2024 Lachlan Hughes Foundation Scholar Isaac Perina presenting to his fellow program participants in the Dulacca Downs shearing shed yesterday.

HARNESSING the natural power of cattle to break up ground and add nutrients to soil is central to several projects being implemented by the 2024 Lachlan Hughes Foundation program participants on properties across eastern Australia this year.

The Scholarship was launched in 2019 to honour the life of Dulacca cattle producer Lachlan Hughes and to continue his passion for educating and training young people in the industry.

From one scholar in its first year, the Foundation which is funded purely from donations has expanded to training 10 scholars in 2024.

This involves four workshops of two and half days each spaced throughout the year, where participants benefit from coaching in capacity building, personal development, project design and regenerative agriculture.

Each also undertakes a specific outcomes-based on-farm project where they also receive direct and practical mentoring from regenerative agriculture experts.

The aim is to grow leaders in regenerative agricultural practices and to support them to lead change in their industry and communities.

Beef Central caught up with the group as they came together on the Hughes family property at Dulacca yesterday, and found out more about project the scholars are turning their attentions to this year:

Isaac Perina and Genevieve Kane, Dulacca

Using cattle to rehabilitate an erosion gully is the focus of Isaac Perina and Genevieve Kane’s project on the Hughes’ family property Dulacca Downs.

Isaac Perina and Genevieve Kane

The project involves bale grazing to keep a mob of 60 cows working over the eroded area, and adding biochar to their diets and introducing dung beetles to bury the biochar-rich manure deeper into the soil to accelerate soil nutrient development.

At the same time Isaac and Genevieve are monitoring progress throughout the year-long project and recording feed weights of cattle and lick consumption.

“The aim is keep them in that area and make them work that bit of country over and physically knock it down. To get a machine in there to do anything would be difficult  and the cows are there and they will do it for you,” Isaac said.

Gus and Emma King, Wallumbilla

Emma and Gus King

How the principles of syntropic gardening can be applied to farming landscapes is being explored in a project being undertaken by Gus and Emma King on the Wallumbilla property they manage for Peter and Nikki Thomson.

Syntropic farming involves developing a multi-layered range of plants in different strata with the view to creating a system that ultimately creates its own fertility.

“You’re trying to get everything under the soil and everything above the soil starting to cycle in a system where it is feeding itself,” Gus said.

“A lot of what we’re doing aligns with what Peter and Nikki are wanting to do or have already been doing, and it is just trying to build on that.”

Emma explained: “We have picked a couple of spots with Peter and Nikki where we can see by adding biomass and slowing the water down, it will improve the fertility.

“And that is followed with grazing management, and making use of what we have on hand to make it do-able on a broad scale so we can replicate it in other areas.”

John and Lexie Hauff, Blackall

Lexie, Dulcie and John Hauff

Importing local saleyard manure and earthworms to regenerate a two-acre claypan is central to a project John and Lexie Hauff are overseeing at Blackall.

John said identifying cost-effective development strategies to regenerate previously over-grazed country affected by water-run off and erosion was a key focus of the project.

“In the beef industry you want to have maximum grass coverage for yield – more grass equals more beef.”

They have bought in 8000 worms which are currently breaking down a pile of manure brought in from the Blackall saleyards. They are then planning to experiment different methods of applying the worm castings including ripping with a Yeoman’s plough, manually spreading the manure and spraying out manure.

“If you spread it out you use a bit more, but if you spray it out you can get about 30 acres to the cubic metre, that is where the real scale is.”

The focus is currently on the small block they have near Blackall with a view to identifying cost effective opportunities to regenerate underutilised parts on the larger family property.

Lauren Beresford, Eulo

Value-adding the annual weaning process to assist with the rehabilitation of a claypan near the Farnham Plains cattle yards is the focus of Lauren Beresford’s project on her family property at Eulo.

“Being so far away from a lot of things, I wanted to focus on something I can do that is local, that people out here can easily replicate,” Lauren explained.

Having chosen a site near the cattle yards, the aim is to fully utilise animal impact on the claypan.

Instead of weaning cattle overnight in the yards, the strategy is to create a temporary break with electric tape to hold cattle on the claypan, and provide them with hay and water there.

The aim is to have the cattle breaking up the soil while also mixing in hay and manure, and after being tailed out onto fresh feed during the day, to bring native pasture seeds back with them of a night time.

Lauren is also planning to develop contour banks with her grader in coming weeks to prevent water heading off the clay pan, ahead of introducing a new round of weaners.

“We are going to fence off the whole area so it can be looked after, and then we will move temporary fencing around within the area.”

Dusty Elsom, Warwick

Dusty Elsom

Dusty Elsom is planning to regenerate a paddock which has been conventionally contoured for cropping. Mr Elsom is in a share farming operation near Warwick in Southern Queensland, where he runs Australian White sheep.

A change of land use on a neighbouring property has changed water flows and topography in the 16ha (40ac) paddock. He has done soil tests with Ian Moss from Farm Agronomy to work out where he is up to in-terms of soil health and plans to turn it into a multi-species perennial pasture to improve soil structure and microbial activity.

The next step is to use Natural Sequence Farming techniques to create a “chain of ponds” effect along the paddock.

“We will move some soil from the top of the contours and lay it perpendicular to create spillways to trap the moisture and fertility as the water flows through,” Mr Elsom said.

“We have just finished planting a winter multi-species forage crop, which has a range of different plant species. There is also a lower section through the middle of the paddock that will be planted to restore the ecological corridor that once existed.”

Debbie Schedue, Mareeba

Debbie Schedue last year purchased an 80ac (32ha) lifestyle block near Mareeba on the Atherton Tablelands of North Queensland – where she plans to turn it into a hobby farm with cattle, chickens and any other opportunities to arise.

Debbie Schedue

The project with the LHF is about building a soil structure to be able to trial different grazing and farming techniques.

“It’s poor soil, it’s a very sandy loam with low organic matter – so initial goal is to get some organic matter into the soil,” Ms Schedue said.

“It has a lot of tall grasses, so I will slash that to get some organic matter into the soil without disturbing the roots.

“I will grow some cover crops to see how it goes and get 8-10 head of cattle, which will be a brand-new thing for me – just working out how to rotate them and manage them.”

Ms Schedue is ultimately aiming to bring chickens into the fold and possibly grow seasonal vegetable crops.

James Manning, Euroa

For James Manning from the Northwood Park racing stud in Victoria, good soil health is essential for to high performance on the track.

James Manning

Cattle are also a big part of Mr Manning’s life, who owns a small lifestyle block and grazes cattle alongside the horses in the stud.

He has had an interest in regenerative agriculture for some time and since joining LHF, he has been using Natural Sequence Farming techniques to slow water flow on his lifestyle block and changing operations at the horse stud by increasing stocking densities and rotating paddocks.

The main focus of his LHF project will be about implementing mixed species pastures for the horses.

“It’s not going to be perfectly run like a cattle grazing operation, but I want to show that you can do different things in the thoroughbred industry,” Mr Manning said.

“I think to produce high quality athletes we need to focus on our soil health. We feed a mineral ration, which is designed to make sure the animal gets everything it needs, but I don’t think we can disregard the quality required from a pasture – trying to emulate what it gets from a man-made product is never going to be as good as what you get from nature.”