Changing up the way we fight fire ft. Doris Baylis, Mataranka Station

06/27/23 • 0 min

When Doris Baylis and her husband took over the lease of Mataranka Station in 2016, they knew they would be busy - busy with infrastructure maintenance and cattle work, that is.

What they didn't bargain for was an annual, ongoing problem with wildfires.

It was, you could say, a true initiation by fire.

After losing almost 12,000ha to fires in 2017 and 2018, which equated to 15% of the properties grazing land, they knew they could no longer rely on traditional fire management.

So, they entered a Practice Change Partnership with Territory Natural Resource Management.

A Practice Change Partnership supports farmers to implement sustainable agriculture practices that will help protect native vegetation and biodiversity, and support the productivity of their operation.

These may be in the form of strategic weed and fire management plans, a change in water points, implementing new ag technology and different grazing methods for example.

The project is supported through funding from the Australian Government’s National Landcare Program.

My name in Steph Coombes, and in this episode I travelled to Mataranka Station to learn about how the Practice Change Partnership between Mataranka Station and Territory NRM works, and what the outcomes have been so far.

This episode is supported by the Australian Government's National Landcare Program.

When Doris Baylis and her husband took over the lease of Mataranka Station in 2016, they knew they would be busy - busy with infrastructure maintenance and cattle work, that is.

What they didn't bargain for was an annual, ongoing problem with wildfires.

It was, you could say, a true initiation by fire.

After losing almost 12,000ha to fires in 2017 and 2018, which equated to 15% of the properties grazing land, they knew they could no longer rely on traditional fire management.

So, they entered a Practice Change Partnership with Territory Natural Resource Management.

These may be in the form of strategic weed and fire management plans, a change in water points, implementing new ag technology and different grazing methods for example.

The project is supported through funding from the Australian Government’s National Landcare Program.

This episode is supported by the Australian Government's National Landcare Program.

Previous Episode

Regenerative is the new normal ft. Jeremy Trembath, Lonesome Duck

When the Trembath family acquired “Lonesome Duck”, a 1000ha grazing and cropping property in the Katherine region of the Northern Territory, they managed the land using conventional farming practices.

It wasn’t until around 25 years later that the property began to transition from conventional to regenerative farming practices.

By his own admission, Jeremy states that in his early years managing the property, his choice to continue doing things as they’d always been done resulted in the soil health declining. It was until he was gifted a book on regenerative agriculture that Jeremy decided to do things differently and have soil health as the central focus of the entire agricultural operation. But, making the decision is one thing – knowing where to start, and actually starting, are a whole different story.

My name is Steph Coombes, and in this episode I sit down with Jeremy to learn about the practice changes he has implemented on Lonesome Duck over the past several years, what’s worked, what hasn’t, and where to next.

This episode is supported by the Australian Government's National Landcare Program.

Next Episode

Managing native vegetation is good for business ft. Dionne Walsh, Range IQ

The Northern Territory pastoral industry relies primarily on grazing native vegetation. It is in the utmost interest of pastoralists to care for native species, as well as maintain and promote biodiversity.

My name is Steph Coombes, and in this episode I am joined by Dionne Walsh to get an overview of native vegetation in the Territory, and what management strategies pastoralists are using to manage them effectively.

With a PhD in Rangeland Management, and more than 25 years of “dirty boots” experience, Dionne has a unique blend of academic rigour and practical know-how. To start our conversation, I asked her to give me an overview of native vegetation compared to improved pastures.

This episode is supported by the Australian Government's National Landcare Program.