Farmers and farming

[martinw-48]

I have noticed a lot of land clearing between Coleraine and Ballarat.
There's the farm just before Hamilton on the left when approaching from Coleraine.
Wher they have cut down numerous trees.
All non native but I've noticed that nothing is being planted to replace them.
This farmer is a ploughing freak.
So firmly rooted to antiquated practices.
They also have sheep and it really boils my blood when sheep have no shade.
When any stock have the option they seek shade when it's hot and sunny.
It should be illegal to not provide shade

[lyhargr_0]

The paddocks along the highway full of dead, dying n totally useless blue gums, dont do much for the land either. What a disaster those blue gum farms have turned out to be, unless they grub 'em all out and spend a fortune on lime n other nutrients, those paddocks are totally usless for decades.

[icyfroth]

I guess it doesn't take much imagination to understand that if you clear all the trees, there will be no more roots to anchor the soil and no more shade to shelter new growth.

Of anything.

[lyhargr_0]

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@icyfroth wrote:

I guess it doesn't take much imagination to understand that if you clear all the trees, there will be no more roots to anchor the soil and no more shade to shelter new growth.

Of anything.

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If you are referring to  blue gums, they need to be cleared and all the roots grubbed out, this goes for all the self sown ones as well. Farmers dont run stock where there are blue gums, so their shade factor  is nil     Do you actually know anything re blue gums and the disaster they have caused to farms and farmers in this area?

[icyfroth]

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@lyhargr_0 wrote:

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@icyfroth wrote:

I guess it doesn't take much imagination to understand that if you clear all the trees, there will be no more roots to anchor the soil and no more shade to shelter new growth.

Of anything.

---

If you are referring to  blue gums, they need to be cleared and all the roots grubbed out, this goes for all the self sown ones as well. Farmers dont run stock where there are blue gums, so their shade factor  is nil     Do you actually know anything re blue gums and the disaster they have caused to farms and farmers in this area?

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No,of course I don't. Why would I? Happy to be educated by a person of superior knowledge re Aus farming practices.

All I know (I think) is that Blue Gums have been native to Aus for centuries. Millennia, even.

Australian farmers have been using European farming practices for  the last 200 years or so.

Suddenly (well maybe not suddenly, but eventually) the land is in drought to a degree previously unrecorded in the history of white settlement.

Might land clearing and soil erosion have something to do with that?

[icyfroth]

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@icyfroth wrote:

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@lyhargr_0 wrote:

---

@icyfroth wrote:

I guess it doesn't take much imagination to understand that if you clear all the trees, there will be no more roots to anchor the soil and no more shade to shelter new growth.

Of anything.

---

If you are referring to  blue gums, they need to be cleared and all the roots grubbed out, this goes for all the self sown ones as well. Farmers dont run stock where there are blue gums, so their shade factor  is nil     Do you actually know anything re blue gums and the disaster they have caused to farms and farmers in this area?

---

No,of course I don't. Why would I? Happy to be educated by a person of superior knowledge re Aus farming practices.

All I know (I think) is that Blue Gums have been native to Aus for centuries. Millennia, even.

Australian farmers have been using European farming practices for  the last 200 years or so.

Suddenly (well maybe not suddenly, but eventually) the land is in drought to a degree previously unrecorded in the history of white settlement.

Might land clearing and soil erosion have something to do with that?

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I understand bad (gvmt) water management would also be a major factor.

[imastawka]

An old report, but still relevant to the area -

One of the biggest costs, apart from stump grinding or removal, estimated about $1500/ha, is the cost of lime and superphosphate to correct the very high acidity and ­depletion of nutrients caused by the trees.

https://www.weeklytimesnow.com.au/agribusiness/after-tree-blue-the-coast-is-clear/news-story/1b9b4d2...

[lyhargr_0]

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@icyfroth wrote:

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@lyhargr_0 wrote:

---

@icyfroth wrote:

I guess it doesn't take much imagination to understand that if you clear all the trees, there will be no more roots to anchor the soil and no more shade to shelter new growth.

Of anything.

---

If you are referring to  blue gums, they need to be cleared and all the roots grubbed out, this goes for all the self sown ones as well. Farmers dont run stock where there are blue gums, so their shade factor  is nil     Do you actually know anything re blue gums and the disaster they have caused to farms and farmers in this area?

---

No,of course I don't. Why would I? Happy to be educated by a person of superior knowledge re Aus farming practices.

All I know (I think) is that Blue Gums have been native to Aus for centuries. Millennia, even.

Australian farmers have been using European farming practices for  the last 200 years or so.

Suddenly (well maybe not suddenly, but eventually) the land is in drought to a degree previously unrecorded in the history of white settlement.

Might land clearing and soil erosion have something to do with that?

Blue gums grown on these plantations are NOT native blue gums, they are hybrids especially grown for their fast growth. They were purpose grown in this area, so they could be felled and used or wood chip, which in turn would be exported to China, Indonesia etc and turned into paper for glossy mags etc.  It was a good alternative for farmers to lease their land, when the bottom fell out of the sheep industry and they were going to the wall. Prob is, that way too many trees  were grown, then one of the main of the main companies went belly up, thus the farmers were were left with 1000's of usless trees, that no one wants. Their paddocks have been ruined, in that they are usless for growing anything for decades unless, they spends thousands of dollars to fell all remaining trees, then grub out all the roots and poision all the self growing ones, Then they would need to spends thousands and thousands of $$$ to to to get the now ruined soil/ground back to being anywhere able to gron anything in it.  This would take years and years to do and most farmers dont have the money needed to it. 

It has nothing to do with water management at all

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[lyhargr_0]

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@imastawka wrote:

An old report, but still relevant to the area -

One of the biggest costs, apart from stump grinding or removal, estimated about $1500/ha, is the cost of lime and superphosphate to correct the very high acidity and ­depletion of nutrients caused by the trees.

https://www.weeklytimesnow.com.au/agribusiness/after-tree-blue-the-coast-is-clear/news-story/1b9b4d2...

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I could have posted a few links but decided to expain the situation to Icy, myself as I live in this area, so know from those affected exactly what has happened and the mess it has created. 

[icyfroth]

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@lyhargr_0 wrote:

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@icyfroth wrote:

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@lyhargr_0 wrote:

---

@icyfroth wrote:

I guess it doesn't take much imagination to understand that if you clear all the trees, there will be no more roots to anchor the soil and no more shade to shelter new growth.

Of anything.

---

If you are referring to  blue gums, they need to be cleared and all the roots grubbed out, this goes for all the self sown ones as well. Farmers dont run stock where there are blue gums, so their shade factor  is nil     Do you actually know anything re blue gums and the disaster they have caused to farms and farmers in this area?

---

No,of course I don't. Why would I? Happy to be educated by a person of superior knowledge re Aus farming practices.

All I know (I think) is that Blue Gums have been native to Aus for centuries. Millennia, even.

Australian farmers have been using European farming practices for  the last 200 years or so.

Suddenly (well maybe not suddenly, but eventually) the land is in drought to a degree previously unrecorded in the history of white settlement.

Might land clearing and soil erosion have something to do with that?

Blue gums grown on these plantations are NOT native blue gums, they are hybrids especially grown for their fast growth. They were purpose grown in this area, so they could be felled and used or wood chip, which in turn would be exported to China, Indonesia etc and turned into paper for glossy mags etc.  It was a good alternative for farmers to lease their land, when the bottom fell out of the sheep industry and they were going to the wall. Prob is, that way too many trees  were grown, then one of the main of the main companies went belly up, thus the farmers were were left with 1000's of usless trees, that no one wants. Their paddocks have been ruined, in that they are usless for growing anything for decades unless, they spends thousands of dollars to fell all remaining trees, then grub out all the roots and poision all the self growing ones, Then they would need to spends thousands and thousands of $$$ to to to get the now ruined soil/ground back to being anywhere able to gron anything in it.  This would take years and years to do and most farmers dont have the money needed to it. 

It has nothing to do with water management at all

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Ok. thank you.

Sounds like a huge mess the capitalists have perpetrated on the farmers.

What is the reccommendation on a way forward for the farmers?