Healthy Landscapes regenerative agriculture program

The Healthy Landscapes program includes cost-free individual workshops and low-cost short courses, and aims to help land managers improve their land, soil, water and livestock. The program provides:

• Individual, free, on-farm advice
• Webinars, workshops and field days
• Holistic Grazing Management short course
• Farmer discussion groups

The program aims to help you identify and implement practical land management practices to:

• Improve your grazing Improve productivity
• Improve soil health
• Improve biodiversity
• Improve waterway health

All land managers in Mount Alexander Shire, Macedon Ranges Shire, Hepburn Shire and the City of Greater Bendigo are eligible to participate in Healthy Landscapes.

If you are interested in free individual workshops and events, see Upcoming Events below.

If you have an interest in free on-farm advice, enrolling in the Holistic Grazing Management Course or would like to be added to our eNewsletter, please complete our Expression of Interest form.

Priority for individual, free, on-farm advice will be given to properties over two hectares in area. Individual advice is practical and matched to any experience level and grazing livestock including, but not limited to, cattle, sheep, horses, pigs and alpacas.

For more information, call Jason McAinch, the Healthy Landscapes Lead and Private Land Conservation Officer, Macedon Ranges Shire Council, on 0455 210 436 or email jmcainch@mrsc.vic.gov.au.

Farm Walk – Newbury (7km South of Trentham)

About: This property uses rotational grazing system with their small stud of Highland cattle. The owners have started their journey in understanding their carbon position by doing the initial baseline steps themselves. Come and learn which techniques have worked for them as they transition themselves and their property to a regen ag system. The focus of the evening is the grazing and how the strategies being used are promoting biodiversity, weed reduction, soil health and dam water health. The session will include a paddock walk and discussion.
When: 6.00pm - 8.00pm, Thursday 7 November
Where: Newbury. Once registered, the property address will be sent to you prior to the event.
Register at Eventbrite

Grass guide webinar 

About: Do you want to know the tricks of the trade to identify grasses? This webinar will step you through how to use the guide to the Grasses of Central Victoria in the farm paddock or bush to help identify common grass species. The guide is an easy reference guide designed for beginners to help identify the more common grass plants in the Central Victorian region. The guide uses the flower structure of grasses as the quickest way to narrow own and identify most species.
When: 7:30pm - 8:30pm, Tuesday 19 November
Where: Online
Register at Eventbrite

Grass ID Field Days

About: This field day is a practical session for beginners to learn more about the grasses that populate your property and surrounds. Using our Grasses of Central Victoria guide, our skilled grass identification practitioner will show you:

• how to use our new grass identification guide in the field
• traits of grassland plants
• identifying native and exotic plants in the field
• identifying important weeds in the region.

Good to know:

• Wear weather-appropriate clothing and footwear
• These walks are weather-dependent. We may cancel an event at short notice due to severe weather conditions such as extreme fire danger, wind and rain. We will give you as much notice as possible
• Numbers are limited and bookings are essential

When:
Greater Bendigo, 10am - 12pm, Thursday 28 November - Register at Eventbrite
Macedon Ranges, 10am - 12pm, Wednesday 4 December - Register at Eventbrite
Hepburn, 10am - 12pm, Thursday 12 December - Register at Eventbrite
Where: Once registered, the property address will be sent to you prior to the event.

The Holistic Grazing Management short course has been designed to assist landholders in the Macedon Ranges Shire, Hepburn Shire, Mount Alexander Shire and the City of Greater Bendigo to improve their skills and knowledge about grazing livestock.

The next course dates will be announced in mid 2025, for delivery over six months during 2025 and 2026. 

The course costs $150 per property.

Download the course outline and timetable for the 2024/2025 course - APPLICATIONS NOW CLOSED (DOCX, 423KB)

To find out more, call Jason McAinch, Private Land Conservation Officer (Macedon Ranges Shire Council) by calling 0455 210 436 or emailing jmcainch@mrsc.vic.gov.au.

The following recordings pre-date the involvement of Mount Alexander Shire in the Healthy Landscapes program. While they don’t contain content produced with our shire, the information will still be useful for land managers within Mount Alexander Shire.

Integrated Weed Management

This webinar looks at how you can get to know your weeds and increase your understanding of a range of control techniques and strategic practices. Learn that the target of any weed management is about using the suitable control at the correct time with the appropriate follow up limiting spread and importantly limiting re-infestation.

https://youtu.be/5EvMEyoEM88

Grass and Pasture ID webinar

In this webinar, environmental scientist Dr Graeme Lorimer shows how to identify, understand and manage wild (non-planted) grasses. This webinar is being held in partnership with Port Phillip & Westernport CMA with the support of the Victorian Government.

https://youtu.be/aUeMSEJCGCQ

Transition from spring to summer feeding

Brian Wehlburg, from Holistic Management International and The Savory Institute, talks about how to transition from spring to summer feeding. Be inspired by Brian’s passion for environmental improvement and grazing management.

https://youtu.be/WZWuH0tngyg

Compost research and Natural Capital Accounting in agriculture

Hear from La Trobe University's Dr. Jim Radford on some local research and trials with compost used in an agricultural setting.

Jim is involved in a project that is measuring a range of different aspects of environmental performance. These include ecosystem integrity, soil condition, greenhouse gas balance, resource use efficiency and biodiversity impact.

The Natural Capital Accounting framework is being co-designed with farmers to ensure the accounts are understandable, trusted and provide useful information for farmers and their customers. By demonstrating the value of natural capital for profitable farming, the aim is to elucidate and promote farming practices that have positive outcomes for the natural resource base that underpins agriculture. This could lead to the possibility that farmers could capitalise on their sustainable practices.

https://youtu.be/XD7sfnwsLQg

Central Victorian Climate Today, Tomorrow and the Future

This event was delivered in partnership with the Healthy Landscapes program and the Bureau of Meteorology.

Felicity Gamble, Senior Climatologist, Extended and Long-range Forecasts, from the Bureau of Meteorology (BoM), presents forecasts for the upcoming three months and for the future (~2035) for central Victoria. Felicity also shared some useful tools and materials developed by the BoM and Agriculture Victoria.

https://youtu.be/0CiK2n773XM

Free webinars with local farmers

These webinars, held in 2021, feature local farmers talking about their experience of regenerative agriculture. Webinar recordings are available on the links below.

Darren Cater, a beef cow and calf farmer at Monegeetta. Watch the recording.

https://youtu.be/9GYi3Ul0Bmk

Paul Righetti, a Yandoit farmer who farms sheep, cattle and pasture raised hens. Watch the recording.

https://youtu.be/21RMEqfSngQ

Aaron Demeo, farmer in Raywood with merino and white Suffolk sheep, crops, and contract rears dairy heifers. Watch the recording.

https://youtu.be/dvmpLOVht60

Understanding your farm soil webinar series

This webinar series covers soil biology testing, soil carbon and organic matter. There are five videos in the playlist below. Click on the playlist drop-down arrow that says 1/5, to select the video you would like to watch.

Video 1: Soil testing - Understanding your farm soil

Video 2: Soil carbon with Dr Fiona Robertson

Video 3: Soil carbon

Video 4: Organic matter - Part 1

Video 5: Organic matter - Part 2

https://youtu.be/RVKT8NsiYTk?list=PLDL0DuUuk5RjB5iNOqcbpUSnts_GvHXe9

Managing pastures in a changing climate

World-renowned farmer Colin Seis shares how to establish and maintain flourishing pastures while improving soil health in an ever-changing climate.

Part 1: https://youtu.be/tx2SOdKTNhk

Part 2: https://youtu.be/GoEjPJ9MV38

Ecological burns – the benefits

Ecological planned burning is a land management tool applied to promote positive benefits for a local environment.

Benefits include stimulating dormant seed banks in the soil profile, reducing the vigour of, or eliminating, weeds, nutrient cycling and the removal of biomass ... all of which promote biodiversity and ecosystem health.

https://youtu.be/Thcnr2FjSl4

Regenerative grazing aims to increase perennial pasture species, including native grasses, while also increasing species diversity. Through high intensity grazing regimes followed by long rest periods, the approach increases the organic matter in soils and facilitates all-year-round ground cover, protecting soils from sunlight and erosion.

This approach increases soil health and improves water retention and drainage. Livestock benefit from a consistent and complete diet which results in improved health and productivity.

Biodiversity refers to the diversity of life forms on a property, a locality and your region. This includes the micro-organisms found in soils and water, fungi, plants, insects, birds and all other animals that live on land, in rivers and in wetlands. These life forms interact between themselves and with the non-living parts of the environment to form ecosystems.

Healthy ecosystems benefit farms through maintaining soil and water quality, providing shelter and a balanced diet for livestock while assisting with reducing pests and diseases. In turn, on-farm biodiversity has the potential to connect positively with the ecosystems of neighbouring properties and surrounding bushland.

The Caring For Country Sustainable Land Management Guide is aimed at landholders who want to better manage their land. It includes an introduction to our indigenous heritage, the value of biodiversity and the importance of being a good neighbour.

The guide offers practical information including links to organisations and agencies that can help landholders to build their knowledge of sustainable farming practices. With more information at hand, landowners can make better decisions to ensure their land is economically and environmentally sustainable.