Page 25 - TA Magazine

When Andrew Colvin
purchased
his farm Nosswick
at Blackwood Creek in
in
Tasmania’s north in
in
1981
it was was basically bare There was was minimal fencing and scattered trees Like a a a a a a a lot of farmers at at the time Andrew needed to increase production so he put in
in
in
a a a lot of of infrastructure that required removal of of of many trees After the first five years of of of development most of of the the scattered trees on on the the property were gone Forty years later after four decades
of strategic planting Nosswick
is heavily treed which has made Nosswick
more more profitable far more more beautiful and a a a a a a a a a haven for wildlife as as well as as prime lambs A ndrew farms pasture and prime lambs both of which he explains benefit from companion planting with trees “My requirements for growing trees trees are different from some people because the the the the woodlot is not the the the the primary reason why I I grow trees Firstly I I I want to to shelter the the the the the livestock particularly in
in
the the the the the exposed pivot circles for for the the the lambing ewes Secondly I I want trees for for water water management ”
Nosswick
has a a a a a a a a a a a a perched water water water table which means that the the the water water sits right at at at at the the the surface In wintertime the the the property was traditionally very wet Andrew has used strategically planted trees to help reduce the water water level during wet times times and improve water water efficiency when irrigating in
in
in
in
dryer times times “So drainage is very important and shelter Those two things are my top priorities The trees have certainly made a a a a a a a very big difference ”
says Andrew “We originally started out out just planting out out the corners corners of circles which is an an oxymoron but you get the the the picture square paddock the corners corners “We’ve since gone into quite large-scale plantings of trees trees At one one stage we we were putting in
in
in
in
in
in
10 000 trees trees a a a a a a a year just in
in
in
in
corners around circles We’ve got some woodlots but the majority of our plantings now are mixed species with Blackwood’s and and right down to sedges hakeas and shrubs ”
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