Natural Sequence Farming Collaborative Proposal from the Land Hydration Alliance to the WaterSmart Australia Program 

The Natural Edge Project is a partner in the Land Hydration Alliance as part of a significant WaterSmart Australia proposal led by Natural Sequence Farming, Best Results (Aust) Pty Ltd and Southern Cross University. Other partners on this Water Smart Australia proposal, who are also members of the Land Hydration Alliance, include Greening Australia, LandCare Australia, Catchment Management Authorities, ANU, Newcastle University, Advancing Food Safety Ltd, NSW Department of Natural Resources, Applied Horticultural Research, and The Natural Edge Project.

The Land Hydration Alliance is seeking funding through the WaterSmart Australia grant program to help rural communities and farmers address Australia 's pressing water and land degradation issues through the application of the principles of Natural Sequence Farming as showcased on ABC's Australian Story "Of Drought & Flooding Plains" in June 2005.

Specifically, if this project is funded, Natural Sequence Farming principles will be applied to a range of farming sites across Australia to help reverse land degradation and restore the natural hydrology to improve significantly farm productivity and environmental sustainability. TNEP will be coordinating the communication strategy as part of this project. TNEP has demonstrated expertise in scientific communication, organizing forums and events, and coordinating the development of award winning education and training materials. TNEP's skills in these areas will contribute significantly to the project, for instance, through drafting documents for important stakeholders such as regulatory bodies. If funded, TNEP will also be involved in facilitating forums and contributing to the development and promotion of education and training programs. TNEP will also contribute to the writing up and dissemination of the on the ground results of this proposal to as wide an audience as possible, if this proposal is approved and funded.

Australian rural landscapes are facing a crisis from land degradation due to rising salinity levels, soil acidification and soil erosion. In addition, climate scientists forecast that due to global warming there will be often less water for farmers in the coming decades. Traditional farming and agricultural methods in Australia have been derived from farming practices which have been developed for European soils and climates, but have caused significant damage to our rural environment (Williams and Saunders 2002). Three types of soil degradation - salinity, sodicity and acidity - have been estimated to cost the Australian economy $2.4b annually (CRC for Soil and Land Management 1999). This has had significant consequences for rural communities who ultimately rely on environmental health for their existence (Boulton 1999; Boulton 2003; Lake 2003).

Before European settlement, many of the smaller waterways in Australia were discontinuous “chains of ponds” or pool-riffle systems which flowed intermittently. Loss of riparian vegetation, increased soil degradation and a reduction in soil stability has led to wide spread erosion of these waterways resulting in more deeply incised waterways which flow rapidly (Boulton 1999; Erskine 1999; Erskine and Webb 2003).

As a result of these changes to waterways, when significant rainfall events occur, the water flows rapidly down the deeper eroded channels, adding further to the erosion and then is lost to the local system. Before these changes to the landscape, when the channels were shallow, rainfall events resulted in two significant effects:

1. Local flooding of the floodplain of water catchments was more common. This resulted in water and nutrient-rich sediments being spread over surrounding soil, hydrating the soil and supplying plant nutrients.
   
2. The freshwater “lens” around the waterway was re-hydrated. These in turn refills the aquifers connected to the waterway. This freshwater lens has the effect of sitting above any saline groundwater.

Natural Sequence Farming (NSF) is based on the understanding of how water functions in and hydrates the landscape. Once this is understood, the relationship between streams and their floodplains can be restored, to kick start the natural Australian landscape processes to re-hydrate the landscape.

By mimicking key fluvial and riparian features present in the Australian landscape before settlement, NSF re-engages a sequenced pattern of activities in nature that re-hydrates floodplains. It does this by reinstituting the ways water flowed through the landscape before erosion and changes to it. As NSF states, “Restoring the hydrology of the landscape to something closer to its original nature creates multiple benefits by: reducing water loss, restoring and replenishing aquifers, increasing water availability, enhancing water quality, combating water salinity, reducing erosion and turbidity, increasing groundcover, enhancing riparian zones, increasing biodiversity.” There are now over 10 sites around Australia where these methods have been applied all with remarkable results.

In 2002, the then Deputy Prime Minister the Hon John Anderson directed a multi-disciplinary panel of experts led by the CSIRO to examine the application of NSF principles at 'Tarwyn Park' in the Upper Hunter Valley. The Panel's report concluded that farmer, Peter Andrews, had established a successful and sustainable farming system at the property. Today his son grazes cattle on the land.

The Panel also recommended rigorous testing of NSF in different landscapes and with a variety of economic activities. As NSF states, “In 2004, an Australian Research Council Industry Link Project was announced by the then Science Minister, the Hon Peter McGauran. The project focused on monitoring the effectiveness of NSF approaches at Mr. Gerry Harvey's property, “Baramul Stud”, in the Upper Hunter. An Alliance made up of Southern Cross University, the Australian National University, the University of Newcastle , the NSW Department of Natural Resources and the Hunter Central Rivers Catchment Management Authority is currently delivering the monitoring project. The initial findings indicate that NSF has positive effects on water availability and quality, salinity and riparian health.”

Further proof of the multiple benefits of NSF natural irrigation concepts has come from a 5 year application of NSF principles at the property of North Queensland Fruit & Vegetable Suppliers in the Burdekin Dry Tropics. The application of NSF principles and concepts has already resulted in increased water availability, produced significant water savings, restored the natural hydrological processes, and improved the resilience of the farm to the significant seasonal and longer term cyclical fluctuations in the availability of water common in the dry tropics. The results have been remarkable. Applying these techniques has led to:

- Increased on-farm surface / sub surface water storage so that even if it does not rain for two years the farm is 'drought proof'.

 

- A complete halt to the use of bore water pumping from aquifers (252 mega-litres per season) saving significant money and energy, due to the shift to using fresh surface flows. The bore water from the region was becoming increasingly salty and this shift has also significantly reduced salinity (down from 3300ppm to 800ppm) improving productive land capacity.

 

- Recharging of aquifers.

 

- Reduced losses to evaporation, improving water availability.

- A reduced quantity of water (ie by 70%) needed to support the same level of previous agricultural production.

- Increased farm productivity with lower water inputs.

- Reduced uncontrolled runoff during peak inflows.

- Reduced pesticide use (down by 85%), lessening impacts on native and desirable species.

- Reduced use of artificial fertiliser (down by more than 20%).

- Reduced herbicide use (down by 30%), with community health, environmental residuals reduced.

If funded, this Water Smart Australia proposal will allow the principles of Natural Sequence Farming to be applied to many more farms resulting in similar benefits across Australia. This new project proposal partners with significant Universities to ensure that all the work is based on a rigorous scientific approach. The fact that LandCare and Greening Australia are partners shows the potential of this application, if funded, to rapidly disseminate the lessons learnt and help all Australian farmers achieve the results already being achieved by for instance Tarwyn Park, Baramul Stud and the property of North Queensland Fruit & Vegetable Suppliers.

The Natural Edge Project has already worked together with Natural Sequence Farming and Best Results as well as many of the scientists involved with the proposal. Together we organized a very successful forum in Canberra on May the 6 th held at ANU's Manning Clark Lecture Theatre as part of the Australian Innovation Festival. The title of the forum was “The Art and Science of Natural Sequence Farming.” They event attracted a packed audience of close to 300 people. This event demonstrated the remarkable level of interest in Natural Sequence Farming around Australia . If this proposal is funded, The Natural Edge Project looks forward to the opportunity of, amongst many things, organizing more such forums around Australia.

More information on Natural Sequence Farming can be found on their web site. View WebSite.

Natural Sequence Farming and its founder Peter Andrews were featured on the TV show ABC Australian Story in 2005. This episode was voted as one of the top 5 Australian Stories for the last 10 years recently.

Several of Australia 's leading natural resource management scientists spoke about why they think Natural Sequence Farming is highly relevant and so important for Australia. View Transcripts

References

Boulton AJ (1999) An overview of river health assessment: philosophies, practice, problems and prognosis. Freshwater Biology 41, 469-479.

Boulton AJ (2003) Parallels and contrasts in the effects of drought on stream macro invertebrate assemblages. Freshwater Biology 48, 1173-1185.

CRC Soil and Land Management 1999, The costs of soil acidity, sodicity and

salinity for Australia : Preliminary estimates, Cooperative Research Centre for

Soil and Land Management Report CRCSLM/CTT2/6/99.

Erskine WD (1999) Oscillatory response versus progressive degradation of incised channels in South Eastern Australia. In 'Incised River Channels: Processes, Forms, Engineering, and Management' pp. 67-95)

Erskine WD, Webb AA (2003) Desnagging to resnagging: New directions in river rehabilitation in South Eastern Australia. River Research and Applications 19, 233-249.

Lake PS (2003) Ecological effects of perturbation by drought in flowing waters. Freshwater Biology 48, 1161-1172.

Williams J, Saunders DA (2002) Land use and natural ecosystems: A revolution in land use is the key to a sustainable landscape. TBA TBA, 1-17.