Page 258 - Be Reasonable – Do It My Way , Peter E. Daly AM, My Story

CHAPTER 24 - SEAL ROCKS, MELBOURNE ZOO AND AUSTRALIAN LANDSCAPE TRUST (CONSERVATION AND ENVIRONMENTAL PROPERTIES)
holding capacity of the soil. Greater water holding capacity allows grasses to grow even without rainfall so long as there is retained soil moisture. Farm capacity to support cattle increased from 100 cows and calves to 450 cows and calves by matching pasture production to the off-take by the cattle. By allowing the cattle to graze only when the pastures have fully recovered from previous grazing, pasture plants are maintained in their most active phase of growth that maximises their carbon contributions to the soil.
Conservation covenants on the farm pertain to 700 ha. Covenants protect the Forest Red Gum eucalyptus forest and an Australian native grassland. These ecological communities are recognized by the Australian Government under the Environment Protection Biodiversity Conservation Act also. The native grasslands in Australia cannot tolerate commercial fertilisers which came in with modern agriculture that wiped out the native grasses. By good fortune, the native grasses survived on half of Strathfieldsaye Estate farm.
The farm also contains a portion of another Ramsar Convention listed wetland, Gippsland Lakes. The farm occupies the north shore of Lake Wellington, a part of the watershed draining into the lake. Farm runoff (mainly nitrate and super phosphate fertiliser) drains into the Gippsland Lakes triggering toxic algal blooms that poison the water and its fisheries. The organic methods used at Strathfieldsaye generate no damaging run-off. The farm is organic certified in Australia and the USA. The Trust hopes someday to export organic, grass-fed beef to Japan.
The Trust’s most difficult job is keeping these properties operating and achieving outcomes. It takes approximately A$1m a year to meet costs of management, public education, conservation and landscape recovery. So far, the Trust has found the funds each year.
Part of the success is due to the hardiness of a fleet of Toyotas, the reliable work horses at Calperum and Taylorville that carry volunteers, staff and materials through the 80 k by 100k area of the
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