Recent TV stories of the dry conditions affecting New South Wales and Queensland have shown the depressing conditions that seem to go hand in hand with the regular onset of dry weather in Australia.

David Marsh, a Boorowa grazier of 47 years has found that by changing his land management philosophy: his business and land is not suffering like it used to during these harsh dry periods.

David is acknowledged for alerting primary producers to the fact that a healthy catchment and long-term profitability go hand-in-hand. He was pivotal in the early establishment of the Landcare movement, and David’s property “Allendale” has long been a proving ground for sympathetic land management.

David was one of the first people in the Boorowa district to use direct seeding techniques for planting trees, and his on-ground practice has been hugely influential in educating other landholders, with the Marsh family hosting thousands of visitors to their property since 1989. David has also shared his knowledge away from the farm, addressing over 50 farmer groups and conferences across Australia on holistic management, planning for drought, healthy soils and biodiversity.

“Whilst I find myself feeling deep empathy for those who have found themselves in hard situations during this drought, we have found we are no longer seeing the scenes we saw on our farm in the late 60s and 1982/3,” said David Marsh.

Click below to read how David has turned his property around and shares the lessons he has learnt on how to plan for dry times.

Read the full article here:
Lessons Learnt on how to plan for dry times – David Marsh

The photograph below was taken at David’s Boorowa property ‘Allendale’ in August 2018. Paddocks have good ground cover, stock are settled, in good condition and not being supplementary fed.