Turnip Creek catchment project re-visit
Bush Heritage Australia, Deakin University and Mulloon project staff determining research plot locations.
Erin Healy and Chris Inskeep recently returned from a site visit to Turnip Creek. This is the Mulloon Institute’s second visit to Turnip Creek, the first being in May 2022 where Peter Hazell visited the community.
The Turnip Creek catchment is located between Euroa and Benalla in Victoria, east of the Hume Highway in the foothills of the Great Dividing Range. The landholders of Turnip Creek have been working towards a catchment-scale project for close to four years. The region is home to one of the first Landcare groups in the country, and their passion and desire to enable change is unmistakable.
This most recent project at Turnip Creek is a collaboration between Mulloon Institute and project partners Bush Heritage Australia and Deakin University. The project is sponsored by The William Buckland Foundation, with key support from the Victoria Drought Resilience Adoption and Innovation Hub.
The focus of this collaboration is a large-scale research project, focusing on trialling the impact of land management practices on landscape hydration. Twelve different locations will trial one of several land management techniques including contour ripping, managed grazing, improved pasture, and canopy cover.
The findings from these pilots will provide the basis for the development of a commercial model, enabling pilot insights to be rolled out on a broad scale, providing broad application for the research findings. This will increase landholder knowledge and capability and lead to improved sustainability of agricultural production.
On the day, members from each organisation met in the upper catchment on a surprisingly blue sky, spring morning. Joel Fitzgerald from Bush Heritage was an excellent tour guide providing some great project context and local knowledge. Chris and Erin provided technical insights for on-ground works and advice on scientific monitoring equipment and systems. Professor Rebecca Lester headed a group from Deakin University and together the group walked the properties with each landholder to establish test and control sites and mark them out in the field.
Highlights from the day included engaging conversations with landholders; Chris, Logan, Michael and Callum, and a lovely morning tea hosted by Jean and Roger. Thank you again to the Turnip Creek landholders for hosting the group. The Mulloon Institute looks forward to continuing this exciting collaboration with Bush Heritage Australia and Deakin University.
The project is sponsored by The William Buckland Foundation, with key support from the Victoria Drought Resilience Adoption and Innovation Hub.