In 2017, Russell began exploring the potential risks and benefits of practice change, motivated to ‘get more control over the business and the overall health of the farm.’ He looked into ways to reduce synthetic chemicals and sought new information to help him address challenges they were facing. Russell’s sister Jenny played a part in opening Russell’s mind to pathways for supporting soil and landscape health on the property. After being introduced to Dr Elaine Ingham’s work by his sister, Russell enrolled in a Soil Food Web course, which he completed in 2018 in Lismore, NSW. The course was essential in developing his knowledge and confidence: 

You spend three days learning about biology and what it does in the soil. I stayed on and did another three-day course looking through a microscope, you know, to actually be able to identify the little things that are in your compost and that sort of thing. I came away from there realising that as farmers, many of us don’t know too much about what we’re doing in the soil. We can jam stuff in there and we can get it to grow, but what are we doing down there? So that was a catalyst for me to start to look at some changes.

Russell listened to other leaders in regenerative agriculture including Gabe Brown, Joel Williams, Ray Archuleta and Dave Brandt. Learning about soil biology helped him to see that, ‘biology is king and if we don’t have fungi and bacteria in our soil, we are heading down the wrong path.’ 

Russell knew he wanted to reduce chemical use and reduce tillage. He gained new knowledge about how to improve and stabilise nitrogen in the soil and different ways to lessen the impact of chemicals on the soil biology at Young Seeds, while not decreasing the efficacy of chemical inputs in their weed management. Russell decided that he would experiment by exploring ways to incorporate old and new practices, without ‘jumping ship’ completely. He was reluctant to transition too quickly from his conventional farming practices because he didn’t believe it was possible while running a viable operation. The changes he undertook during this period were done through a staged, strategic process, fitting into the complex logistics of maintaining his existing enterprise. 

After completing the Soil Food Web course, Russell experimented with bio-amendments, including compost (down the slot with the seed) and compost teas (applied as liquid injections), to build up and feed soil biology. Russell made his own compost, mixing materials on the property with things he brought in, including feedlot manure, hay and mushroom compost. 

Table 1. The range of bio-amendments and methods of application used on the Young’s farm during the 2017-2019 period.

Russell used his own microscope observations and interpretation to assess the quality of the extracts he made from his compost piles. According to Russell, based on his in-paddock observations, the 2018-19 trials of seaweed, fish and molasses produced the best root development, with ‘roots that were clearly bigger than anywhere else on the farm.’ In terms of making compost, according to Russell, they got some of the ‘early mixes very right and got some of them very wrong.’ Determining the source of error was a real challenge, but eventually Russell could see the issues came down to heating and maintaining the right temperature for each mix (the carbon to nitrogen ratio). He decided to stop making compost at the end of 2019 because getting the right mix was time consuming. He decided he would come back to composting later down the track and in 2019, Russell moved into using pre-made additives, which he believed would save him time and wasted effort.

A major challenge for chemical reduction is the speed and extent of weed growth in the region. There is a ‘typical weed spectrum’ at Young Seeds and the general approach was to ‘control them absolutely’, which involves spraying weeds with chemicals ‘when they are smaller.’ Learning about alternative approaches to weed management during this phase helped Russell to see that the longer he leaves weeds, the greater potential there is for these plants to pull up nutrients and feed the soil. However he remained cautious in terms of making major changes because of what he ‘stood to lose should things not work out.’

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In 2021, Russell began a series of trials at Barellan (the “houseblock”). This area became an intensive regenerative zone where Russell experimented with companion cropping, multispecies crops, and soil health applications. Taking this approach suited his overall operations, ‘both climate-wise and market-wise.’ Across the 17 ha site there were ‘three different patches,’ with varying production histories and soil health. Russell chose this general area because it was close to the house, making it easy to observe and access. There were three different historical management areas: 1) one patch representing current farm management, 2) one patch under grass for 30 years, and back under normal farm management for three years, and 3) one patch known as the “cow paddock” – an area that had no fertiliser or pesticide use historically. 

The multispecies experiments began with a 12-way mix in April/May 2021 (winter), and a summer mix in 2021-2022, which included a cash crop component of sugar drip. The 12 species mix came from 6 different families: Fabaceae, Brassicaceae, Poaceae, Polygonaceae,

Asteraceae and Plantaginaceae. Overall, Russell observed that the winter mix grew incredibly well and was ‘a bulky mix and thick to walk through.’ It grew better than the summer mix, which could have been due to the excessive rain in the spring & summer months. In regard to the performance, Russell notes ‘everything did pretty well in the 12-way mix,’ including brassicas, oats, triticale and the buckwheat (until the frost came). The two crops that didn’t do very well in the winter, but came on well in the summer were plantain and chicory. Russell notes that it was ‘a learning curve’:

We didn’t have a clue what we were trying when we put that mix together. I knew nothing so we were just like, get everything, throw it in the bag and let’s see what works, you know? 

They used a roller crimper on the multispecies crop in September 2021 to aid the planting transition between the two seasons. Over this time, Russell tweaked rotations to ensure living plants (roots) in the system for as many months of the year as possible to improve management and utilisation of moisture whilst also maximising soil organism diversity and health. 

After the first winter crop, Russell observed two significant changes from his monoculture crops. Firstly, there was a clear difference in the structure of the soil: ‘it was really well-aggregated’ compared to the structure of the monocrop soil, which Russell describes as ‘very difficult to dig into, coming out in big chunks or slabs.’ Secondly, he saw clear differences in moisture use efficiency of the multispecies compared to monoculture crops. Russell recalls that seeing sudden changes in the structure of the soil ‘surprised me that we would see that change that quickly’ and gave him a lot of confidence to continue. 

He also became curious about the influence of his multispecies crop on weed behaviour, and observed differences to their ‘normal’ growth profile. Weeds like milk thistle were ‘significantly stunted’ in the multispecies paddocks. This led Russell to question whether the multispecies crop ‘changed the behaviour of the milk thistle in that particular area, compared to what it would normally have been.’ 

The drought was very difficult for the business and their earnings suffered, but ultimately their responses to the drought helped the Morrises’ business survive. And, looking ahead, they also wanted to ensure their landscape was more resilient in the face of the next drought.

During the drought, their local Condamine Headwaters Landcare group secured funding to run a Tarwyn Park Training Natural Sequence Farming workshop, followed by on ground financial assistance to local farmers who attended the workshop training. The Morrises hosted the training workshop which was presented by Peter and Stuart Andrews and their team and later applied for funding to do several Natural Sequence Farming projects.

One of the rehydration improvements for the Gleneden Farm was to block the drainage of the roughly 15 pre-existing contours constructed in the 1970s. During the workshop, Peter Andrews explained how the ‘old fashioned contour drains’ on slopes had been designed to trap sediment and water washing down the slope from ploughing. However, these ‘contour drains’ ended up concentrating water from the landscape and created large erosion washouts where the water flowed into the gullies. Peter demonstrated a low cost, easy method of repurposing these old contour drains into water retaining dams so water could infiltrate into the landscape and reduce further erosion.

During the workshop, they also learned about the Natural Sequence Farming strategy of installing swales along the contour to distribute, not concentrate, flows over the landscape.  Ideally these swales are constructed at the highest level of the property that is practical. While initially hesitant about adding more manmade changes to the environment, Fiona was ‘impressed that you don’t need to create much disturbance to make a difference.’ The contour bank is, only one foot high in some places which is ‘just enough to slow and distribute the flow.’

To create a swale, the Andrews and Morrises chose a location near the highest accessible point of their property. This happened to be on the same level as a small existing dam. The 10m wide dam had been constructed in a gully, and never actually held water very well.  As part of the Natural Sequence Farming measures, swales were built that extended from the dam on either side, creating a level bank as wide as practical. Now, as water flows downs the gully ‘the water is gently spread and dispersed across a much greater distance along this swale, rather than being forced into a small catching area, where the energy pressure of water during a rain event could blow it out’.

Another Natural Sequence Farming technique used by the Morrises is to build ‘leaky weirs’ along their creek. Before clearing and overgrazing on the creek, a storm would cause trees and shrubs to fall into the creek and ‘catch sediment and debris’. However, since settlement, ‘we’ve changed the riverbanks by taking away the vegetation, so this natural process doesn’t happen; nothing now stops the flow, and the energy just keeps scouring the riverbank.’ The Morrises built their leaky weirs, using rocks and water plants, in strategic locations along the creek as they were shown during the workshop. Again, this did not require much intervention. In some cases, the rocks are only a foot high and water can still flow though and over them. It has made a difference though, slowing the flow, encouraging more water plants to grow and holding the water longer. Rohan and Fiona have fenced off the creek from the cattle (sheep and pigs) and only graze when the weed load is high. This has allowed the creekbanks to regenerate, naturally holding the banks, and the water.

They began trials with companion cropping in the 2021 winter crops (planted in June) starting with lucerne and wheat; and in 2022 with a mix of medics and clover with a wheat crop. Russell was happy with the outcome of the companion crops, although he did apply ‘some chemical to control weeds in the wheat stubble that season.’ He could see the potential for weed suppression, and that the legumes were contributing nitrogen production to the system, and seed set so they could return in future rotations naturally. The major challenge in 2022 was the large amount of rainfall, which prevented the winter crop and medics from getting established without the competition of weeds and subsequent chemical application. Russell felt it was necessary to control weeds this way, and while they did set back the medics, it was not as significant as he expected. Russell is sure he will try companion planting again to ‘build that diversity into the soil.’

There was excessive rainfall and moisture over the period and the Youngs also faced serious problems with soil compaction. To deal with the compaction that had been building over the years caused by severe drying out after heavy rains, they controlled traffic movement and did some deep ripping. This allowed the moisture to soak in and the tap root of plants to further break through the compaction. This was based on Russell’s understanding that if ‘you’ve got healthy biology in your soil, compaction becomes less of an issue.’ Russell is mindful of the pros and cons of deep ripping – soil left bare can be exposed to elements (e.g. water) and the process disturbs fungal communities. Deep ripping is not a regular practice for the Youngs and Russell is careful to put plants back into the system as soon as possible, reducing the risk of soil exposure.

Russell trialled another range of soil health products to improve soil biology and increase nitrogen, building on previous trials and his learning from the Soil Food Web course. He experimented with modifying equipment, using disc planters to plant into more plant material and extend liquid injection capabilities.

Table 2. The range of bio-amendments and methods of application used on the Young’s farm during the 2020-2022 period.

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