairn AO and CEO & Managing Director Carolyn Hall had the pleasure of hosting the Productivity Commission at Mulloon Creek Natural Farms this April.

As part of their review of the Futures Drought Fund, the Productivity Commission were interested in exploring how economic and environmental objectives could be better integrated. The team had read with interest Carolyn’s submission to the commission that the Mulloon Institute had its own commercial farm that acts as a demonstrator and thought that an onsite visit might offer a unique opportunity to gain first-hand experience on how these objectives can support each other.

The group which included Malcolm Roberts (Commissioner), Adam Bogiatzis (Assistant Commissioner) and team members Owen Gabbitas and Ariun Bayarjargal enjoyed a beautiful autumn day while exploring the Mulloon Rehydration Initiative.

They learned about how landscape rehydration can restore the way water moves through the landscape and how it is cycled and stored there to rebuild soil health and increase plant available water. They also learned about the multiple benefits of increased agricultural productivity, improved biodiversity and natural capital like soil carbon, increased resilience to drought and the flow on benefits to rural communities.

Furthermore, they appreciated the value of data now emerging from the MRI for proof of concept and the benefits of a holistic management approach, that when paired with landscape rehydration, can help farmers make the most of restored and rehydrated landscapes. 

We very much look forward to the report by Commissioner Roberts and his team.   

TheMulloon Rehydration Initiativeis jointly funded through the Mulloon Institute and theAustralian Government’s National Landcare Programand is supported by theNSW Government’s Environmental Trust

The Mulloon Institute’ CEO & Managing Director Carolyn Hall had the pleasure of hosting ministerial advisors at Mulloon Creek Natural Farms in April 2023, to provide a briefing on the Mulloon Rehydration Initiative. 

Minister Tanya Plibersek’s water advisor Michael Wrathall was joined by key advisor Amy Crawford and Stephen Quilkey from the electorate office of the Hon Kirsty McBain member for Eden Monaro and Minister for Regional Development, Local Government and Territories.

The group were treated to a tour of the MRI starting at the top of the hill at Duralla (MCNF) to see first-hand the lower Mulloon floodplain and the scale of the MRI project. From this vantage point there were able to observe the results of the landscape rehydration interventions that have reactivated flood runners on the floodplain and helped to restore the connection with the channel and hydrological processes on the floodplain. Carolyn also took the group to view a leaky weir on Mulloon Creek and explained the technical design process behind the intervention and the simplicity of the construction process. 

The group discussed the various barriers to taking up of this kind of work across the country, due to state and territory based regulations which are more focussed on mitigating the impacts of development which exploits the environment than projects aimed at environmental repair. 

Carolyn also explained the proposed outcomes based National Code for Landscape Rehydration as a pathway forward that has been developed by the Mulloon Law Committee. The National Code supported by standards is a way to empower farmers to take action while ensuring a high standard of environmental repair at the landscape scale.  

We hope that the Ministers themselves will soon be inspired to visit Mulloon to see the results for themselves!

The Mulloon Rehydration Initiative is jointly funded through the Mulloon Institute and the Australian Government’s National Landcare Program and is supported by the NSW Government’s Environmental Trust

Lots of smiling faces, warm greetings and a cuppa kicked off our first Western Australian Bootcamp in late March 2023. Hosted by Warren and Lori Pensini on their ‘Paraway’ farm in Boyup Brook, the Mulloon Institute’s Lance Mudgway and Erin Healy delivered a half day landscape rehydration workshop followed by a two day bootcamp to more than 40 participants.

‘Paraway’ was a fantastic demonstration site with a range of recently completed landscape rehydration work, and other areas where future works will be implemented. This gave us the opportunity to both illustrate how various techniques work, as well as teach participants how to identify and design solutions for existing issues such as salinity, surface erosion, gully formation, poor water recharge in the upper landscape and waterlogging in the lower landscape. This project is part of a wider demonstration project where the Mulloon Institute has developed Landscape Rehydration plans which will be implemented on four farms across the Wheatbelt and South West regions of WA.

TMI’s bootcamps form part of its Learning Programs and are aimed at giving land managers the confidence and skills to plan and implement their own small scale landscape rehydration interventions. The broad range of techniques that have been implemented at ‘Paraway’ – including contour earthworks, pin weirs, brush matressing, mulching, perennial pasture establishment and revegetation – really demonstrated the theoretical components of the program in a very tangible way.

With a focus on practical learning opportunities, the bootcamp took participants back to school days as they designed landscape models using a variety of materials and a lot of creativity. Participants also got their hands dirty constructing small scale intervention techniques in the paddock, and then watched as water was released to observe how these methods work. The many lightbulb moments were wonderful to witness, as participants were able to grasp the complex processes and proudly shared their newfound insights and enthusiasm to implement what they had learned on their own land.

This Bootcamp was supported by funding from the Western Australian Government’s State Natural Resource Management program.

The Mulloon Institute’s WA Landscape Planner team visited Warren Pensini at his ‘Paraway’ farm in early March 2023, to take a look at landscape rehydration works completed last year and prepare for our upcoming bootcamp.

‘Paraway’ is implementing a holistic approach to managing their landscape for productivity and ecological outcomes, with a particular interest in repairing salt affected areas and reducing the impacts of waterlogging and erosion  in the lower landscape.

The contour earthworks, pin weirs, brush matressing, mulching, perennial pasture establishment and revegetation works undertaken as part of the farm’s rehydration project are all functioning well. The revegetation works, designed to improve water recharge at the top of ridges and below contours, were particularly impressive with close to 100% survival and rapid growth of some species across most of the project site.

These intervention works provided great examples to demonstrate the landscape rehydration tools and provide practical education to participants of the Landscape Rehydration Bootcamp that followed later in the month.

This project has been funded through the Western Australian Government’s State Natural Resource Management program.

The Pistol will bring its digital strategy expertise to Vitasoy after winning the beverage company in a competitive pitch process, effective immediately.

In securing the account, Vitasoy was impressed with the full-service digital marketing agency’s significant digital credentials and depth of understanding in the consumer packaged goods space, along with the agency’s strategic approach to producing and curating creative content.

Founded in 1940, Vitasoy began as a Hong Kong-based beverage company, focused on producing high-protein dairy alternatives. The company has since expanded across the globe, including opening a manufacturing plant in Victoria in 2001 to supply the Australian and New Zealand markets. Vitasoy Australia proudly uses premium, whole Australian almonds, soybeans, oats, and other plant products in its beverage and yoghurt range.

The company also has strong purpose led aspirations, as articulated through its “Let’s Grow a Better World” campaign.
 
A key component of this campaign is its partnership with the not- for-profit research organisation the Mulloon Institute, which is focused on rehydrating, and rehabilitating 2.5 million hectares of agricultural land.
 
The Institute’s research into property and catchment scale rehydration and restoration has been used by farmers nationwide to create resilient, productive, and profitable farms, with agriculture and the environment working in harmony.

READ MORE:
https://www.mediaweek.com.au/the-pistol-wins-beverage-company-vitasoy-after-a-competitive-pitch/

Published by Mediaweek on 30 March 2023.

The Mulloon Institute’s work on the Mulloon Rehydration Initiative and its landscape rehydration work around Australia featured on ABC’s Landline program on the 12 March 2023.

Video thanks to Landline.

Who are we?

The Mulloon Institute is rehydrating and regenerating landscapes across Australia, for improved agricultural productivity, enhanced environmental biodiversity, improved habitat for threatened species, and greater community resilience to drought, bushfire and flood.

Empowering farmers

Supporting our work gives farmers access to the educational materials, workshops and hands-on activities they need to empower them in regenerating their land and building natural capital.

Donations of $2 or more are tax deductible.

Learning Programs

Our education program offers a wide range of learning experiences for community groups, landholders, business owners, Indigenous groups, schools and volunteer organisations.

Upcoming workshops & bootcamps

What are we changing?

We’re lobbying for a ‘National Code of Practice for Landscape Restoration and Rehydration’ to help make landscape rehydration more accessible for more farmers around Australia, by streamlining compliance processes.

Professional advice

Mulloon Consulting delivers innovative landscape rehydration projects that improve agricultural profitability across Australia. Through technical and practical advice for rehydrating and restoring landscapes, our experienced landscape planners actively support farmers in adapting to new and changing environmental conditions.

Get involved

Volunteers from all walks of life are invited to help with our work. Currently we’re seeking volunteers to help with the Mulloon Rehydration Initiative for on-ground activities. The Initiative is jointly funded through the Mulloon Institute and the Australian Government’s National Landcare Program and is supported by the NSW Government’s Environmental Trust.

Supporting our work is delicious!

All profits from egg sales at Mulloon Creek Natural Farms directly fund our continuing work into landscape restoration in Australia. You can buy them at a variety of locations in NSW and the ACT.