Col Feilen, MaiaGrazing

James Barnett, RCS Australia

There was great interest in the recent ‘Landscape Rehydration’ workshop held at the Old Wallaringa property near Dungog in NSW with 45 participants attending in testing and windy conditions.

Presentations took place in the shed during the morning with a very welcome fire nearby to keep us warm. The Mulloon Institute’s CEO Carolyn Hall spoke about the Mulloon Rehydration Initiative and landscape rehydration more broadly. Guest speakers included Col Feilen who spoke about Maia Grazing and carbon credits, James Barnett from RCS Australia who spoke about grazing management principles and Philippa Graham who spoke about the Arts in the Dungog area.

The presentations from the three organisations complimented each other well, with a common message around land management, fertility and grass production for the profitability of any farming operation.

After a warming lunch and valuable local networking, TMI’s Research Coordinator Luke Peel took the group for a farm walk, where he spoke about landscape rehydration and reading the landscape.

One participant commented, “The potential in rehydrating our farms and land use, that to me is common sense, and understanding and reading the land has always been intuitive to me and fascinated me. To listen to Carolyn and Luke and the other presenters yesterday... well, I could follow them around forever. At last, I've found people who truly understand what I’ve been talking about for so long! I would love to visit any projects you are involved in.”