Cindy and Steven Scott’s property, Glen Elgin, lies approximately 15 kms west of Henty in the Lower Slopes region of the Riverina, south-west NSW. The local landscape is mostly undulating rises with the occasional broad ridge and steeper hill. The often long lower slopes are associated with drainage lines and alluvial fans. 

The local soils reflect periods of erosion (soil loss) and deposition (eroded soil that is transported and deposited elsewhere), with soil depth varying from shallow on the ridges and crests, to deep on the lower slopes. The upper slopes are mostly texture-contrast soils (sandy or loamy topsoil overlying clays), which may be acidic or sodic (dispersive). Deep (150-500 cm) alluvial and colluvial soils feature lower in the landscape, where the Scotts have also identified black clay soils.

Vegetation in the region was once grassy woodland or tall woodland and is described as having been extensively or totally cleared. Areas of native grassland remain, with remnant pockets of shrubby woodland including white box, white cypress pine and grey box. 

Erosion is a major soil limitation in the region, with topsoil losses due to sheet erosion on the upper and midslopes, especially in intensively cultivated areas. Lower in the landscape, moderate to severe gully erosion of the sodic soils may be a feature in the major drainage lines. The historic clearing of vegetation has contributed to localised acidity and salinity.

Image 2. Glen Elgin, in the Lower Slopes region of the Riverina. Source: Grow Love Project.

Image 3. Livestock at Glen Elgin. Source: Grow Love Project.

Over the decades, the landscape has been heavily cleared (98%), to the extent that Cindy described the farm as a ‘moonscape’ when she first came to the property. Many of the paddocks only have one or two old paddock trees and several of these have been lost in recent years. Steven describes their landscape and soils as:

‘Gently undulating, ranging from a little bit of gravelly, friable red soil on ridges through to some, puggy, sodic, grey clays on the lower part, and incorporating some, fertile black clays in middle parts.’ – Steven Scott

The majority of the farm is ‘sown down to deep rooted perennial temperate and sub-tropical pastures’ and Steven believes that the ‘structure and stability of most of the soils is fairly sound.’ The Scotts have been involved in various initiatives to test, monitor and ‘bring life back into the soil,’ including collaborating with the Department of Primary Industries to regularly measure soil fertility and acidity, and more recently with the Riverina Local Land Service (LLS) on the Farming Smarter soil project. This involved ‘precision agriculture technologies’ including electromagnetic surveying (EM38 is an induction method based on sensing soil electrical conductivity).

Efforts they’ve made to improve the fertility of the soil have involved ‘putting out a lot of lime and phosphorus’. They have experimented with different applications of lime, shifting from the standard rate of 2.5 t/ha to 4-6 t/ha incorporated to 10 cm. The Scotts have also added numerous species of dung beetles with the aim to get an ‘annual blanket’ of different species that are active throughout the year to help stimulate microbiology and circulate nutrients. Soil tests show that soil fertility has increased in areas where phosphorus and lime have been applied. They have also tested carbon levels in the soil, and based on their recent results, Steven sees this as a ‘slow game’ but something they will enthusiastically continue to work on.

Image 4. Steven monitors the soils at Glen Elgin. Source: Grow Love Project.

Image 5. Steven monitors the soils at Glen Elgin. Source: Grow Love Project.

Like other farmers in the Riverina, droughts have been tough for the Scotts. For them, resilience in dry times is about ‘staying on their toes.’ They constantly assess feed costs, labour units and available options as conditions change. One of their main strategies with their cattle operations is to manage stocking rates. During the Millennium drought they ‘moved a lot of cattle fairly quickly.’ They are always flexible with their cropping program, and have often sacrificed crops in response to conditions, for example they baled canola crops several times in recent drought because there was no money to be made taking it through to grain.

While the experiences during droughts are tough, Steven also sees them as transformative. He believes they lead to better operations in the longer term because farmers are forced to act and adopt new approaches in order to survive:

 ‘I had this discussion with a friend of mine where we decided to name our most memorable four or five farming years … the years we came up with were ones when extreme hardship was experienced. We agreed that it’s such times when you are shaken out of your comfort zone and forced to make big changes to your operation. You put down a reticulated water system, you buy a feed cart, you do something … they’re the ones that really stick in your psyche.’ – Steven Scott

Dealing with drought while raising small children has been one of the most challenging experiences for the Scotts. The combination of ‘working much longer hours to survive’ with the demands of caring for very young children made them focus on maintaining outside interests to balance the financial and mental strain.

Through the Riverina Drought Resilient Soils and Landscapes fifteen producers are being supported to select and implement a new practice – enhanced farm dams, native shelterbelts, or stock management areas – to improve landscape-level drought resilience and to set up long-term soil health monitoring. The Scotts have chosen to plant more native shelterbelts – woody vegetation with a mix of trees and shrubs – across the farm. These are being carefully integrated between paddocks to offer a range of benefits that contribute to farm productivity and the conservation of natural assets.

In the 1980s and 1990s shelterbelts were introduced back into farming land primarily to control problems with secondary salinity. These days, the integration of shelter and shade into farming systems is often a strong motivation, as well as improving the aesthetics of a farm and providing habitat for native wildlife. Other functional aspects include use as a tool for livestock protection, erosion mitigation, and wind-speed reduction across pastures and crops.

Image 6. Existing shelterbelts on the Scotts’ property. Source: Grow Love Project.

Participating in the Riverina Project is a natural extension of revegetation work the Scotts have already undertaken with the aim to diversify species and revegetate 10% of the farm. In recent years, the Scotts have been celebrating the return of native birds and animals and they view them as central to the farm ecosystem. The sounds and regular sightings of small woodland birds such as Superb Fairy Wrens, Songlarks and Grey-crowned Babblers are a welcome indication for the Scotts of an improving ecosystem.

‘I saw my first wombat on Glen Elgin two weeks ago. A wombat on the farm?! Yeah. Got a hell of a kick out of it.’ – Steven Scott

Another reason the Scotts decided to join the Riverina Project is the opportunity it provides to meet people who are innovative and open minded. As Steven says, ‘I enjoy sitting in meetings with those people and picking up ideas and feeling motivated listening to others who share our objectives and passions.’ They were also recently involved in a Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA) peer-to-peer program, and Cindy is currently collaborating on a study with Melbourne University exploring the co-benefits of trees and shelterbelts on farms. Steven and Cindy are always looking for ways to improve the farm and are thoroughly enjoying both the journey and the results.

Check back in early 2024 for more of the Scotts story as they share with us how they implemented their shelterbelts and how they are going in monitoring their soils. 

To read more about shelterbelts explore our project partner’s resources Riverina LLS free training and Sustainable Farms, ANU.