WA Farm Moment - Kowald
L-R: Jeremy, Geoff and Bev Kowald.
The low rolling hills from ridgelines down to the valley floor on Bazil’s and Wayneflete lead down to the Carlecatup River, a charming landscape near Katanning. Geoff, Bev and Jeremy Kowald know this area well; the home farm was taken up by Geoff's grandfather in 1905. For many years, the Kowald’s have been Landcare champions while practicing holistic grazing and implementing principles similar to Yeoman’s keylines.
Recently, our WA Landscape Planner Lance Mudgway visited the Kowald’s as a part of the WA Community Stewardship Grant: Landscape Rehydration Trial and Demonstration in the Wheatbelt of WA. Their properties received an Initial Site Inspection report, with the aim to improve the long-term sustainable productivity of Bazil’s and Wayneflete and provide a holistic water plan for the property. Learn more about the Kowalds and their regenerative journey.
What has been your journey on the properties?
We have had a whole of farm water harvesting plan drawn up and now implemented by Ron Watkins on our home farm. Ron's acronym is ESSWAPAH, meaning Energy, Soil, Seasons, Water, Air, Planets, Animals and Humans are taken into account when planning. He started our plan in 1995 and now we have contoured our farm to harvest water which fills dams and provides for a commercial yabby farm. All banks have around five rows of trees behind them to help link vegetation corridors of shade and shelter for land and livestock. All are double fenced with permanent electric fences.
The new property was a chance we couldn't pass up, as its close proximity is really advantageous for stock management. We farm in a tightly held area which is fairly reliable so land is well sought after when it comes on the market. We purchased half in 2019 and leased the other half for three years then purchased it as well in 2020, with take-over in February 2021. Our whole enterprise is mainly livestock with some cropping for grain and sheep feed and some feed lotting.
Our new farm is only 1.4 kms away which has made management a lot easier than the block we sold which was 24 kms away. This farm has had some trees planted and banks put in to catch water but does have some salt which has come to surface. It also includes some high points which have native trees growing, some very old. So there are quite a few challenges we face which we are hoping the Mulloon Institute will be able to help us address. Many fences on the property are at the end of their life so we look at the farm as a blank canvas that we may be able to contour, implement corridors of trees and fence to fit with Holistic Management and planned grazing.
How did you get involved in Holistic Management?
We did a course in Holistic Management in 2010 because we were looking for new ideas to increase our profit. and at that time we had coined the phrase "that when the profit goes out of your business, the rest of that word is OFIT and that is where we are headed if we can't change". So we felt there had to be another way we could approach our business. The Holistic Management course was amazing, it opened our minds to new ways of decision making and testing our ideas. We found implementing planned grazing challenging and exciting, one large mob of sheep and cattle moving daily and using temporary electric fencing does teach you a lot about how much feed you have. With Planned Grazing and scanning for twins we have increased our lambing from 75 - 85% to 105 - 115% over the last 5 years in our Merino flock and our terminal flock is higher. We are striving to have green all year round in our 350 - 450 mm rainfall zone and to do this we have planted many perennials and we also summer crop using millet, tillage radish, serradella medic clover, cereal rye, grazing barley, canola and sunflowers. In a three year summer crop trial conducted by Katanning LCD we saw a increase in PH from 4.5 - 5.5.
Our son Jeremy bought a disc seeder in 2015 while working in the mines (fly in fly out) so he could continue his summer cropping program. This machine has proven to be a game changer as it does not disturb the soil; it just opens up the ground for the seed and then gets closed with a press wheel. We are confident sowing under any conditions as there is no risk of erosion. This machine now sows all of our crops in winter, summer and autumn dry sowing. It is a high maintenance machine but is light to pull so saves fuel.
We are involved in the local Landcare District Committee where we can share ideas and be involved in many projects helping to make changes and learning from others about ecosystems and the whole wider environment Many trees are planted each year in our area and we also do much rehabilitation in the town creating canopy cover to mitigate heat and also use plant to control water.
How did you get involved in the project?
Australian Stories sparked our interest in Peter Andrews ideas and after having read two books from our local library "Back from the Brink" and "Beyond the Brink" many interesting ideas have filled our thoughts. Now with the amazing projects The Mulloon Institute has created we feel very excited to be involved with such talented people. I have seen Lance plan other water and lake projects and they worked very well so we look forward to working with him.
Agriculture is always challenging and exciting so we look forward to the whole rehydration implementation including contours, trees, mulching, new fences and fresh water on top of the salt water.
This project is supported by funding from the Western Australian Government’s State NRM Program.
